Masayuki Hiratsuka, leader of the Popular Sovereignty Party of Japan, held a "cluster music festival" on the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo on August 9, urging his supporters to attend the activities without masks.
Hiratsuka ran an unsuccessful campaign in the July Tokyo Gubernatorial Election. His campaign slogan, "Coronavirus is just a cold" failed to gain traction with voters, but that doesn't mean he hasn't picked up followers who agree with his views, according to Japan Today.
In a YouTube video uploaded to his channel a day before the protest, he called on his supporters to hold a rally without masks in front of Shibuya Station on the afternoon of August 9.
During the activity, some people held a sign saying "Masks, Social Distancing, The 'Three Cs', Self-Restraint Not Necessary." The members of the group, which included women with babies and toddlers, were all without masks for the protest outside the station which lasted for more than three hours, Japan Today reported.
Moreover, Hiratsuka also called on people to join him in "hijacking" the Yamanote Line with unmasked passengers after the demonstration, so that passengers with masks would "feel stupid" for wearing them.
News of the planned demonstration on the Yamanote Line sparked warnings on social media before the event, and "cluster festival" started trending on Twitter as people advised others to stay away from the Yamanote Line at around 8 p.m.
The event also caused panic in the Shibuya area and around the Yamanote Line, with shops in Shibuya closing early.
Some netizens condemned Hiratsuka, with one saying, "If a cluster does come out of this they should all be denied the use of the public health service." Meanwhile, some others chose to report it to the police.
In Japan, 1444 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on August 9, with more than 1,000 new cases in a single day for the sixth consecutive day, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 48,910 with 1,048 deaths. Tokyo has 331 new cases, making it the region with the highest number of new cases in a single day.
(Cover image from CFP)