FACT CHECK: Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe did not visit Davao City’s ‘Little Tokyo’ in 2017

The claims of several local publications and some social media pages that the slain former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Barangay Mintal, known as Davao City’s “Little Tokyo,” in 2017 were false.

Between July 8 to 11, SunStar Davao, Superbalita Davao and 91.5 Brigada News FM Davao posted on their Facebook accounts similarly worded tributes to the deceased Abe, who was assassinated earlier this month in Japan. 

The SunStar Davao post said: “REMEMBERING PM ABE’S VISIT IN DAVAO Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Davao City in January 2017. His visit aimed to strengthen relations between Japan and the Philippines. Abe was the first head of government to visit the country under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte. He was also the highest-ranking foreign official to visit Davao, which is home to a large Japanese community, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. During his visit, he also paid a courtesy visit to Duterte. Abe also visited Mintal, known as “Little Tokyo” as it is the site of former Japanese settlers in the city [emphasis ours]. On July 8, 2022, the former Japanese leader died after being shot during a campaign speech.”

Some Facebook pages, including Tamaraw News, also posted the false information.

However, it was the former Prime Minister’s wife Akie Abe who visited Mintal to pay her country’s respects at the Japanese cemetery.

Akie’s visit to the cemetery was documented by the Japanese government’s Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) and was covered by visiting media.

The visit of Akie to Mintal was also documented in this MindaNews article in 2017 and by other media outfits.

The local government declared Barangay Mintal a Japanese heritage site in 2009. 

While Akie was in Mintal, Shinzo was not. He was at the opposite side of the city eating durian with former President Rodrigo Duterte and adopting a Philippine eagle at the Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao, after seeing for himself President Duterte’s home, including the Philippine leader’s bedroom with a ‘kulambo’ (mosquito net). 

Even the Sangguniang Kabataan of Barangay Mintal also made a mistake that Shinzo Abe visited their village in its statement about the passing of the former Japanese Prime Minister. 

As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories. (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)

(This fact-check piece was produced with the support of Internews’ Philippine Fact-Checker Incubator Project.)