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2/ Many social media users are filling in the blanks and guessing: one of the trending terms on Twitter in Japan is "Unification Church" - the name of a religious organization founded in Korea that had its Nara branch at the station where Abe was shot.
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The BBC has aired a documentary about Johnny Kitagawa, showing "how denial and media silence allowed Japan's most powerful pop music mogul to exploit teenage boys for decades." bbc.com/news/world-asi…
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Video of about 60 members of Yamato Q, a Japanese offshoot of the QAnon movement, marching today in Tokyo. Waving Trump flags, they shouted out anti-vaccine conspiracy claims about health officials and political higher-ups all faking their vaccinations.🤡 twitter.com/fujiwara_g1/st…
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A #JapanPolitics thread (Part 2): The assassination of former Prime Minister Abe has led to greater attention to the controversial relationship between conservative Japanese politicians and the Unification Church. Let's look at what is being reported...
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Japan's Health Ministry will be classifying certain acts that force children to participate in religious activities as child abuse (for example, telling them they will burn in hell if they don't believe/participate): japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/polit…
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30/ A quote from the suspect: "I targeted Abe because he's friendly with the Unification Church" 「統一教会と安倍が親しいので狙った。」Also a quote from the suspect stating that the motive was "not political." This makes no sense because Abe's ties to the church were political.
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15/ On January 6, 2021 I filmed a "Stop the Steal" march in Tokyo. Organizers and participants in such marches were associated with several new religious organizations - including Falun Gong, Happy Science, and the Sanctuary Church. twitter.com/mrjeffu/status…
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Here is a video of a Tyrannosaurus race that took place on a beach in Okinawa yesterday. Over 100 T-Rexes participated. #ティラノサウルスレース
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Time to stop hiding the truth, mainstream Japanese media: the Washington Post has confirmed the suspect's mother is a member of the Unification Church. (I was interviewed for this article.) twitter.com/mrjeffu/status…
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A lot of Japanese apartment buildings have emergency evacuation ladders on their balconies, but very people have ever seen one used. Here is an NHK news video demonstrating the proper technique:
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5/ As this photo from a magazine article shows, Abe had ties to a sizable list of religious organizations. Like many democracies around the world, Japan is a country in which conservative religious groups support conservative politicians. twitter.com/B4Btv/status/1…
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University of Chicago Press is going to publish a new Ramseyer book in November. From the official description it sounds like he will be blaming Korean, Okinawan, and Burakumin rights activists for the discrimination that exists against those groups in Japanese society.
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Here is a slightly higher quality clip from NHK, which includes the police tackling the suspect.
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Today is day two of Super Comic City 30, a doujinshi convention in Tokyo where fans of various anime and manga series buy and sell fan fiction comics. Many of the works are BL manga, which cater to a primarily female audience. This is the line for the ladies' room! twitter.com/Md0ri_/status/…
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More photos of the alleged shooter. One shows what looks like a gun in his hands, but the image quality is quite poor.
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NTV discusses the Japanese government's request that Time Magazine change its headline stating that Kishida wants to make Japan a "military power." They then show that Japan is, in fact, a military power (and soon to be #3 in defense spending).
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The Asahi Shimbun is running a photo that shows Abe soon after the shooting. Blood is visible on his shirt. asahi.com/articles/photo…
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Interesting Posters of the 2022 Japan Upper House Election- a thread - Over the course of the next couple weeks, I will share what I find to be the most unique, cool, and/or strange candidate posters. First up: the "Nuclear Fusion Party" guy running in Tokyo!
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Somebody made a game where you play as Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko and have to run/fly around a city, scolding people who aren't following social distancing rules. #COVID19 #Japan #Tokyo #gaming twitter.com/motulo/status/…
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20/ As @NathanielMSmith has noted, if the suspect was a member of the Sanctuary Church, his possession of a gun makes more sense. According to this 2018 Vice News report, its members "believe they need guns to build God's Kingdom on Earth." youtube.com/watch?v=ArfGyo…
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16/ An article from Shūkan Bunshun dropped more details: the suspect's mother was a member of a religious group, but he left it to join a sect that was in conflict with the original group. No names, but it sounds like it could be the Sanctuary Church. twitter.com/NathanielMSmit…
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When Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina, the next day was declared a national holiday. No such luck following Japan's victory over Germany. Everyone has to go to work today. The phrase "supposed to be a holiday" (祝日のはず) is trending in the sports category on Twitter Japan.
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It's about time. More people need to pay attention to the importance of religious groups in Japan. This time the Unification Church is in the news, but it is hardly the only religious organization that participates in Japan's political system. twitter.com/UnseenJapanSit…
PhD. Special Lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies. Japan's Politics/Nationalist Activism/History Disputes/Pop Culture. RT/Likes ≠ endorsements