Ogawa Minako, a former child actress, has landed in hot water for criticising the Emperor in a tweet.
Following a recent controversy over some schoolchildren who climbed on a rock inscribed with a poem by the Emperor during a school trip, Ogawa stated that the Emperor was simply a mascot, and that in fact historically the Emperor had been involved in the suffering of the Japanese people during the war.
This quickly prompted widespread outrage from netizens, who claimed that Ogawa didn’t understand history correctly.
From Twitter:
The controversial tweet.
小川未菜（小川みな） @ogawamina:
The thing is, in Japan, we’re always like “Oh the Emperor, the Emperor”, but is he really all that? He he no direct relevance to Japanese politics, he’s just the mascot of Japan…A while back, it was the Emperor’s fault that the Japanese people suffered, and didn’t a lot of people lose their lives because of him? There are so many people who are living bearing that desperate sadness.
From J-CAST:
Female Celebrity Who Tweeted The Emperor Is “Japan’s Mascot” “So Many People Lost Their Lives Because Of Him” Says “It Was A Remark From Staff” And Deletes Tweet
Even Apologises On Her Blog “I Won’t Ever Tweet Again When I’m Drunk”
Recently there has been a lot of commotion online over the Emperor.
First the idol group HKT48 went viral when they took an attitude that appeared to make a fool out of the Emperor, and now a female celebrity (21) has commented on Twitter that “The Japanese people suffered because of the Emperor, and many lost their lives because of him”, “Now he’s just the mascot of Japan”.
As criticisms arose, she deleted the tweet saying it was something that had been written by staff. Then, after tweeting that it was in fact her who had made the original tweet, she was admonished by her followers who told her she should “have more interest in Japan’s history!”, and rather than being bashed online, people were just fed up with her.
HKT48 Also Went Viral Because Of Improper Remarks And Behavior
The problematic tweet was written by Ogawa Mina, a former child actress/model who is now a writer. On May 14, she tweeted:
“The thing is, in Japan, we’re always like “Oh the Emperor, the Emperor”, but is he really all that? He he no direct relevance to Japanese politics, he’s just the mascot of Japan…A while back, it was the Emperor’s fault that the Japanese people suffered, and didn’t a lot of people lose their lives because of him?”
It was a video by HKT48, a sister group of AKB48, that prompted the tweet. The video was shot at a meeting held on May 11, where member Sashihara Rino struck a proud pose after leading the other members, after which other members made fun of her, saying “She looks like the Emperor” and “Aiko-sama” [the Emperor’s granddaughter]. This prompted floods of opposition, with people calling their behavior and remarks “improper”, and the video was deleted.
Furthermore, on May 14, at Ooyamasenmaida, in Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture, elementary school students from Tokyo’s Adachi ward climbed up on a stone inscribed with a tanka poem by the emperor, and there were reports that their male teacher had told them to do it to take a photograph to commemorate their visit. Ogawa was stating her feelings on this incident.
Because this also prompted floods of criticism, with people saying “Why are you writing such stupid things!””Is this a publicity stunt?”, Ogawa soon tweeted something strange on her own account, explaining:
“Umm…looks like my staff might have tweeted something on my account that might become a bit of a problem”.
She then wrote “The tweet has been deleted”.
However, this didn’t lessen opposition. As a result there ended up being an abusive verbal slanging match on Twitter between Ogawa and her readers.
Young People Should Be Taught More About The Emperor And The Imperial Family
Meanwhile, Ogawa tweeted:
“Looks like I’m getting called an asshole, but I’m not!! What’s wrong with me tweeting my own honest feelings!!” Ogawa also admitted that it was her and not her staff who wrote their opinions about the Emperor.
Then, she made no further updates after tweeting “Whatever, I’m really drunk and don’t really know what’s going on anymore”.
On Ogawa’s Twitter account, there remained replies such as:
“I think that these days, since adults don’t teach children and young people about the Emperor and the Imperial Family, I guess they just don’t know about his existence”, and “I think it’s fine to have doubts, but I wish that after that you’d study these things properly. Like things about Japan’s history, authority, and power”.
Comments from 2ch.net:
中年’sリフト(庭)＠＼(^o^)／:
What the hell, how come she can’t separate between what you should keep to yourself and what you should say to others?
And anyway, even if you think something doesn’t mean you should say it w
ジャンピングエルボーアタック(芋)＠＼(^o^)／:
She should talk after studying history again!
Fair enough if you’re cute, but fuglies don’t have the right to speak!
It’s not a nice thing to say, but mocking the emperor deserves certain death!
クロイツラス(家)＠＼(^o^)／:
The extremity of ignorance.
膝靭帯固め(チベット自治区)＠＼(^o^)／:
Not too bothered about the first line, but the second line stinks.
パイルドライバー(鹿児島県)＠＼(^o^)／:
I agree that he’s Japan’s mascot, but I don’t agree that the suffering of the Japanese people and so on was his fault.
バーニングハンマー(中部地方)＠＼(^o^)／:
And is this girl working harder that the Emperor for the good of the people?
キン肉バスター(禿)＠＼(^o^)／:
Doesn’t she realise that the Emperor originally played a religiously precious role like the Roman Emperor?
メンマ(dion軍)＠＼(^o^)／:
The Emperor’s fault?
I think that it was pretty much America’s fault, actually.
フェイスロック(WiMAX)＠＼(^o^)／:
If you say stuff like that, then Jesus was just the mascot of Christianity…
アイアンクロー(埼玉県)＠＼(^o^)／:
The Royal Family are doing their jobs through diplomacy and ceremonies.
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
kok*****:
Insulting the Emperor just makes you the same as Korea doesn’t it?
Isn’t she embarrassed as a Japanese citizen?
ise*****:
Would she say that with her own mouth rather than writing it on Twitter?
Try it, idiot.
ykk*****:
At any rate, I guess she’s a zainichi or a naturalised citizen or something, because she hasn’t learned history correctly, and she’s just come to believe the delusions of her commie teachers.
rizumu:
I guess she’s been taught history incorrectly Someone with no knowledge stating their pet theories.
sdt*****:
She’s trying to deceive people by lying, and then in the end she tries to turn it all around and escape.
What a pity of a human being, doesn’t even take responsibility for what she said.
(ﾟДﾟ)…:
She really is stupid.
北町奉行:
Good job you’re from the Heisei generation.
In prewar and wartime Japan, if she’d said that she’d get the death sentence, no doubt about it.
