Japanese authorities are investigating reports of phoned death threats against US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and another American envoy.
Calls were made last month to the US Embassy threatening to kill Kennedy and other ones targeted Alfred Magleby, the US consul general based on the southern island of Okinawa, an Okinawa police official said.
Media reports in Japan said the threats came from an English-speaking caller and that authorities were looking into the case on suspicion of blackmailing.
Tokyo police and US Embassy officials declined to comment.
State Department spokeswoman Pen Psaki said the US government takes threats to American diplomats seriously.
“We are working with the Japanese government to ensure the necessary measures are in place. We will not comment on the specific details of any threats or the steps we take to address them,” she said.
The reports surfaced on the same day that First Lady Michelle Obama arrived in Japan to kick off a five-day trip to Asia seeking to highlight the importance of girls’ education.
Former US President Bill Clinton also was in Japan on Wednesday. He delivered a speech alongside Kennedy and Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe – as they attended a symposium on the legacy of the ambassador’s father, assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
About half of the 50,000 US troops based in Japan are in Okinawa.
Some Japanese on Okinawa view the US military presence on the island as an occupation, USA Today reported. American bases cover about 20 percent of the island’s 465 square miles.
Earlier this month, Mark Lippert, the US ambassador to South Korea, was knifed in Seoul by an anti-US activist and was hospitalized for several days.
That attack sparked concerns about threats against US diplomats abroad and security precautions taken to protect ambassadors specifically. The State Department has said security for Lippert was adequate.
With Post Wire Services