
The Anti-Defamation League is calling on the mayor of the city of Kyoto to take steps to prevent the public appearance in a city venue of a Japanese political extremist who promotes Holocaust denial and virulent anti-Semitic beliefs. Richard Koshimizu, who claims that no Jews were murdered during World War II, has announced plans to deliver a speech at Kyoto's Campus Plaza, which is run by the municipality, on June 9. "Mr. Koshimizu's incendiary anti-Semitic views are well known, including outrageous propositions denying the Holocaust occurred and that Hitler himself worked for the Jews and to promote Jewish interests," said Glen S. Lewy...In a letter to the Hon. Masumoto Yorikane, Mayor of Kyoto, ADL urged the city to enforce the guidelines for the public's use of Campus Plaza, which includes restrictions on inflammatory speech or using the space for political purposes...Mr. Koshimizu is the founder of a political party named "Independence Party" and runs a Web site that promotes outrageous conspiracy theories about the Holocaust and claims that only 60,000 Jews died during World War II, mostly of disease...more...