Sacked Air Self-Defense Force chief Gen. Toshio Tamogami defended his nationalist essay Monday, claiming his justification of the war Japan waged in the last century was intended to instill the country and its people with a sense of confidence.

In his first public appearance since being sacked over the essay Friday, Tamogami reiterated that Japan was not an aggressor nation and that the people have been misled by erroneous education.

"It is necessary to revise the view that Japan did wrong during the war, if it wishes to prosper as a nation in the 21st century," he said at a hastily called news conference in Tokyo.