An explosion heard at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine today has made headlines throughout Japan.
Although there is no evidence that an explosion was successful, police did find evidence of a rudimentary explosive device in a toilet cubicle at the Shrine, which was due to celebrate the Niiname-sai harvest festival, a Japanese version of Thanksgiving.
Netizens from Yahoo! and mixi find it difficult to conceal their rage, with many pointing out that the incident may well have been planned by a “neighbor”, suggesting that the perpetrator might have been Korean or even Chinese. It is also clear that netizens still have the recent Paris attacks on their mind, given the frequent references to IS.
From Yahoo! Japan:
Explosion Heard At Yasukuni Shrine; No Casualties, Batteries And Pipes Found
At around 10am on November 23, there was an emergency 110 call from a public toilet within the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine, Kudankita, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, saying: “I heard an explosion and there’s smoke escaping”.
According to Tokyo Metropolitan police, there were batteries scattered on the floor of a cubicle in the men’s toilets, and the battery cases showed signs of scorching. Something akin to a metal pipe with lead wires attached to it were also discovered; however, there were no signs of an explosion, and the source of the explosion sound remains unclear. No one was injured.
The Metropolitan Police’s Public Safety Division are analyzing what was in the pipe recovered from the scene, but say that the structure of the suspicious item seems to differ from those used in guerrilla incidents carried out by extremists in the past. Shortly before the sound of the explosion, a man with a paper bag is seen in the vicinity on CCTV footage, and police are investigating his link to the incident carefully.
According to Police, components that may be used to create a timed explosive device, such as size D and size AA batteries, battery cases, and a digital timer had been left on the floor of the bathroom stall. On the ceiling someone had made a square hole measuring around 30cm, and four sections of pipe (around 3cm in diameter, 20cm in length) were discovered in a bundle inside.
The Metropolitan Police Bomb Disposal Squad were dispatched to retrieve the suspicious items. Police dogs were also used to search the bathroom to ensure there were no other dangerous items present.
According to Yasukuni Shrine, at 6am this morning all gates into the shrine wer left open. The explosion was heard at around 10am, immediately before the Niiname-sai Thanksgiving Festival, which celebrates the autumn harvest, was due to begin. The Niiname-sai was held according to schedule, but no further worshipers were admitted to the shrine outside of those who had appointments. The public toilet where the incident took place was checked several times per day by staff.
From Yahoo! Japan:
Explosion At Yasukuni Shrine; Tokyo Police Investigate On Suspicion Of Terrorism
At around 10am on November 23, there was an explosion in a toilet in the southern part of the Yasukuni Shrine, Kudankita, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
Police are investigating the incident as an act of terrorism/guerrilla incident.
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
cra*****:
It’s not IS, it’s our neighbors
紫苑:
They have CCTV, so he should be arrested in no time.
I hope that they do the right thing and release his real name in the media.
lus*****:
Well, pretty clear this isn’t the work of anything Islamic.
世直し希望:
As far as this is concerned, it’s definitely not IS. No matter how you look at it, this is Hangul.
At least IS have the precision to target something and blow it up.
ねこまんま:
It’s definitely not IS when its an act targeting Yasukuni.
kaibutukun:
Isn’t this terrorism though?
tai*****:
When you think that this wasn’t a suicide attack you realize it’s unlikely to be IS.
dai*****:
I wonder how Tiananmen and the Blue House felt about this news?
vrx*****:
Ah yes, our suspicious neighbors…
rob*****:
Recently the number of people coming into Japan from China and Korea has increased dramatically, it seems. Bet they’re not coming in to pay homage at our shrines.
Comments from mixi News:
Woah….umm this just makes me really angry…!?
Just from the place this happened, seems like we’ll be about to see the nationality of the criminal.
We don’t know who the criminal was, but isn’t Japan too soft on these terrorists that are extremists?
No matter what the nationality, treat this person as a terrorist. If you don’t let them know that we won’t be messed with, the next time it won’t end so easily.
Handiwork of Koreans again?
Treating this as an act of terrorism means that for the person who did it, capital punishment would be appropriate.
It makes me sick that people are saying “Oh, it was a Korean” without having any proof whatsoever. And it’s really sad that these are the comments getting upvoted.
Lefty friends of the Chink-Gook SEALDs?
If the criminal was a Chink bastard or a filthy Chon, then let’s send them back to where they came from. And from now on, let’s forbid anyone from the three countries (apart from Taiwan) from coming into Japan.
The affinity between terrorism and anti-Japanese sentiment is really shown here. We should be serious about this and resist them this criminal conspiracy.
Give the bastards who did this at Yasukuni the death penalty.
