Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-246sw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-16T14:40:44.192Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Russian State-Controlled Propaganda and its Proxies: Pro-Russian Political Actors in Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Olena Kalashnikova  and
Fabian Schäfer
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

There are two main ways Russian propaganda reaches Japan: (a) the social media accounts of official institutions, such as the Russian Embassy, or Russian state-linked media outlets, such as Sputnik, and (b) pro-Russian Japanese political actors who willingly (or unwillingly) spread disinformation and display a clear pro-Kremlin bias. These actors justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine and repeat the Russian view of the war with various objectives in mind, primarily serving their own interests. By utilizing corpus analysis and qualitative examination of social media data, this article explores how Russian propaganda and a pro-Russian stance are effectively connected with and incorporated into the discursive strategies of political actors of the Japanese Far-Right.

Keywords

Russian propagandaRusso-Ukrainian WarDisinformationSocial mediaTwitterFar-RightCorpus linguistics
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , March 2024 , e6
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2024

References

Adamczyk, Roman, and Morinière, Sasha. 2021. “The Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War on French-Speaking Fringe Communities Online.” ISD. https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/the-impact-of-the-russia-ukraine-war-on-french-speaking-fringe-communities-online/.Google Scholar
Alessandro, . 2023. “Study: The Most Effective Propaganda-Spreading Embassy Is the Russian One in Sofia.” Insight News Media, April 1. https://insight-news.media/study-the-most-effective-propaganda-spreading-embassy-is-the-russian-one-in-sofia/.Google Scholar
“Amending Japan's Pacifist Constitution.” 2018. Institute for Security and Development Policy. Accessed December 21, 2022. https://isdp.eu/publication/amending-japans-pacifist-constitution/.Google Scholar
Andreae, Jonas. 2022. “The Information War of RT DE.” In RT in Europe and Beyond, edited by Shekhovtsov, Anton, 68–78. Vienna: Centre for Democratic Integrity.Google Scholar
Baker, Paul. 2010. “Representations of Islam in British Broadsheet and Tabloid Newspapers 1999–2005.” Journal of Language and Politics 9 (2): 310–38. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.9.2.07bak.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balint, Kata. 2022. “In the Midst of an Election, Hungarian State-Linked Media Pushes pro-Kremlin Narratives Surrounding the Invasion of Ukraine.” ISD (blog), March 24. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/in-the-midst-of-an-election-hungarian-state-linked-media-pushes-pro-kremlin-narratives-surrounding-the-invasion-of-ukraine/.Google Scholar
Balint, Kata, Arcostanzo, Francesca, Wildon, Jordan, and Reyes, Kevin. 2022. “RT Articles Are Finding Their Way to European Audiences – but How?” ISD (blog), July 20. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/rt-articles-are-finding-their-way-to-european-audiences-but-how/.Google Scholar
Brandt, Jessica, and Wirtschafter, Valerie. 2022. “Working the Western Hemisphere.” Brookings, December. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/working-the-western-hemisphere/.Google Scholar
Brown, James D. J. 2019a. “Abe's Russia Policy: All Cultivation and No Fruit.” Asia Policy 14 (1): 148–55.Google Scholar
Brown, James D. J. 2019b. “Abe's Underperforming Russia Policy Faces Growing Political Backlash.” East Asia Forum, March 13. https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2019/03/13/abes-underperforming-russia-policy-faces-growing-political-backlash/.Google Scholar
Brown, James D. J. 2021. “Russian Strategic Communications toward Japan: A More Benign Model of Influence?” Asian Perspective 45 (3): 559–86. https://doi.org/10.1353/apr.2021.0027.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, James D. J. 2023. “Japan's Aging Pro-Russia Lobby Is on Borrowed Time.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, October 12. https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/90763.Google Scholar
Butter, Michael. 2020. The Nature of Conspiracy Theories. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Clark, Mitchell. 2022. “YouTube Is Now Blocking Russian State-Funded Media Worldwide.” The Verge, March 11. https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/11/22972911/youtube-rt-russian-sputnik-block-state-media-globally.Google Scholar
Council of the EU. 2022. “EU Imposes Sanctions on State-Owned Outlets RT/Russia Today and Sputnik's Broadcasting in the EU.” consilium.europa.eu, March 2. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/03/02/eu-imposes-sanctions-on-state-owned-outlets-rt-russia-today-and-sputnik-s-broadcasting-in-the-eu/.Google Scholar
“Deutsche Wahrheit: A pro-Kremlin Effort to Spread Disinformation about Ukrainian Refugees.” 2022. ISD (blog), December 1. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/deutsche-wahrheit-a-pro-kremlin-effort-to-spread-disinformation-about-ukrainian-refugees/.Google Scholar
Ferguson, Joseph. 2008. Japanese-Russian Relations, 1907–2007. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Japanese-Russian-Relations-19072007/Ferguson/p/book/9780415674478.Google Scholar
Fuchs, Tamara, and Schäfer, Fabian. 2020. “Normalizing Misogyny: Hate Speech and Verbal Abuse of Female Politicians on Japanese Twitter.” Japan Forum, 1–27. https://doi.org/10/gmdktn.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
“GEC Special Report: Russia's Pillars of Disinformation and Propaganda.” 2020. Global Engagement Center. https://www.state.gov/russias-pillars-of-disinformation-and-propaganda-report/.Google Scholar
“General Results of the Census. National Composition of Population.” December 17, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111217151026/http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/.Google Scholar
Gomza, Ivan. 2022. “Too Much Ado About Ukrainian Nationalists: The Azov Movement and the War in Ukraine.” Krytyka, April. https://krytyka.com/en/articles/too-much-ado-about-ukrainian-nationalists-the-azov-movement-and-the-war-in-ukraine.Google Scholar
Hall, Jeffrey James. 2018. “Japan's Right-Wing YouTubers: Finding a Niche in an Environment of Increased Censorship.” Asia Review 8 (1): 315–50. https://doi.org/10.24987/SNUACAR.2018.08.8.1.315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinrich, Philipp, Adrian, Christoph, Kalashnikova, Olena, Schäfer, Fabian, and Evert, Stefan. 2018. “A Transnational Analysis of News and Tweets about Nuclear Phase-Out in the Aftermath of the Fukushima Incident.” In Proceedings of the LREC 2018 “Workshop on Computational Impact Detection from Text Data,” 8-16. Miyazaki, JP: Paris: ELRA.Google Scholar
Higgins, Andrew. 2019. “Putin Quashes Japanese Hopes of End to Island Dispute.” The New York Times, January 22. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/world/europe/kuril-islands-putin-abe.html.Google Scholar
Hodgson, Jayden. 2021. “Reenvisioning Russian Propaganda: Media Decentralization and the Use of Social Networks as a Means to Government Continuity.” Open Political Science 4 (1): 238–57. https://doi.org/10.1515/openps-2021-0022.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iriarte, Daniel. 2022. “RT En Español: How Russian Disinformation Targets 500 Million Spanish Speakers.” In RT in Europe and Beyond, edited by Shekhovtsov, Anton, 14–25. Vienna: Centre for Democratic Integrity.Google Scholar
Issuikai (@issuikai_jp). 2023. 弊会木村代表が参 加した「ヤルタ国際フォーラム」の様子が、『スプー トニク日本』にて紹介された。「クリミア友人会議」 のメンバーとして参加し、「クリミア住民の自己決定 権の尊重、経済制裁への反対」を訴えたことが報じ られている。. [The appearance of our representative, Kimura, at the “Yalta International Forum” has been introduced in “Sputnik Japan.” It is reported that he participated as a member of the “Crimea Friendship Conference” and advocated for “Respect for the self-determination rights of Crimean residents” and “opposition to economic sanctions.”].' X (Formerly Twitter), October 28. https://twitter.com/issuikai_jp/status/1718295733818867889.Google Scholar
Ito, Masaaki 伊藤昌亮 1990-2000. ネット右派の歴史社会学 アンダーグラウンド平成史1990-2000年代 [Historical Sociology of the Net-Right Underground Heisei History of the 1990s–2000s]. Tokyo: Seikyū-sha.Google Scholar
Iwashita, Akihiro. 2019. “Abe's Foreign Policy Fiasco on the Northern Territories Issue: Breaking with the Past and the National Movement.” Eurasia Border Review 10 (1): 111–33.Google Scholar
Iwashita, Akihiro. 2020. “Bested by Russia: Abe's Failed Northern Territories Negotiations.” Wilson Center. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/kennan-cable-no-60-bested-russia-abes-failed-northern-territories-negotiations.Google Scholar
Kalashnikova, Olena, and Schäfer, Fabian. 2020. “A Corpus-Linguistic Analysis of Media Discourses on Nuclear Phase-out in Japan, 2011–2014.” Journal of International and Advanced Japanese Studies 12: 137–53.Google Scholar
Kalashnikova, Olena. 2024. “Pro-Russian Propaganda in Hatoyama's Tweets.” Digital Japan Lab (blog), March 27. https://www.digital-japan.org/2024/03/27/blog-pro-russian-propaganda-in-hatoyamas-tweets/.Google Scholar
Kanamori, Takayuki 金森崇之, and Kosuke, Hatta 八 田浩輔. 2022. “ロシアのプロパガンダ、誰が拡散? SNS分析でみえた情報戦の姿 [Who Is Spreading Russian Propaganda? The Shape of Information Warfare Seen through Social Media Analysis].” 毎日新聞 [Mainichi Shimbun], 5 May. https://mainichi.jp/articles/20220504/k00/00m/030/248000c.Google Scholar
Kazakov, Vitaly. 2022. “Ambitious Goals and Modest Results: RT UK and Its Coverage of the 2019 British General Elections.” In RT in Europe and Beyond, edited by Shekhovtsov, Anton, 80–97. Vienna: Centre for Democratic Integrity.Google Scholar
K.C. 2010. “How Le Pen Honours Japan's War Dead: Correspondent's Diary, Day Three.” The Economist, August 15. https://www.economist.com/banyan/2010/08/15/how-le-pen-honours-japans-war-dead-correspondents-diary-day-three.Google Scholar
Kling, Julia, Toepfl, Florian, Thurman, Neil, and Fletcher, Richard. 2022. “Mapping the Website and Mobile App Audiences of Russia's Foreign Communication Outlets, RT and Sputnik, across 21 Countries.” Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, December. https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kravets, Daria, Ryzhova, Anna, Toepfl, Florian, and Beseler, Arista. 2023. “Different Platforms, Different Plots? The Kremlin-Controlled Search Engine Yandex as a Resource for Russia's Informational Influence in Belarus during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journalism 24 (12): 2762–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849231157845.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyodo, . 2023. “Former PM Mori Urges against Excessive Support for Ukraine.” The Japan Times, January 25. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/01/25/national/mori-ukraine-support/.Google Scholar
Kyodo News. 2022. “Ex-Japan PM Harsh on Zelenskyy over War in Ukraine,” November 19. https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/11/d84dcf-59dc65-refiling-ex-japan-pm-harsh-on-zelenskyy-over-war-in-ukraine.html.Google Scholar
Kyodo News. 2023. “Japan Lawmaker Who Made Unannounced Russia Trip Removed from Party,” October 10. https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/10/9a53ba1020fa-japan-innovation-party-removes-lawmaker-over-unannounced-russia-trip.html.Google Scholar
Mainichi Shimbun 毎日新聞. 2022. “ウクライナ侵攻 安倍元首相、シンポで発言 「プーチン氏、信長と同じ」 [Ex-PM Abe Compares Russia's Putin to 16th Century Japanese Warlord Oda Nobunaga].” April 23. https://mainichi.jp/articles/20220423/ddm/005/030/127000c.Google Scholar
“Mapping Militant Organizations. ‘Azov Movement.’” 2022. Stanford University, August. https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/azov-battalion.Google Scholar
Messieh, Nancy. 2023. “Narrative Warfare.” Atlantic Council (blog), February 22. https://www.atlantic-council.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/narrative-warfare/.Google Scholar
MID. 2023. “Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's Interview with Channel One's Bolshaya Igra (Great Game) Political Talk Show.” MID, December 18, https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1921650/?lang=en.Google Scholar
Moldovanov, Ruslan. 2019. “Why does Zhirinovsky gather European nationalists in the State Duma? (Zachem Zhirinovskiy sobirayet yevropeyskikh natsionalistov v Gosdume).” Riddle Russia, August 2. https://ridl.io/ru/zachem-zhirinovskij-sobiraet-evropejskih-nacionalistov-v-gosdume/.Google Scholar
Mulgan, Aurelia George. 2010. “Japan's Bureaucracy Strikes Back.” East Asia Forum (blog), March 26. https://eastasiaforum.org/2010/03/26/japans-bureaucracy-strikes-back/.Google Scholar
NHK. 2023. “ロシア外務次官 ‘平和条約交渉など日本と対話の見通しない’” [Russian Deputy Foreign Minister: ‘There is no prospect of dialogue with Japan such as peace treaty negotiations’]“, December 17. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20231217/k10014290381000.html.Google Scholar
Nojima, Jun 野島淳. 2022. “「でっち上げの主張によ る不当攻撃」 G7声明、制裁の詳細は記さず：朝日新聞デジタル [‘Unjust Attack Based on Fabricated Claims’ G7 Statement, No Details of Sanctions Mentioned].” 朝日新聞デジタル [Asahi Shimbun Digital], February 25. https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ2T12N8Q2SUHBI07J.html?iref=ogimage_rek.Google Scholar
Oates, Sarah. 2016. “Russian Media in the Digital Age: Propaganda Rewired.” Russian Politics 1 (4): 398–417. https://doi.org/10.1163/2451-8921-00104004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ciarán, O'Connor. 2022. “#Propaganda: Russia State-Controlled Media Flood TikTok With Ukraine Disinformation.” ISD (blog), March 2. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/propaganda-russia-state-controlled-media-food-tik-tok-with-ukraine-disinformation/.Google Scholar
“On Facebook, Content Denying Russian Atrocities in Bucha Is More Popular than the Truth.” 2022. ISD (blog), April 20. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/on-facebook-content-denying-russian-atrocities-in-bucha-is-more-popular-than-the-truth/.Google Scholar
Orttung, Robert W., and Nelson, Elizabeth. 2019. “Russia Today's Strategy and Effectiveness on YouTube.” Post-Soviet Affairs 35 (2): 77–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/1060586X.2018.1531650.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paul, Christopher, and Matthews, Miriam. 2016. “The Russian ‘Firehose of Falsehood’ Propaganda Model. Why It Might Work and Options to Counter It.” RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peters, Jay. 2022. “Facebook Blocks RT and Sputnik Pages in the EU.” The Verge, March 1. https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/28/22955542/facebook-meta-blocks-rt-sputnik-eu-instagram.Google Scholar
Ponomarenko, Illia. 2021. “Ukraine Conducts First-Ever Drone Strike in Donbas.” KyivPost, October 27. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/10268.Google Scholar
“Prime Minister Abe and President Putin.” 2016. The Government of Japan. https://www.japan.go.jp/tomodachi/2016/japan_and_russia_edition_2016/moments_of_prime_minister_abe.html.Google Scholar
Rankin, Jennifer. 2022. “Orbán Treads Fine Line as Hungarian Opinion Swings against Russia.” The Guardian, 17 March. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/17/orban-treads-fine-line-as-hungarian-opinion-swings-against-russia.Google Scholar
“Reception on the Occasion of Russia Day Held at the Russian Embassy in Tokyo.” 2022. The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Japan, June 9. https://tokyo.mid.ru/en/novosti_posolstva/reception_on_the_occasion_of_russia_day_held_at_the_russian_embassy_in_tokyo/.Google Scholar
RFE/RL. 2017. “Ukraine Rejects Claims It Supplied Rocket Engines To North Korea.” August 22. https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-rejects-claims-it-supplied-rocket-engines-north-korea/28691003.html.Google Scholar
RFE/RL. 2022. “Russian Government Orders Media Outlets to Delete Stories Referring To ‘Invasion’ Or ‘Assault’ On Ukraine.” February 26. https://www.rferl.org/a/roskomnadzor-russia-delete-stories-invasion/31724838.html.Google Scholar
Shekhovtsov, Anton. 2019. “Foreign Observation of the Illegitimate Elections in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2019.” European Platform for Democratic Elections. https://www.academia.edu/41212582/Foreign_Observation_of_the_Illegitimate_Elections_in_South_Ossetia_and_Abkhazia_in_2019.Google Scholar
Shūkan Bunshun 週刊文春. 2022. “鈴木貴子が 宗男から受け継いだ外務省攻撃とカネ [Money and Attacks on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Takako Suzuki inherited from Muneo].” March 16. https://bunshun.jp/denshiban/articles/b2673.Google Scholar
Smirnova, Julia, and Arcostanzo, Francesca. 2022. “German-Language Disinformation about the Russian Invasion of Ukraine on Facebook.” ISD (blog), March 1. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/german-language-disinformation-about-the-russian-invasion-of-ukraine-on-facebook/.Google Scholar
Smirnova, Julia, Matlach, Paula, and Arcostanzo, Francesca. 2022. “Support from the Conspiracy Corner: German-Language Disinformation about the Russian Invasion of Ukraine on Telegram.” ISD (blog), March 4. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/support-from-the-conspiracy-corner-german-language-disinformation-about-the-russian-invasion-of-ukraine-on-telegram/.Google Scholar
Spahn, Susanne. 2021. “Russian Media in Germany. How Russian Information Warfare and Disinformation Have Affected Germany.” 766. Berlin: ISPSW Institut für Strategie- Politik- Sicherheitsund Wirtschaftsberatung. https://www.ispsw.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/765_Schneider.pdf.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Muneo. 2018. Political Life (Seiji Jinsei). Tokyo: Chūōkōron Shinsha.Google Scholar
TASS. 2018. “Cиндзо Абэ: президент Путин мне дорог как партнер, с ним можно поговорить по душам [Shinzo Abe: President Putin is dear to me as a partner, I can have a heart-to-heart talk with him].” November 25. https://tass.ru/interviews/5826060.Google Scholar
TASS. 2023. “Japanese MP on Visit to Moscow Emphasizes Importance of Russian-Japanese Dialogue.” October 3. https://tass.com/world/1684033.Google Scholar
The Kyiv Independent. 2022. “Zelenskyy's Full Speech at Munich Security Conference.” February 19. https://kyivindependent.com/zelen-skys-full-speech-at-munich-security-conference/.Google Scholar
Thomas, Elise. 2022. “Russia Today Digs Deep to Stay on YouTube.” ISD (blog), July 5. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/russia-today-digs-deep-to-stay-on-youtube/.Google Scholar
Thompson, Jay Daniel, and Graham, Timothy. 2022. “Russian Government Accounts Are Using a Twitter Loophole to Spread Disinformation.” The Conversation, March 15. http://theconversation.com/russian-government-accounts-are-using-a-twitter-loop-hole-to-spread-disinformation-178001.Google Scholar
Toepfl, Florian, Kravets, Daria, Ryzhova, Anna, and Beseler, Arista. 2022. “Who Are the Plotters behind the Pandemic? Comparing Covid-19 Conspiracy Theories in Google Search Results across Five Key Target Countries of Russia's Foreign Communication.” Information, Communication & Society 26 (10): 2033–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2065213.Google Scholar
Toepfl, Florian, Ryzhova, Anna, Kravets, Daria, and Beseler, Arista. 2023. “Googling in Russian Abroad: How Kremlin-Affiliated Websites Contribute to the Visibility of COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories in Search Results.” International Journal of Communication 17 (0):21.Google Scholar
“Transcript of Pelosi Opening Remarks at Bilateral Meeting with Vice President of the Legislative Yuan of Taiwan Tsai Chi-Chang.” 2022. pelosi.house.gov, August 2. http://pelosi.house.gov/news/press-releases/transcript-of-pelosi-opening-remarks-at-bilateral-meeting-with-vice-president-of.Google Scholar
Umland, Andreas. 2019. “Irregular Militias and Radical Nationalism in Post-Euromaydan Ukraine: The Prehistory and Emergence of the ‘Azov’ Battalion in 2014.” Terrorism and Political Violence 31 (1): 105–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2018.1555974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
“Vladimir Dzhabarov Meets with Chair of the Japanese Civic and Political Organisation Mitsuhiro Kimura.” 2023. Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, October 26. http://council.gov.ru/en/events/news/149403/.Google Scholar
Yablokov, Ilya. 2021. Russia Today and Conspiracy Theories. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yatsyk, Alexandra. 2022. “The COVID-19 Crisis in Europe: A Story Told by RT.” In RT in Europe and Beyond, edited by Shekhovtsov, Anton, 108–28. Vienna: Centre for Democratic Integrity.Google Scholar