Progressive Japan

"In Japan, a super xenophobic country, setting different prices for Japanese version and foreign language version to prevent resale will promote discrimination even hate crimes and private arrests...
Nintendo should call to refrain..." via @arakureMusic
x.com/arakureMusic...

"The reason Nintendo set these double-standard prices is because an old man dressed as Mario (former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe) made Japanese people poorer.
Why are you guys making this into a story about how amazing Japan is?" via @nekoruck.bsky.social
x.com/nekoruck/sta...

Check out our previous thread covering the price difference between Japan-only version and multi-language version of the Switch2, which already caused a controversy for Nintendo despite being the country's national pride as the global industry leader:
bsky.app/profile/prog...

x.com/tigersharkNY...

"Israeli snipers are shooting Palestinian children in the head and killing them...If this man was protesting against Israel's cruelty, it would be one thing, but he's aligning with Israel's methods. This will damage Nintendo's corporate image." via @Holms6
x.com/Holms6/statu...

Video artist Nobuyuki Hanabusa:
"Mario is accepted all over the world becoz he 'doesn't kill.'
Avi Arad's actions and thoughts are the exact opposite.
...
I don't want Link to be an accomplice to the genocide.
This is a request from a fan of 40 years."
x.com/Hanapan8723/...

Translator @tkatsumi06j posted a long touching essay sharing his and his wife's experience of encountering Zelda games, becoming fans:
"Nintendo, the company that created the 'culture of fraternity,' is entrusting it to someone who approves this genocide"
x.com/tkatsumi06j/...

"Starting from Famicom, Nintendo has given me irreplaceable time since I was a child... Many children have been killed. I hope Nintendo, the industry leader, equally values the children's future. I hope there is still time." via @hatorin_hatori
x.com/hatorin_hato...

"In 2027 most of the world's institutions will officially recognize what's happening in Gaza as 'genocide.'
It's not a simple matter of 'terminate the contract due to an affair.' Nintendo will be a brand that normalizes ethnic cleansing." via @x_Atara_303
x.com/x_Atara_303/...

Also shared on Instagram by the Japanese BDS initiative "watashiwakawanai":
"Nintendo, please stop using genocide perpetrator Avi Arad in the production of the live-action film of 'The Legend of Zelda!'"
"I love Zelda🥺💔"

x.com/AkimotoThn/s...

More reactions from Japan regarding the announcement of The Legend of Zelda live-action film:
Petition to pressure Nintendo into breaking up with Avi Arad, reported by Pro-Palestine activist @AkimotoThn:
x.com/AkimotoThn/s...

Over a month since Assassin's Creed Shadows released, now its controversy has seemingly cooled down, how is it received in Japan? What does Japan really think about the game?
Find out in our new major coverage through the lens of a popular Twitch stream:
🔗 theprogjapan.substack.com/p/what-does-...

"Avi Arad, the producer Nintendo is working with is from Israel, a staunch Zionist who approves the genocide in Gaza supported by the current Israeli govt... I'm surprised they chose him (I wonder if they don't really care, as a company)" via @hentonacyoyu
x.com/hentonacyoyu...

"If Nintendo is concerned about protecting the brand, it must stop this. Please consider that there may be Palestinian children who like Pikachu." via @hikkiy_cooking
x.com/hikkiy_cooki...

"This is Nintendo's contact for inquiries. Maybe there is still time. Let your voice be heard!" via @T1rRaNo
Hashtags:
"Nintendo please stop collaborating with AviArad"
"The Legend of Zelda live-action film"
"Nintendo don't be complicit in genocide"
x.com/T1rRaNo/stat...

"I have so much respect for Nintendo, they really, really shouldn't choose a genocidal shitty Zionist (who also likely killed Palestinians) as director
Some Gazans played Zelda. Don't betray the children. Don't be complicit in their genocide" via @matcchao.bsky.social
x.com/matcchao/sta...

"Nintendo made a movie with a Zionist who supports the genocide in Gaza. I thought Nintendo was on the side of children, but how could they cooperate with a Zionist who support Israel, which is currently driving children to death
..." via @momo33san
x.com/momo33san/st...

"Nintendo-san, Miyamoto-san please!!
Stop collaborating with Avi Arad who supports Israeli genocide...!!
Continue to be Nintendo for kids!!
It's absolutely unacceptable to collaborate with the side that killed nearly 20,000 children!!" via @obihiro_shika
x.com/obihiro_shik...

The tweet that also exposed Avi Arad as a former IDF soldier already received 71K likes.
This is yet another sign showing how the corrupt Hollywood capital has flown into the Japanese entertainment industry over the past decades.
x.com/ssjtwogohan/...

So apparently it's been exposed that Avi Arad, the Hollywood mogul whom Shigeru Miyamoto will be working with on the long-awaited Zelda live-action film, is also a Zionist supporting Israel’s genocide in Palestine, which sparked strong reactions.
x.com/Nintendo/sta...

The delayed Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders due to the US tariffs finally began on April 24 in the US. However, there has been a "boycott" against Nintendo over the past weeks not only in Japan but throughout the world among the progressives.

Manga artist Naoki Yamamoto: "What do u think abt the reporting like 'Israeli troops attack Hamas'? When Japan's attacked, they say 'The LDP and the Self-Defense Forces were attacked'? They should say 'Gaza' 'Palestine.' Most of those killed are not Hamas"
x.com/tsugeju/stat...

"Too brutal 😭😡 Why is this allowed to go ahead? Even though it's clear that the terrorists are Israel, why doesn't the Japanese media report on this?" via @Sunny_Europe24
x.com/Sunny_Europe...

"If you heard 200 died at once in Japan, US or South Korea, would u say: 'a difficult issue'?
(Coz) 'it's in the Middle East where many Muslims of color'?
This is different from the lives lost in plane crashes, earthquakes or forest fires." via @isaokodesu.bsky.social
x.com/isaokodesu/s...

"I hope that everyone who's been silently watching the genocide will speak up, thinking 'This is really not right.' There's no need to be ashamed of your silence. It's shameful to remain silent while knowing something wrong is happening." via @playfulshell.bsky.social
x.com/playfulshell...

Singer Haru Nemuri: "It's so shitty. It really tears at my soul as a fellow human being, seeing how shitty human beings can be."
x.com/haru_nemuri/...

Painter Mariko Matsushita:
"Over 300 people have been killed in the last few hours, it's just horrific

Speechless, hair-raising
The horrifying reality shatters"
x.com/tmptnb/statu...

It has been over a month since Israel broke the "ceasefire" and resumed its full-scale genocide in Gaza, killing hundreds on that day mostly women and children.

Researcher Koei Kumano: "Judging people from other countries based on whether they are friendly or not towards Japan is condescending, a continuation of suzerain mentality of the past, when Koreans who resisted colonial rule were called 'unruly Koreans.'"
x.com/marumeganenn...