TEHRAN - The people in the only country that has been hit by nuclear bombs, namely Japan, are getting more and more angry at the Israeli regime’s genocidal war on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip following a Hamas retaliatory attack on Oct. 7, 2023, has drawn widespread international condemnation. The regime’s insistence on continuing its offensive despite its failure to break the Gaza Resistance and also international outcry comes in violation of the UN Security Council resolution which calls for an immediate cease-fire. 

Back in May, the International Court of Justice accused Israel of genocide and ordered a halt to its military operations in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge before the city was invaded on May 6.

The Israeli regime's genocidal campaign has left over 42,900 Palestinians martyred and more than 100,000 wounded, according to Gaza health authorities.

The Japanese government maintained a cordial relationship with Israel before October 7, 2023. However, there has been a change in public discourse in Japan about Palestine with regular events and protest demonstrations held to push for a cease-fire and an end to the genocide.

In a path-breaking move, the historic city of Nagasaki, hit by a US nuclear bomb during World War II, refused to invite Israeli officials to its peace memorial ceremony, which takes place every year on August 9.

In line with the public demand, Japan has become one of the leading providers of humanitarian aid to Palestine. The East Asian economic powerhouse had shipped aid worth $125 million since last October, the country’s officials told media earlier this year.

It is a ‘fallacy’ that nuclear weapons can bring peace
 
The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations often shortened to Nihon Hidanky is a group that represents survivors (known as Hibakusha) of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After winning the Nobel Peace Prize this year, it became the largest and most influential Hibakusha organization in Japan.

The prize was awarded to the organization in October for its activism against nuclear weapons.

At the start of the Israeli genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip, some Israeli officials threatened the Palestinians with nuclear bombs. Amichai Eliyahu, the Heritage Minister in the cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called for dropping a nuclear bomb or expelling the population from Gaza as a solution to resolve the issue once for all.

After receiving the news of winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Tomoyuki Mimaki, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, warned the world about the danger of nuclear weapons.

“It would be a great force to appeal to the world that the abolition of nuclear weapons can be achieved,” he said.

Mimaki told reporters the idea that nuclear weapons can bring peace is a “fallacy”.

“For example, if Russia uses them against Ukraine, Israel against Gaza, it won’t end there. Politicians should know these things,” he warned.

The occupying regime is said to possess hundreds of nuclear warheads and has refused to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). 

Japanese man protests outside the Israeli embassy every week

Ramen chef Chikahiro Naoya, a Japanese man, holds a one-person protest rally outside the Israeli embassy in Tokyo every week after work. He shouts: "Don't kill the children!" and “Stop the genocide.” He started his action in February 2024.

According to media reports, Naoya is a restaurant owner in Tokyo, where the municipal police have tried to silence him. His activism has continued rain or shine. He has been calling on the Israeli regime to stop the genocide in Gaza, resisting attempts by law enforcement to shut him up. 

Sinwar depicted as Samurai

Social media was awash with illustrations and old photos of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas political chief who was martyred in Gaza recently, praising him for his defiant stand.

Sinwar's final moments, under attack by Israeli forces in Gaza, have inspired artwork around the world, with a Japanese newspaper publishing an illustration of the Hamas leader as a Samurai warrior.

Drone footage released by the Israeli military showed the wounded Sinwar defiantly throwing a piece of wood at the UAV as it hovered over him before he was martyred by Israeli forces on October 16 in the southern Gaza Strip.

He was wearing military attire, draped in a keffiyeh, and carrying a handgun as he fought Israeli soldiers during his last moments, contrasting with the information spread by Israel that he was living underground surrounded by Israeli human shields.

Public anger grows in Japan over Israeli genocidal war in Gaza 

Despite a 9,000 kilometers distance between the Gaza Strip and Japan, the Japanese have shown that anyone can act to stand with Palestinians and express solidarity with them amid the Zionist regime’s genocide. 

Thousands of Japanese people have held rallies across the country since last year in support of the Palestinians in Gaza condemning the crimes committed by the Zionist Israeli regime in the enclave. 

In the demonstrations, the Japanese from different backgrounds express their anger and frustration over Japan’s arms trade and its cordial relationship with the Zionist Israeli regime. 

The protesters and activists have held rallies outside the U.S. embassy in Tokyo, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other significant locations. 

Ordinary Japanese and college students along with their counterparts in other countries, including students and their professors at Western universities, have held anti-Zionist rallies since last year.