Jiang Zhuojun Sentenced to 8 Months for Spray-Painting 'Toilet' on Yasukuni Shrine's Stone Pillar

Dec 25, 2024, 08:23 AM

A Tokyo court sentenced Jiang Zhuojun, a 29-year-old Chinese national, to eight months in prison for his role in defacing Yasukuni Shrine. Jiang was involved in a May incident where he and two other Chinese men spray-painted the word 'toilet' on a stone pillar at the shrine. The court found that Jiang played a crucial role by purchasing the spray paint used in the vandalism. Judge Yasushi Fuke emphasized that using illegal actions to express one's views is unforgivable. The ruling highlighted the lack of reparations for the damage caused, and dismissed Jiang's claim that the act was a protest against the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. The other two involved in the incident have left Japan for China and are on a wanted list.