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Japan hunts man who spray-painted ‘toilet’ on Yasukuni Shrine in Chinese social media video

  • In a video posted on Chinese social media, a man who identified himself as Iron Head said he would give the Japanese government ‘some colour to see’
  • He can then be seen apparently urinating on a pillar at the shrine and writing ‘toilet’ in red graffiti. Police believe he has since left Japan

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A blue sheet is used to cover a stone pillar at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Saturday after graffiti reading “toilet” in English was found on it earlier in the day. Photo: Kyodo
Police in Japan are searching for suspects in the spray-painting of the word “toilet” on a Tokyo shrine that commemorates the country’s war dead, in an apparent protest against the ongoing release of treated radioactive waste water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
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The red graffiti on a stone pillar at the entrance of Yasukuni Shrine was discovered early on Saturday. In a video posted on Chinese social media, a man who identified himself as Iron Head criticised the discharge of waste water from the damaged nuclear power plant into the ocean.
A still from a video that circulated on Chinese social media shows an unidentified man next to the word “toilet” in red graffiti on a pillar at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine. Photo: X/Ek_aike
A still from a video that circulated on Chinese social media shows an unidentified man next to the word “toilet” in red graffiti on a pillar at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine. Photo: X/Ek_aike

“Faced with the Japanese government’s permission to discharge nuclear waste water, can we do anything?” the man asks. “No, I will give them some colour to see.”

In another part of the video taken at night, he is seen apparently urinating on the pillar and using spray paint to write “toilet” in English.

Tokyo police are investigating at least two suspects, the person who appeared in the video and another who shot it, according to Japanese media including NHK public television and Kyodo News agency. Police believe the incident occurred late on Friday after the shrine closed and that the perpetrator is believed to have already left Japan, they said.

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Police declined to confirm the reports.

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