265 copies of Anne Frank's diary vandalized in Tokyo libraries

Futher proof that ignorance and vandalism know no borders or bounderies.

Sinister and worrying.

The diary that Anne wrote and bequeathed to the world reveals a gift for expression in writing and mature philosophy seldom found to a youngster of her age. I find this very deplorable.

Mar 044

The very nature of the Japense people alone don't fit with petty vandalism or hate.

Funniest thing I've seen all day, thanks for the laugh.

When I was a teenager I worked at a public library.

I was pretty shocked that Anne Frank's diary was a "by request" book - we kept it behind the counter and if you wanted it you had to ask. They had replaced a couple dozen copies before they decided to move it to safety. That's in Canada, by the way.

By the handwriting it seemed to be one person with mental issues as opposed to a group of people with mental issues. Looking at the photos of the damaged books in this story, I'm tempted to say that it's one person with mental issues responsible.

What a sickening thing to have done. I really hope these acts are not part of a bigger agenda. Anne's diary is something every child around the world should read.

@ JoeBigs - you really need to let that bizarre obsession with "communist China" go,you seem consumed by China in every post.

The publisher of the magazine “Marco Polo” discontinued its publication and fired its editor.

That editor's name was Kazuyoshi Hanada. He was not fired but reassigned to a broom closet in the company's basement and ordered to read history books. About 9 or 10 months later he got the message and resigned and was hired by the Asahi Shimbun to edit a woman's magazine called UNO. He is currently a media commentator and editor of the monthly right-wing magazine "WiLL." Not surprisingly, he's also on personal terms with PM Abe.

No security cameras at the public libraries in Tokyo?

JoeBiggs: "To appease your hatred of Japan and it's people..."

Okay, so hang on a sec. First you suggest it may have been someone who is angry at the appeal for UNESCO WH status for the kamikaze letters (so they for whatever reason tore up books about a victim of the Holocaust?!?), and now you claim I hate Japan by suggesting it was some crazed idiot? If anything I am pointing out that this is the work of one or a few sick people, not a reflection of society -- proof again of your very bizarre assumptions and comparions.

Mar44: "I just can't see a Japanese person doing it,"

Why? And to say Japanese aren't capable of hate is ludicrous. I could give you hundreds upon hundreds of examples, but jerseyboy gave a couple of examples that are general enough to prove the point.

"if anything this seems like something else, maybe outside infulance, but I have no proof but just talking about facts."

So you have no 'proof' but are speaking of 'facts'. Interesting.

The fact is this was done IN Japan, at numerous places around Tokyo, so it's pretty safe to assume it's someone who is anti-Semetic and/or mentally imbalanced. I doubt anyone would see most of society as doing this kind of thing at all, which is the same reason why you cannot say ALL society is devoid of hate/vandalism (saw police around a smashed vending machine this morning, by the way!). It makes absolutely no sense to suggest someone who hates Japan would come (or live) here and rip up copies of The Diary of Ann Frank. Rip up the kamikaze letters Joe mentioned? Sure! Burn a Japanese flag? Absolutely. But come to Japan and take the time to go from library to library to rip up the aforementioned book? Makes no sense.

I think it's important to not jump to to conclusions and link this to a media-manufactured purported "move to the right" by Japan. There could very well be an agenda of trying to make Japan look bad by doing this.

Absolutely despicable and very worrying indeed.

Sad to hear this but the good thing is that it is easily re-printed, and this won't affect reading a digital copy in the slightest. If this was done by anyone who was intentionally trying to deny the holocaust, they can't destroy the truth since its quite hard to find every source of it.

Why would some people do this!?

Anne Frank was a good and loving person!

the very nature of the Japense people alone don't fit with petty vandalism or hate.

Mar044 -- really? What parallel universe version of Japan do you know? Why don't you tell your rosy version of Japanese people incapable of hate to the Korean kids who's schools were protested against? Or how about the movie theatre owners who were threatened with violence for showing certain movies? Please, open your eyes.

Just took a look at the news, whoever did this is getting quite a lot of international press.

Hopefully the cops are reviewing security cameras and that kind of thing, because there's going to be a lot of pressure for official comment on this. Lots of people looking to paint Abe as a nazi right now, and this is just fuel for the fire.

Please, look up what "all we know" means. As I stated before, my comment was a possibility and not a fact.

JoeBigs -- I know what "for all we know means" without looking it up. I know it is a clever/semantic way of trying to throw a red-herring into an otherwise intelligent discussion that has absolutely no basis in fact -- as you admit by using the word "possibility". But, to your point "for all we know" it could have been the tooth fairy. In fact I think that is just as realistic a possiblity as the "communists" you are pointing the finger at.

From what I saw on TV, some of those libraries had monitoring TV cameras posted at various places. Hopefully they picked up the guy(s) who did this sinister thing.

Hopefully they'll find a very sick person who has been mutilating the books. If it is a group of people, the problem is more serious than having a sicko doing it.

Hope someone is found ...

Before jumping to any conclusion it is better to actually find out who done it and then find out why.

JoeBigs. Without "jumping to any conclusions" it can pretty much be categorically stated that the crimes were committed by Japanese citizens, since over 98% of the residents of Japan are in fact Japanese. And, respectfully, the why is just as obvious because the crime is so wide-spread. Some group of individuals is trying to systematically remove the account of the horrible persecution of young Jews by the Germans from Japan.

“Only people imbued with bigotry and hatred would seek to destroy Anne’s historic words of courage, hope and love in the face of impending doom,” Cooper added. “We are calling on Japanese authorities to step up efforts to identify and deal with the perpetrators of this hate campaign.”

Mr. Cooper is spot on in his conclusion, but simply expressing wishful thinking in his hope Japanese authorities will try to identify the perpetrators.

@tinawatanabe -- Who's Sugiura? Do you mean SugiHARA Chiune? If that's the one you mean, he was a consul (in Kaunas, Lithuania), not an ambassador.

JoeBigs FEB. 22, 2014 - 12:52PM JST Imperial Japan is no more, it fell apart after WWII. Japan today is nothing like Japan of 70 years ago. Now, if you have proof that this vandalism was done by Abe or one of his staff, please by all means show the proof.

And no one said Abe or one of his staff is responsible. Get some reading comprehensibility before you make an accusation.

Odd question, why did you bring up Korea into this topic? Do you believe that it has any relations to this story?

That's just funny and contradictory from someone that's trying to shift the blame to the communist China. Well done for destroying your own credibility.

Disgusting. This is a hate crime, but since Japan doesn't have that classification it'll be recorded as just another crime and the sick individual(s) will receive a ridiculously light punishment.

It could be a Japanese nutter doing this in Japanese libraries but it could be any nutter from XYZ country too, right? Anne Franke is great, A MUST READ folks!

Agree with Zichi. This is a hate crime, which isn't a crime in Japan. It is also destruction of public property, which is a crime. My sixth sense tells me that more than one person was involved, given the breath of the damage in so short a time. But this is all i will venture at this time.

Off topic, a bit. Kobe is an oasis of multicultural acceptance, though it is far from perfect. For a while I taught close to the Mosque. Coincidentally, the call for prayers in Arabic began just as my class started. A few students said that the call scared them. I explained what it was and said that it was not unlike the public announcements they heard all day in Japanese. Once they understood, they were perfectly at ease with the call for prayers from then on. If only mitigating prejudice was that easy. If it were, Anne Frank might be with today, perhaps as a mature author.

A disturbing act of vandalism but I see no connection with Japan's so-called "move to the right"--especially since that move seems to exist mostly among a handful of politicians and the media. There has always been a fringe "global Jewish conspiracy" faction among Japan's more deluded academics, but again, I don't see what an act like this would buy them except condemnation. Likely not the work of an organized hate group...

JoeBiggs: "For all we knows this could be a case of some activist protesting the City of Minami Kyushu's registration with UNESCO for their Kamikaze letters."

Ummm... yeah... Joe... a person angry about the submission of the kamikaze letters to UNESCO is going to go rip up copies of a diary written by a Holocaust victim. Makes TOTAL sense, Joe!

This is the first of anti-Semitism I've seen in Japan (in terms of vandalism, I mean), and rather than Joe's off-the-wall idea that it might be someone who actually akins the kamikaze letters being registered to the diary of a Nazi death camp guard, I don't think it's coincidental this happens when you have people like Aso talking about how Japan should emulate certain Nazi actions (and the blowback from it).

This is the result of sick nationalism, and IF they put in the manpower to find who did it (and if the books were signed out it would not be hard) there will be very, very little punishment. The person(s) will get SOME punishment, but that will be because of 'seken wo sawagaseru', not because of what they did.

@Elbuda Yes. If there is anything salvaged from from this very disturbing event, it could be that it focuses attention on a book every person should read.

Japanese admire Anne Frank and Jewish people. My best friend in America was Jewish, and he said his ancestor was saved by a Japanese ambassador Sugiura. That's how I learned about Sugiura.

Damaging 265 books isn't that difficult. As to why, I couldn't imagine. It is quite unfortunate that the books are one of most inspiring books in literature. Thankfully they were only copies and can be replaced.

This is certainly not your regular act of vandalism, but a very disturbing one... whoever did this knows that books can be replaced, so I'm guessing it was made to make a statement of some sort. It will be interesting to see if anyone claims they did it or at least reveals an anonymous message explaining the motive.

@Joebigs: I can respect your opinion. Although IF there was a link to the UNESCO thing, I would think it would be right wing extremists in Japan who want the Kamikaze letters approved for the world register, and they carried out this childish act out of spite because the letters have not been approved and Anne Frank diaries are currently included in the register.

Very disturbing story

Could be just a very disturbed person.

This happened across Tokyo.... 2 or 3 organized people could easily hit these libraries and target Anne Frank's Diaries. I don't think this is some large scale movement. I think it is a small group of college kids that realize actions like this could stir up a hornets nest. If it was not 2 or 3 people then it was a larger group that would have required more coordinated communications.... communications that probably have been recorded and are awaiting a key word query. They will be caught.

That's incredibly shameful

This was a big story on the ABC evening news in the states Fri. evening. We always wonder "why" and will more than likely never know. An utter shame !

Whoever did this may have successfully raised awareness of the book. Maybe some people will read it who may not have otherwise. By the way, it's only $1 in iBooks.

Another nutter.

It apparently was NOT someone who had too much snow to shovel and who had access to moving trains to get around the five wards! One high school I know did a whole unit study in English with this book and had a speaker visit the Japanese students two years ago. Very sad indeed. Her book will prevail. It is stronger than hate! Don't worry, Anne!

Chucky, consider it a general observation. Not everything is a confrontation.

A few damaged copies would be the work of an angry individual. 265 damaged copies across a major city points to something more systematic.

But it does involve only 31 public libraries, within 5 wards. This could easily be done by one person. It could be a deranged hateful person and/or one with an agenda. It could be ANY body.

Destroy uncomfortable book. Déjà vue, Germany 1933.

7sky7

If I'm not misunderstanding him, CBG spender probably meant, are the right wingers really that stupid enough to make more enemies for themselves when they are already confronting china and korea and liberals in Japan? Your answer will be yes, Spender's answer will be no.

I don't know which one of you is right but I am also thinking if the right wingers did this, why did the right wingers damage Anne Frank's diary? I hear right wingers say Holocaust was much worse than what Japan did but I do not hear many of them denying Holocaust. And there are tons of other books in libraries that they will hate, regarding WWII and war crimes of Japan more than Anne's diary. So it's hard for me to understand why do they have to damage Anne's diary first. If they are doing this, they deserve harsh criticism, but if not, I kind of feel pity to them for being blamed. Same is true for saying it's koreans or chinese, I think we should wait before saying who is to be blamed.

This is crazy, and there are actually quite a lot of right-wingers who are anti-Semite and believe in the "Jewish conspiracy". I mean there are right wingers who openly support the Nazis and Hitler.

Hmm.. The infamous Marco Polo magazine anyone? Japanese magazine ran a special feature with 'evidence' that the Jewish Holocaust never happened. Magazine was shut down due to international backlash.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-01-25/news/9501250177_1_marco-polo-article-ambassador-takakazu-kuriyama-japan

WHAT??? No security cams in any of those libraries?

I wonder if we are not falling in the trap and talking too much about this. Re-buy the books and next time catch the person on the act. That's not to say, but back in the time, the fate of Anne got so much indifference. So now making a fuss about sheets of paper...

Why would some people do this!?

You answer yourself to the question :

Anne Frank was a good and loving person!

And everybody loves her now. Perfect target for an attention seeking loser or a bunch of them. Sadly there are really thousands over the world just like that. In my country, they go to cemeteries at night to draw Nazi crosses on tombs of victims of Nazism. Many others exploit the historic tragedy in silly ways. They caught some, judged some... That does nothing to prevent the next ones. Often it appears the persons are totally ignorant about history and their 2 neurones only understood that what they did was offensive. So they did it.

For those who may think that the Holocaust was just made up or have some anti-semitic views, you can have them. But for those who don't have your beliefs, how about leaving their literature alone. If you are so convinced that yours is the "truth" then it should be able to stand on its own and you don't have to rely on destryoing what others think just to suit your needs.

A shame it had to happen, and I hope that the perps get caught and are made to do some type of community service. Funny thing about this whole situation, if some are trying to pin this on the "far right" they may need to do a bit of further research. Hitler and the Nazis thought that the Aryans were the true Master Race. And though Japan may have been an ally of Germany in WW2, so was Russia at the beginning of the war and looked what happened to them after they had conqured the rest of Western Europe. I would imagine if the things would have been going well for Germany and they had rolled over Russia, that alliance in the East with Japan would probably have fallen by the way side.

Until we find out who did this terrible thing and why it is important to hold off generalized accusations. That said, antisemitism is not unknown here in Japan and has had a modicum of mainstream acceptance in Japan, as tideofiron pointed out. Whether that acceptance has been based on pure ignorance as opposed to endemic hatred goes beyond the scope of the article about this ugly incident, at least for the moment.

I cant believe as these posts, my bet is this

Japan proposes some kamikaze letters be included in UNESCO

Then China complains, mentions Anne Frank books

Then right wing nutters go out & drop into a few libraries & simply look for anything that says Anne Frank & they vandalize

There done!

Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga condemned the act!

Chucky

I'm pretty sure this is the work of a disgruntled Japanese right winger who aren't happy that the Jewish organization has been supporting their enemies.

At the same time, perhaps the conspiracy is that Koreans in japan were convinced that the Wiesenthal centre would get the story to the international media. Or perhaps it was someone from the Koizumi faction using their media savvy to get Abe out if the way to to keep the nuke plants closed for the benefit of the oil companies.

And thus we descend to conspiracy theory madness.

Probably best to let the cops handle it. After all the stones have been thrown it will probably turn out to be some kid who didn't want to do a book report.

Would be interesting who did this nonsense! A group of right wingers? Even they wouldn't be as dumb to waste efforts into such an act that wouldn't bring any benefit at all for them, would they? An individual who has a grudge against Jews? Well, his grudge must be enormous for visiting libraries in several wards and vandalize some 200 to 300 books all on his own. Perhaps sombody who wants to harm the image of Japan? Doubtful but possible. What this once again proves is that some people are truly deranged in this society.

bicultural

What are the names of the books and how many copies each have they sold?

Millions.

Here's a fairly old analysis (from 1995), but good:

http://www2.hawaii.edu/~tbrislin/marco.html

Anti-semitism in Japan

Still, the pervasiveness of the "Jewish Conspiracy" sentiment is alarming, called by an American journalist "a persistent theme in Japanese intellectual life that has taken on a new virulence since the Persian Gulf War" and by a Japanese journalist "not a fad but a dangerous phenomenon that needs to be stopped. "(Goozner, 1989, 22) . Two books by Masami Uno, the leading anti-Semite author, have sold more than 1 million copies, If You Understand the Jews, You Will Understand the World, and If You Understand the Jews You Will Understand Japan. Arie Dan points out that millions more Japanese are familiar with Uno's claims against the Jews because they are highlighted in lengthy advertisements for the books carried -- uncritically, Dan complains -- by Japan's leading newspapers. "They see the headlines in bold type: statements that the Jews are responsible for Japan's economic crisis. That's all they see, that's all they know, that's what they come to believe." Dan recounted his own two years of graduate study in Business Administration at Tokyo's prestigious Keio University: "In my classes, my own professors, learned men, would espouse international Jewish conspiracy theories to control the Japanese Economy" (1995).

CBG Spender:

A group of right wingers? Even they wouldn't be as dumb to waste efforts into such an act that wouldn't bring any benefit at all for them, would they?

This could be their thinking:

They're upset about Japan's comfort woman stance being attacked.

Comfort women set up by Japan = Jews persecuted by Nazis

Statement by them: tear out pages of Anne Frank.

This crime makes no sense, and it could be this profoundly nonsensical.

Were the crimes committed at night? If not then surely there must have been witnesses? I mean tearing paper isn't exactly a quiet activity. And if at night, no CCTV or security personnel?

Just to add to the theories... could be librarians?

“Each and every book that comes up under the index of Anne Frank has been damaged at our library,” Obayashi said.

surprised they had 265 copies to vandalize. even after I read that it is at 31 libraries total, that is an ave of 9 or 10 copies of the book at each library?

that fact in itself should assuage some of the worries about all jpns suddenly turning to the right, no?

this was an act of possibly one troubled individual, or maybe a small group, harboring dissatisfaction with something in their own life, imo.

never read that book...

Stay on topic please.

Readers, please keep the discussion civil.

Most people here may not be aware of this fact, but the Jewish Simon Wiesenthel center has been a very close supporter of the Korean comfort women for at least ten years, and have more than dozens of occasions have spoken out against the revisionist history movement, attacks on the comfort women, and on the rising right wing movement in Japan. I'm pretty sure this is the work of a disgruntled Japanese right winger who aren't happy that the Jewish organization has been supporting their enemies.

@GalapagosnoGairaishu Yes, you're right. Sugihara Chiune, a consul of Lithuania. Thank you for correcting.

This is crazy, and there are actually quite a lot of right-wingers who are anti-Semite and believe in the "Jewish conspiracy". I mean there are right wingers who openly support the Nazis and Hitler.

Oh, and saying that "Japanese people can't do this" is no different than the neo Nazis saying "white people can't do this, it must've been the work of the Jews". Shame on you.

The first prominent act of anti-semitism in Japan? All this time I thought the act of hating Jews was a province of Abrahimic cultures. I'd be surprised to know if the typical Japanese person on the street would have any thoughts about Jews or Israel. All I can say for sure is that this article takes a cheap shot at Abe and Japanese nationalism. If Japanese war crimes attracts the attention of the SWC and JIDF, so would the West in general right? A noble ulterior motive perhaps.

There are even popular anti-Semite books being sold on regular bookstores. This is nothing new for Japan, unfortunately. I mean anti-semitism has been brewing up in Japan for some time now.

Oh, and saying that "Japanese people can't do this" is no different than the neo Nazis saying "white people can't do this, it must've been the work of the Jews". Shame on you.

It's just one of the symptoms of westernisation. Even some form of anti-semitism does take loose hold of Japan, the lack of Christians and Muslims in this country means the core grievances of 'Christ killing' and 'Palestine' won't kindle it to something bigger.

There are even popular anti-Semite books being sold on regular bookstores.

What are the names of the books and how many copies each have they sold?

Were the crimes committed at night? If not then surely there must have been witnesses? I mean tearing paper isn't exactly a quiet activity.

The public libraries I've been to are usually quite noisy, lots of kids...

could be someone from hezbolla , alkaida, Farc, IRA, Neo Nazi etc etc

I would expect it to be an eccentric and frustrated single middle aged Japanese man who spends his time reading anti-Semitic blogs on the internet.

Yeah, or it could be another example of self-inflicted anti-Semitic attack to raise "awareness" or garner sympathy. It could be anyone.

Hmm.. The infamous Marco Polo magazine anyone? Japanese magazine ran a special feature with 'evidence' that the Jewish Holocaust never happened.

If I remember correctly, the Marco Polo article provided evidence specifically against the gas chambers, not that the "holocaust never happened".

And there are tons of other books in libraries that they will hate, regarding WWII and war crimes of Japan more than Anne's diary.

Yeah, it is strange that specifically this book was targeted .

I say it is another disturbed nutter, and the reflex instinct in the article to blame "right-wing" politics has nothing to do with it. Japanese right-wing politics have other concerns than ancient Nazi race theory (under which they would be an inferior race anyways, which makes the claim even more absurd).

Eiji Takano,

the empire of Japan was allied with the Nazis for reasons of convenience, not because of comparable ideologies. For that matter, Nazi Germany was also allied with the Soviet Union, and both of them happily invated and partitioned Poland, before Hitler turned on his his ex pal Stalin. Read some history.

Mar44:

"I just can't see a Japanese person doing it,"

Exactly. I can't even imagine a Japanese person putting some chemical into food inside a factory, poisoning thousands of people, or putting some sort of poison into curry and serving it to children.

Oh wait.

the very nature of the Japense people alone don't fit with petty vandalism or hate.

You are in for such a culture shock if/when you move to Japan. Petty vandalism and hate is most definitely part of the Japanese psyche. There are regularly stories of a salaryman wrecking this or ruining that or hurting this person or cutting that random girl's hair on the street, because they are stressed.

@Tintenfisch

Yes, Anne Frank died of typhus, in a Nazi concentration camp where she was denied any treatment. What's your point?

Please post in correct English.

Not all in Japan think one way. As much as there is a lot of effort to foster a "group" mentality, it isn't a process in perfect working order.

What appears to be hate based anti-Semitic vandalism likely was the result of more than one person. A handful, is my guess.

Whoever they were, they had to be assimilated into this country enough to be able to navigate the public libraries and in such a way that they would not be remarkable (i.e., not walk up to the librarian's counter to ask for a copy of Anne Frank's Diary, etc., etc.).

So the odds are that the perpetrators were either Japanese or long-time residents with skills in speaking, reading and writing Japanese and also who would not be remarkable when present in a library.

The intention also is muddied and unclear. Why just deface books? If their hatred of Jews is so strong, why not a more public spectacle that doesn't take time to emerge and become reported as news?

There is a lot to question about who and why about these vile acts.

And I vote that Holocaust Denial be made a crime in Japan.

it requires an acrobatic feat of compartmentalization not to see the connection to Japan's own recent efforts to deface history.

The same books are damaged. Anti-Jewish person(s)? These are crimes.

Rather than going public with the story, the libraries should have agreed to replace the books and then set up CCTV cameras in the respective location to catch the perp. Since they didn´t, we can speculate forever.

I suspect it is a mentally disturbed person, but I would not rule the possibility of a resident Chinese political activist who tries to put Japan in a bad light. (Similar to the planned antics of the Xi in Berlin.)

Despicable. I wonder if a member of the public knows anything. I hope someone has seen something and can come forward and rat out the person who is responsible. A communal effort will increase the chance of stopping this cancer. Japan is full of these screw ups who are intent on making life difficult for others. We should have zero tolerance for the turd that is doing this. Looking at the pictures makes me want to do the same thing to the perpetrator.

hokkaidoguy, how come you direct those comments "And thus we descend to conspiracy theory madness. let the cops handle it" to JoeBigs, Osan, and others who were blaming this on external forces and saying Japanese are "incapable" of doing this, it must be some non Japanese? And we all know where the fingers are printing when Japanese say Japanese aren't capable of committing crimes.

I don't know who could have done this act, but in general it's clear enough, to me, that the international press is making an anti-Japanese propaganda for some political and economic interests. Actually, Japan isn't currently more nationalistic than S. Corea or China. In Europe, the situation isn't better. Nationalism is gaining strenght and the future seems bleak. You should try to read something about the situation in Hungary. It's scary. The economic crisis is causing a big mess around the world.

This isn't typical crime , I will call it act of terrorism against Japan, crime with political motives, and as every crime ,and specially political one , first we look who had the most motive, and use , of all this ,and thats China and Korea . They try to picture Japan as new Nazi country that wants to attack other Asian countries, and this is big bonus in their effort , they know that Jews are highly influential in USA politics, so, this is best present for Korean and Chinese politicians in this year .

@Nenad Jovanovic - It seems you have solved it. It must have been a joint Korea-China effort!!!

(.. and to think people accuse Koreans of blaming Japan for everything..)

It's a legitimate concern

I think it's more legitimate to fear the countries that actually HAVE already thousands of nuclear weapons. Why France or US can have nuclear weapons and Iran no, huh?

The west is not demonizing Japan, it's too busy deionizing china.

The West demonizes who is more convenient for it. The West saw that demonizing China is useless, since it won't stop its huge development, so it got that it's better to pander to China, at this point, indeed it is becoming always less critical towards it, while the anti-Japanese propaganda is increasing, since Japan is an easier target. International bashing is useful to hurt a country economically.

Japan in 'lone weirdo on the loose' shocker.

yo this is takin japanese racism to a new level. these bootleg cruds realize under nazi law they'd a been sent to camps too? ain't exactly aryan

Subsequent investigation will reveal that this wasn't a case of "Holocaust denial", but instead a concerted effort on the part of the book's publisher to get the title back into the news. Not to mention another 265 copies sold to replace the damaged ones.

Joebigs, yes blame the Chinese. "We Japanese can never do those bad things! It must have been those uncivilized Chinese and Koreans whose national and genetic characters are like that!".

For all we knows this could be a case of some activist protesting the City of Minami Kyushu's registration with UNESCO for their Kamikaze letters. If you haven't noticed part of the argument by Communist China was that Anne Frank's journal was there.

JoeBiggs: "Your past posts speak for themselves."

Exactly, that despite trying to water down what you said by saying, the attempt to link these acts of vandalism to people against the kamikaze letters being registered with UNESCO is still completely absurd, despite the 'for all we know'.

My sixth sense tells me that more than one person was involved, given the breath of the damage in so short a time.

How long did it take? Its not like these books are inspected every day. One person could easily visit 31 public libraries and do this. And I suspect that at each library, these books are likely grouped together.

Destroy uncomfortable book. Déjà vue, Germany 1933.

Yeah, and Japan 1995.

Toshihiro Obayashi, deputy director of the central library in the Suginami area, said 119 books have been damaged at 11 of its 13 public libraries, adding nothing like this had ever happened before.

Notice the "nothing like this had ever happened before". Lets not let the actions of possibly one person, who might not even be Japanese, affect the image of an entire nation.

could be someone from hezbolla , alkaida, Farc, IRA, Neo Nazi etc etc

It could be, but it could be anyone. I would expect it to be an eccentric and frustrated single middle aged Japanese man who spends his time reading anti-Semitic blogs on the internet. Not sure why you think the IRA has an anti-Jew agenda.

Previously the majority of Japanese were dimly aware of Jewishness and only had a vague awareness of the Nazi holocaust.

The internet has changed all that. It is the perfect medium for locating anti-Semitic blogs and learning about how this apparently shadowy group control the world's finances and media.The Japanese seem to be as much into this as the rest of the world.

Sorry Willib, but the empire of Japan were allied with the nazis. You're an insult to the far right who support the empire of Japan.

If I remember correctly, the Marco Polo article provided evidence specifically against the gas chambers, not that the "holocaust never happened".

Tintentisch@Then you don't remember correctly. The author of that article (Dr. Masanori Nishioka) merely cited other Holocaust deniers such as the Institute for Historical Review and took a walking tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau. He provided no "evidence," new or otherwise. He also claimed that the much smaller number of Jews in the camps died of typhus and starvation, but were not intentionally murdered by the Germans. If that's not Holocaust denial, I don't know what is.

Definitely the work of the future string pullers of the Japanese government.

Alex80, this is clearly a case of right wingers "shooting themselves in their feet", not of any conspiracy. I doubt that there is an anti Japan propaganda.

Mar044 said:

"I just can't see a Japanese person doing it... if anything this seems like something else, maybe outside infulance, but I have no proof but just talking about facts. the very nature of the Japense people alone don't fit with petty vandalism or hate."

Hard at work laying the groundworks for a future episode of the ever-popular "Blame the Koreans" show , I see. But you might want to make a less unbelievable claim than "Japanese people don't hate or vandalize" -- people here do read the news out of Japan, know what I mean?^^

surprised they had 265 copies to vandalize. even after I read that it is at 31 libraries total, that is an ave of 9 or 10 copies of the book at each library?

Excellent point! Can't see how anyone can paint the Japanese as a bunch of anti-semites with so many copies of this book in their public libraries.

@GalapagosnoGairaishu,

The author of that article (Dr. Masanori Nishioka) merely cited other Holocaust deniers such as the Institute for Historical Review and took a walking tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau. He provided no "evidence," new or otherwise. He also claimed that the much smaller number of Jews in the camps died of typhus and starvation, but were not intentionally murdered by the Germans.

Indeed, he was mainly presenting evidence from foreign (mainly US) researchers. Dr. Nishioka's article mentioned that these issues were being discussed in the US, but not in Japan. Seeing what happened to the publisher of this article sort of confirms his last point. BTW, Anne Frank died of typhus.

This is most likely just the work of some creepy guy living alone with a. Lolita fetish.

I doubt that there is an anti Japan propaganda.

Because your vision is biased by your disliking Japan. You are like Chucky, who thinks Japan is a neo-nazi country. I repeat: read something about the current situation in Hungary, in the heart of European Union, and you can see the difference between it and Japan. What about this article? http://thediplomat.com/2014/02/japans-plutonium-problem/ Suddenty, the world thinks Japan is planning to develop nuclear weapons and it's afraid about it? Look at this: http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2013/03/world/nuclear-weapon-states/ Also the "North Korean threat" and the "Iran threat" about their nuclear plans sound like a propaganda joke to me, when the states that actually have nuclear weapons are others. And the only country that used nuclear weapons in its history is...well, you know which is. It apparently has 7,650 nuclear warheads (who knows, maybe they are more than this), but it thinks that Iran (that has zero of them) is a threat, because they are the "bad guys" according to the West. Yeah... This is how Western propaganda works. If the West wants that Japan becomes a threat, it will become a threat.

@homleand: smart comment.

Have to agree connecting this and the Japanese political climate is a bit of a stretch. Vandalism at one of its worst but no need to feed the flames with supposed innuendos of right wing political motives.

The Anne Frank book was mentioned in recent news & I couldn't remember until I read JBigs post, a lot have negged him for asking to wait on the hate aspect...............

Well clearing there is a hate aspect to this & I would bet a million that the vandalism IS directly related to the kamikaze letters, seems pretty obvious to me that's where you start investigating, & again I would bet it was a bunch of right wing nutters who each went to libraries to target the books.............

Pretty sad & I hope they catch them & prosecute!

could be someone from hezbolla , alkaida, Farc, IRA, Neo Nazi etc etc

harvey pekarFeb. 22, 2014 - 07:00AM JST Disgusting. This is a hate crime, but since Japan doesn't have that classification it'll be recorded as just another crime and the sick individual(s) will receive a ridiculously light punishment.

Before jumping to any conclusion it is better to actually find out who done it and then find out why.

You never know who or what would motivate someone to do this. For all we knows this could be a case of some activist protesting the City of Minami Kyushu's registration with UNESCO for their Kamikaze letters. If you haven't noticed part of the argument by Communist China was that Anne Frank's journal was there.

So, before you jump onto the hate crime bandwagon please be rational and wait and see.

hokkaidoguyFeb. 22, 2014 - 12:24PM JST Just took a look at the news, whoever did this is getting quite a lot of international press. Hopefully the cops are reviewing security cameras and that kind of thing, because there's going to be a lot of pressure for official comment on this. Lots of people looking to paint Abe as a nazi right now, and this is just fuel for the fire.

You just nailed it, it does appear that the vandal (s) had an agenda and whatever that agenda is it is getting international attention.

chucky3176Feb. 22, 2014 - 12:10PM JST Joebigs, yes blame the Chinese. "We Japanese can never do those bad things! It must have been those uncivilized Chinese and Koreans whose national and genetic characters are like that!".

A person doesn't have to be Chinese to agree with their view and support their agenda.

But, if you disagree with that then that is your opinion.

chucky3176Feb. 22, 2014 - 11:59AM JST Japan and Nazi Germany were friends and allies. This makes sense and doesn't surprise me at all, in a country that still worships its past history of fascism, and now going back towards it again.

Imperial Japan is no more, it fell apart after WWII. Japan today is nothing like Japan of 70 years ago. Now, if you have proof that this vandalism was done by Abe or one of his staff, please by all means show the proof.

Odd question, why did you bring up Korea into this topic? Do you believe that it has any relations to this story?

highball7Feb. 22, 2014 - 12:48PM JST Joebigs, Ossan and your likes whom seemed to post with similar styles and comment inclusive of certain people when the topic discussion is completely divergent from that group of people (damn that was long):

It wasn't too long, but you should actually read what I wrote rather than making wild jumps. When I typed "all we know" I meant exactly what it means. I tossed an opinion and that is all. If you didn't like it, well that was your opinion.

highball7Feb. 22, 2014 - 12:48PM JST For all we know, not knows, some activist should be some activists, again please be precise.

Everyone makes mistakes when they type, you may wish to really take a long look at your own message before tossing bricks/stones.

highball7Feb. 22, 2014 - 12:48PM JST If you can speculate on the far-fetched then you should be prepared to be belittled because everyone has the right to opine freely. That includes on belittling some far-fetched commentary, if any.

I have no problems with people trying to belittle what I say, as I have said many times before, it is their opinion and I respect it. As with your own attempt, I did like it and you gave me a good chuckle.

highball7Feb. 22, 2014 - 12:48PM JST So if you are too sensitive to be on the recipient side of some reasonable jest, then you should be reasonable about what you write.

You have me mistaken, I will say this as plainly as I can so you and others can get my point.

I have no problems with people trying to claim or say whatever they want about me or my opinions, it is their right.

Please reread what I wrote.

highball7Feb. 22, 2014 - 12:48PM JST None of what you say often has any value or reasonable.

That is your opinion and we all have opinions.

highball7Feb. 22, 2014 - 12:48PM JST Lastly, if you learn something of the commies and Chinese, they are actually quite fond of the Jews.

You may wish to read Jewish history in the Soviet Union.

smithinjapanFeb. 22, 2014 - 12:49PM JST

Your past posts speak for themselves.

I just can't see a Japanese person doing it, even if they had mental illness, they don't have anti antisemitism in them, I mean even when they were in the war, they granted safe passage for jewish people fleeing from Europe.

if anything this seems like something else, maybe outside infulance, but I have no proof but just talking about facts.

the very nature of the Japense people alone don't fit with petty vandalism or hate.

BurakuminDesFeb. 22, 2014 - 08:30AM JST What a sickening thing to have done. I really hope these acts are not part of a bigger agenda. Anne's diary is something every child around the world should read.

Yes, it was sickening.

BurakuminDesFeb. 22, 2014 - 08:30AM JST @ JoeBigs - you really need to let that bizarre obsession with "communist China" go,you seem consumed by China in every post.

No, not every post and as for my post I was just pointing to a possibility and not a fact. See that's the beauty of having the right to speak freely. Everyone has the right to say something.

And I respect your right to speak and hope you would respect mine.

smithinjapanFeb. 22, 2014 - 09:08AM JST Ummm... yeah... Joe... a person angry about the submission of the kamikaze letters to UNESCO is going to go rip up copies of a diary written by a Holocaust victim. Makes TOTAL sense, Joe!

Smith, when someone uses "all we know" they are implying that they do not know, and my use of that example was one possibility and not a fact. When someone has an agenda they do the oddest things and sometimes those odd things are part of something bigger.

To appease your hatred of Japan and it's people I will toss another possibility to satisfy that hate of yours.

Maybe, it was some crazed Japanese far right winger who hates Anne Franks Diary and doesn't believe it to be true.

How is that one, happy? Now, I most likely would have angered some far right winger. Ah, the circle never ceases.

jerseyboyFeb. 22, 2014 - 08:40AM JST Before jumping to any conclusion it is better to actually find out who done it and then find out why. JoeBigs are you trying to appear ignorent deliberately, or are you really that ignorent about Japan? Without "jumping to any conclusions" it can pretty much be categorically stated that the crimes were committed by Japanese citizens, since over 98% of the residents of Japan are in fact Japanese.

Please, look up what "all we know" means. As I stated before, my comment was a possibility and not a fact.

Now, as for your attempt at belittling my comments, all I have to say is, that is your opinion and I am happy that you can openly say it.

So, by all means speak it as loud as you wish.

I will state the fact that Japan has radical Communist groups that have committed acts of terrorism and vandalism in the past to push their political agenda. And yes, that agenda is a Pro-Communist China agenda.

As I stated my opinion is mine, you can disagree with it or try and belittle it and that is your right. I on the other hand will not try and belittle yours.

So by all means, I hope to hear from you in the future.