Aso, Obama chat in English on phone for 10 minutes

Thursday 29th January, 11:58 AM JST

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Apsara at 06:03 PM JST - 29th January

Aso speaks excellent English, although I'm not sure why that needed a mention in the title. he attended the London School of Economics, and is quite fluent.
PepinGalarga at 07:11 PM JST - 29th January

in this day and age of broadband video conferencing, they only talk on the phone? Body language and facial expressions are very important, in my experience.

that crap should have been done in "feelaround" (for the young'uns, that from the Kentucky Fried Movie)

They said that even from his new limo he can do video conferences. Perhaps he is using MSN messenger and the other guy is using Yahoo. haha
Patrick Smash at 07:46 PM JST - 29th January

Aso spent several years overseas, and does speak English well. He studied at Stanford, then LSE, and also worked in Sierra Leone for a couple of years. In English he even thinks slightly before he opens his mouth.
rajakumar at 10:00 PM JST - 29th January

I heard President Obama spoke near 30 minutes with PM Kevin rudd via his new high tech hacker free-mobile device, why only 10 minutes with PM Aso.
Betting at 10:15 PM JST - 29th January

Personally I think Obama couldn't wait to get off the phone as he probably had more important things to do.

And I've seen Aso speak English several times on tv, he can communicate but you'd have a hard time having a casual chat at the local pub with him (in English). He's not what I would call a fluent speaker.
space_monkey at 11:11 PM JST - 29th January

he probably called him Oba-man.
neverknow2 at 11:23 PM JST - 29th January

I wonder if Aso asked the questions that all Japanese people ask. IE: Can you eat Japanese food?

Can you drink Japanese sake?

Can you use Japanese chopsticks?
cwhite at 12:17 AM JST - 30th January

allow me to sell him a full blown Hi-end Polycom Video Conferencing System
30061015 at 12:33 AM JST - 30th January

Aso: Obama, you printing money? Obama: Yes, you hear that sound?.... our printing presses are going 24/7. ...And you?

Aso: No, just printing comic book. Yen goes up. We have special culure in Japan.
TokyoVP at 11:30 AM JST - 31st January

The Obama-Aso 10 minute chat:

Obama: Hello, Taro. We've got a real mess with the financial markets!

Aso: We Japanese want you to fix mess, nantonaku, for radiant happy Japan.

Aso: Our exports to America dropped 25%...bad for, nantonaku, Ginza!

Obama: Taro, I want to share an old story my Grand Mother taught me.

Obama: You see, Taro, there once was a golden goose.

Aso: America must fix market, Japan must export, nantonaku!

Obama: Taro, listen, this golden goose laid golden eggs, but then one day...
European1 at 11:32 PM JST - 1st February

This is funny in Japan, whoever can only speak a little bit English, this is first Headlines on JTV. He spooooouuukuu english. WOW!!! That`s great, but nothing special considering officials from other countries. Some tarento-chan spoke english and it was big news too. よかったね！！！
European1 at 11:34 PM JST - 1st February

wonder if Aso asked the questions that all Japanese people ask. IE: Can you eat Japanese food?

Can you drink Japanese sake?

Can you use Japanese chopsticks?

More common questions：

Do you like Japan ? (even if you have never been there) Do you like Japanese girls?

These are common questions when American celeb arrives at Narita
Nessie at 12:52 AM JST - 2nd February

For Aso it seemed like a rife time.
WilliB at 05:29 PM JST - 2nd February

Patrick Smash:

" In English he even thinks slightly before he opens his mouth. "

Then he should always speak English.
sf2k at 04:06 PM JST - 5th February

Must have been using phonecards for overseas again