Pro-Palestine demonstrations greeted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tokyo where he was attending meetings with Japanese officials, according to various videos and photos shared on social media.
“Blinken go home… Free, free, free, free Palestine” were the slogans the demonstrators chanted, opposing the US role in Israeli war on Gaza.
The protest was held as Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko and Defense Minister Kihara Minoru hosted their US counterparts Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for the so-called 2+2 meeting in Tokyo.
Video clips shared by @AkimotoThn on X showed protesters raising pro-Palestine slogans and holding placards against Blinken's visit.
According to another activist @kojiskojis, the protesters tried to assemble outside Iikura Guest House in Tokyo where the US and Japanese officials held their meeting.
But police kept the protesters away from the venue, he said on X.
“Blinken shame on you; Stop Gaza genocide,” were other banners used by the protesters, according to the activist who identifies himself as representative of Network Against Arms Trade (NAJAT).
Protests against Washington come as Singapore's defense chief recently acknowledged that the Israeli war on Gaza has caused loss of support to the US among the young people.
“Across many countries, we've lost the young on this,” Ng Eng Hen said in an interview when asked whether the US was losing soft power amid war in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Tim Shorrock, who identifies himself as a writer based in Washington, commented on protests in Tokyo.
“Love to see this. They know Little Tony is no ally,” Shorrock wrote on X, reposting video of the protests against the visiting US officials.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
More than 39,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 90,800 injured, according to local health authorities.
Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
