Japan’s deputy prime minister described the country as the only one in the world with a single race, language and 2,000-year-old monarchy, sparking criticism that he was ignoring an indigenous ethnic group and Japanese racial diversity. Taro Aso, who is also finance minister and one of most influential lawmakers in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, has made a series of remarks in the past deemed insensitive and discriminatory. “No other country but this one has lasted for as long as 2,000 years with one language, one ethnic group and one dynasty,” Aso said in a speech Monday.
