TOKYO (TR) – As has become custom on the anniversary of Russia’s breach of the Treaty of Portsmouth, Japanese right-wing groups were out in force on Monday to protest the action in central Tokyo.
At an intersection in the Kamiyacho district of Minato Ward, members of multiple right-ring groups blasted vocal complaints through loudspeakers against the Russian Red Army’s violation of the pact, which declared neutrality between the two countries, and subsequent move south beyond the stipulated 50th parallel and into Japan on August 9, 1945.
With flags from the Imperial Japanese Army waving, the groups were slowly escorted through traffic blockades by police to the front of the Russian Embassy.
“This demonstration is to protest the violation of the treaty on the part of Russia,” said Giichi Mori, leader of the right-wing group Seido Resshi-kai, based in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward.
Seven days after the breach, the Potsdam Declaration ended World War II. The army, however, continued south, claiming territories, one of which included the Kuril Islands, located north of Hokkaido. Thousands of civilians were killed during the attacks.
The Russian movements stopped on August 22. However, 600,000 Japanese, mainly soldiers from Sakhalin and Manchuria, were subsequently shipped to labor camps in Siberia, where many perished.
Citing the deaths, Mori added, “That’s why we are here.”
(Photo by Tokyo Reporter, August 9, 2010)
(Photo by Tokyo Reporter, August 9, 2010)
(Photo by Tokyo Reporter, August 9, 2010)
(Photo by Tokyo Reporter, August 9, 2010)
(Photo by Tokyo Reporter, August 9, 2010)