Japanese authorities are investigating reports of phoned death threats against US Ambassador

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.

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.

Source AP