Yoichiro Yamada, the Consul General of Japan in Seattle, confirmed to the Northwest Asian Weekly that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Seattle last week. The Prime Minister dined at Salty’s in West Seattle for lunch while his airplane was being refueled. He reportedly enjoyed his meal.
Japanese lawmaker criticized for linking Obama to slaves
By Mari Yamaguchi Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese lawmaker is being criticized for saying President Barack Obama was a descendant of Black slaves and so would have been an unthinkable presidential choice in America’s early history. Kazuya Maruyama, a lawyer-turned-lawmaker in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling party, apologized hours after making the remark […]
EDITORIAL: Good job, Abe
It took a lot of bravado for Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to acknowledge and apologize for Japan’s war-time role in South Korean “comfort women” crimes. Why is this acknowledgement such a big deal? First, some history from the (somewhat) reliable source Wikipedia: “Comfort women were women and girls who were forced into sexual slavery […]
Mothers, students join Japan’s protests over security bills
By Mari Yamaguchi Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Mothers holding their children’s hands stood in the sprinkling rain, holding up anti-war placards, while students chanted slogans against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his defense policies to the beat of a drum. Japan is seeing new faces join the ranks of protesters typically made up of […]
Japan scraps Olympic logo over plagiarism allegation
By Mari Yamaguchi Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo Olympic organizers on Tuesday decided to scrap the logo for the 2020 Games following another allegation its Japanese designer might have used copied materials. Reversing their earlier support for designer Kenjiro Sano against allegations of plagiarizing the design, the organizers said the decision came after new […]
Man arrested over drone at Japanese prime minister’s office
By Mari Yamaguchi Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese police have arrested a man who admitted to landing a drone with low-level radioactive sand on the roof of the prime minister’s office to protest the government’s nuclear energy policy, officials said Saturday. Tokyo metropolitan police said Yasuo Yamamoto, 40, turned himself in to authorities late […]
China tells Japan to set down historical baggage
By Christopher Bodeen Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China’s foreign minister renewed calls Sunday for senior Japanese leaders to abandon any attempt to water down their nation’s guilt over its World War II aggression against China and others. Looking ahead to this year’s 70th anniversary of the end of the war, Wang Yi told reporters […]
Japanese paper regrets use of term ‘sex slaves’
By Mari Yamaguchi Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s biggest newspaper apologized in print Friday for using the term “sex slaves” in its English-language edition to describe Asian women forced into Japanese military-run brothels during World War II.
Japan in recession as economy contracts 1.6 pct
By Elaine Kurtenbach AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Japan reported Monday that its economy contracted at a real annual rate of 1.6 percent in July-September, in a second straight quarterly decline that returned the country to recession.
Radioactive groundwater at Fukushima nears Pacific
By Mari Yamaguchi The Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Deep beneath Fukushima’s crippled nuclear power station, a massive underground reservoir of contaminated water that began spilling from the plant’s reactors after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami has been creeping slowly toward the Pacific.