Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto sorry for insulting US in prostitute row
An outspoken Japanese politician apologised yesterday for saying US troops should patronise prostitutes as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during the second world war.
An outspoken Japanese politician apologised yesterday for saying US troops should patronise prostitutes as a way to reduce rapes, but defended another remark about Japan's use of sex slaves during the second world war.
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, co-head of an emerging nationalistic party, said his remarks rose from a "sense of crisis" about sexual assaults by US military personnel on Japanese civilians in Okinawa, where US troops are based.
"I understand that my remark could be construed as an insult to the US forces and to the American people" and was inappropriate, he said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Tokyo.
I understand that my remark could be construed as an insult to the US forces and to the American people
Hashimoto created uproar with comments two weeks ago about Japan's wartime and modern sexual services. They added to anger in neighbouring countries that suffered from Japan's wartime aggression and have complained about the lack of atonement for atrocities committed during that time.