Khaldon Azhari

TOKYO: Activists from the Popular Sovereignty Party, a new political party formed last February, gathered at the famous Shibuya crossing Sunday night calling for the rejection of face masks used at a large scale in daily life now as a measure to protect humans from coronavirus.

They held banners saying that the coronavirus “is not dangerous” and that the purpose of anti-virus measures like wearing masks is “to drive divisions among people and solidify government control.”

Masayuki Hiratsuka, the leader of the party, was among them shouting through a loudspeaker while thousands of passerby had to listen to his idea that “the government is trying to control people by making more rules that make life difficult.

This demonstration came as the American President Donald Trump said on Friday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and was hospitalized later in that day.

Although the group in Shibuya didn’t seem to have made a reference to Trump, it could be taken as the Popular Sovereignty Party might serve as an example of some in Japan supporting Trump’s reported policy of rejecting masks.

The activists’ banners included slogans like “Wearing masks prevents you from thinking,” “Take off your mask,” and “Coronavirus is just a flu, humans are not that weak.”