United States Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel recently called on Japanese lawmakers to pass a law banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Yet as Breitbart noted, some in the country aren't impressed with Emanuel's pressure tactics.     

Emanuel put out a tweet last week featuring a video montage of other ambassadors demanding that Japanese lawmakers pass the bill.

Ambassador says Japanese should "pay attention" to their "closest friends"

"When my closest friends give me the same advice, I pay attention," the Biden administration figure declared ominously.

"Fifteen foreign missions in [Tokyo] have each lent their singular voice to a common message: we support universal human rights for all, we support [LGBTQI+] communities, and we oppose discrimination," he stated.

When my closest friends give me the same advice, I pay attention. Fifteen foreign missions in #Tokyo have each lent their singular voice to a common message: we support universal human rights for all, we support #LGBTQI+ communities, and we oppose discrimination. pic.twitter.com/PzLizE4gFx

— ラーム・エマニュエル駐日米国大使 (@USAmbJapan) May 12, 2023

"For dignity over discrimination. For liberty over limitation. And for inclusion over intolerance," Emanuel in the video said after his fellow diplomats had finished speaking.

"With all the challenges that we all face from the implications of climate change, wars, civil strife, hunger, the last thing that should occupy our energy is two people who love each other and want to build a life together," the ambassador insisted.

Japanese conservative accuses Emanuel of trying to "colonize us"

However, Breitbart noted that Emanuel's lecture was not well received by some in Japan, including Japanese conservative commentator Yoko Ishii.

"He shouldn’t interfere in Japan’s domestic affairs, especially with the legislation that is not even passed in his own country. What gives him the right to control us? Is he trying to culturally colonize us?" Ishii was quoted as telling Breitbart.

"Many of us Japanese are already sick and tired of the interference in domestic affairs by Ambassador Emanuel," he continued.

"This is making us distrust the U.S. This is making us want to stay away from the U.S. I don’t understand how he doesn’t see what he’s causing as a result of his stubborn ideology and ego," Ishii complained.

Pro-gay group says there is relatively little hostility to homosexuality in Japan

"Japanese conservatives attach great importance to the Japan-U.S. alliance. So I don’t want to criticize the U.S. too much, but Ambassador Emanuel’s actions are clearly wrong," he stressed.

Ishii went on to say that this "interference" in internal Japanese politics "is being carried out based on Ambassador Emanuel’s personal ideology."

Breitbart noted that although Japan has not legalized same-sex marriage, it is ranked by the pro-gay group Equaldex as exhibiting relatively little hostility toward homosexuality.