Japanese MAGA Fans Build Giant Donald Trump Statue With Flashing Eyes

A pro-Donald Trump march took place in the Japanese city of Osaka at the weekend.

Participants in the event wore MAGA caps and carried a giant mikoshi – a portable statue or shrine often part of Japanese festivals and celebrations – of the former president with flashing eyes.

The marchers carried Japanese and American flags and MAGA slogans were blasted out through a loudspeaker.

One pair of marchers carried a banner featuring the image of Trump following the attack on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the words: “Fight, Fight, Fight!”

The mikoshi appears to be the same one featured in a Tokyo based pro-Trump march on September 22.

A video of the Osaka march was posted to X by Jeffrey J. Hall, a lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies.

The original video, which was re-posted by Hall, appeared to come from a Japanese X account, which Newsweek contacted for comment.

Describing the march on X, Hall wrote: “A small pro-Trump demonstration was held in Osaka today with the same giant Trump mikoshi that was used in a similar demonstration in Tokyo. The previous demonstration was organized by people affiliated with foreign religious groups.”

Speaking to Newsweek, Hall said the religious group he was referring to was the Sanctuary Church, which he called “QAnon adjacent.”

Sanctuary Church is an offshoot of the Unification Church, which was first founded in South Korea in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon.

Sean Moon, the founder of the Rod of the Iron Ministries church, which worships with AR-15s, is the son of Sun Myung Moon.

Hall also told Newsweek: “There are also reports that members of Happy Science and the Raelian movement have participated. I am not sure about the Osaka event, but in the past there have also been Falun Gong participants at these events.”

“These people are known as “J-Anon” in the Japanese media because they are seen as a sort of QAnon adjacent movement,” said Hall.

“They actively use internet media outlets to import and translate conspiracy theories about the deep state and they love Donald Trump. They are not representative of typical Japanese conservatives. They are very much a fringe movement, as you can tell by the small size of their march.”

Hall also pointed out that the same groups, including members of the Sanctuary Church, were involved in the small gathering of Pro-Trump fans who marched hours before the storming of the U.S. capitol on January 6, 2021.

However, it seems pro-Trump Japanese factions are in the minority. A September poll conducted by Japanese financial newspaper The Nikkei revealed 71 percent of respondents wanted Kamala Harris to win the White House next week, compared to 19 percent who were in favor of Trump.

During his presidency, Trump imposed heavy tariffs on Japanese imports, including a 25 per cent levy on steel.

If elected again, Trump has promised 20 per cent tariffs on all imports.

A Trump presidency could also have foreign policy implications for Japan, according to former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Cohen said Trump “disdains formal alliances” and cited his skepticism over stationing U.S. troops in Japan.