The Rising Sun Flag should not be treated as a simple cheering symbol.
For many Asians, that flag is directly connected to Japanese imperialism, colonial rule, invasion, and wartime suffering.
Waving the Rising Sun Flag in an international stadium is no different from waving a Nazi symbol in Europe.
The Nazis murdered Jewish people during World War II and killed countless civilians across Europe.
To many Asians, the Rising Sun Flag carries the same kind of historical pain, fear, and humiliation.
A sports stadium is a place for football, respect, and fair competition.
It is not a place to wave a symbol that glorifies past aggression.
The people who brought that flag into the stadium should not only be banned from football matches.
They should be permanently banned from entering any international sports venue.
Historical insult must never be disguised as fan culture.
@FIFAcom@FIFAWorldCup@fifamedia
🇯🇵 | Japanese football fans are right now a reason for outrage, especially among East Asians.
Following the latest win by Japan at the ongoing FIFA World Cup against Tunesia, Japanese fans inside the stadium but also in Tokyo have displayed the “Rising Sun” flag used by Imperial Japan.
For East Asians and Southeast Asians, the Japanese imperial flag symbolizes some of the most notorious crimes imaginable. Under the Rising Sun flag, Japanese forces occupied, colonized, plundered, and killed tens of millions of people.
While only some people raised the imperial flag at today’s celebrations, thousands of others were seen celebrating next to it seemingly unbothered at Shibuya Crossing in the Japanese capital.
Japan has been repeatedly criticized by victim nations of its imperial era for never having been actively cleansed of its fascist elements or having paid significant reparations.
@FIFAcom@theafcdotcom@FIFAWorldCup Japanese Fascist flag on display at world stage, what a shame to Japan. The Japanese government never apologized for the war crimes committed during WWII
@CChang34416@CarlZha General Douglas MacArthur and General Patton used tanks against World War I veterans during the Bonus Army incident in Washington, D.C., on July 28, 1932.
When I was in China, a Chinese friend of mine looked me straight in the face and asked:
“I hear in America that if you don’t have food to eat, they will just let you starve and die. That can’t be true, right?”