Reportage – 2006

Dalai Lama in Japan

TOKYO, Japan, 30 October 2006 — The Dalai Lama arrived in Japan on Monday for a 14-day visit at the invitation of a religious group in Hiroshima.

He will mostly stay in Hiroshima, which was razed to ground zero by the world's first nuclear attack in the closing days of World War II. He will be offering teachings and lectures, and attend a peace summit with fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Ms. Betty Williams of Northern Ireland.

There are no visible meetings by the Dalai Lama with Japanese officials on the card. China always accuses the Dalai Lama as a "splittist", and opposes any meetings by him with foreign dignitaries.

Only one sitting Japanese prime minister Zenko Suzuki has met the Dalai Lama in 1980.

He is expected to meet with Tibetans living in Japan on the last lap of his tour. According to the Liaison Office of the Dalai Lama in Tokyo, there are about 60 Tibetans living in the country.

It is the Dalai Lama's 10th visit to Japan. He first visited the country in 1967.