<figure id="attachment_415413" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-415413" style="width: 3390px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d2bd1442"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/02/7487e25ebd94dc9ba1a04ef09d83a5cf.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-415413" class="wp-caption-text">Foreign Minister Iwaya addressing a plenary session</figcaption></figure>
<h2> The name of his predecessor remains the same&#8230;</h2>
<p> The &#8220;February 15, Reiwa 2025&#8221; entry on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website states that Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (67), who is visiting Munich, Germany, exchanged views with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the &#8220;Exchange of Views between Foreign Ministers of Japan and the United States.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The two foreign ministers followed up on the recent Japan-U.S. summit meeting. Minister Iwaya stated that based on the outcome of the Japan-U.S. Summit Meeting, he would like to implement the Japan-U.S. &#8220;2+2&#8221; as soon as possible. The two foreign ministers also confirmed that they will communicate closely to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. economic relationship. In this context, Minister Iwaya made a request regarding tariff measures by the U.S. government.</span></p>
<p> The post also includes a photo of Secretary Rubio with a hot look over Mr. Iwaya&#8217;s back.</p>
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<p> Meanwhile, Secretary Rubio&#8217;s schedule for the same day on &#8220;THE DAILY PUBLIC SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE&#8221; on the U.S. State Department website reads as follows</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Secretary Rubio meets with Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko and Republic Korea Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul in Munich,Germany.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_415445" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-415445" style="width: 1080px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d5ffcb89"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/02/f3c30d6def7fb6133d5bc68e8b9c61fd.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-415445" class="wp-caption-text"> Secretary Rubio&#8217;s schedule. Erratum in the third line from the bottom (now corrected).</figcaption></figure>
<p> The Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul is correct, but the Japanese Foreign Minister is written as follows.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko.</span></p>
<p> Yoko Kamikawa, 71, was Minister of Foreign Affairs until October 2, 1949, under the Kishida administration. The mistake is made even though Iwaya attended President Trump&#8217;s swearing-in ceremony on January 20 and met with Secretary Rubio the following day.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The name was mistaken for &#8220;Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi&#8221; (note: the name has now been corrected to &#8220;Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi&#8221;). Even if they are knowledgeable about national security, there is no one who can take charge of diplomacy. This may have some influence on him.</span></p>
<p> Political scientist Yukiko Amakawa said, &#8220;Prime Minister Ishiba has been a longtime supporter of diplomacy.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Prime Minister Ishiba has been in the &#8220;opposition&#8221; position in the party for many years, and although he won his fifth presidential election to become prime minister and president, none of his close associates, including Ryosei Akazawa, 64, minister in charge of economic revitalization, have held important government or party positions. There are those who have served as ministers, but most of them, including Itsuke Onodera, 64, chairman of the policy research council, Gen Nakatani, 67, defense minister, and Iwaya, 67, have served as defense ministers, and none of them have experience in diplomacy. That is probably why they are not well known in Washington,&#8221; said Amakawa.</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Meeting with Dangerous Persons"></div>
<figure id="attachment_415414" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-415414" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ade79359"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/02/0d150fe25b40f0dbf4dd954702df233e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-415414" class="wp-caption-text">Foreign Minister Iwaya Meets Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Armitage</figcaption></figure>
<h2> A Fatal Mistake in His Visit to the U.S.</h2>
<p> While Mr. Iwaya is a man of open-mindedness, he is not good at laying the groundwork. During his visit to China in December last year, he announced a number of relaxation measures, including the establishment of a new &#8220;multiple-entry tourist visa&#8221; that would be valid for 10 years, without any prior consultation, which drew criticism from within the party.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The party&#8217;s Foreign Affairs Subcommittee, the Foreign Affairs Research Council, and the Policy Research Council would have been able to provide even a brief explanation, but instead they suddenly announced the easing measures without any consultation at all. It was criticized as if he looked down on the party&#8217;s subcommittees.&#8221; (A member of the former Abe faction, a four-time member of the Diet)</span></p>
<p> During his visit to the U.S. in January, Mr. Amakawa pointed out, &#8220;He met with people he was not supposed to meet.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Perhaps to show off his own personal connections, Mr. Iwaya met with Richard Armitage, who served as Deputy Secretary of State under the Bush administration. Armitage was known as a pro-Japanese official under the Koizumi administration a quarter of a century ago, but he has since made pro-Korean statements about the comfort women issue, saying that it is &#8216;not an acceptable issue,&#8217; perhaps because he has received support from South Korean companies. He continues to make disparaging remarks about President Trump, and is floating around even within the Republican Party.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Armitage is now considered &#8220;persona non grata&#8221; by President Trump. From the Trump administration&#8217;s point of view, a meeting between Armitage and Japan&#8217;s foreign minister would only make them uncomfortable. If you were familiar with diplomacy, you would have known of Mr. Armitage&#8217;s change of heart. &#8230;&#8230;&#8221;</span></p>
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<p> Is it too much to assume that the U.S. side &#8220;dared to misstate the name of Mr. Armitage&#8221; in response to the fact that Mr. Iwaya is not a diplomat?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> No, no, no. Japan&#8217;s importance to the U.S. is simply low. President Trump is engaged in an ongoing war of nerves with Europe over his policy toward Russia. Japan is a loyal pawn in his war against Russia. I think that Japan&#8217;s true intention of not giving a damn about the foreign minister of such a country has been exposed.</span></p>
<p> Mr. Ishiba&#8217;s theory should have been &#8220;independence from the U.S., not subservience to the U.S. In order to achieve independence from the U.S., he should start by having the foreign minister&#8217;s name properly remembered.</p>
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 Daisuke Iwasaki

 Takeshi Kinugawa (1st photo) Kyodo News (2nd photo)

 On February 15, Foreign Minister Tsuyoshi Iwaya exchanged views with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. However, a look at the U.S. State Department website reveals an unbelievable mistake - a mistake that has been posted on the website.

U.S. meeting record shows &#8220;Foreign Minister Uekawa&#8221;&#8230;Foreign Minister Iwaya faces serious trouble of &#8220;not being remembered by the U.S.&#8221;.

U.S. meeting record shows “Foreign Minister Uekawa”…Foreign Minister Iwaya faces serious trouble of “not being remembered by the U.S.”.

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