Traveling together during GW…scoop photo! The Iraqi Ambassador to Japan and NHK’s female director are “hand-in-hand in intimate love”.
He is supposed to have a wife in his home country. ......
In the late afternoon of a sunny late April day, a pair of middle-aged men and women walked slowly up a slope in a residential area of Hiroo, Tokyo. They seemed to have their arms crossed, but then they quickly intertwined their hands with each other. The sweet time was passing by as the woman smiled at the words whispered in her ear by a foreign man with a deep holi …… Actually, these two are not just an international couple.
The man’s name is Abdul Kareem Kaab, 63. He is the ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to Japan, a post he took up in December 2009. He is an elite diplomat who has served as ambassador to Finland, Estonia, and Canada.
The woman, on the other hand, is a well-known figure in the media industry as a talented director.
She is in her 40s and works for NHK Global Media Services, a subsidiary of NHK. She is a specialist in investigative reporting, having worked on NHK Special and the news program Newsroom Tokyo.
The idea of an ambassador and a journalist falling in love sounds romantic, but the relationship between the two is more than just a romantic one. An acquaintance of the ambassador mentioned above reveals, “They met through Ms. H’s reporting.
A friend of the ambassador’s told us, “The two met through Ms. H’s reporting and became close around February of this year. However, Ambassador Kaab is supposed to have a wife who is a doctor in Iraq and a daughter.
Traveling Abroad Together
In addition to the opening scene, this magazine caught Mr. H staying at the Iraqi ambassador’s residence on multiple occasions from Sunday to Monday, often after the lights at the front door had gone out and the staff had left.
On one Monday morning, Ambassador Kaab drove an official car to take Ms. H to the Shibuya station, where she got out of the car and drove to the station in a familiar manner, and the Ambassador went straight to work at the Embassy.
Furthermore, just before Golden Week, the two were seen boarding an overseas-bound plane together from Narita Airport. It seems that they went on a trip together.
In Iraq, polygamy is allowed, but this is Japan. If the director of NHK is really having an affair with the ambassador to Japan, it seems like an international problem. …… What is the relationship between the two?
The ambassador is a friend.”
The magazine called Mr. H himself on his cell phone and requested an interview.
–We heard that you are close friends with Ambassador Kaab, but what is your relationship with him?
I have been interviewing him for a long time. It’s over now. ……”
–You have visited and stayed at the ambassador’s residence many times.
I have been allowed to visit not only the official residence but also the embassy many times. I have also been allowed to visit the official residence many times because important books are kept there.”
–You sometimes stay at the Iraqi ambassador’s residence together, don’t you?
Yes, we do. But there are also overnight guests (servants), so it is never just the two of us. Besides, (the ambassador) has a lot of friends in the provinces, and there are other people staying with him.
–So you are not in a relationship?
No, no, no, not at all. We are friends.”
–You were holding hands with them.
Yes. We are friends.
–The two of you left Narita together for an overseas trip. Was that part of the interview?
We did that separately.
–Were there other people accompanying you?
What is it about? Do I need to answer that?”
Mr. H ended up answering that his relationship with the ambassador was perfectly fine.
When we also interviewed the Iraqi Embassy in Japan to confirm the facts, we received the following main response in English.
The Ambassador’s ability to welcome and meet with anyone is part of his duties to Japan and is done within the framework of his diplomatic immunities and privileges. The Ambassador conducts many cultural activities and programs with the Japanese, all in accordance with the rules and procedures of diplomatic service. The Ambassador’s official residence is not a private place, but a meeting place for Japanese government officials, organizations, and dignitaries, and the official residence has guest rooms for visitors. The official residence has embassy staff, drivers, cooks, etc., and a housekeeper lives there.”
We asked NHK for an interview, but the reply was, “The staff member you mentioned is not an NHK employee, so we are not in a position to answer your question.
However, whether it is for his work as an ambassador or for his coverage as an NHK director, is staying overnight every day, traveling abroad together, and going out hand in hand really an appropriate relationship?
From the June 2, 2023 issue of FRIDAY
PHOTO： Keisuke Nishi (1st and 2nd photos) Ippei Hara (3rd photo)
