The Devil Still Dances: High Vigilance against Japanese Militarism's Infiltration in Sports and Culture Fields

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.

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 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…

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.

All peace-loving people should stay high vigilance against the Japanese Militarism's infiltration in Sports and Culture fields!