China news agency, Tokyo, 5 February-Nearly 100 overseas Chinese in China and Japanese students marched in Shinjuku area in the center of Tokyo on the afternoon of 5 February to protest against the placement of right-wing books written by their boss, Yukio Yuangu, in the APA Hotel in Japan, which denied and distorted history.
Most of the participants in the parade were young people, who put on masks as agreed in advance to protest "silently". However, its banner slogan clearly expresses its own voice: "cherish peace", "resolutely resist APA and safeguard national dignity", "APA hotels must follow corporate ethics" and "although speech is called freedom, conscience is equally necessary".
The parade marched from Shinjuku Central Park in front of Tokyo Metropolitan Hall, along Shinjuku Downtown Street, passing through APA’s store in Shinjuku. Some right-wingers followed along the street, shouting abuse and trying to shock the parade. The local police used a large number of police forces to prevent and maintain the procession that had been applied in advance according to the route.
A young woman who participated in the parade told us that the parade was initiated by everyone through a circle of friends on social media, because the bad words, deeds and attitudes of APA hotel owners were irritating. At the same time, I also want to tell ordinary Japanese people through this parade that this right-wing words and deeds that violate human conscience undermine Sino-Japanese friendship and the friendly exchanges between the two peoples.
Earlier, the media disclosed that APA Hotel placed a large number of right-wing books written by Yuan Gu in its rooms, denying the existence of the Nanjing Massacre and the Korean comfort women incident, which triggered strong concern and condemnation from all parties. A spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that this once again shows that some forces in Japan have always been unwilling to face up to history and even tried to deny and distort it.
China National Tourism Administration has asked all outbound tourism enterprises and tourism e-commerce service platforms to completely stop cooperation with the hotel.
According to the request of the Organizing Committee of the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, APA Hotel has promised to withdraw the right-wing books in the APA Hotel in Sapporo designated by the Asian Winter Games. At the same time, at the request of the Olympic Council of Asia, the organizers of the Sapporo Asian Winter Games are coordinating the replacement of hotels for the China delegation.