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Shinagawa station in Tokyo right now (8:25am). Japan declared a national emergency yesterday. It's much less crowded than usual, but clearly a lot of people are not teleworking. #COVID19 #japan 緊急事態宣言
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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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A clip of what it sounded like when Japan's national broadcaster was faced with the impossible task of providing simultaneous interpretation for today's American presidential debate. #Debates2020 twitter.com/mi2_yes/status…
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There's a pro-Trump #StopTheSteaI march happening in Tokyo right now. Quite a few people chanting "God Bless Trump" and anti-China slogans.
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A pro-Trump #StopTheSteal march is being held right now in Tokyo. Hours before the #January6th march takes place in America, these people are holding their own event supporting the claim that Trump actually won the 2020 election.
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The March is quite large. Hundreds of people are carrying flags and very professional looking banners.
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A second clip of more #StopTheSteaI protesters in this march. They are chanting anti CCP and anti media slogans in Japanese and English.
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Here is a third clip. Police have divided the march into sections so that traffic can pass. Each group has a loudspeaker and many flags and banners. #January6th #tokyo #Japan
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The fourth group of Japanese #StopTheSteaI protesters. I overheard one guy claiming that police divided the march into groups of 500 people, but I was too busy filming to count.
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This tweet has blown up overnight, with a lot of really bad takes in response to it. Just to clarify: several hundred people marching in Tokyo does not mean that this is a mainstream view in Japan. Also, this march is not endorsed by Japan's conservative government. twitter.com/mrjeffu/status…
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My book has been released! Japan’s Nationalist Right in the Internet Age: Online Media and Grassroots Conservative Activism -routledge.com/Japans-Nationa… Also on Amazon: amazon.com/gp/product/B08… #Japan #japanpolitics @routledgebooks
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This is absolutely insane: a wild bear is on the loose in Sapporo, and there's actually footage of it forcing its way into a Japan Self-Defense Force's military base. youtube.com/watch?v=rTHEaj…
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I have seen a lot of accounts spreading this fake news story. These beds were 1) designed before COVID-19 with recyclability in mind and 2) can stand up to 200kg (440lbs) of weight. mainichi.jp/english/articl… twitter.com/aravosis/statu…
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A few years ago a Japanese idol group apologized for Nazi-inspired costumes. This Osaka host club appears to be going full-out Nazi. It will be interesting to see how the owners react to the international shock and anger that will be coming in the next few days. twitter.com/MikiDezaki/sta…
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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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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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NHK is reporting that Abe Shinzo was apparently shot in the chest while delivering a campaign speech in Nara. A reporter is saying they heard 2 gunshot sounds and saw him fall over, bleeding from his chest. He has been taken away in an ambulance.
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NHK is now reporting that Abe is in a state of "cardiac arrest" (心肺停止). This is usually how the Japanese press reports a person's death. After doctors at a hospital declare a person to be dead, the press reports will change to state that the person in question died.
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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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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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The alleged shooter's name has been released: Yamagami Tetsuya (山上徹也). From witness reports of smoke and the weird appearance of his firearm, it looks like some kind of homemade weapon.
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More reports about the assassin's motivations, with more vague wording about a "certain group" (特定の団体) that he hated and associated with Abe. This is even more vague than earlier reports that suggested it was a religious group. 1/ twitter.com/ura5ch3wo/stat…
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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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3/ The Unification Church has members in many countries, including Japan, and has supported conservative political causes. It is no secret that Abe Shinzo, Donald Trump, and other politicians have been friendly towards the church. (images from a 2021 Unification Church event)
PhD. Special Lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies. Japan's Politics/Nationalist Activism/History Disputes/Pop Culture. RT/Likes ≠ endorsements