Search｜Photos & Images & Videos｜KYODO NEWS IMAGES INC

Justice minister again airs cautious view on death penalty

TOKYO, Japan - New Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura speaks at a press conference at his ministry on Nov. 1. He expressed a cautious view on capital punishment, saying, ''I think in the bottom of my heart that it is unforgivable under any conditions to claim a life.''

E

New Justice Minister Sugiura retracts comments over executions

TOKYO, Japan - New Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura speaks at a press conference early on Nov. 1. He retracted his earlier comments that he would not sign any orders for executions. Immediately after he was appointed justice minister in Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet reshuffle, Sugiura, a licensed lawyer who once served as vice chairman of the Tokyo Dai-Ichi Bar Association, said he believes the social trend is for the eventual abolition of capital punishment.

E

Soga wants to visit U.S. with U.S. husband Jenkins

TOKYO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L), a former Japanese victim of North Korean abduction, meets Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura in Tokyo on May 12. She said she wanted to visit the United States with her husband Charles Jenkins as soon as possible.

E

(1)Gov't gets Soga's understanding on candidate reunion sites

SADO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L), a repatriated victim of abduction by North Korea, shakes hands with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura (R) in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, on May 30. Sugiura visited Sado for talks with Soga about candidate sites for her to meet her American husband and two daughters living in North Korea.

E

(2)Gov't gets Soga's understanding on candidate reunion sites

SADO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L, back), a repatriated victim of abduction by North Korea, meets Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura (L, front) and Cabinet Secretariat special adviser Kyoko Nakayama (2nd from L, front) in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, on May 30. Sugiura and Nakayama visited Sado to discuss candidate sites for her to meet her American husband and two daughters living in North Korea. (Pool photo)

E

Gov't panel to seek early reunion of Soga family

TOKYO, Japan - Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura (C, standing) speaks at a government panel on normalization of Japan-North Korea ties at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on May 26. The panel agreed to realize as soon as possible a reunion in a third country between repatriated Japanese abductee Hitomi Soga and her husband and two daughters in North Korea.

E

Kin of abductees meet deputy chief cabinet secretary

TOKYO, Japan - A group of families of Japanese abducted by North Korea meet Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura (L, standing) at a Tokyo hotel on May 18 ahead of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Pyongyang scheduled for May 22.

E

Japanese envoy meets with President Musharraf

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura (R), special envoy of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is in talks with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in Rawalpindi on Sept. 27.

E

Japan envoy meets Pakistani foreign minister

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura (R) meets Pakistan's Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar (L) in Islamabad on Sept. 26. Sugiura is expected to outline details of Japan's decision to provide Pakistan with 4.7 billion yen in emergency grant aid to help the country support the U.S.-led retaliation against the terrorists behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

E

S. Korean lawmakers protest Koizumi's Yasukuni visit

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura (3rd from R) receives a letter Aug. 16 in Tokyo from five South Korean lawmakers of ruling and opposition parties in which they protest Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's controversial Aug. 13 visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

E

Foreign Ministry bares reform proposals

TOKYO, Japan - Two Senior Vice-Foreign Ministers Seiken Sugiura (L) and Shigeo Uetake brief the media on internal reform proposals for the Foreign Ministry at a news conference June 6. The ministry compiled the proposals in the wake of a scandal in which a diplomat allegedly embezzled more than 260 million yen in government funds.

E

Tanaka pledges to overcome pending issues with China, S. Korea

TOKYO, Japan - Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka talks with Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura (L) in the Diet on May 17 before appearing before the House of Councillors foreign and defense affairs committee. At the committee session, Tanaka pledged to make efforts to resolve contentious issues with China and South Korea.

E

Soga wants to visit U.S. with U.S. husband Jenkins

TOKYO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L), a former Japanese victim of North Korean abduction, meets Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura in Tokyo on May 12. She said she wanted to visit the United States with her husband Charles Jenkins as soon as possible. (Kyodo)

E

New Justice Minister Sugiura retracts comments over executions

TOKYO, Japan - New Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura speaks at a press conference early on Nov. 1. He retracted his earlier comments that he would not sign any orders for executions. Immediately after he was appointed justice minister in Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet reshuffle, Sugiura, a licensed lawyer who once served as vice chairman of the Tokyo Dai-Ichi Bar Association, said he believes the social trend is for the eventual abolition of capital punishment. (Kyodo)

E

Justice minister again airs cautious view on death penalty

TOKYO, Japan - New Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura speaks at a press conference at his ministry on Nov. 1. He expressed a cautious view on capital punishment, saying, ''I think in the bottom of my heart that it is unforgivable under any conditions to claim a life.'' (Kyodo)

E

Japan envoy meets Pakistani foreign minister

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura (R) meets Pakistan's Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar (L) in Islamabad on Sept. 26. Sugiura is expected to outline details of Japan's decision to provide Pakistan with 4.7 billion yen in emergency grant aid to help the country support the U.S.-led retaliation against the terrorists behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

E

Gov't panel to seek early reunion of Soga family

TOKYO, Japan - Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura (C, standing) speaks at a government panel on normalization of Japan-North Korea ties at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on May 26. The panel agreed to realize as soon as possible a reunion in a third country between repatriated Japanese abductee Hitomi Soga and her husband and two daughters in North Korea. (Kyodo)

E

2 ex-justice ministers join anti-death penalty rally

Seiken Sugiura (L) and Hideo Hiraoka, both of whom previously served as justice minister, attend an anti-death penalty rally in Tokyo on Oct. 3, 2015, to appeal for the abolition of capital punishment. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

(2)Gov't gets Soga's understanding on candidate reunion sites

SADO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L, back), a repatriated victim of abduction by North Korea, meets Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura (L, front) and Cabinet Secretariat special adviser Kyoko Nakayama (2nd from L, front) in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, on May 30. Sugiura and Nakayama visited Sado to discuss candidate sites for her to meet her American husband and two daughters living in North Korea. (Pool photo)(Kyodo)

E

(1)Gov't gets Soga's understanding on candidate reunion sites

SADO, Japan - Hitomi Soga (L), a repatriated victim of abduction by North Korea, shakes hands with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura (R) in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, on May 30. Sugiura visited Sado for talks with Soga about candidate sites for her to meet her American husband and two daughters living in North Korea. (Kyodo)

E

Kin of abductees meet deputy chief cabinet secretary

TOKYO, Japan - A group of families of Japanese abducted by North Korea meet Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura (L, standing) at a Tokyo hotel on May 18 ahead of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Pyongyang scheduled for May 22. (Kyodo)

E

Japanese envoy meets with President Musharraf

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura (R), special envoy of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is in talks with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in Rawalpindi on Sept. 27.

E

Foreign Ministry bares reform proposals

TOKYO, Japan - Two Senior Vice-Foreign Ministers Seiken Sugiura (L) and Shigeo Uetake brief the media on internal reform proposals for the Foreign Ministry at a news conference June 6. The ministry compiled the proposals in the wake of a scandal in which a diplomat allegedly embezzled more than 260 million yen in government funds.

E

Tanaka pledges to overcome pending issues with China, S. Korea

TOKYO, Japan - Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka talks with Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura (L) in the Diet on May 17 before appearing before the House of Councillors foreign and defense affairs committee. At the committee session, Tanaka pledged to make efforts to resolve contentious issues with China and South Korea.