Chinese man gets 8-month sentence in Yasukuni Shrine graffiti case

Good - this despicable act deserved a prison sentence, as well as a life ban from Japan hopefully.

Imagine if the shoe was on the other foot, and the sentence a foreigner would get for writing "toilet" on evil Mao's mausoleum in Tiananmen square?

With this one, simple act, they’ve just given the media more ammunition to push this myth that hordes of ‘foreigners’ are coming over here ‘breaking Japanese rules’ when it’s actually about one person in a million.

Imagine if the shoe was on the other foot, and the sentence a foreigner would get for writing "toilet" on evil Mao's mausoleum in Tiananmen square?

Agree 100%

Eight months sounds a bit harsh for a graffiti offense.

It’s a political sentence.

Eight months sounds a bit harsh for a graffiti offense.

What he vandalized basically just a rock that some people worship.

Typical low quality reporting from Kyodo.

he and two other Chinese men vandalized a stone pillar at the controversial shrine by spray-painting the word "toilet" on it

So did they all spray paint? Did they hold the can together? Or only the indicted person? Or the indicted person was not at all doing any actions, only the other two?

Jiang had played a crucial role by purchasing the spray paint

So that's his involvement? That's all? And that's why he gets 8 months in prison?

"unforgivable to turn to illegal actions to express one's views."

What is illegal about buying spray paint???

This ruling is a joke. As it looks they turned this guy into a scapegoat because they couldn't catch the others who committed the crime.

The court deemed imprisonment appropriate, citing a lack of reparations for the damage

Is this about financial reparations? Or restoration of the pillar? Seriously? How much can it cost to remove spray paint??? What's the difficulty here?

Vandalism is a crime. Obey the laws, the end.

If anyone is to blame, it's the CCP for psychological manipulation of its own people.

One of the Chinese guys even urinated on the pillar, which most media reports strangely didn’t mention. Eight months in prison is just right. I hope the ruling will deter vandalism in the future.

I am in the middle on this one.

I wonder what an Australian Court would sentence if a foreigner spray painted the War Memorial in Canberra. ?

I dont think perp. will enjoy his time in prison from other prisoners or guards.

Deserved more time..

Jail and deport!!..

A Tokyo court has sentenced a Chinese national living in Japan to eight months in prison over his involvement in a May graffiti incident at Yasukuni Shrine.

If the man does not like Japan that much, why is he living here? Do him a big favour and deport his ass back to China once he finish his sentence.

As a person residing here, he was silly to get involved. But that sentence is ridiculously long considering the lightness of his 'crime'!

Look on the bright side!

Eight months will be plenty of time to understand a whole different way of life in Japan…

Make him clean temple grounds for 8 months.

All that money prosecuting him, and now imprisoning him, wouldn’t just immediate deportation and blacklisting have saved a ton of money.

Yasukuni is a vestige of the State Shinto that Japanese were coerced into belonging before 1945. It was part and parcel of the system of venerating the Emperor. I never understood why it was left alone during the occupation. It would have been better to have converted it to a hospital for the benefit of crippled and maimed soldiers and war victims.

That said, I think Chinese are being silly to vandalize it. What do they hope to accomplish?

Every chinese criminal must be punished as harsh as possible.

eupati above..."Justice is blind "

See the "scales of Justice sculptures in many western Courts.

The holder of the scales is blindfolded.

Everyone is equal before the law....not everyone, except Chinese.

Yasukuni is a vestige of the State Shinto that Japanese were coerced into belonging before 1945. It was part and parcel of the system of venerating the Emperor. I never understood why it was left alone during the occupation. It would have been better to have converted it to a hospital for the benefit of crippled and maimed soldiers and war victims.

MacArthur was all for getting rid of it, but 2 Catholic priests Father Bruno Bitter and Father Patrick Byrne insisted that Japanese should be allowed to honor their war dead, so GHQ decided not to destroy it. It really only became controversial after the A-class war criminals were secretly interned there in 1978.

The court deemed imprisonment appropriate, citing a lack of reparations for the damage. It dismissed Jiang's claims that his actions were a protest against the release of treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. . .

He should have been sentenced longer or have his residency revoked and deported.

Why doesn't he protest his own country's release of polluted water?

Let's hope his sentencing will deter others since the shrine has been vandalized twice by Chinese.

teapot+kettle=storm

He’s a wrong’un you see and so is his mate who did a wee there.

Well, he’s gonna do some porridge now and get a nice short haircut too.

Another bell-jar sentence from Japanese judges. Meanwhile, another quick look at the "crime" section and we see suspended sentences for corrupt, drug using CEOs of companies, among other things. We've seen mothers who kill their children get shorter sentences than this for heaven's sake!

If you can't do the time don't do the crime.

If someone painted "toilet" on my garage door, would they get 8 months in prison?

Arguably, Yasukuni is a more important national heritage than my house but 8 months is obviously a political sentence. Then again, the graffiti was a political crime. Personally, I would like to see ALL graffiti artists jailed. Jailed and castrated.

Yasukuni is another example on how Japan can not deal with past failures. And keeps on making the same mistake. There are numerous other places and opportunities to remember and honour the war death without also worshipping war criminals. Because that is what the Yasukuni supporters stand for.

It’s too soft. The man urinated on a national shrine. Regardless of its controversy, it’s the national shrine/ monument. 8 years is more like it. Teach him a good lesson.

If someone climbed up on the Lincoln Memorial and urinated on Abe Lincoln’s head, you would have to lock him up for life.

If a Japanese did this in China, it would be more than 8 months guaranteed.

He should have been sentenced longer or have his residency revoked and deported.

I agree. This is the number one shrine with more significance than Meiji Jingu. It’s not only the graffiti. He urinated on the Yasukuni stone.

What if you went to Westminster Abbey or Notre Dame and pulled out your penis and peed on the Bible. You think its would only be 8 months?

Mr. Kipling: "Jailed and castrated."

Castrated? Where on Earth did that come from? Castrated (at least chemically) for rape or similar sexual assault crimes, yes. For graffiti? Why stop there? Why not have them drawn and quartered after a brief stay in an Iron Maiden?

quercetum: "If a Japanese did this in China, it would be more than 8 months guaranteed."

I think a more relevant question is if we would be hearing anything at all if it had been a Japanese person who did it, let alone if they would be punished and how much. Guarantee it would NOT be eight months. It'd be a fine, tops, and rightly so.

Thing is 99% of Japanese people would not do this in China can we say the same for the Chinese ask yourself that.