On Saturday, Sen. John Sidney McCain III passed away. U.S. mainstream media, whether liberal or conservative, carried feature articles or broadcast special programs over the weekend to pay tribute to this great American statesman from Arizona. McCain was always original and unusual in many ways.
The news coverage in Tokyo was not as extensive as in the United States. Japanese media reported "John McCain, a heavyweight but straight-talking maverick senator from the ruling Republican Party, didn't hesitate to criticize Donald Trump, the U.S. president of his own party." Naturally, for most Japanese, John McCain was not always a hero.
Having said that, there are many people in Tokyo who remember McCain as a special friend of Japan. I am one of them. My heart was broken when I learned of his passing, because I was probably one of a few Japanese who had the honor to chat with him, almost one on one, during his last visit to Tokyo five years ago.