Posted: 12:19 am EDT
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Via US Embassy Tokyo
“The American Embassy offers its continued sympathy and support for the victims of the 3.11 Triple Disaster, and is pleased and proud to contribute to the Flowers Will Bloom project. Here, staff from our consular section offer their version of the Flowers Will Bloom, highlighted by photos of Ambassador Kennedy’s visits to Tohoku in 2013 and 2014.”
The triple disaster of the earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear plant breakdown struck Japan on March 11, 2011.
Embassy Tokyo and USCG Okinawa are currently in the front pages due to media reports that both Ambassador Kennedy and Consul General Alfred Magleb had been the objects of death threats in telephone calls last month. We don’t know why the news are just showing up now.
The Consular Section in Naha serves a large number of American military personnel and their families stationed on Okinawa. According to the Consulate General, its staff includes a 10-person consular team looking after Americans in need of passports (over 5,000 per year), reports of birth abroad (well above 1,000 annually), and other U.S. citizen services.
According to a 2014 CRS report, the Japanese archipelago serves as the most significant forward-operating platform for the U.S. military in the region; approximately 53,000 military personnel (39,000 onshore and 14,000 afloat in nearby waters), 43,000 dependents, and 5,000 Department of Defense civilian employees live in Japan. It also notes that about 25% of all facilities used by U.S. Forces Japan and about half of the U.S. military personnel are located in Okinawa, which comprises less than 1% of Japan’s total land area.
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