customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

summary

updatedDate

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Kyodo

Police searched the head office of a group claiming to be the Japanese arm of US conspiracy cult QAnon in Shizuoka Prefecture on Monday after its members were arrested last week for forcing their way into a local mass coronavirus vaccination site earlier this year.
Eight members of the YamatoQ group, including one of its leaders, were arrested on Thursday on suspicion of trespassing after they intruded into the vaccination site in Yaizu in the central Japanese prefecture in March.
According to police, those arrested shouted “Vaccination is an act of murder” at the site. The prefectural police searched the group’s head office in Fukuroi.

Another leader and some other members of the group were indicted earlier this year on charges of barging into a venue offering coronavirus vaccinations for children in Tokyo in April.
The group has been waging a campaign against Covid-19 inoculations in various parts of Japan, holding rallies and saying that the novel coronavirus does not exist. In March, they disrupted vaccinations at sites including Tokyo Dome.
They are also protesting what they say is a lack of transparency about the composition of coronavirus vaccines and what they allege are their dangers.
YamatoQ says on its website that it is the Japanese wing of QAnon, a movement spreading internet conspiracy theories in support of former US President Donald Trump. The movement is said to have gained followers in many countries.


Hong Kong stocks hit 3-week low as China inflation data fuels worries about growth

China blames US ‘coercion’ for new Dutch export controls on ASML chip-making equipment

Where do supermodels go on holiday? From Kylie Jenner, Gigi Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski’s Balearic breaks, to Gisele Bündchen’s Costa Rican jungle escape

‘China week’ at US House puts biotech firms, Hong Kong offices in legislative cross hairs

Japan

Japan police raid QAnon-linked Covid-denying conspiracy cult

Police officers pictured in Tokyo. Photo: AP

Police in Tokyo. Japanese police have searched the head office of the YamatoQ group and arrested eight of its members. Photo: AP

A Trump supporter holds a sign associated with the Qanon conspiracy theory outside his Mar-A-Lago residence in Florida last month. Photo: AFP

Japanese man, 81, arrested for allegedly pushing disabled wife into sea

Online commentators accused the government of ignoring the issue of elder abuse in the rapidly ageing country and recommended euthanasia to relieve the suffering of terminally ill adults. Photo: Bloomberg

Hiroshi Fujiwara, 81, drove his 79-year-old wife to the spot and put her in her wheelchair. He then pushed her along for a few minutes before tipping it into the water. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Japan teen stabber prompts debate on troubled youth with no outlet for ‘everyday stress’

The stabbing in Tokyo’s Shibuya district on Saturday has refocused attention on troubled youth in Japan, in a nation where people are famously tolerant of others and where violent crime is rare. Photo: Reuters

What’s driving Japan’s incel violence and South Korea’s ‘semen terrorism’?

Yusuke Tsushima was arrested after stabbing 10 people on a train in Tokyo. Photo: Handout

Rescuers papare stretchers at Soshigaya Okura Station after stabbing on a commuter train, in Tokyo Friday, Aug. 6, 2021. A man with a knife stabbed passengers on a commuter train Friday and was arrested by police after fleeing, fire department officials and news reports said. (Kyodo News via AP)

A picture of Mayu Tomita. Photo:Twitter

Japan steps up fight against ‘yakuza’ crime groups, with arrest, death sentence

Kudo-kai crime syndicate head Satoru Nomura (in white) is seen during a police raid in 2010. He was sentenced to death for his role in a murder and three attempted murders. Photo: Reuters

A police officer wearing a protective face mask stands guard during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games flame gathering event, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Tokyo, Japan, August 20, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

As Asia ages, growing elder abuse in Japan foretells what Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea may face in future

An elderly woman walks with her trolley along a street in Tokyo. Japan recorded a record number of elder abuse cases in 2020. Photo AFP

An elderly man walks along a street covered with snow in Tokyo. A growing trend of elder abuse in Japan has raised concerns for the rest of ageing Asia. Photo: EPA

News

Asia

East Asia


The YamatoQ group has been waging a campaign against Covid-19 inoculations in Japan, holding rallies and saying the coronavirus doesn’t exist
Members of the group were arrested after barging into a vaccination centre and yelling ‘vaccination is an act of murder’, according to police



The YamatoQ group has been waging a campaign against Covid-19 inoculations in Japan, claiming ‘vaccination is an act of murder’ and that the coronavirus doesn’t exist.


Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Coronavirus pandemic

Donald Trump

Coronavirus vaccine

Japan police raid QAnon-linked Covid-denying conspiracy cult

The YamatoQ group has been waging a campaign against Covid-19 inoculations in Japan, holding rallies and saying the coronavirus doesn’t exist Members of the group were arrested after barging into a vaccination centre and yelling ‘vaccination is an act of murder’, according to police

The YamatoQ group has been waging a campaign against Covid-19 inoculations in Japan, holding rallies and saying the coronavirus doesn’t exist

Members of the group were arrested after barging into a vaccination centre and yelling ‘vaccination is an act of murder’, according to police