Japanese Hotel CEO Pens Anti-Semitic Article For In-House Magazine
(JTA) — The inhouse magazine for guests of a Japanese hotel chain contained an article with anti-Semitic statements written by the chain’s CEO.
An article by Toshio Motoya of the APA Group in the February edition of Apple Town, the magazine for guests staying at the chain’s Canadian hotels, says that “Jewish people control American information, finance, and laws, and they benefit greatly from globalization because they move their massive profits to tax havens so they don’t have to pay any taxes,” according to reports.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver complained about the article, the French news agency AFP reported.
“It is very unfortunate that my writings gave you an erroneous impression that I hold anti-Semitic beliefs,” Motoya reportedly responded.
It “is not an apology,” the hotel told AFP on Wednesday in response to questions. “It was issued to resolve the misunderstanding because [Motoya] was being stigmatized as an anti-Semite.”
The essay has been removed from the website of the company. Its Canadian hotels are known by the Coast Hotel brand.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO