TIME Magazine, Online Edition Title Change
'Military Power' → 'Resolute Japan'
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reportedly made remarks in an interview with American media suggesting he intends to "militarize Japan," prompting the Japanese government to lodge a protest.
On the 12th (local time), Japan's Kyodo News reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised objections to the American weekly magazine Time, stating that "the headline and content differ."
The controversy arose from an article published on Time's online edition on the 9th. The article's headline originally read, "Prime Minister Kishida abandons decades of pacifism to make Japan a true military power," but after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' objection, it was changed to "Prime Minister Kishida aims to create a more assertive Japan."
Regarding this, the media quoted a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official as saying, "We did not request a correction from Time, but pointed out that the headline and article content were too different." It is understood that the headline change was Time's decision.
A Time magazine cover featuring a full-front photo of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. [Image source=Time website]
However, the revised headline applies only to the online version. According to Kyodo News, the phrase "Prime Minister Kishida abandons decades of pacifism to make Japan a true military power" remains in the printed Time magazine.
Earlier, Time conducted an exclusive interview with Prime Minister Kishida on the 28th of last month and published the related article online on the 9th. On the 12th, the print edition featuring a photo of Prime Minister Kishida will be released.
In this interview, Prime Minister Kishida revealed that he was deeply shocked after personally visiting Bucha, Ukraine, where a civilian massacre occurred in March. He also remarked that it resembled the atomic bombing tragedy experienced by Hiroshima, Japan.
He shared with Time that he has relatives who were actual atomic bomb victims and that he grew up hearing stories about the tragedy since childhood. Kishida emphasized, "Nuclear war was a shock to me," and added, "I want the G7 leaders to understand the true fear lurking amid Russian President Vladimir Putin's repeated nuclear war threats."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kishida is scheduled to host the G7 summit in Hiroshima from the 19th to the 21st of this month. Hiroshima is the ancestral home of the Kishida family and also the Prime Minister's electoral district. Kishida entered politics by inheriting the Hiroshima constituency from his father.
Time predicted that the focus of the Hiroshima G7 summit will not only be the Ukraine war but also a strategic move to elicit active responses from European powers regarding geopolitical issues in Asia, such as China's threats to Taiwan.
Additionally, Time introduced that although Prime Minister Kishida projects a moderate image unlike his predecessors, he also actively pursues strengthening the Japan Self-Defense Forces' armament and constitutional revision.
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