Right-wing groups at Yasukuni Shrine on August 15

(Photo by Tokyo Reporter, August 15, 2011) Read more

Shinjuku: Right-wing rant

(Cartoon by Politicomix, December 6, 2010)

To see photos of right-wing groups protesting near Yasukuni Shrine, go here.

Right-wing protest in Shinjuku

(Photo by Tokyo Reporter, December 5, 2010) Read more

Assassin of Inejiro Asanuma remembered by right-wing groups on 50-year anniversary

TOKYO (TR) – Right-wing groups celebrated the assassination of socialist politician Inejiro Asanuma by holding a small ceremony to honor his killer, Otoya Yamaguchi, at Hibiya Park in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on Tuesday, the 50-year anniversary of the gruesome event.

Roughly 20 members of various right-wing organizations congregated in front of the Hibiya Public Hall just before 3:03 p.m, the time when the 17-year-old Yamaguchi, brandishing a sword, rushed the stage while Asanuma, head of the Japanese Socialist Party, spoke during a political debate prior to lower house elections. (Other reports indicate the attack actually took place at 3:05 p.m.)

Nationalists had at that time strongly opposed Asanuma, who criticized the Liberal Democratic Party and the United States, proclaiming the latter to be the common enemy of the Japanese and Chinese peoples during a speech in Beijing the year before. He also attempted to block a bill in the Diet that would establish the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between Japan and the U.S. Read more

Right-wing groups protest anti-Yasukuni Shrine march in Tokyo

(Photo by Tokyo Reporter, August 15, 2010) Read more

Right-wing groups protest over disputed Kuril Islands in Tokyo

(Photo by Tokyo Reporter, August 9, 2010) Read more

Right-wing groups at Yasukuni Shrine on August 15

(Photo by The Tokyo Reporter, August 15, 2009)

For a story on right-wing groups at Yasukuni Shrine, go here. For a story on the left-wing protesters, go here.

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Right-wing groups clash with police in Kudanshita

(Photo by The Tokyo Reporter, August 15, 2009)

For a story on right-wing groups at Yasukuni, go here. For a story on the left-wing protesters, go here.

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Left-wing group announces Yasukuni Shrine demonstration

TOKYO – The Anti-War Joint Action Committee will lead a one-hour protest near the grounds of the controversial Yasukuni Shrine on the morning of Friday, August 15th, the anniversary of the conclusion of World War II.

Organizers of the leftist group feel that they must counteract the activities of the uyoku dantai (right-wing groups) that are so prevalent in the shrine’s vicinity on that day.

“On the anniversary, the uyoku begin working from early in the morning,” said the committee’s representative, Misumi Tadashi in an exclusive interview with The Tokyo Reporter. “Not only around Yasukuni, but all throughout Tokyo, they blast their messages from speakers mounted atop their trucks. This is the most appropriate day of the year for them to appeal their existence to the public. The police cannot control them, and we cannot let them continue with these harsh activities. We have to do something.” Read more

The right thing: Yasukuni on the anniversary

TOKYO – On Wednesday, August 15, the anniversary of the conclusion of World War II, great debate will once again fall upon Yasukuni Shrine as embattled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decides whether to accommodate conservative pressures and follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, who during his administration repeatedly raised tensions with Japan’s Asian neighbors by visiting the historic rallying point for militarism. Read more

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