Photo gallery of the Japanese far right

[Steve Bildermann]

If you've ever been to Tokyo, you've probably seen and heard those strange vans with huge speakers driving around town, blasting some kind of recorded diatribe. They are propaganda vans operated by emperor-loving, Yakuza friendly right-wingers.

http://www.juergenspecht.com/documentations/?number=27



I have respected Juergen's copyright and have not published any of his photos here however the site has an extensive library, well worth a look.

...Personal note Quite a few of these guys make the annual pilgrimage to my house in November and to my in-laws at the New Year. There many familiar faces

[Big Booger]

If you've ever been to Tokyo, you've probably seen and heard those strange vans with huge speakers driving around town, blasting some kind of recorded diatribe. They are propaganda vans operated by emperor-loving, Yakuza friendly right-wingers.

http://www.juergenspecht.com/documentations/?number=27



I have respected Juergen's copyright and have not published any of his photos here however the site has an extensive library, well worth a look.

...Personal note Quite a few of these guys make the annual pilgrimage to my house in November and to my in-laws at the New Year. There many familiar faces

Oddballs.

[jingai]

Be sure to check out Photo 114:

Title: This guy wears cat ears and a cat tail and marched with the veterans.

Steve, what does the soundtruck say? Korea, get out of ??? The kanji are too small to read.

[Steve Bildermann]

Kankoku wa takeshima kara dete ike

Korea get out of Takeshima!

Here's the deal with Takeshima

http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/takeshima/position.html

1. Japan's Consistent Position

(1) Based on historical facts and international law, it is apparent that Takeshima is an integral part of Japan's sovereign territory.

(2) The occupation of Takeshima by the Republic of Korea is an illegal occupation undertaken with absolutely no basis whatsoever in international law. Any measures taken with regard to Takeshima by the Republic of Korea based on such an illegal occupation have no legal justification.

[GuyJean]

:arrow: http://www.juergenspecht.com/documentations/?number=27

Some great shots in there. I've always liked his work..

Speaking of freaks of the right-wing, tomorrow is Coming of Age day. Since all the 20 year olds are in one location at various ceremonies, it tends to attract the black bussers..

A video of the Coming day a couple years ago, in Shin-Yokohama]http://tokyodv.com/culture/ComingofAgeBlackBus.html[/url]

GJ

[Big Booger]

:arrow: http://www.juergenspecht.com/documentations/?number=27

Some great shots in there. I've always liked his work..

Speaking of freaks of the right-wing, tomorrow is Coming of Age day. Since all the 20 year olds are in one location at various ceremonies, it tends to attract the black bussers..

A video of the Coming day a couple years ago, in Shin-Yokohama]http://tokyodv.com/culture/ComingofAgeBlackBus.html[/url]

GJ

Total nuttcases.. they are a joke and don't realize it.

[vir-jin]

Reported by the New York Times, July20, 2002:

...
Suspicions that the nationalists have ties to the country's leaders were reinforced last month, when Japan was a co-host of the World Cup soccer tournament. With the government trying desperately to put Japan's best face forward, the noisy bully boys on 18 wheels conveniently disappeared from the streets.

The Tokyo police strenuously deny having cozy ties with the sound truck operators or receiving pressure from above to go lightly on them.

"We are not protecting these people," said Hideo Kurokawa, a police spokesman. "It is more like guiding them through the streets."
Asked about the noise levels, another police official, Hiroshi Ishii, said it was "very difficult" to measure decibel levels from moving vehicles. When an interviewer protested that Japan was famous for its high-tech electronics, he switched defenses, saying, "This is a sensitive issue that could lead to a constitutional debate over freedom of speech."

But those familiar with the groups say disturbing the peace is the least of the problems. They say the noisy disruptive behavior masks other, far more serious crimes, like extortion.

"Historically, the line between radical elements of the right and elite elements of the L.D.P. has been a very thin one," said Sheldon M. Garon, a professor of Japanese history at Princeton.

Mr. Garon said many of the party's well-known top politicians had been members of rightist groups. Japan's mainstream press, which has sometimes been among the victims of far-right violence, treats the subject as taboo.

Akio Kuroki, a retired policeman and freelance journalist, whose police job was to monitor right-wing groups, said they enjoyed close ties with law enforcement.

"The police are supposed to be neutral, but they are very close to the right-wingers and their mentality," he said. "If the right-wingers break the law, they are supposed to be arrested, but many police feel that would spoil the relationship."

Yoshitomo Kobayashi, 33, a construction worker who has spent years in various rightist movements, said he had been attracted to the groups that operate sound trucks by his disillusionment with the weakness and corruption of Japanese political leaders.

"There are so many parties in Japan that whenever the prime minister tries to decide something he is stymied by the opposition," he said in an interview. "I felt that wasn't right. Somebody has to be in command so that we aren't changing direction all the time."

Grievances like those make nationalists like Mr. Kobayashi the not-so-distant cousins of disgruntled workers and unemployed youth in Europe who see right-wing authoritarianism as an answer to their countries' problems.
A difference is that while many of their Western counterparts demonize ethnic minorities, the Japanese far right, with few such scapegoats available, focuses on nursing old war wounds and glorifying the emperor. :P FG's still safe!

"Japan today has lost its purpose as a nation and is stuck with a dysfunctional system," said Mitsuhiro Kimura, 45, the leader of a far-right group named Issuikai, in a recent interview with the newspaper Asahi Shimbun. "Political corruption is beyond belief. I just don't believe the law can fix all the problems."

Mr. Kimura said his group approved of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States and supported Palestinian suicide missions. The goal of Issuikai, one of about 800 such groups in Japan, is to carry out a revolution that would restore political power to Japan's emperors.

But Mr. Kobayashi, the construction worker, said that while he had set out to fight political corruption when he began joining far-right groups, what he discovered was deep-seated corruption within the sound truck groups themselves.

Sound truck operators are known to pull up outside a business's headquarters and begin blasting messages criticizing the management until they are paid off. People who get into debt trouble, commonplace in Japan's moribund economy, also sometimes hire them as muscle to get creditors to extend easier terms.

"I joined a right-wing group because I wanted to get beneath the surface of politics and see things as they really are," Mr. Kobayashi said. "What I discovered, though, is that we are really powerless to change anything. In fact, most of the rightists aren't even serious about trying.

"They do this for money."
__________________
I love Japan! :P

[goldenboy_ge]

Damn right wings, when I got the chance to track one of those propaganda vans, I'll pack out my MILAN (Anti-tank weapon which also can demolish soft targets) and blow that thing away so no more "Ohio Gozaimasu Nationalists" :P

[tatsujin]

So thats what they were! When I was Kyoto there was one of them blazing around at about 8am, Japan can be a truly strange place sometimes...

[DJEB]

http://tokyodv.com/culture/ComingofAgeBlackBus.html

GJ

Fuck me! First chance I get, I'm donating money to the communist party just to piss those fuckers off. And shame on the Japanese public for not chucking molotov cocktails into their parking lots!

[goldenboy_ge]

If u have ever been to Berlin, u might have asked urself why there's "Polizei - Police". If u are unlucky and u see some twerp neo Nazi marching through the city, u will then know why there has to be police. Believe it or not. The nazis do a legal march (without nazi signs and and and) but they are a registered organization, therefore in the law of democracy u allowed to free out ur mind and protest (that's a long and complicated story)- anyway. German left wings and non Nazis are completley different from Japs.

These Anti-Nazi groups must be held back or otherwise there would be a massacre. If ur just a simpel dude walking around the street, get urself an umbrella, (good fighting skills if necessary), and get the hell out of here because it'll rain bottles, trash, glasses, sharp objects and many more that are thrown at the Nazi party. If u are a Nazi, then be aware of getting those things at ur head and be prepared of getting demolished by the non German Nazis. These propaganda vans wouldn't stand that long if they were in Germany, as I mentioned before I would've take out some MILAN and blow that thing away. Secondly if there would be some strange sounds coming out of a sound speaker, the people wouldn't ignore such nationlist bullshit- there's going to be a big party. Especially young people will react quickly. However the lifes of Russian, Swedish and French Neo Nazis are much more easier unfortunetely....

[FG Lurker]

If you've ever been to Tokyo, you've probably seen and heard those strange vans with huge speakers driving around town, blasting some kind of recorded diatribe. They are propaganda vans operated by emperor-loving, Yakuza friendly right-wingers.

http://www.juergenspecht.com/documentations/?number=27

I have respected Juergen's copyright and have not published any of his photos here however the site has an extensive library, well worth a look.

...Personal note Quite a few of these guys make the annual pilgrimage to my house in November and to my in-laws at the New Year. There many familiar faces

Steve, I think I read in an older thread about you egging some of these vans? Or were those political campaign vans?

Can't remember now, but I laughed out loud reading what you wrote!!

[Steve Bildermann]

[gomichild]

They cause mayhem in Kamiyacho all the time - and we still get blasted with noise even though we are across the road and up on the 10th floor in the Chamber.

Sometimes the police do stand up to them. There are constant road blockages on the road outside of the Russian embassy.

Kamiyacho under tension

[Visitor K]

in my town we have the occassional uyoku van as well as the ramn vans that drive around with loud music playing .. it makes for a very interesting harmony

here is a pic from this site :

http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~edjacob/fringe.html

[Taro Toporific]

[goldenboy_ge]

To make it more clear I made this pic.

[Kurofune]

A video of the Coming day a couple years ago, in Shin-Yokohama]http://tokyodv.com/culture/ComingofAgeBlackBus.html[/url]
GJ

I like the young tough trying to look bad as he hangs out with the pink bear.

[Adhesive]

[GuyJean]

I like the young tough trying to look bad as he hangs out with the pink bear.

Yeah, I know.. But, I think in Japan, pink bears are tough. ]http://www.angelfire.com/trek/taro/funtokyo/glomy_bear.gif[/img]

GJ

[goldenboy_ge]

[Adhesive]

[goldenboy_ge]

Are you kinda serious or you were actually joking..I don't know..