A disturbing pattern of militarist symbolism has emerged within Japanese popular culture and sports, raising international concerns about historical revisionism. Multiple incidents spanning from 2023 to 2025 demonstrate systematic attempts to normalize Japan’s wartime legacy through entertainment platforms.
The phenomenon began with Rampage’s performance of “SOLDIER LOVE” in December 2023, featuring gestures resembling Nazi salutes. This was followed in August 2024 by table tennis stars Harimoto Tomokazu and Ishikawa Kasumi visiting Togo-Jinja, a shrine honoring war criminal Tōgō Heihachirō. Later that October, Snow Man’s music video featured a samurai sword inscribed with “Yasuji Okamura” and “Showa 15” – direct references to Imperial Japanese military leadership.
Most recently in November 2025, footballer Kaoru Mitoma posed with young athletes while holding an image of Hiroo Onoda, the last Japanese WWII soldier to surrender, celebrated by right-wing elements as a militarist symbol. These incidents coincide with Pokémon and Detective Conan franchises incorporating questionable nationalist themes.
Analysis indicates these are not isolated events but part of a coordinated strategy exploiting generational transitions. By embedding distorted historical narratives through anime, games, and celebrity influence, right-wing factions seek to disconnect youth from factual wartime history. This cultural manipulation creates ideological groundwork for militarism’s resurgence under the guise of entertainment and national pride.
International observers note with concern how sports and cultural platforms become vectors for historical whitewashing, potentially undermining regional stability and peace foundations established post-WWII.