- Title: JAPAN: Japanese living in or visiting China return home.
- Date: 18th September 2012
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 18, 2012) EXTERIOR OF HANEDA AIRPORT INTERNATIONAL WING SIGN IN JAPANESE AND ENGLISH READING: "INTERNATIONAL" ARRIVAL LOBBY VARIOUS OF PASSENGERS ARRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) COMPANY EMPLOYEE, HISATO TAKASE, SAYING: "The situation on the ground in China is not so good and I was advised by the locals not to go out. I couldn't get any work done and I discussed with my company whether I should return. I flew there (Shanghai) yesterday and I hurried back today." 6 MORE OF PASSENGERS ARRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 37-YEAR-OLD COMPANY EMPLOYEE, YUKO KITAZAWA, SAYING: "I came back because I was ordered by the company to return to Japan as things were getting dangerous in the city." MORE OF PASSENGERS ARRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) COMPANY EMPLOYEE, SATOHIRO HAMA, SAYING: "You take steps where you don't go into crowds and don't speak Japanese in large crowds." ELECTRONIC ARRIVAL BOARD ELECTRONIC ARRIVAL BOARD IN JAPANESE AND ENGLISH READING: "SHANGHAI" (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 21-YEAR-OLD MALE STUDENT, NAHOMI MIYAMOTO, SAYING: "We didn't speak loudly in Japanese and we refrained from fully opening our guidebooks and we said we were Koreans when asked where we were from." ELECTRONIC SIGN BOARD IN JAPANESE, KOREAN AND ENGLISH READING: "BEIJING" (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 29-YEAR-OLD FIONA LIU, SAYING: "We have had 40 years of good relations and we have so much economic interaction, so I really hope this situation gets settled quickly." VARIOUS OF ARRIVAL HALL
- Embargoed: 3rd October 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA9KIQ4VHJ1WBVZ14DMZRW6QT8S
- Story Text: Japanese returning from China expressed concern at the worsening anti-Japanese sentiment in China on Tuesday (September 18) amid protests across China on the anniversary marking Japan's invasion of its neighbour.
"The situation on the ground in China is not so good and I was advised by the locals not to go out. I couldn't get any work done and I discussed with my company whether I should return. I flew there (Shanghai) yesterday and I hurried back today," said Tokyo resident Hisato Takase.
The dispute over the uninhabited group of islands known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China in the East China Sea, led to a day of anti-Japan protests which Japanese expatriates feared could peak later on Tuesday.
Japanese businesses shut hundreds of stores and plants across China and Japan's embassy in Beijing again came under siege by protesters hurling water bottles, waving Chinese flags, and chanting anti-Japan slogans evoking war-time enmity.
Well-known Japanese firms have been targeted by protesters, with car makers Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co halting some operations after attacks on their outlets.
"I came back this time because I was ordered by the company to return to Japan as things were getting dangerous in the city," said 37-year-old Yuko Kitazawa who has been living in Shanghai for nine years.
Some said they had to take precautions in order not to be targeted.
"You take steps where you don't go into crowds and don't speak Japanese in large crowds," said company employee Satohiro Hama.
"We didn't speak loudly in Japanese and we refrained from fully opening our guidebooks and we said we were Koreans when asked where we were from," said 21-year-old student Nahomi Miyamoto.
Japanese restaurants, a common target of protesters, barred their doors while many Japanese expatriates stayed home, afraid that Tuesday's anniversary of Japan's 1931 occupation of parts of mainland China could lead to outbreaks of violence.
China, the world's second-largest economy, and Japan, the third-largest, have total two-way trade of around $345 billion.
Twenty-nine-year-old Fiona Liu from Shanghai said that most of her friends, relatives and that the majority of the Chinese people want a peaceful solution.
"We have had 40 years of good relations and we have so much economic interaction so I really hope this situation gets settled quickly," said Fiona Liu.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, visiting China to promote stronger Sino-U.S. military ties, again called for calm and restraint. Washington has said it will not take sides, dispute, although it is a strong ally of Japan. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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