It’s time for emperor to rev up his own sound truck

By CB Liddell

It may have escaped your attention, but there is a fraternity of gentlemen in this country who wear military jumpsuits and drive around in large trucks emblazoned with the national insignia. They spew out high-decibel renditions of enka songs about the occupation of Manchuria or the conquest of Sakhalin, lovingly intercut with snatches of political speeches, the basic burden of which is that the sun — rising or otherwise — shines out of Japan’s sweaty loincloth.

The aural and other activities of Japan’s high-profile ultranationalists may be hard to ignore or even stomach, but they may have escaped your attention simply because they seem to have escaped the attention of other long-term Tokyo residents, most noticeably His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Akihito.

For the average foreigner who’s unable to decipher the lurid kanji or interpret the megaphone-mangled marching lyrics, the failure to notice convoys of pseudo-military sound trucks barracking the embassies of China and Russia — or some pachinko parlor or “soapland” that didn’t make this month’s payments — may be partly excusable. This certainly isn’t the case for the native population. They know exactly what’s going on, but seem to deploy mental blind spots as big as beach umbrellas every time the ultras go by.

Perhaps the fine, democratic Western traditions of heckling and throwing overripe tomatoes and rotten eggs hasn’t reached this far. Or, more likely, a trembling cocktail of terror, timidity, fear, trepidation, panic, agitation, nervousness and the jitters, combined with a nasty case of sweaty palms, shivers down the spine, quaking knees, and a yellow streak a mile wide, prevents the average Japanese person exercising their democratic right to mock these absurd pseudo-fascist nonentities.

As the occasional bit of violence lies behind the puffed-up bluster of the ultras, there may be a touch of justification for such cowardice. But what can’t be so easily explained is the degree to which Japan’s establishment allows this national embarrassment to both contaminate the air with sound pollution and, at a time of rising oil prices, permits the prodigious waste of gasoline represented by sound-truck convoys. In particular, the silence of the emperor himself on this issue is deafening, as, from what I can tell, most of this nonsense seems to be done in his name.

Groups like Nihon Seinensha (“Japan Youth Society”), Seikijuku (“Sane Thinkers School”) and Nihon Kominto (“Japan Emperor’s Citizen Party”) all claim to revere and respect the emperor. However, in addition to their almost touching devotion to the living symbol of the nation, most of these groups also have seedy links to yakuza gangs and have also been involved in acts of violence and intimidation.

The Nagasaki-based Seikijuku, for example, were behind the 1990 near-fatal shooting of the mayor of Nagasaki, after he suggested, not unreasonably, that the Emperor Hirohito, commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army and Navy at the time, bore some responsibility for World War II.

In June 2000, the Japan Youth Society attacked the offices of a magazine that ran a headline supposedly “disrespecting” Princess Masako. In 2006, another group launched an arson attack on the house and office of LDP lawmaker Koichi Kato because he had been vocal in criticizing then Prime Minister Koizumi’s visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine.

In all these cases, there was little in the way of condemnation from the Imperial household. Perhaps the emperor regards it as “good form” to avoid speaking out on issues like these, even when they involve serious crimes committed in his name.

I have read that he is a noted authority on goby fish and, recently, even delivered a lecture on the classifications of different subspecies of that particular fish family to the Linnean Society of London. While hobnobbing with foreign dignitaries and fellow fish fanciers must be fun, surely the emperor’s first duty is to the comfort and safety of his people. So, rather than speaking to the champagne and caviar set about the differences between mudskippers and prawn gobies, perhaps the emperor should take time out from perusing his ichthyological textbooks and address the awkward question of thugs and bullies who act up and then pass on the credit to him and his lineage.

In other words, it’s high time the emperor put Japan’s ultranationalists in an impossible situation by clearly and repeatedly stating that he disapproves of all their activities. Said often and loudly enough, this will force the ultras to either listen and mend their ways or, instead, become the ones with beach umbrella-sized mental blind spots, pretending that he’s not really there.

CB Liddell is a Tokyo-based writer, editor and cartoonist. This commentary originally appeared in Metropolis magazine (www.metropolis.co.jp).

Latest 15 of 44 Total Comments Show All

romulus3 at 11:26 AM JST - 30th July

they are not so bad. I find them mildly entertaining. They often cruise around the chinese embassy near my home. they can protest all they want but there is a legion of armed cops surrounding the place making it one of the safest areas in Osaka. for that, I thank them.
northlondon at 12:00 PM JST - 30th July

I wonder whether this Liddell person has ever run into nazi skinheads back in the States, or Combat 15 in London ? He wouldn't be whinging on about vans and loudspeakers and how the Emperor should apologise if he had done. They'll kick your head in as soon as they get the chance, even if you are white.
Patto at 12:05 PM JST - 30th July

I smile at them benignly and wave as they go by.
northlondon at 12:27 PM JST - 30th July

Will be interesting to see whether the Nihon Seinensha and the Seikijuku get to hear about Liddell's criticism of the Emperor, his constant Japan-bashing and his article about their organisations. Maybe then we'll see how Liddell's "yellow streak" is. Hope he has plenty of fire extinguishers at home..
FairandBalanced at 12:33 PM JST - 30th July

He should be free to criticise without the fear of reprisal. Japan is too lax on these right wing thugs. Freedom to criticise is essential. THe US would be in a sorry state now, without our cherished rights to free speech.
northlondon at 12:42 PM JST - 30th July

He should be free to criticise without the fear of reprisal. Japan is too lax on these right wing thugs. Freedom to criticise is essential. THe US would be in a sorry state now, without our cherished rights to free speech.

But that is a contradiction in itself. The right-wing groups are also merely giving their opinion.

Moderator: Please refrain from accusing anyone of racism on this discussion board.
seimei at 12:47 PM JST - 30th July

So... if I hire a truck and barricade an embassy I'm a terrorist.

If the nationalist goons do it, while basically threatening the sovereignty of Japan's neighbors and killing politicians, they're patriots...

Someone's getting paid somewhere.
northlondon at 12:57 PM JST - 30th July

No one is calling them patriots or condoning them. But what is the difference between Liddell using internet news media to write that Japanese people have a "yellow streak a mile wide" and those idiot right-wingers who use speaker vans to denounce the Russians and the Chinese ? Some of us are also putting these guys into perspective because they do not attack foreigners in Japan, whereas their counterparts in the west kill normal citizens.
JackDorff at 10:22 PM JST - 30th July

northlondon: At risk of being labelled a pedant, isn`t it Combat18?
imacat at 10:25 PM JST - 30th July

My idea for getting back at the black-truckers is to print up some stickers on the Tepra at work with "baka" in Japanese. Cycle up behind them at the traffic signal and put 2 or 3 stickers on the back of the truck. The only minus point is that you wouldn't see their faces when they finally found them ;-)

Minor risk is that the car behind them at the lights is full of their mates, in which case you'll be cycling off faster than a keirin champion...
catcherintherye at 10:40 PM JST - 30th July

Surge at 01:25 AM JST - 30th July

Heck; these guys couldn`t do this stuff in the US.

We have laws protecting everyone, ensuring equality and freedom to all. There is no racial discrimination in the US.

The emperor should, at least state his dislike for thse people, and the cops should arrest them.

Follow the lead of the US, and ensure freedom for all.
fds at 12:01 PM JST - 31st July

they are entitled to their free speech but my question is why the police don't stop them when they run stop lights which impunity. i mean these buses go barrelling thru redlights long after the light has changed and the police do nothing.
Xentrix at 06:19 PM JST - 1st August

This is nothing to be accused of the Emperor. For your information Current role of Emperor: The emperor's role is defined in Chapter I of the 1947 Constitution of Japan.

Article 1 defines the emperor as the symbol of state and the unity of the people Article 3 says the Emperor must have the approval of the cabinet in matters of state. Article 4 states that the emperor shall not have powers related to government. Article 6 gives the emperor the power to appoint the prime minister and the chief judge of the supreme court. Article 7 gives the emperor power to do things common of a head of state. The emperor of Japan has no reserve powers.

While the emperor does serve as head of state, many people question if the emperor is a true monarch in a political sense. Efforts in the 1950s by conservative powers to change the constitution to actually name the emperor as head of state were rejected. Regardless, the emperor does do all the diplomatic functions of a head of state and is recognized as one by foreign powers. Secondly, It has to do with the militarism period in Japan which all those japanese officials payed their life to death penalties after the second world war. If they have followers like their secret organization, we don't know now whose the head of this organization but truly this is not link from the Emperor's Dispositon nor his duties to know because he is very innocent about the negativity of thier actions towards citizens. Maybe Prime Minister can asked help to the Authorization of thier Chief Commander in Police Agency, National Security Agency and JPIS.
GW at 07:42 PM JST - 1st August

i have no problem with these losers free speeching & all but at REASONABLE FRIGGING VOLUMES ONLY, simple noise ordinance shud take care of these twits, but even then wud the coppers have the nads to do their jobs.......well we all know that answer, thats why things is the the they is!
TheManiac at 09:45 AM JST - 4th August

I was just commenting on the topic "1 in 30 babies born in Japan (come from non-Japanese parents)". Imagine what the rightwingers in this article would do if NHK announced that.