Showing posts with label Kaiser Akihito. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kaiser Akihito. Show all posts
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Minutes before Emperor Akihito made his first-ever television address to his people, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK instructed its editors to cut into the speech if important news on the unfolding nuclear crisis broke.
In a country where the Emperor is treated with a reverence verging on the worshipful, both the public speech and the orders to show discourtesy to it if need be illustrate just how deep the cultural impact of Japan's earthquake and tsunami has been.
Dressed in a dark suit, and seated against a backdrop designed to evoke the appearance of a traditional paper screens, Emperor Akihito spoke in mannered but modern Japanese – not the formal courtly language which is incomprehensible to many of the country’s residents.
He expressed hope that the nuclear crisis would be resolved, and that lives could be saved. “I hope things will take a turn for the better,” Japan’s monarch said.
Akihito’s nuclear-crisis speech has a grim historical precedent. In 1945, it fell to his father, Hirohito, to announce to Japan’s people its surrender to the allies. He attributed the surrender, among other things, to “a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives.”
The Emperor was referring to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed up to 246,000 people, the dawn of the nuclear age. (+ video) » | Praveen Swami, Diplomatic Editor | Wednesday, March 16, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Japan earthquake: live »
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Wenn der Kaiser spricht, steht es wirklich schlecht: Am Mittwoch hat sich Kaiser Akihito zum ersten Mal in der Geschichte mit einer Fernsehansprache an das japanische Volk gewandt. Damit müsste allen klar sein, wie dramatisch die Lage ist. Bloß nicht den Oppositionsparteien: Sie streiten und spinnen Intrigen, als wäre nichts geschehen. » | Von Petra Kolonko, Seoul | Mittwoch, 16. März 2011
THE NEW YORK TIMES: TOKYO — Emperor Akihito of Japan, in a rare televised address to the nation, on Wednesday expressed his concern for the survivors of the tsunami and thanked the rescue teams working under difficult conditions in the north.
Akihito also said that he was “deeply worried” about the ongoing nuclear crisis at several stricken reactors. The address was the first taped video message by a Japanese emperor.
The remarks were the first public comments from Akihito, 77, since the earthquake and tsunami struck northern Japan last Friday, and underscored the urgency of multiple crises confronting the country.
A huge rescue and relief operation continued as hundreds of thousands of people prepared to spend a sixth night in temporary shelters amid freezing temperatures. » | Mark McDonald and Kevin Drew | Wednesday, March 16, 2011
THE STAR ONLINE: » | Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro, Writing by Linda Sieg; Eding by Nick Macfie | Wednesday, March 16, 2011
FAZ.NET: Kaiser Akihito ist „zutiefst besorgt“: Die Lage im havarierten Kernkraftwerk Fukushima in Japan ist außer Kontrolle. Erstmals äußerte sich der japanische Kaiser: Er sei „zutiefst besorgt“, die Lage sei „unvorhersehbar“, sagte er bei einer Fernsehansprache. Im Großraum Tokio wächst die Sorge vor einer radioaktiven Wolke. » | FAZ.NET | Mittwoch, 16. März 2011
Sunday, November 22, 2009
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Even his allies feel let down by the president’s lack of progress both in Asia and at home
Gazing serenely from the Great Wall of China last week, President Barack Obama appeared to be making the most of one of the supreme perks of White House occupancy — a private guided tour of Asia’s most spectacular tourist destination.
White House aides exulted that perfectly choreographed pictures of this moment would make front pages around the world. Yet an experience Obama declared to be “magical” turned sour as he returned home to a spreading domestic revolt that is fanning Democratic unease.
It was not just that the US media have suddenly turned a lot more sceptical about a president with grand ambitions to reshape politics at home and abroad — even one previously friendly newspaper noted dismissively: “Obama goes to China, brings home a T-shirt.”
Nor was the steady decline in the president’s approval ratings — which fell below 50% for the first time in a Gallup poll last week — the main cause of White House angst. Obama remains more popular than either Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton a year after their elections, and both presidents eventually cruised to second terms.
The real problem may be Obama’s friends — or rather, those among his formerly most enthusiastic supporters who are now having second thoughts.
The doubters are suddenly stretching across a broad section of the Democratic party’s natural constituency. They include black congressional leaders upset by the sluggish economy; women and Hispanics appalled by concessions made to Republicans on healthcare; anti-war liberals depressed by the debate over troops for Afghanistan; and growing numbers of blue-collar workers who are continuing to lose their jobs and homes.
Obama’s Asian adventure perceptibly increased the murmurings of dissent when he returned to Washington last week, having failed to wring any public concessions from China on any major issue.
For most Americans, the most talked-about moment of the trip was not the Great Wall visit but his low bow to Emperor Akihito of Japan, which the president’s right-wing critics assailed as “a spineless blunder” and excessively deferential. >>> Tony Allen-Mills in New York | Sunday, November 22, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
CANADA.COM: WASHINGTON - News photos of President Barack Obama bowing to Japan's emperor have incensed critics here, who said the U.S. leader should stand tall when representing America overseas.
Obama on Monday was in China, having wrapped up the Japan leg of his Asia trip two days earlier. But Washington's punditocracy was still weighing whether or not the U.S. president had disgraced his country two days earlier by having taken a deep bow at the waist while meeting Japan's Emperor Akihito.
Political talk shows have played and replayed the moment from the second day of Obama's week-long Asia tour, which set the blogosphere on fire and chat show tongues wagging.
"I don't know why President Obama thought that was appropriate. Maybe he thought it would play well in Japan. But it's not appropriate for an American president to bow to a foreign one," said conservative pundit William Kristol speaking on the Fox News Sunday program, adding that the gesture bespoke a United States that has become weak and overly-deferential under Obama.
Another conservative voice, Bill Bennett, said on CNN's "State of the Union" program: "It's ugly. I don't want to see it."
"We don't defer to emperors. We don't defer to kings or emperors. The president of the United States -- this coupled with so many apologies from the United States -- is just another thing," said Bennett.
Some conservative critics juxtaposed the image of Obama with one of former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney, who greeted the emperor in 2007 with a firm handshake but no bow.
"I'll bet if you look at pictures of world leaders over 20 years meeting the emperor in Japan, they don't bow," Kristol said.
Some said the gesture was particularly grating coming after Obama's bow to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at a G20 meeting in April. >>> Stephanie Griffiths, AFP | Monday, November 16, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama has bowed to the Emperor of Japan and revealed his childhood affection for green tea icecream as he pushes stronger US ties with Asia.
There was talk of green tea ice cream, memories of a childhood visit to Japan and even a reference to the remote fishing town Obama as the US President set out his vision for US relations with Asia in a keynote speech.
He later bowed deeply to Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, upon arrival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo for a private lunch before he headed to Singapore on the next leg of his Asian tour.
Beneath the signature charm and rhetoric, President Barack Obama's message was clear: the US fully intends to deepen dialogue with China and pursue greater cooperation with countries across Asia.
Speaking before 1,500 people in a central Tokyo concert hall on the second day of his whistlestop tour of Asia, Mr Obama also pledged his "unshakeable" commitment to Asian security and insisted that the US would not be "cowed" by North Korea's nuclear tests.
Calling himself "America's first Pacific President" during a 40-minute address, Mr Obama said: "I want every American to know that we have a stake in the future of this region, because what happens here has a direct effect on our lives at home.
"This is where we engage in much of our commerce and buy many of our goods. And this is where we can export more of our own products and create jobs back home in the process."
The president reaffirmed the alliance between Japan and the US, which spans nearly five decades and has recently been overshadowed by a dispute over the relocation of American troops in the southern Okinawa region, and their continued presence in Japan overall. >>> Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo | Saturday, November 14, 2009
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
NZZ Online: Tausende von Menschen haben in Tokio den japanischen Kaiser Akihito zu seinem 75. Geburtstag gratuliert. Der Kaiser zeigte sich an der Seite von Kaiserin Michiko auf dem verglasten Balkon des Palastes.
(dpa) Auch seine Schwiegertochter, Kronprinzessin Masako, die sich von einer langen stressbedingten Erkrankung erholt, zeigte sich gemeinsam mit ihrem Mann, Kronprinz Naruhito, sowie Prinz Akishino und dessen Frau Prinzessin Kiko.
Er habe seinem Volk in jüngster Zeit Sorgen wegen seiner Gesundheit bereitet, doch glaube er, dass er sich allmählich erhole, rief der Kaiser der fähnchenschwenkenden Besuchermenge zu. Der Monarch musste wegen Anzeichen einer Erkältung einige der Feierlichkeiten zu seinem 75. Geburtstag absagen. >>> | Dienstag, 23. Dezember 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch und Gebundene Ausgabe) – Versandkostenfrei innerhalb der Schweiz >>>
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