Japan PM Takeshita heeded warning to avoid Yasukuni before 1988 China trip
In August 1988, the Japanese ambassador to China urged Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita not to visit the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, months before his trip to the country, declassified diplomatic records showed Wednesday. On March 1, 1988, Ambassador Toshijiro Nakajima briefed Takeshita for some 20 minutes ...
Gorbachev agreed to address islands dispute in 1988 with Nakasone: declassified records
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev acknowledged the need to resolve the dispute with Japan over the sovereignty of a group of islands off Hokkaido in a 1988 meeting, diplomatic records declassified Wednesday show. Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone elicited the response from Gorbachev when he ...
LDP statesman Yasuhiro Nakasone helped shape postwar Japan from the top down
Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who died at 101 on Nov. 29, will undoubtedly be remembered as a giant in Japan's political history. But before he became a political titan and Japan's fifth-longest-serving postwar prime minister, Nakasone was on the fringes of the nation's conservative ...
Should Tokyo cancel Xi's visit due to Hong Kong?
A patriotic but pragmatic prime minister like Yasuhiro Nakasone would never try to show Japan's displeasure by canceling Xi's upcoming state visit.
Trump sends condolences over death of ex-Japanese leader Yasuhiro Nakasone
U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday offered "deepest condolences" over the death earlier in the week of former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, saying he had laid the foundation for the U.S.-Japan partnership. "On behalf of the American people, Melania and I offer our deepest condolences ...
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sends condolences over death of Yasuhiro Nakasone
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev offered his condolences Friday on the death of Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, saying the latter had been determined to improve Japan-Soviet relations. Gorbachev, 88, said he became acquainted with Nakasone in 1985 and their friendship continued after the two leaders ...
Ex-PM Yasuhiro Nakasone nurtured ties with Beijing and Seoul but created a stink over Yasukuni
Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, a conservative politician who died Friday at the age of 101, is recognized in China as the leader who helped usher in a so-called honeymoon-like period in bilateral relations with Japan in the 1980s. In 1985, however, he made an ...
Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, a political titan who spanned eras, dies at 101
The enduring statesman, who bolstered the military alliance with the U.S. and privatized the Japanese National Railways, led Japan onto the world stage in the 1980s.
Ex-Prime Minister Nakasone makes call for amending Constitution as he celebrates 100th birthday
At 100, former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, a legendary figure in Japanese politics, expresses hopes that “serious efforts” will be made to amend the postwar Constitution.
Nakasone pitched trade with North Korea as part of 1980s appeal to China: declassified records
In 1986, then-Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone told Chinese government heavyweight Hu Yaobang that Japan was prepared to trade with North Korea, according to diplomatic records declassified Wednesday.
Israel's Peres sent 'secret envoy' to sound out Japan in 1985 on playing Mideast peace role
An Israeli-American political cartoonist secretly passed a request from Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres to Japanese counterpart Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1985 to get more involved in the Middle East peace process, according to Japanese diplomatic records declassified Wednesday. But Nakasone decided to turn down the ...
The art, and fallout, of the Japanese political gaffe
If there is one way you can count on Japanese politicians, it is their ability to make headlines by putting their foot in their mouth. Time and again, high-profile politicians and Cabinet ministers have placed their careers in jeopardy over slips of the tongue, misstatements ...
