Tsutomu “Ben” Goto (五島 勉, Gotō Ben, 17 November 1929 – 16 June 2020[1]) was a Japanese journalist and writer best known for his books on Nostradamus.[2]
Goto was born into a Christian family in Hakodate, Hokkaido. Raised Russian Orthodox, his mother spoke to him often about Biblical prophecy. Stories of Armageddon had been handed down from his grandmother, who was one of the first believers in Japan through the missionary work conducted by Saint Nicholas.[3]
Early in his career, Gotō published works dealing with issues of the Second World War as well as several books supportive of Sōka Gakkai and its controversial leader, Daisaku Ikeda. In 1969, while working as a freelance writer for various women's magazines, his interest in Nostradamus was piqued while watching the Apollo moon landing. He recalled having read about such an event in Nostradamus’ quatrains. In 1973, he published a book named "ノストラダムスの大予言" (Nostradamus no daiyogen; "The Prophecies of Nostradamus"), which introduced Nostradamus and his prophecies to a mainstream Japanese audience.[4] A film version was released in 1974.
The Prophecies of Nostradamus
His writings were described as tapping into Japan's deep insecurity and vulnerability about living in a troubled world.[4] He focused particularly on a quatrain appearing to predict a catastrophe occurring in 1999. Books on prophecy sold well in Japan at that time. Common themes included oil shock, dollar devaluation, the stock-market collapse, the rise and fall of real-estate prices in Tokyo, a trade war with America, volcanic eruptions and the threat of catastrophic earthquakes. The work became a runaway bestseller and sparked a “Nostradamus boom” in Japanese publishing.[5]
On November 5, 1991, Goto published Predictions of Nostradamus: Middle-East Chapter, a description of how Nostradamus’ quatrains pointed to a war in the Middle East. This was his seventh book on the subject, and sold 400,000 copies in 6 months. By 1991, the combined total of his Nostradamus output had sold 5.4 million copies.(4)
Quotations
“I wanted to warn people. I was afraid humans would become extinct because of radiation or a nuclear winter.”[4]
“During my primary school years, it was widely believed that humanity would never make it to the 21st century. I myself expected to be dead by the age of 30.”[6]
“When I published that book in 1973, the possibility existed of World War III between the United States and the Soviet Union. An end-of-the-world scenario by 1999 seemed fully imaginable.”[6]
“People today still harness their prosperity to produce weapons of murder. It’s terrifying to ponder what might happen if nuclear weapons fall into the hands of terrorists. You can say that Nostradamus did foresee the present world situation.”[6]
^Lifton, Robert Jay (September 2000). Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism. Macmillan. ISBN978-0-8050-6511-4.
^ abc"ASIANOW - TIME Asia". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
^Tanabe, Kunio Francis (May 5, 1991). "A Yen for Prophecy". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 15, 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ abcSchreiber, Mark (2020-01-18). "Japan's news outlets take one step backward before moving forward". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
January 18, 2023
goto, tsutomu, goto, 五島, gotō, november, 1929, june, 2020, japanese, journalist, writer, best, known, books, nostradamus, contents, early, life, career, prophecies, nostradamus, quotations, referencesearly, life, career, editgoto, born, into, christian, family. Tsutomu Ben Goto 五島 勉 Gotō Ben 17 November 1929 16 June 2020 1 was a Japanese journalist and writer best known for his books on Nostradamus 2 Contents 1 Early life and career 2 The Prophecies of Nostradamus 3 Quotations 4 ReferencesEarly life and career EditGoto was born into a Christian family in Hakodate Hokkaido Raised Russian Orthodox his mother spoke to him often about Biblical prophecy Stories of Armageddon had been handed down from his grandmother who was one of the first believers in Japan through the missionary work conducted by Saint Nicholas 3 Early in his career Gotō published works dealing with issues of the Second World War as well as several books supportive of Sōka Gakkai and its controversial leader Daisaku Ikeda In 1969 while working as a freelance writer for various women s magazines his interest in Nostradamus was piqued while watching the Apollo moon landing He recalled having read about such an event in Nostradamus quatrains In 1973 he published a book named ノストラダムスの大予言 Nostradamus no daiyogen The Prophecies of Nostradamus which introduced Nostradamus and his prophecies to a mainstream Japanese audience 4 A film version was released in 1974 The Prophecies of Nostradamus EditHis writings were described as tapping into Japan s deep insecurity and vulnerability about living in a troubled world 4 He focused particularly on a quatrain appearing to predict a catastrophe occurring in 1999 Books on prophecy sold well in Japan at that time Common themes included oil shock dollar devaluation the stock market collapse the rise and fall of real estate prices in Tokyo a trade war with America volcanic eruptions and the threat of catastrophic earthquakes The work became a runaway bestseller and sparked a Nostradamus boom in Japanese publishing 5 On November 5 1991 Goto published Predictions of Nostradamus Middle East Chapter a description of how Nostradamus quatrains pointed to a war in the Middle East This was his seventh book on the subject and sold 400 000 copies in 6 months By 1991 the combined total of his Nostradamus output had sold 5 4 million copies 4 Quotations Edit I wanted to warn people I was afraid humans would become extinct because of radiation or a nuclear winter 4 During my primary school years it was widely believed that humanity would never make it to the 21st century I myself expected to be dead by the age of 30 6 When I published that book in 1973 the possibility existed of World War III between the United States and the Soviet Union An end of the world scenario by 1999 seemed fully imaginable 6 People today still harness their prosperity to produce weapons of murder It s terrifying to ponder what might happen if nuclear weapons fall into the hands of terrorists You can say that Nostradamus did foresee the present world situation 6 References Edit ノストラダムスの大予言 作家の五島勉さん死去 ９０歳 in Japanese Lifton Robert Jay September 2000 Destroying the World to Save It Aum Shinrikyo Apocalyptic Violence and the New Global Terrorism Macmillan ISBN 978 0 8050 6511 4 敬輔 笹山 伝説のベストセラー作家 五島勉の告白 私がノストラダムスを書いた理由 文春オンライン Retrieved 2020 05 15 a b c ASIANOW TIME Asia www cnn com Retrieved 2020 05 15 Tanabe Kunio Francis May 5 1991 A Yen for Prophecy The Washington Post Retrieved May 15 2020 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint url status link a b c Schreiber Mark 2020 01 18 Japan s news outlets take one step backward before moving forward The Japan Times Retrieved 2020 05 15 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ben Goto amp oldid 1104402677, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
