Latest news with #Fujisaki
5 days ago
- Politics
INTERVIEW: Ex-Japan Envoy Calls for Avoiding Trump's Isolation at G-7
News from Japan Society Jun 11, 2025 08:30 (JST) Tokyo, June 11 (Jiji Press)--Former Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki has highlighted the importance of maintaining the Group of Seven framework, in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump's reluctance on global cooperation. Fujisaki was speaking in an interview ahead of a three-day G-7 summit in Canada from Sunday, the first such meeting for Trump since he began his second term in January. "The (G-7) summit is like a regular medical checkup to assess whether the global democracy and market economy systems are functioning properly, so maintaining this framework is paramount," said Fujisaki, currently head of the America-Japan Society. As the Trump administration does not respect multilateralism, Fujisaki warned that the president may start saying that his country will no longer participate in the G-7 summit. "Japan and European members (of the G-7) should avoid teaming up and making Trump feel isolated," the former ambassador stressed. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
The Mainichi
06-06-2025
- General
- The Mainichi
News in Easy English: Polar bear twin cubs meet public at Sendai zoo
SENDAI -- Twin polar bear cubs born at Yagiyama Zoological Park last December met news reporters on May 28. The cubs met zoo visitors for the first time on June 2. At the zoo, the cubs played happily together and stayed close to their mother, Paula. Paula and Kai, both 20 years old, are the cubs' parents. The zoo wanted them to have babies for a long time. Paula had other babies in the past, but sadly they died. The twins were born on Dec. 20, 2024, and now weigh about 30 kilograms each. Head trainer Fumitoshi Miura said, "I'm really glad they are doing well." Visitors can see the twin cubs from 9:15 a.m. to 11 a.m. on zoo open days. People can line up until 10:30 a.m., but on very busy days the zoo might close the line sooner. Zoo visitors can also help choose names for the cubs. They can vote at the zoo's visitor center and at Fujisaki department store from June 2 to June 17. (Japanese original by Hiroyuki Yamanaka, Matsuyama Bureau) Vocabulary cub: the baby of a bear, lion, and some other animals polar bear: a big white bear that lives in cold places trainer: a person who takes care of animals at the zoo visitor center: a building in a zoo or park with information for visitors department store: a large store that sells many different things
Japan Times
25-02-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Ex-Japan envoy concerned over Trump's foreign aid cuts
New York – Former Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki has shown concern that China may expand its influence over developing countries if U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign aid cuts leads to a decrease in Washington's assistance to the Global South. In such a situation, "Japan and European countries will face the need to respond either by encouraging the United States to restart its aid or by shouldering the burden of assistance to some extent," Fujisaki said in a recent interview. After taking office in January, Trump signed an executive order stipulating that the United States would not spend on foreign assistance programs that are not consistent with the president's diplomatic policy. The U.S. State Department announced a temporary suspension of foreign aid through the department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Ichiro Fujisaki | Jiji The United States is the world's leading provider of foreign aid, contributing huge funds to developing countries to help them implement measures against global warming and other issues. "It can be problematic if the support that has been made to prevent the gap between developed and developing countries from expanding stagnates," Fujisaki said. Although China is facing an economic slowdown and is seen as having little capacity for foreign support, Fujisaki expressed concern about future developments as China has strengthened its international influence through loans and investments in the Global South. In the interview, Fujisaki also discussed Trump's diplomatic style of advocating for tariff hikes and pressuring other countries to make concessions. "Overturning a system that took 80 years to build since the end of the war should not happen," he said, noting the history of the World Trade Organization and others promoting free trade, which has also been beneficial for Japan.
