Japan
100 years after his birth, world’s most loyal dog Hachiko still winning hearts
A statue has been standing — in remembrance to his loyalty towards his owner — outside Shibuya Station in Tokyo since 1948.
The cream white Japanese Akita Inu — popularly known as “Hachiko” — has been memorialized in everything from books to movies to the cult science fiction for his loyalty.
All these movies, books tell the true story of Hachiko, the faithful dog who continued to wait for his master at a train station in Japan long after his death.
Hachiko was born in November 1923 in the city of Odate in Akita prefecture, the original home of Akitas.
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The Akita is one of Japan's oldest and most well-known breeds. For its calm, sincere, intelligent, and brave personality, they used to be taught to hunt animals like wild boar and elk.
The breed was designated as a national icon in 1931 by the Japanese government, according to the BBC.
The famed puppy arrived at the Ueno residence in the Shibuya neighborhood on January 15, 1924.
Ueno named him Hachi, or eight in Japanese. Ko is an honorific bestowed by Ueno's students, according to the BBC.
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Hachi’s owner took a train to work several times a week. He was accompanied to Shibuya station by his three dogs, including Hachiko. The trio would then wait there for his return in the evening.
When Ueno died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 53 on May 21, 1925, Hachiko had been with him for just 16 months.
"While people were attending the wake, Hachi smelled Dr Ueno from the house and went inside the living room. He crawled under the coffin and refused to move," Prof Mayumi Itoh wrote in a biography about Hachi.
Hachiko spent the next few months with different families outside Shibuya but eventually, in the summer of 1925, he ended up with Ueno's gardener Kobayashi Kikusaburo, according to BBC.
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After returning to the area where his late master Ueno lived, Hachiko soon resumed his daily commute to the station, rain or shine.
According to Hachiko’s biographer, Hachi used to stand on four legs at the ticket gate and look at each passenger “as if he were looking for someone."
He gained nationwide fame after Japanese daily Tokyo Asahi Shimbun wrote about him in October 1932.
The station started receiving donations from across the country. Later, a fundraising event in 1934 to make a statue of him reportedly drew a crowd of 3,000.
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Hachiko's eventual death on March 8, 1935 made the front page of many newspapers. At his funeral, Buddhist monks offered prayers for him and dignitaries read eulogies. Thousands visited his statue in the following days.
Every year on April 8, a memorial service for Hachiko is held outside Shibuya Station. His statue is often decorated with scarves, Santa hats and, most recently, a surgical mask.
Haruki Murakami pleads for keeping Tokyo park and baseball stadium that inspired his writing
Author Haruki Murakami says he's strongly opposed to the redevelopment of a historic and beloved Tokyo park district that would remove his favorite jogging path and tear down the nearly century-old baseball stadium where he was inspired to become a novelist.
The plan approved earlier this year by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike to put skyscrapers and new stadiums in the heart of the Jingu Gaien green district has become increasingly controversial. Followers of baseball and rugby history are opposed to it, as well as conservationists and civil groups who say the project has advanced without transparency, adequate environmental assessment or explanation to the residents.
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The ball park and a neighboring rugby stadium used for soccer during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics would be demolished under the plan, and hundreds of trees would be removed from what's been a Tokyo park district for centuries. When finished, the new stadiums will be surrounded by nearly 200-meter (650-foot) tall office buildings in a commercial complex.
"I'm strongly opposed to the Jingu Gaien redevelopment plan," Murakami said on his Sunday radio show. "Please leave that pleasant jogging course full of greenery and the lovely Jingu Stadium as it is. Once something is destroyed, it can never be restored."
Murakami used to sit beyond the outfield fence, stretching out with a beer to watch the game on a grassy slope. He remembers the moment he decided to become a novelist: In the early afternoon on April 1, 1978, when then-perennial underdog Yakult Swallows' unknown American Dave Hilton slammed a clean double into left field and "the satisfying crack when the bat met the ball resounded throughout Jingu Stadium," he wrote in his 2007 memoir, "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running."
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On his way home, he bought a fountain pen and started writing. His first novel, "Hear the Wind Sing," was finished about six months later.
Murakami said Gaien's circular jogging course, which is just over 1-kilometer (1,093-yard) long and has a mark at every 100 meters (yards), is his favorite running area. During the radio show, he described "my secret, nice memory" of regularly passing another runner in the opposite direction, never speaking.
Earlier in the weekend, hundreds of people gathered outside the designated redevelopment area in Tokyo for a protest.
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The Jingu Gaien dispute comes about two years after the Tokyo Olympics, which involved several newly constructed stadiums and have since been sullied by bribery scandals.
Koike said the metropolitan government has appropriately handled the environmental assessment and has urged the companies involved to share information with the public on the redevelopment.
The project will take 13 years to complete, but minor construction has begun.
The first court hearing on a lawsuit to suspend the work will be held later this week.
Lower house of Japan’s parliament passes bill to promote LGBTQ+ awareness, but not guarantee rights
The powerful lower house of Japan's parliament on Tuesday passed a bill to promote understanding of LGBTQ+ issues amid protests by activists that last-minute revisions by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's conservative party favored opponents of sexual equality instead of guaranteeing equal rights.
The passage followed only a few hours of debate in a lower house committee last Friday, an unusually short period. The bill is expected to be approved quickly by parliament's upper house, which is also controlled by Kishida's governing bloc.
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Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations which does not have LGTBQ+ legal protections. Support for same-sex marriage and other rights has grown among the Japanese public, but opposition remains strong within the governing Liberal Democratic Party, known for conservative values and a reluctance to promote gender equality and sexual diversity.
LGBTQ+ activists have increased their efforts to achieve an anti-discrimination law since a former Kishida aide said in February that he wouldn't want to live next to LGBTQ+ people and that citizens would flee Japan if same-sex marriage were allowed.
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The final version of the bill passed Tuesday states that "unjust discrimination" is unacceptable but doesn't clearly ban discrimination, apparently because some governing party lawmakers oppose transgender rights. Some party members said more consensus building is needed before anti-discrimination measures are introduced.
The bill states that the public's understanding of various sexual orientations and gender identities is "not necessarily sufficient." It says conditions should be created so that "all citizens can live with peace of mind," which critics say shows the governing party prioritized the concerns of opponents of equal rights over the rights of sexual minorities.
"We have sought the enactment of an anti-discrimination law," the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation said in a statement. "This bill does not focus on the people concerned, and instead focuses on the side that has discriminated against us and caused our suffering. It's the complete opposite of what we need."
Also Read: Japan wants to understand what’s happening in Bangladesh and where it’s headed, BNP says as ambassador meets Fakhrul
Recent surveys show a majority of Japanese back legalizing same-sex marriage and other protections. Support among the business community has rapidly increased.
A court in Fukuoka in southern Japan ruled last Thursday that the lack of legal protections for LGTBQ+ people appears to be unconstitutional. It was the last of five court cases brought by 14 same-sex couples in 2019 that accused the government of violating their equality. Four of the courts ruled that current government policy is unconstitutional or nearly so, while a fifth said a ban on same-sex marriage was constitutional.
Japan provides $500,000 to Cyclone-affected Rohingyas, host communities through IOM
The government of Japan has decided to provide the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with USD 0.5 million assistance in response to the super Cyclone Mocha which made landfall on 14 May and hit Rohingya and host communities in Cox’s Bazar.
The heavy rains caused damage in both Myanmar and Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh, significant damage was observed to camps hosting approximately 930,000 refugees.
A total of 4 districts, 26 Upazilas (sub-districts), 99 unions, and 429,337 Bangladeshi nationals were affected by the cyclone, according to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.
The intense and heavy wind and rainfall destroyed or damaged shelters, water points, latrines, culverts, bridges, and other key community infrastructure.
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This emergency grant is to provide critical WASH services to Rohingya, and host communities affected by the cyclone Mocha through IOM.
Activities will include repairing and installation of latrines, provision of hygiene packages to those affected populations and hygiene awareness/promotions activities.
“I feel empathy for those who suffer from disasters such as cyclones. Japan is also prone to natural disasters and is committed to supporting the response and the Build Back Better after Cyclone Mocha for both Rohingya and host communities," said Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh Iwama Kiminori on Tuesday.
Also Read: Japan wants to understand what’s happening in Bangladesh and where it’s headed, BNP says as ambassador meets Fakhrul
He hoped that the WASH services supported by Japan will contribute to maintaining the hygiene environment and will prevent water-borne diseases which might outbreak after the cyclones.
Chief of Mission of IOM Bangladesh Abdusattor Esoev said they are grateful for the generous support of the government of Japan in response to the devastating impact of Cyclone Mocha on the Rohingya refugees and host communities in Cox's Bazar.
Also Read: Will continue to work toward resolution of Rohingya issue: Japan
"Japan's commitment to supporting the response and the 'Build Back Better' approach demonstrates their empathy and dedication to those affected by disasters. Together with our partners, we will continue our efforts to provide essential assistance and support the recovery of the affected communities," said Abdusattor Esoev.
Since the beginning of the emergency in August 2017, Japan has been a steady supporter of the Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh, contributing over USD $200 million to IOM and other UN agencies as well as NGOs in Bangladesh, including through this new funding.
Japan wants to understand what’s happening in Bangladesh and where it’s headed, BNP says as ambassador meets Fakhrul
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Iwama Kiminori met BNP’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today (June 4, 2023) and discussed Bangladesh’s next general election and the overall political situation.
Talking to reporters after the meeting at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, the party’s standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said that Japan, like other democratic countries, wants to see a free, fair, and acceptable election in Bangladesh.
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“Bangladesh’s relations with Japan expanded significantly since we started the free market economy during the BNP government. That is why they (Japan) want that relation to continue even if the government changes,” he said.
Chowdhury, along with the party’s Organising Secretary Shama Obaid, was present at the meeting. They discussed the overall electoral system of Bangladesh and the current human rights situation, he said.
Like other countries, Japan might have concerns about Bangladesh’s next election, human rights situation, rule of law, press freedom, and people’s security, the BNP leader said. “So, they want to understand what is happening in Bangladesh, what is going to happen in the future, and where is Bangladesh headed?” – he said.
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Chowdhury, also the foreign affairs committee chairman of BNP, said the Japanese envoy talked about his country’s investment in Bangladesh – both in the private and public sectors.
He said they informed Iwama Kiminori about the country’s overall situation, but he declined to elaborate on it.
The BNP leader said many countries are concerned about the investment atmosphere and the future of Bangladesh. “The situation we’re going through now has created apprehension among countries. So, they’re trying to understand how Bangladesh will be in the future and how the election will be.”
Read more: ‘We’re taking plan according to road map prepared for national election,’ CEC tells Japanese Envoy
Asked whether Japan will play any role in ensuring a peaceful and fair election in Bangladesh, Chowdhury said the democratic countries have already expressed their goodwill regarding the elections in Bangladesh. “Japan is no different. Everyone wants a free, fair, and acceptable election in Bangladesh.”
He said the new Japanese ambassador has paid a courtesy call on the BNP secretary general. Stating that Bangladesh-Japan friendship is time-tested, the BNP leader said bilaterally, friendly relationship with Japan is above all.
Read more: Japan eyes broader ties with Bangladesh under strategic partnership: Ambassador Kiminori
JENESYS Reporting Session 2022 held in Dhaka
Embassy of Japan held a reporting session for “JENESYS2022” participants at the ambassador’s residence in Dhaka on Monday (May 22, 2023).
JENESYS (Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths) is an initiative by the Government of Japan to promote people-to-people exchange programmes between Japan and the Asia-Pacific region, according to a press release.
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The programme started accepting Bangladeshi participants in 2015. Approximately 23,000 young people have participated in this programme in the Indo-Pacific region since then.
This year, 19 youths participated and visited Japan under two themes, namely, “Agriculture” and “Energy’’.
In Monday’s reporting session, the participants shared their experiences from their visits to Japan and exchanged opinions with government officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Energy, Power and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh, and with staff of Embassy of Japan, the release said.
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Ambassador Iwama hoped that this year’s JENESYS participants would reflect on their knowledge to promote mutual trust and lay the foundation for friendship and cooperation between Japan and Bangladesh, it added.
Leveraging Bangladesh's strategic location: Foreign Secretary highlights scope of trilateral partnership with India, Japan
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Wednesday underscored the potential of a trilateral partnership among Bangladesh, India and Japan -- leveraging Bangladesh's strategic location.
He said this partnership would focus on investment, market development, and enhanced connectivity, with India's growing economy and Japan's capital surplus playing crucial roles.
Speaking at a policy colloquium, the Foreign Secretary also urged Japan to expand its BIG-B initiative for regional prosperity and sustainable development.
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Iwama Kiminori emphasized the rising geopolitical significance of Bangladesh in the global context.
The policy colloquium titled ‘From the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal: New Possibilities in the Bangladesh, Japan, India Trilateral Partnership’ was held at the Syndicate Hall of North South University (NSU).
The event was organized by the university's Center for Peace Studies (CPS) of the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG).
The session was chaired by Professor Atiqul Islam, Vice-Chancellor of NSU.
Former Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque; Dr. Selim Raihan, Executive Director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM); Sabyasachi Dutta, Executive Director of Asian Confluence, India; and Dr. M Jashim Uddin, Associate Professor of Political Science and Sociology at NSU, also spoke at the event.
Dr. Selim Raihan observed that the Bangladesh, Japan, and India partnership could spur economic growth in Bangladesh through improved connectivity, trade efficiency, and infrastructure development.
Highlighting the importance of greater transparency, digitization of customs, and removing non-tariff barriers, Dr. Raihan suggested unrestricted foreign direct investment from Bangladesh to India to stimulate economic integration and industry growth.
Observing that India's northeast region (NER) is a crucial connector for Bangladesh with India and South and Southeast Asia, Dutta said that extensive connectivity in the region can foster a competitive business climate and stimulate regional trade and economic growth.
The colloquium also focused on the challenges that need to be overcome to ensure the success of the trilateral partnership, with a particular focus on border stabilization.
The historical links between Bangladesh and the North East Region (NER) of India and the role of Japan in rejuvenating these connections were also discussed.
During the open dialogue, panelists answered questions from students, faculty, and journalists, moderated by Professor Dr. Tawfique M. Haque, Director, CPS, and SIPG.
Professor Atiqul Islam hoped that the trilateral investment partnership would produce a positive impact for the entire region, encompassing India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan.
G-7 leaders likely to focus on the war in Ukraine and tensions in Asia at summit in Hiroshima
The symbolism will be palpable when leaders of the world's rich democracies sit down in Hiroshima, a city whose name evokes the tragedy of war, to tackle a host of challenges including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions in Asia.
The attention on the war in Europe comes just days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy completed a whirlwind trip to meet many of the Group of Seven leaders now heading to Japan for the summit starting Friday. That tour was aimed at adding to his country's weapons stockpile and building political support ahead of a widely anticipated counteroffensive to reclaim lands occupied by Moscow's forces.
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“Ukraine has driven this sense of common purpose” for the G-7, said Matthew P. Goodman, senior vice president for economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He said the new commitments Zelenskyy received just ahead of the summit could push members of the bloc to step up their support even further. “There’s a kind of peer pressure that develops in forums like this,” he explained.
G-7 leaders are also girding for the possibility of renewed conflict in Asia as relations with China deteriorate. They are increasingly concerned, among other things, about what they see as Beijing's growing assertiveness, and fear that China could could try to seize Taiwan by force, sparking a wider conflict. China claims the self-governing island as its own and regularly sends ships and warplanes near it.
Also Read: South Korea and Japan use G-7 to push improvement in ties long marked by animosity
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also hopes to highlight the risks of nuclear proliferation during the meeting in Hiroshima, the site of the world’s first atomic bombing.
The prospect of another nuclear attack has been crystalized by nearby North Korea’s nuclear program and spate of recent missile tests, and Russia's threats to use nuclear weapons in its war in Ukraine. China, meanwhile, is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal from an estimated 400 warheads today to 1,500 by 2035, according to Pentagon estimates.
Concerns about the strength of the global economy, rising prices and the debt limit crisis in the U.S. will be high on leaders' minds.
G-7 finance ministers and central bank chiefs meeting ahead of the summit pledged to enforce sanctions against Russia, tackle rising inflation, bolster financial systems and help countries burdened by heavy debts.
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The G-7 includes the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and Italy, as well as the European Union.
That group is also lavishing more attention on the needs of the Global South — a term to describe mostly developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America — and has invited countries ranging from South American powerhouse Brazil to the tiny Cook Islands in the South Pacific.
By broadening the conversation beyond the world's richest industrialized nations, the group hopes to strengthen political and economic ties while shoring up support for efforts to isolate Russia and stand up to China's assertiveness around the world, analysts say.
“Japan was shocked when scores of developing countries were reluctant to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine last year," said Mireya Solís, director of the Center for East Asian Policy Studies at The Brookings Institution. “Tokyo believes that this act of war by a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council is a direct threat to the foundations of the postwar international system.”
Getting a diverse set of countries to uphold principles like not changing borders by force advances Japan's foreign policy priorities, and makes good economic sense since their often unsustainable debt loads and rising prices for food and energy are a drag on the global economy, she continued.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be attending. His country, which is overtaking China as the world's most populous and sees itself as a rising superpower, is playing host to a meeting of the much broader group of G-20 leading economies later this year.
For host Kishida, this weekend's meeting is an opportunity to spotlight his country’s more robust foreign policy.
The Japanese prime minister made a surprise trip to Kyiv in March, making him the country's first postwar leader to travel to a war zone, a visit freighted with symbolism given Japan's pacifist constitution but one that he was under domestic pressure to take.
Another notable inclusion in Hiroshima is South Korea, a fellow U.S. ally that has rapidly drawn closer to its former colonial occupier Japan as their relations thawed in the face of shared regional security concerns.
U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to hold a separate three-way meeting with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts.
Sung-Yoon Lee, an East Asia expert at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, said that meeting sends a message to China, Russia and North Korea of “solidarity among the democracies in the region and their resolve to stand up to the increasingly threatening autocracies.”
Biden had been expected to make a historic stop in Papua New Guinea and then travel onward to Australia after the Hiroshima meeting, but he scrapped those latter two stops Tuesday to focus on the debt limit debate back in Washington.
The centerpiece of the Australia visit was a meeting of the Quad, a regional security grouping that the U.S. sees as a counterweight to China’s actions in the region. Beijing has criticized the group as an Asian version of the NATO military alliance.
The decision to host the G-7 in Hiroshima is no accident. Kishida, whose family is from the city, hopes the venue will underscore Japan's “commitment to world peace” and build momentum to “realize the ideal of a world without nuclear weapons,” he wrote on the online news site Japan Forward.
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people, then dropped a second on Nagasaki three days later, killing another 70,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, effectively ending World War II and decades of Japanese aggression in Asia.
The shell and skeletal dome of one of the riverside buildings that survived the Hiroshima blast are the focal point of the Peace Memorial Park, which leaders are expected to visit.
South Korea and Japan use G-7 to push improvement in ties long marked by animosity
Amid the high-level efforts to deal with a raft of global emergencies, this weekend's Group of 7 summit of rich democracies will also see an unusual diplomatic reconciliation as the leaders of Japan and South Korea look to continue mending ties that have been marked for years by animosity and bickering.
At first glance the two neighbors would seem to be natural partners. They are powerful, advanced democracies and staunch U.S. allies in a region beset with autocratic threats. The continuing fallout, however, from centuries of complicated, acrimonious history, culminating in the brutal 1910-1945 Japanese colonization of the Korean Peninsula, has resulted in more wariness than friendship.
Also Read: Japan leader expresses sympathy for Korean colonial victims
A big part of the sudden recent shift in tone is a shared focus on China's growing aggressiveness, t he threat of North Korea's fast-improving arsenal of nuclear-capable missiles — and deep worry about how Russia's war in Ukraine is influencing both issues. Some diplomatic nudging by Washington, which provides military protection for both its allies and wants them to more strongly counter China's rising global influence, has also helped.
Tokyo and Seoul “understand that their survival, both nationally and politically, depends on subordinating themselves to the U.S. President Joe Biden administration’s global and regional priorities,” according to Daniel Sneider, an East Asia lecturer at Stanford University.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's invitation for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to be a guest at the G-7 talks in Hiroshima is only the most recent sign of these reset ties. It follows back-to-back summits by the leaders, which hadn't happened in years. Japan also agreed to South Korea's request to send an experts’ team later this month to visit the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant to view preparation for a planned release into the ocean of treated but still slightly radioactive wastewater.
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The G-7 summit, which runs Friday through Sunday, will allow the leaders to deepen their burgeoning relationship — Kishida, Yoon and Biden plan to meet on the sidelines — while also working to persuade the world's most powerful leaders to tighten defense cooperation as China and North Korea expand their military postures in the region.
History issues have long harried Seoul and Tokyo. Ties worsened in 2018, for instance, after South Korean court rulings ordered two Japanese companies to compensate a group of Korean plaintiffs who the companies had used for wartime slave labor. Disagreement over the rulings later spilled over to trade and military cooperation issues. Japan insists all compensation issues were settled by a 1965 treaty that normalized relations.
Yoon’s summits with Kishida came after his government announced a domestically unpopular plan in March to use South Korean corporate funds to compensate the forced laborers. The move was aimed at preventing the courts from liquidizing the Japanese companies’ local assets, which would cause a further diplomatic rupture.
Kishida agreed to a resumption of defense, trade and other talks in his meetings with Yoon, and Japan recently announced that it is negotiating an agreement with Washington and Seoul on sharing real-time data on North Korean missile launches.
Seoul and Tokyo are both worried about the geopolitical uncertainty created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has raised fears about similar Chinese aggression in the South and East China Seas and against Taiwan, the democratic, self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. North Korea also used the global focus on the invasion to ramp up its tests of nuclear-capable missiles.
Japan is one of many nations in Asia that has territorial disputes with China, something that has strongly figured into Kishida's push to distance Japan from its post-World War II principle of self-defense only. Last year, Tokyo adopted a new national security strategy that includes the goals of acquiring preemptive strike capabilities and cruise missiles to counter threats from North Korea, China and Russia.
Alarmed by the growing North Korean threat — Pyongyang has test-launched around 100 missiles since the start of 2022 — Yoon may be using better relations with Japan as a way to forge a stronger alliance with the United States.
Yoon’s government has expanded its combined military exercises with the United States, which also included three-way drills with Japan, while seeking greater assurances from Washington that it would swiftly and decisively use its nuclear weapons to protect its allies in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack.
“There’s growing recognition (in both Tokyo and Seoul) that the region’s various security issues are becoming increasingly interconnected,” which is leading the countries to reassess their importance to each other, said Jin Chang Soo, an analyst at South Korea’s Sejong Institute.
During a recent meeting in Washington, Yoon and Biden agreed to a declaration that includes more nuclear information-sharing and regular visits to South Korea by a U.S. nuclear-powered sub.
The Biden administration may now be pushing for an extended deterrence dialogue among Washington, Seoul and Tokyo that “would convey a formidable response both to North Korea and to China, and even to a potential Chinese–Russian military axis,” Sneider recently wrote.
Hiroshima, the first target of a nuclear weapon in history, could provide a symbolic backdrop for Kishida and Yoon to raise awareness about the North Korean threat while underlining goals for nuclear non-proliferation.
In another trust-building gesture, Kishida and Yoon plan to pay their respects at a Hiroshima memorial for Korean atomic bomb victims.
Despite the improving ties, however, there's no certainty how long reconciliation will last.
After decades of poverty and dictatorship following the 1950-53 Korean War, South Korea has become a developed economic and military power. But there are large policy swings between conservative governments, like the one in power now, and liberal governments that are more wary of stronger ties with Japan and the United States.
And then there are the historical issues, including continuing court hearings on forced labor, which remain “buried like landmines, not far from the surface and ready to be set off,” Sneider said.
PM starts addressing media on her recent three-nation visit
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has started addressing a press conference on the outcome of her recent three-nation visit to Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom from April 25 to May 09, 2023.
The press conference began at 4:05pm on Monday at her official residence Ganabhaban here.
On April 25, Hasina left Dhaka for Tokyo on a four-day official visit to Japan on the first leg of her three-nation visit at the invitation of her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
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During her stay in Tokyo, the Bangladesh PM met Emperor of Japan Naruhito, held summit meeting with her Japanese counterpart Kishida Fumio.
She and her Japanese counterpart witnessed the exchange of eight instruments, mostly memorandums of cooperation signed between Dhaka and Tokyo to boost cooperation in the sectors of agriculture, metro-rail, industrial up-gradation, ship-recycling, customs matters, intellectual property, defense, ICT and cyber security.
She also attended an investment summit and a community reception as well as handed over the “Friends of Liberation War Honour” to two Japanese nationals for their special contribution to the Liberation War of Bangladesh.
Also Read: Bangladesh's next general election will be fair, PM Hasina tells UK
Besides, Hasina held meetings separately with Foreign Minister of Japan Yoshimasa Hayashi, President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Dr Tanaka Akihiko, Chairman of Japan-Bangladesh Committee for Commercial & Economic Cooperation (JBCCEC) Fumiya Kokubu, Chairman and CEO of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Ishiguro Norihiko and President of Japan-Bangladesh Parliamentary Friendship League (JBPFL) Taro Aso.
On April 28, the PM left Tokyo for Washington DC on a six-day official visit to the USA on the second leg of her three-nation tour in a bid to attend the celebration of the 50 years of partnership between the World Bank and Bangladesh.
Also Read: PM Hasina off to Tokyo on first leg of a two-week official visit to Japan, USA and UK
She attended a seminar titled "Reflection on 50 years of Bangladesh-World Bank Partnership" organized at the headquarters of the World Bank in Washington DC, USA on May 1.
In Washington DC, Sheikh Hasina also had meetings separately with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and President and CEO of US Chamber of Commerce Suzanne P. Clark.
Besides, she attended a high-level executive roundtable with the US business delegation and a community reception.
On May 04, the premier left Washington DC for London on a five-day official visit to the UK to attend the coronation of UK's King Charles III, hosted by Buckingham Palace on May 06.
Read More: PM attends coronation of King Charles III
In London, Hasina had interaction with King Charles III, and held a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Also Read: PM Hasina reaches Tokyo to begin four-day official visit to Japan
She also attended the Commonwealth Leaders Event, the King's reception for heads of states, governments and overseas representatives at Buckingham Palace in advance of the coronation of the King and the Queen Consort, and a community reception.
She had a meeting with and Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema there.
Also Read: PM returns home after 15-day foreign visit
Besides, PM Hasina had interactions with Presidents of Egypt and Rwanda, Prime Ministers of Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Gambia, Namibia and Uganda in the coronation programme of King Charles III.
Sheikh Hasina returned home on May 09.