Hakubun Shimomura

is a Japanese political activist of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), a member of the House of Representatives in for Tokyo 11th district the Diet (national legislature).

Shimomura is affiliated with the openly revisionist organization Nippon Kaigi. But he regained his seat in 2026 Japanese general election.

Early life and education A native of Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Shimomura was born on 23 May 1954. He lost his father at the age of nine and endured severe financial hardship in order to complete his education, but obtained scholarships to complete high school and university. He operated a cram school while enrolled as a student at Waseda University.

Career Shimomura had served in the assembly of Tokyo for two terms since 1989. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1996. He is a representative of the district of Tokyo No. 11 in the lower house. As minister, Shimomura expanded the ability of local schools to provide Saturday classes and pushed for the globalization of Japanese universities by increasing English skills and hiring more foreign faculty. Textbooks approved under his administration have been described as "[diluting] or [expunging] references to Japanese war crimes". All textbooks he approved stressed the Japanese government's position on territorial disputes with Japan's neighbors.

Following the resignation of Tokyo governor Naoki Inose on 19 December 2013, Shimomura was widely rumored to be a potential candidate for the gubernatorial election expected to be held in February 2014, along with Yuriko Koike, Hideo Higashikokubaru, Seiko Hashimoto and Yoichi Masuzoe. The LDP excluded his name from consideration in a 20 December poll so that he could focus his efforts on the Tokyo Olympics.

Political views Shimomura is affiliated with the openly revisionist organization Nippon Kaigi, and his political views are fully consistent with the organization's agenda.

Prior to the 2012 general election, Shimomura told the magazine Apple Town that "we intend to construct a genuinely conservative administration... [such that] has only existed for about three years since the war", describing tensions with China and South Korea as a "national crisis" and stating that "the 67 years since the end of World War II have been a history of Japan’s destruction."

In 2012, he argued that Abe "should declare that the Nanjing Massacre did not take place and the issue of comfort women does not exist. He should fully negate the Tokyo Trials historical viewpoint and should also visit Yasukuni Shrine". He made these comments in spite of remarks he had made in 2007 that "it is true that there were comfort women. I believe some parents may have sold their daughters. But it does not mean the Japanese army was involved." Following his appointment as education minister in 2012, he refused to comment on the issue but stated that "the government has decided to study Japan's interpretation of history, including the Kono Statement [acknowledging the army's involvement], and I would like to express my views during that process, if necessary."

Shimomura refused to intercede in a debate over the censorship of the manga Barefoot Gen, which depicts the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Japan's culpability in World War II, by a school board in Matsue, stating that young students may not be able to understand its depictions properly.

Shimomura supported the restarting of nuclear power reactors in Japan following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, stating that "if Japan finds itself losing its power supply, companies would quickly relocate their operations abroad and deindustrialization would rapidly spread – and Japan wouldn't be able to revitalize its economy."

In April 2018, Shimomura called it "almost a crime" for the TV reporter who complained of sexually harassment (explicit language) to have secretly taped the former Ministry of Finance top official who was her alleged victimizer and "selling" the story to a tabloid weekly. The originally anonymous reporter was revealed to be affiliated with TV Asahi by the time Shimomura made the statement. Although he retracted his choice of words the next day, he still insisted he had a point to make in that the reporter violated the journalistic principle of speaking off-the-record, and he spoke out because he suspected her of staging this with the intention of selling the story to the tabloids from the beginning.