Osaka Mayor and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) leader Toru Hashimoto announced Tuesday evening that he is canceling the trip to San Francisco and New York he planned for next month.
Hashimoto cited the continued anger over his comment that Japan's wartime sexual servitude system was necessary at the time and his suggestion that the U.S. military in Okinawa should make more use of sex establishments.
"After listening to the opinions of those in the municipal assembly and others, I've directed that steps be taken toward cancellation of the trip, as there's no merit to going," Hashimoto told reporters in Osaka.