Japanese men clad in outdated military costumes march to pay their respects to the country's war dead at Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo on Friday, which marks the 69th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
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tinawatanabe
I've been to Yasukuni countless times, but I've never seen these kind of people there. Are they really Japanese?
slumdog
People dressed this way are there quite often. They are usually there to mark a special occasion. Maybe you just have not been there on such an occasion.
I am not sure what country you think they would be from, but whenever I have met them, yes, they were Japanese people. I never met any people dressed like that there that were not. However, it would be a huge stretch to say they represent Japanese people on any large scale.
Douglas Macarthy
what a joke,,,playing dress up
Jimizo
People shouldn't skip their medication. I hope that sword that unbalanced man is carrying as part of his costume isn't real.
nath
I've only been twice, but there were people dressed like this both times. I talked with one of the guys one time - his clothes were his official military clothes from the war, with the exception of the sword which wasn't real, as it would be in violation of the law.
nath
I assume the title refers to the people.
Alphaape
I saw a guy wearing a similar uniform at the Yokosuka Navy base Friendship Day on 2 Aug. He looked a bit out of place. Funny thing, if he is that fired up, then why show up on a US military base wearing that stuff? After all, it is the uniform of the losing team. I dare them to wear them in Korea or China.
Probie
Losers in all aspects of the word.
NeoJamal
So where is the line between paying respect to poor conscripts who were forced to deploy overseas and get killed in outrageous ways for their betters in Tokyo and celebrating Japanese imperialism?
SamuraiBlue
Auh you guys drssing up in old military uniforms are done all around the world like the reenactment of the US civil war where they seperate between the Confederate and Union. It was also done recently to mark the 70th year anniversary of D-day in Normandy France.
WA4TKG
How do you all know these are not pristine kept ORIGINAL uniforms ? I bet SOME people that do this STILL have theirs.
I'm A Monkey
Out "of their minds". Stupid.
nath
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, the old guy I talked to was wearing his original uniform.
SamuraiBlue
Yasukuni is a shrine dedicated to the ones who served and made the ultimate sacrifice under the Hinomaru. People worship for peace there in honor to those who served their country.
nath
@letsberealistic because maybe there is more respect for liberty in Japan? I doubt it, but just saying the German anti-hate laws aren't cool.
nath
No.
jerseyboy
Thank God Japan lost the war and this kind of mentality isn't still ruling Asia.
afterthequake
Ah yes. The one thing I have always found the most puzzling in Japan. Adult Cosplay.
jsyndrome
I guess pride is one thing , and reality is reality...this is a pony show, cause the global white supremacist (illuminati) got
something for them, if they ever ever try to bring it again.
no worries here, just an outdated JN movie-play-show
nath
"Out of Date" and "outdated military costumes" seems like a strange way to describe this. surely it should be "historical"??? Whichever, i agree it is just a form of cosplay, nit made any better by its references to Yasukuni.
Cortes Elijah
Watch "Letters from Imo Jiwa".
It will change your mind.
Beanie
Most of the people marching around in costume today aren't anywhere near old enough to be "wearing their original uniforms" though at least a couple possibly were.
TinaWatanabe, there are almost always a handful of people dressed up, usually hanging around the soft icecream / soba / souvenir shop from mid-morning to late afternoon. Some old-timers used to sit out front and sing the old songs. I think the ones I used to see have died.
This year, the police are being very strict about the u-yoku black noise vans - blocking them from driving up and down the various streets in parade. I just watched the close off two different streets and make them turn around. While arguing at the second scene, they all turned off their music to use their speakers to shout encouragement to the front vehicle and yell at the police that their rights were being trampled. I heard the policeman tell them they are free to parade, but they need to park and walk. I laughed. I wonder why it's harder for them than it used to be. Difference in governor?
Sensato
@SamuraiBlue
Some people may visit Yasukuni to pray for peace, but obviously the types pictured carrying (replica) guns and swords go for quite the opposite reason.
afanofjapan
Sounds like a few posters here need to come down to Yasukuni today. Its a complete circus. Surrounding streets clogged with police in riot gear and Uyoku vans/buses/trucks in the hundreds. Somewhat unsettling to see so many right wingers in one place.
LordPounce
I wonder how it would go over if I started going there dressed as MacArthur, complete with the sunglasses and funny looking pipe.
Disillusioned
Cos-play for the elderly. Most nations have their war memorials and their Memorial Day, but they are usually attended by real soldiers in real uniforms. Personally, I think this is a little disrespectful.
CGB Spender
Every country has their fair share of right-wing nut jobs. Japan is no exception.
Tohka
I'm thankful that this feeble lot is in the minority here.
CrisGerSan
I am once again shocked at the disrespect, arrogance and hate shown in this and other threads here to people in Japan who ARE Japanese living their lives as they wish In THEIR OWN country. Westerners are guests in the country and outsiders have no right to criticize, belittle or demean sincere respect for events of the past. You may not understand the reasons that Japan worked to create a expansion just identical to what England, France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Russia and the USA and China ALL did before them, why is it evil if Japan followed a similar path? This is their right to live as they wish and I hope and pray someday that more ppl here will show proper respect. Those in military service from past wars served their country as they felt right. Just as many do today. Lets be more kind please.
CrazyJoe
Oblivious to the political debate, meanwhile, thousands of ordinary Japanese, in black dress or somber kimono, streamed into Yasukuni Shrine to pay tribute to lost brothers, friends and husbands.
Frungy
The guy with the drawn sword should be arrested. He has no business drawing a sword in a public place. Irresponsible and disrespectful conduct from someone who really should know better if he was ever in the army.
The Original Wing
I think many of you are off-base with your comments. While it's true that some people are nationalistic and choose to ignore some of the ugly points of Japan's history, it should be remembered that many of the soldiers who died in WWII were teenagers, students, young men, people who were forced into fighting or convinced that fighting was necessary to protect their family, friends, and neighbors. For those of you angry at Japan for their misdeeds in the past, turn your anger towards the decision-makers who were in charge of those moves. The ordinary, common men and women who lost their lives in the war deserve to be remembered and honored.
bigfujiyama
Using the war dead to express your political beliefs is sad.
Leave them alone. They didn't want to die for their country. They wanted to stay at home with their families and friends.
Wakarimasen
Yes, many countries have their right wing crazies. The Uyou phenomeon is pretty unique to Japan though. and dressing up to go to a war memorial is also pretty lame.
GW
TOWing,
I don't see any posts referring to individuals mourning loved ones etc & don't many if any have a problem with that!
WHAT I do see is many taking these right wing nut jobs & yaskuni( & rightfully so!) to task, its an embarrassment to Japan & has a direct affect on the future of the country
Sadoshima
It is called reenactment and you kind find bunches of people doing it all over the free world. In PA, USA, the 9th Reenactment Society reenact US or UK armoured divisions, a Waffen-SS Panzer division ... and also a platoon of the Japanese Imperial Army:
http://www.9thimperialmarines.com/
The creepy war-geeks on the picture are not war veterans. Ignore them if you don't like them. Not a threat for the Japanese Society.
Jimizo
'I am once again shocked at the disrespect, arrogance and hate shown in this and other threads here to people in Japan who ARE Japanese living their lives as they wish In THEIR OWN country. Westerners are guests in the country and outsiders have no right to criticize, belittle or demean sincere respect for events of the past. You may not understand the reasons that Japan worked to create a expansion just identical to what England, France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Russia and the USA and China ALL did before them, why is it evil if Japan followed a similar path? This is their right to live as they wish and I hope and pray someday that more ppl here will show proper respect. Those in military service from past wars served their country as they felt right. Just as many do today. Lets be more kind please.'
Japanese people are often criticized for treating 'outsiders' as guests, even if they have lived here for a long time, taken up permanent residence or gained citizenship. You do Japan a great disservice by reinforcing negative stereotypes.
tinawatanabe
They won't be arrested so nobody knows who they are. Who knows they may be hired by some anti-Japan organization trying to make Japan look like a militaristic country.
wowyz
I think their focus is misguided: according to RSOE EDIS - Emergency and Disaster Information Service the real problem for Japan:
Event: Biological Hazard Country: Japan State: Prefecture of Fukushima Area: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant City: Okuma Short details: In what is becoming a macabre "Comedy of Errors," TEPCO officials are again beset with problems at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. This time, they are blaming the accidental dumping of 200 tons of radiactive water ... ref: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php
this hazzard is getting dire folks everyday
BertieWooster
Only three words, but oh, so true.
smithinjapan
SamuraiBlue: you honestly think these freaks are there to pray for peace? slumdog is right that they do not represent the majority of Japanese people, but it's a shameful fact that these but bags still glorify war and deny jaoanese atrocities.
Tinawatanabe: so far you've fallen back on your usual 'blame it on foreigners' when you need to deflect and avoid seeing the truth. "are they Japanese?" "Maybe they awere hired by anti-Japanese...", etc. anything to avoid the truth, eh, Tina? Let's assume they are both Japanese and not hired by groups you've thought up; what do you have to say about them then?
Taketomo
I believe it's important to remember those who gave their lives for the country , regardless of how misguided they were. History has shown the evils of Imperial Japan's expansion during WW2 and obviously these are not to be celebrated. If you disagree you may have psychological issues. But these were sons , fathers , brothers etc who's lives were taken in the name of this madness. They deserve to be remembered at least. This remembrance should not be hijacked by anti social loons , it should be quietly done with acknowledgement of temporary national insanity which held our nation at the time.
nath
I disagree that these are outcast; they represent a large majority who dont want to be seen in public dressed up like this.
Elbuda Mexicano
Funny nobody here mentioning the A1 Class war criminals, that were hung after Japan lost to the USA, this is what most Asians (Koreans, Chinese, Filipinos) hate about this shrine, Yasukuni.
Frungy
You're correct that drawn swords and real guns aren't allowed in public, but I looked as closely as the resolution of the photograph allows, and it certainly looks amazingly real, right down to the temper lines on the edge of the blade and the reflections in the surface show that it is metal. The thickness is consistent from hip to tip, so it is certainly a thin, sharp piece of metal.
I can't tell if it is an authentic katana, but it certainly isn't a foam replica.
tinawatanabe
smithinjapan, Do you know the truth as to who they are? I only said a possibility. Why do you have to shout at me like that? Guilty conscience?
Moderator
Readers, no more bickering please.
BNlightened
"Out of Date." Ha-ha! Well done, Japan Today! Funny.
And true, too...clearly, these Yasukuni play soldiers live in a deep, weird time-warp... Postwar Japan is an infinitely, INFINITELY preferable country to live in than the prewar one!
souka
@CrisGerSan,
sorry, no one hates japan, whether japanese or non-japanese living here, we all love this country, but we have different views, and this is also one of the place to freely express it, why not?. i think it will be better to encourage more criticisms than to discourage it. that is how a vibrant civil society works, maybe it is all about diversity? of course in a very connected world, japan cannot isolate herself. don't fear criticism, embrace it, welcome to the 21st century. :))
kyushubill
"I wonder why it's harder for them than it used to be. Difference in governor?"
No, the Olympics are coming and they want the Right Wing nuts to learn to play nice with the non-Japanese. If it weren't for the Olympics it would have been business as usual for the black vans.
Any way, that one is too young and fat to have been any service to Imperial Japan other than being too much a burden on the rations. Most of the fruit loops I have talked to in their uniforms outside Yasukuni a few times were too young to have served, and just dream about the good old days. I do have respect for the old fellas who did serve. They have every right to wear their uniform, all else as I said are fruit loops looking to stir trouble and the brave ones who served even say so.
tinawatanabe
souka, Criticism is fine, but interference to another country's business is very low, uneducated, uncivilized people's thing to do.
kyushubill
"Westerners are guests in the country and outsiders have no right to criticize, belittle or demean sincere respect for events of the past."
Then never criticize any country again. You just lost your right to with your comment.
BertieWooster
Taketomo-san,
Really?
Did they give their lives for their country or did they in reality give their lives for a few very rich people who, while ordinary people were getting shot, blown up and psychologically ruined, sat out the war in a very safe place, counting their profits?
War is about economics.
They may try to mask it as "religion," "making the world safe for democracy," etc., but it's you and I who lose our lives, homes, limbs and loved ones. Not the 1% who don't even get their boots wet.
M3M3M3
If only that fat man holding the flag knew how truly hungry Japanese people were during the war, he would think twice about glorifying it.
888naff
It seems ironic some of the angles of critism here considering back in some people's home countries how ww1 "commemerations" are being rammed down people's throats and it's just fine if we do the same back home. By contrast japan doesn't rely on sometimes daily doses of war for large blocks of patriot citizens and instead gets on with modern life leaving other countries looking like they haven't developed and have little to be proud of in recent decades(mmm who 'won' the war?). So this kind of event is hardly nothing and in your face by contrast.
Taketomo
BertieWooster -
Yes - we agree. That's why I said "misguided". I was saying that the lives of all those lost deserve to be remembered not only in mourning , but also as a lesson to how the industry of war serves nobody but those at the top who - like you say - do not get their boots wet. In no way was I excusing war crimes.
smithinjapan
tinawatanabe: "smithinjapan, Do you know the truth as to who they are? I only said a possibility."
What you did was look at any number of possibilities EXCEPT the idea that they might be Japanese, dressing up like that of their own volition. My question to you, given that it's a 99% likelihood that's the case, is what you think of them if they are indeed Japanese and doing this of their own free will.
"Why do you have to shout at me like that? Guilty conscience?"
Wasn't shouting, and what would I have a guilty conscience about on this issue? If anything, someone who has to suggest these guys are foreigners or that they were hired by foreigners to 'make Japan look bad' feels guilty. And you have no need to feel guilty unless you support such people and/or deny or glorify atrocities committed by Imperial troops.
Now, you couldn't answer my question before, so would you please try doing so now? Assuming these are Japanese who dressed up to parade in front of Yasukuni and were not hired by 'anti-Japan groups', what do you think of them doing what they are doing?
"Criticism is fine,"
Didn't sound like you think it's very fine in some of your replies.
"...but interference to another country's business is very low, uneducated, uncivilized people's thing to do."
Not when that 'business' results in the suffering of the nations who voice their opinions. I often see you on threads about South Korea or China doing just what you preach is 'low, uneducated, uncivilized," etc.
sf2k
This photo, what a sad display. Until people realize they don't have to go to that particular shrine (you can't control spirits yo) then the shrine might even return to it's original purpose before it was co-opted by the r-wingers. Save Yasukuni, save Japan?
Article 9 is awesome, but it should be followed up with a German-type law that makes it illegal to publicly deny the war. Instead Abe goes after Article 9. Uyoku flourishes. How can anyone consider that good? These are not positive portents.
Japan can be so much better, and is better than this. We know this. We meet Japanese who know this too. That's great. But its conservative base comes from Imperial Japan, and it cannot leave. Even if they do nothing by doing nothing the establishment allows this to continue. They will have to give it up. Not just be reminded of the surrender to the USA, but surrender it from themselves, and then they can be free.
DaDude
I dare these fools to do this In Chinatown or Shin Okubo
BertieWooster
Taketomo-san,
I re-read your post and see what you are saying.
It makes it all the worse that they were misguided, doesn't it?
The shame of it is that it's still continuing. There are those who believe the propaganda and swallow the story that "they" over there are out to get "us" over here, so we need "protection."
A show of arms doesn't deter war, it just drives it underground and creates terrorism.
maglev101
Read up on Nanking Massacre/Rape of Nanking. It will change your mind.
kwatt
I think any countries have some very weird people like this, so better ignore these people unless they commit any crime or hurt people.
tinawatanabe
smithinjapan, I answer to your question one by one. 1st. If they are Japanese with their own will, they must be aware they would attract media attention by that costume on the particular day. So, their intentions could be: a. They just wanted to be the center of attention. b. They are the kind of people you always claim Japanese are (but hardly believe because I've never met any Japanese like that). c. Just crazy.
JTDanMan
We got the same kind of @$$ heads in the US.
The South Will Rise Again...
Frungy
Well this was kindof my point. If that sword is real (and it looks very real in the photograph) then a crime has been committed.
According to other posters there were cops all over the place, so he was likely seen and they did nothing.
Now this worries me a lot since it points towards government employees turning a blind eye to this sort of criminal activity simply because it is being committed by ex-soldiers.
That's worrying. It is shades of old Imperial Japan where any crime, no matter how vile, was allowed to the soldiery because they were serving the emperor, and no dissent was allowed.
Now I'm only going on the photograph. Perhaps a J-cop walked up 30 seconds later and said, "Cut it out old man", or arrested this guy. I don't know. But the fact that this photo is on the front page of a newspaper and my comments are being downvoted means that some people here just don't appreciate the full implications of this photograph.
philly1
Not in Japan. Selective view of its own history (victim not perpetrator), the comfort of mutual agreement and the myth of its unique homogeneity is how Japanese society works. In Western terms that likely means it is neither a vibrant or civil society. But outsider views count for less than nothing in Japan.
The Original Wing
I feel posting this photo today is in poor taste by JapanToday. It's the commemorative date of an event that brings sadness, angst and anger to everyone. It should be a day of solemn remembrance, like some of the articles on this site are pointing out. But to be headlining it with a photo of right wingers doing military Cosplay...it's just begging people in this community to start arguing and fighting and getting fired up over the wrong things. Not today, please. Today, there are more important things we should be thinking about.
gelendestrasse
In Germany they would all be arrested for being in a military uniform in public.....
I don't see what there is to celebrate about WWII, especially Japan's role in it. Remembering those who gave their lives for their country, OK. But parading around in uniforms is rather crude, given how this all played out. Military cosplay indeed.
YuriOtani
gelendestrasse, Japan is not Germany and their laws to not apply to us. Just because a country has laws does not mean others have to enact them. Example some countries make woman wear headgear or burka. As for the old men, in America I see "reenactors" wear the Confederate uniform. To me it represented the worse of any human movement. Justifying the enslavement and torture of fellow humans and committing treason against their country. Unlike these old men none of them could of worn the uniform in battle or anytime. The treason was put down 149 years ago. So the comments about only in Japan are false.
turbotsat
Other news photos show that that's all there is. Four or five guys in uniform surrounded by hundreds of spectators.
2013 file photo shows same guy, same sword, different uniform (cloth hat instead of helmet). Maybe they're affiliated with the temple?
Another file photo from 2013 shows a lot more guys, no uniforms, with flags at a parade, it says they are outside temple so maybe they weren't allowed in?
http://tinyurl.com/m9bbhme
http://tinyurl.com/mx2dt9v
http://tinyurl.com/mfymgyt
Yokota
@ philly1"Not in Japan. Selective view of its own history (victim not perpetrator), the comfort of mutual agreement and the myth of its unique homogeneity is how Japanese society works. In Western terms that likely means it is neither a vibrant or civil society. But outsider views count for less than nothing in Japan"
good point!
tinawatanabe
smithinjapan, I think them c. crazy: military freak or military costume freak who get kick out of doing it. And to the last point of yours: I've criticized China/SKorea over their interference in Japan's business, but I've never interfered in their business.
smithinjapan
tinawatanabe: "b. They are the kind of people you always claim Japanese are"
Thank you for answering my question, although I have never said 'Japanese are crazy', and clearly if you read my post I state that these people, as others have said (I cited slumdog's earlier post to be specific), do not at all represent the majority. So STOP saying things like that that undermine your posts -- it shows a kind of victim complex that affects many (not ALL!) people here when it comes to issues of Japan's wrongdoings in the past.
"...but I've never interfered in their business"
You most certainly have. In fact, you went out of your way on the post of the pope bringing a message of peace to South Korea with this little attempt at a jab on how others talk about the abuse of comfort women:
"I'm looking forward to seeing whether Pope would ciriticize Japan over comfort women as Obama did when in SK. My guess is that he wouldn't. Then what a disappointment for the organaizers that invited him."
You see? And while I agree with you on how lax the US gun control is, that is STILL you stepping in on domestic affairs, is it not? Or comments on Russia blocking US imports? DON'T say you've never 'interfered' in others business. Everyone is perfectly valid to have comments on stories that do not directly involve their home nations or the nations in which they live, it does not mean 'interfering'. And no one is 'interfering' in regards to comments about Yasukuni and the nutbags in these uniforms, because what Japan did during war -- with people dressed up like these -- was to murder MILLIONS across Asia and elsewhere, affecting the world.
Aizo Yurei
@Yuri: the people who dress up like confederates still know that they lost and do so in reenacting those battles.
These guys here think that what Japan did in WW2 was glorious and justified.
tinawatanabe
smithinjapan, you seem to misunderstand many of what I said. For instance, in my previous comments, I didn't say "you said Japanese are crazy" Maybe my writing confused you. About gun control, I simply expressed my opinion, I did not demand anything. I don't think I commented on Russia blocking US imports.
Except China/SK and their sympa.
BertieWooster
The scary thing is that Abe supports the craziness in the photo above.
tinawatanabe
No. If he did, he wouldn't have been PM.
night knight
@CrisGerSanAUG. 15, 2014 - 03:01PM JST
True. Arrogance mixed with disrespect to Japan and japanese traditions. So many home-grown teachers from all possible directions give advices to japanese people how to behave and what to do.
@gelendestrasseAUG. 16, 2014 - 01:31AM JST
Perhaps, in Germany. In Russia they organize military parades every year. People in uniform of WWII take part as well as tanks, guns, mortars of WWII time. Every country has its own historical and cultural traditions.