ASIA / PACIFIC
Page 16 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
Japan’s foreign minister says
country to open to foreigners
Continued from page 3
workers, at times easing
such restrictions but then
re-imposing them during
economic
downturns.
Many Japanese are uncom-
fortable with outsiders who
might not speak their
language or conform to
expectations for how to
behave.
Still, there are millions of
foreigners living in Japan,
including those who work
in
technical
training-
related programs or labor-
short industries such as
restaurants, construction,
and elder care.
The
country
has
gradually been loosening
restrictions
to
enable
families to hire domestic
help. It also has short
programs to bring in
foreign
nurses
from
Indonesia
and
other
countries. But language
requirements have made
long-term employment in
such jobs difficult.
Kono cited sports stars
including tennis sensation
Naomi
Osaka,
the
daughter of a Japanese
mother and a Haitian
father, as an example of the
benefits
of
welcoming
q
outsiders. Osaka, who was
born in Japan but raised in
the United States, is being
lauded by Japanese as the
first from the country to
win a Grand Slam singles
tennis title.
“It’s good to have
diversity. It’s good to have
an open policy,” Kono said.
q
Korean boy bands,
soccer stars march
to different beats
Continued from page 3
Prime Minister Lee
Nak-yon also chaired a
cabinet committee to look
at reducing the period of
military service from 21
months to 18 and the size of
the army to 500,000, down
from 618,000. He also
instructed it to review the
system of exemption.
At the moment, however,
Son
Heung-min
is
preparing to head back to
the highest levels of world
soccer to continue his
career while the clock is
ticking for BTS.
September 17, 2018
X Japan hopes new album will
lead to elusive success in west
By Mari Yamaguchi
The Associated Press
OKYO — Legendary Japanese rock band X Japan
is hoping its new album will find success in the
U.S. now that there is more interest in the west in
music from Asia.
X Japan leader Yoshiki said America wasn’t ready for
Asian rock music when he moved there 25 years ago, but
now the people seem to enjoy pop and rock from Japanese,
South Korean, and Chinese artists.
“Of course I had a dream ... we wanted to be the biggest
rock stars in the world, but 25 years ago they were not
ready at all,” Yoshiki said at a Tokyo news conference. In
the U.S. map of rock and pop music, Asia didn’t exist, he
said.
“I’m going to contribute to changing the map of the
entertainment industry in the world,” said Yoshiki, who
uses one name.
The market is already changing. South Korean boy
band BTS and some other K-pop groups have already
achieved a following in the U.S.
“Finally, after all these years, if there is a wall in
between the east and the west, the wall has become much
thinner and smaller,” Yoshiki said.
After debuting in 1982, the group surged to stardom in
Japan, and even former Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi was a big fan. Their U.S. debut a decade later was
a disappointment in part because of the language barrier.
The group broke up in 1997 after its main vocalist, Toshi,
became influenced by a cult and left, and guitarist Hide
hung himself a year later. The group reunited in 2007
T
SUCCESS IN THE WEST? Japanese rock star Yoshiki is seen at a
press conference in Tokyo. Legendary Japanese rock band X Japan is
hoping its new album will find success in the U.S. now that there is more
interest in the west in music from Asia. X Japan leader Yoshiki said Amer-
ica wasn’t ready for Asian rock music when he moved there 25 years ago,
but now the people seem to enjoy pop and rock from Japanese, South
Korean, and Chinese artists. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
with Toshi and new members.
Yoshiki spoke at a news conference promoting the
band’s first studio album since Dahlia in 1996, as well as
upcoming concerts. No release date has been set for the
still-unnamed album, which took 10 years to complete.
“I’d like to compose music that lasts for a hundred years,”
like Mozart and Beethoven, Yoshiki said.
Cambodian
prime minister
says “let us fix our
own problems”
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) —
Cambodian Prime Minister
Hun Sen has slammed
criticism by outsiders of
political issues in the
Mekong region, saying it
should be left to solve its
own problems.
Speaking at a World
Economic Forum gathering
in Hanoi, Hun Sen heat-
edly defended Myanmar
against accusations its
security forces engaged in
genocide
against
its
Rohingya minority.
Hun Sen said other
countries do not under-
stand the problems that
Myanmar and its neigh-
bors face and should not
interfere or try to impose
conditions on them.
Cambodia’s
one-party
legislature has confirmed
Hun Sen for another five-
year term, cementing his
status as one of the world’s
longest-serving leaders.
The 66-year-old Hun Sen
has been in power for 33
years and declared before
the election that he
intended to serve two more
terms.
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