The top or most interesting stories from Japan for January 30
– At 7:00pm Japan time, there still appeared to be no new news on the hostage crisis. With still no proof that the Jordanian pilot, Mu’ath al-Kaseabeh was still alive, the Jordanian government refused to go ahead with the deal.
The Japanese Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida told reporters there was no new info despite it being half a day since the rejected sunset deadline. (The Japan Times, AP, The Japan News)
– An international affairs analyst believes, depending on how the Japanese government handles the crisis, Japanese tourists may be more at risk of kidnapping.
– Middle East expert and journalist, Robert Fisk has weighed in on the hostage crisis, arguing this is simply another move by ISIS to gain recognition as an authentic sovereign power.
– Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to “correct” Japan’s image after seeing a textbook released by a US publisher, which contains descriptions of sex slaves used by Japanese soldiers during World War II, also known as ‘comfort women’.
The Japanese government recently asked the publisher, McGraw-Hill Education, to ‘correct’ its passages on comfort women saying they “conflict with our nation’s stance on the issue of “comfort women”.
The wrap is back on Monday.
To stay up to date on any developments regarding the hostage crisis, The Japan Times has set up a special feed here.
Twitter users, I’d recommend following Reuter‘s Mari Saito (@ReutersMariS), TV journalist Emily Finch (@Winipig), NHK’s Kimberly Gale (@kimberlygale) or The Times‘ Richard Lloyd Parry (@dicklp).
