White House hosts Japan's Prime Minister Abe for State dinner

[Statistikhengst]

White House hosts Japan s Prime Minister Abe for State dinner - CNNPolitics.com

For the first time since 2011, the Obamas will host State Dinner guests indoors rather than in a tent on the South Lawn. The smaller venue means fewer guests -- around 200, half of the nearly 400 who attended last year's dinner honoring French President Francois Hollande -- but it also translates to a more intimate venue to build person-to-person ties between the U.S. and Japan.

"It's going to be a good and substantive and important visit," said Obama's Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, who noted it's coming 70 years after the conclusion of World War II, when the U.S. and Japan were bitter enemies.

Disputes from that era haven't disappeared completely. Japan is mired in a bitter feud with South Korea over what Korea claims is Abe's whitewashing of Japan's wartime behavior, including the imprisonment of sex slaves known as "comfort women."

Abe -- a conservative -- has suggested he won't repeat past prime ministers' public apologies for Japan's treatment of women during the war, and has enraged leaders in Seoul and Beijing by visiting a controversial war shrine in Tokyo that pays tribute to Japanese war dead, including war criminals.

Barack Obama honors Japan s Shinzo Abe with White House state dinner - POLITICO

Tomorrow night’s state dinner honoring visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will, not surprisingly, highlight the spring Washington tradition of cherry blossoms—originally a gift of friendship to DC from Japan—and will, surprisingly, mark the unveiling of the “Obama China.”

Following generations of tradition, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle will use for the first time their own presidential china, a new “Kailua Blue” inspired by the President’s Hawaii home, the White House announced Monday morning.

This White House hasn’t had all that many opportunities to show off its best plates: The Abe visit marks just the eighth official State Visit in the six years of the Obama administration.

THIS IS IMPORTANT, AND HISTORIC:

For Japan s Prime Minister U.S. Visit A Chance To Elevate Image The Two-Way NPR

Image is important to the Abe administration, and it'll be on display during this U.S. visit, says Shihoko Goto, an Asia specialist with the Woodrow Wilson Center.

"He's very charismatic ... he has a very charming wife and so she will be a great asset to him at the public events. ... The White House is really going out full force to roll out the red carpet for him," she says.

One of the first things the two allies will do is sign an updated defense agreement that, among other things, would allow for Japan to respond militarily should U.S. interests be attacked. That's important given concerns over North Korea's nuclear capability and China's rising military prowess.

Since World War II, Japan has had a pacifist constitution, which has constrained its military. Abe has been seeking to ease restrictions on the armed forces, Goto says.

"The neighborhood is becoming increasingly dangerous. And also the fact that the United States is overstretched and that Japan really does need to step up to the plate to ensure not only its own stability and security, but also the region's stability and security as well," she says.

The bolded, in green, is a major departure from the past. Following WWII and Japan's capitulation, an offensive military was forbidden in their constitution, just as it was forbidden in the German constitution. And Japan would only be allowed to defend itself, not send it's military elsewhere. This is about to change.


Interesting pairing The Japanese state dinner will feature a menu by an Iron Chef and music from Jersey Boys - The Washington Post

Masaharu Morimoto, best known as one of the Iron Chefs, will be guest starring in the White House kitchen for the night (the first couple are fans — they often dine at his eponymous restaurant, Morimoto Waikiki, when visiting the president’s childhood home). The menu for Tuesday night, spearheaded by Executive Chef Cris Comerford and Executive Pastry Chef Susan Morrison, spotlights “delicacies inspired by Japanese and American culinary traditions.”

So Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife, Akie Abe, have traveled more than 6,000 miles to dine on sashimi salad, bok choy from the first lady’s kitchen garden, bamboo shoots from Hawaii, and American Wagyu beef tenderloin. Tables will be set with the Obama’s brand new “Kailua Blue” china, and with both chopsticks and forks — no doubt to the relief of many a clumsy guest.

Following dinner, guests will be tapping their toes to the falsetto stylings of the cast of “Jersey Boys.” Dancing’s not on the program, alas — the dinner is being held inside the White House instead of in tents on the lawn, as in previous dinners, meaning there’s little room for 60’s-era sashaying.

Part of the plan for Japan PM Shinzo Abe's visit is here:

Japan State Dinner Press Preview and Spousal Program The White House

As part of the Official Visit, First Lady Michelle Obama and Mrs. Akie Abe, the wife of the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe will visit Great Falls Elementary School in Great Falls, VA.

During their visit, the First Lady and Mrs. Abe will tour a Japanese Immersion classroom, which is part of Fairfax Country Public School’s World Languages Immersion Program where elementary students learn math, science, and health through a foreign language. Following the classroom tour, the First Lady and Mrs. Abe will deliver brief remarks at a school-wide assembly and watch a performance of Taiko drummers and student vocalists. Following the visit, Great Falls Elementary will plant a Kwanzan cherry tree in their Japanese Garden in commemoration.

Great Falls Elementary has had a strong connection with the Abes that spans almost a decade. Over the years, the Abes have visited Great Falls Elementary in celebration of the Japanese Immersion Program and have personally welcomed their students during their annual 6th grade trip to Japan.

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This will be the 8th State Dinner held during the Obama presidency, after India (11/2009), Mexico (05/ 2010), China (01/2011), Germany (06/2011), Korea (10/2011), the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland (03/2012, and France (02/2014).


BTW, a good photo-montage of previous state dinners:

State Dinners at the White House The White House

 

[Geaux4it]

I find it hard to believe you actually put any effort toward a copy/paste fest here. Wow.... interesting tha you found this interesting

-Geaux