Kent Gilbert

{{Short description|American actor in Japan (born 1952)}} {{Infobox person |name = Kent Gilbert |birth_name = |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1952|5|25}} |birth_place = Idaho, United States |death_date = |death_place = |othername = |occupation = Actor |yearsactive = |spouse = |website = }} '''Kent Sidney Gilbert''' (born May 25, 1952, in Idaho, United States) is an American commentator working in Japan, lawyer of California. He first came to Japan in 1971 as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After returning to the United States, he received a Juris Doctor as well as an M.B.A. from Brigham Young University.

While working in Japan as an attorney in 1983, he had a chance to perform as a stand-in for a foreign theatrical company, which led to other opportunities on Japanese television and in films. He is a foreign celebrity (''gaijin tarento'') and is often on news programs as a commentator with a "foreign" point of view.<ref>{{cite news|title=Orem Native Kent Gilbert Is Top Celebrity In Japan|newspaper=Orem-Geneva Times|date=April 4, 1984|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19212667/orem_native_kent_gilbert_is_top/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ferraris, Sing-Alongs, Sexy Ads Help Tokyo Language Schools Sell ABCs|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=April 21, 1992|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19212831/ferraris_singalongs_sexy_ads_help/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Gilbert lives in Tokyo and also maintains a residence in Orem, Utah.{{cn|date=September 2014}} He made an appearance in Kazuki Ōmori's ''Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah''.

Gilbert has been described as a "far-right online influencer".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=L |first=Aaron |date=2021-12-15 |title=Katō Kōko's Meiji Industrial Revolution –Forgetting forced labor to celebrate Japan's World Heritage Sites – Part 2 |url=https://apjjf.org/2021/24/johnsen |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |language=en-US}}</ref> Gilbert maintains the Japanese government never forced women to work as prostitutes or comfort women during World War II.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwumVaUQi2M Who Are the Revisionist? Check the Facts] Kent Gilbert Official</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpmFSn2d5x4 Japanese Still Brainwashed by the War Guilt Information Program] Kent Gilbert Official</ref> He was prominently featured denying the forcing of comfort women to work in a documentary film.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Joanne Rhim |date=2020-05-19 |title=Battle for the truth |url=https://www.koreanquarterly.org/global-news/battle-for-thbe-truth/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=Korean Quarterly |language=en-US}}</ref> He reportedly claimed in an interview that Koreans should be grateful that they had been colonized by Japan.<ref name=":0" /> In 2017, he published a book entitled "The tragedy of Chinese and Koreans who are controlled by Confucianism" where he denies Japan's Confucian traditions. The book became a best seller and led to "a new wave of hate books".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-31 |title=New book attacks profusion of 'hate books' on store shelves |url=https://japantoday.com/category/features/kuchikomi/new-book-attacks-profusion-of-'hate-books'-on-store-shelves |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=Japan Today |language=en}}</ref> He has associated himself with Toshio Motoya, a far-right figure who denies the Nanjing Massacre and the forcing of comfort women to work.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schieder |first=Chelsea Szendi |date=2021-05-26 |title=The History the Japanese Government Is Trying to Erase |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/ramseyer-comfort-women-japan-nationalism/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |language=en-US |issn=0027-8378}}</ref>

In April 2018, Gilbert was appointed visiting professor at Okayama University of Science.<ref>{{twitter|kentgilbert01|ケント・ギルバート}}{{in lang|ja}}</ref><ref>{{Cite tweet|user=kentgilbert01|number=985790951007268864|date= 16 April 2018|title= 正しくは岡山理科大学客員教授ですね。プロフィールにも入れておきました。決着する日を楽しみをにしていますよ。|access-date=7 June 2018}}{{in lang|ja}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=0318134|name=Kent Gilbert}} * [http://www.worldcat.org/identities/np-gilbert,%20kent%20s$1952 Gilbert, Kent S. 1952-] in libraries (WorldCat catalog) * {{twitter|kentgilbert01|ケント・ギルバート}}{{in lang|ja}} * {{facebook|kent.gilbert.5|Kent Gilbert}}{{in lang|ja}} * [https://ameblo.jp/workingkent/ You Are Going To Know?] (blog, last update Aug. 25, 2017)

Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Mormon missionaries Category:American lawyers Category:Latter Day Saints from Utah Category:American Mormon missionaries in Japan Category:Brigham Young University alumni Category:Expatriate television personalities in Japan Category:Nanjing Massacre deniers Category:People from Orem, Utah Category:Comfort women denial Category:American historical negationists