Homeless Woman Injures Consul General of Japan in Portland, Ore.

By Kayo Goto / Yomiuri Shimbun correspondent

14:08 JST, July 19, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Yuzo Yoshioka, the consul general of Japan in Portland, Ore., in the United States, was pushed by a homeless person and sustained a head injury on a street last month, it has been revealed.

Yoshioka was sent to a hospital but suffered only minor injuries.

According to local newspapers, Yoshioka was walking on the street on June 17 when he was suddenly pushed and hit his head on the ground.

Local police arrested a 23-year-old homeless woman in connection with the incident. The woman is suspected of targeting Asians indiscriminately and has been indicted for assault and hate crime.

Yoshioka joined the Foreign Ministry in 1983 and assumed the position of consul general in Portland in March.