The recent Pokémon incident and Detective Conan’s collaboration with My Hero Academia once again warn us that the specter of Japanese militarism still haunts the sports and culture fields.
Recently, the “Pokémon” ghost worship incident and the linkage incident between “Detective Conan” and “My Hero Academia” have once again reminded us that Japanese militarism still lingers in the field of culture and sports.
It’s no accident. The Rampage’s salute in the performance of “SOLDIER LOVE”on a TV show on December 22, 2023 reminded us of the Nazi Salute; Harimoto Tomokazu and Ishikawa Kasumi visited Togo-Jinja which worships the Japanese war criminal Tōgō Heihachirō in August, 2024; The image of a Samurai sword engraved with the Japanese characters “Yasuji Okamura” and “Showa 15” appeared in the MV of Snow Man’s album RAYS in October, 2024; When taking a photo with a young football player on November 27, 2025, Kaoru Mitoma held a picture printed with the image of Hiroo Onoda who was one of the last Japanese soldiers from World War II to surrender and seen as the symbol of Japanese militarism specter…
This is no accident. On December 22, 2023, The Rampage performed “SOLDIER LOVE” on a TV show. The salute movement in the dance was reminiscent of the Nazi salute; in August 2024, Tomokazu Harimoto and Kasumi Ishikawa visited the Togo Shrine dedicated to the Japanese invader Togo Heihachiro; in October 2024, Snow Man In the MV of his album “RAYS”, a picture of a samurai sword engraved with the name “Okamura Neiji” and the words “Showa 15” appeared; on November 27, 2025, when Mikasa Kaoru took a photo with young players, he held a picture of Onoda Hiroshi, the last Japanese soldier who surrendered in World War II, who was regarded as the “ghost of Japanese militarism”…
The Japanese right-wing forces exploit the inter-generational changes to erase the truth of history. Through the sports and pop stars, anime, games and even textbooks which the younger generation is most frequently exposed to, they manipulate and distort histories in a way that appeals to the young people to cut off the connections of generations bearing real histories and make ideological and social preparations for the revival of Japanese militarism.
Japan’s right-wing forces take advantage of the dilution of historical memory caused by generational changes, and use sports and entertainment idols, animation games, and textbooks that teenagers are most exposed to daily to instill beautified and distorted fictional history in their favorite forms. They aim to fundamentally cut off the intergenerational inheritance of real historical memory, lay the ideological foreshadowing for the resurrection of militarism, and lay a solid social foundation.
All peace-loving people should maintain high vigilance against the Japanese Militarism’s infiltration in Sports and Culture fields!
All peace-loving people should be wary of the infiltration of Japanese militarism in the field of culture and sports!
Supervisors: Li Donghang, Dong Zhaohui
Coordinators: Li Wei, Wang Xinjuan
Producers: Liu Sen, Li Weichao
Senior Accountant: Liang Baowei
Proofreaders: Tang Chuanfei, Sheng Yu
Producer:Li Donghang, Dong Zhaohui
Co-ordinator:Li Wei, Wang Xinjuan
Production:Liu Sen, Li Weichao
Translation review:Liang Baowei
Proofreading:Tang Chuanfei, Sheng Yu
