KBS Docu Insight to Track the Right-wing Radicalization of Japanese Youth on October 15 at 10 PM

Why did a 16-year-old boy of Korean nationality fall for Japanese right-wing groups... 'The Generation Obsessed with Nippon'

The 'pointless deaths' remembered by a 100-year-old former kamikaze pilot; modern 15-year-old boys shouting "Long live the Emperor"—why is there such generational extremism in Japan?

Broadcast: Thursday, October 15, 2026, at 10 PM on KBS 1TV

Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, where Class-A war criminals of World War II are enshrined. From the early morning, teenagers marching with Rising Sun Flags sing Kimigayo. They shout "Long live the Emperor," longing for the strong Japan of the past.

Amid long-term economic stagnation and anxiety about the future, Japan's younger generation is falling into extreme ideologies. The term used to refer to Japan, emphasizing patriotism and a single ethnic identity, is 'Nippon'. What is this 'Nippon' they are shouting toward?

A 16-year-old boy who justifies colonial rule, a new generation of Japanese right-wingers

"(During Japan's colonial rule in Joseon) they built roads and provided water and sewage facilities, which also reduced malaria. They built schools and lowered the illiteracy rate. If Japan had not been there, Koreans at that time could never have been happy." - K / Member of a middle and high school right-wing group (16 years old) -

K, whom we met at a right-wing rally in Tokyo, is a 16-year-old boy of Korean nationality. Having moved to Japan in his childhood, he claims Dokdo is Japanese territory and justifies Japan's colonial rule.

The middle and high school right-wing group K belongs to claims that the constitution from the imperial era should be revived and the Emperor must be protected. They sing Kimigayo at Yasukuni Shrine, and in their ideological studies, they even discuss resolving territorial disputes through military force. They interact closely with adult right-wing groups and listen to stories of individuals who carried out right-wing terror in the past. At protest sites of citizens opposing war, they even show radical behavior that leads to being restrained by the police.

Teenagers becoming increasingly radical by putting patriotism forward, the established right-wing generation that incites them, and the deepening anxiety in Japanese society. We examine what is leading young students toward extreme ideologies.

Anxiety born from long-term economic stagnation, anger directed toward foreigners

"Even though Japanese people work so hard, they keep prioritizing and trying to employ only foreigners. I can only think of it as discrimination against Japanese people." - B / Member of a youth right-wing group (20 years old) -

Japan's younger generation is suffering from long-term economic stagnation and employment instability. Voices of dissatisfaction are growing over their worsening livelihoods.

B, a twenty-year-old who has been unable to find a job despite long periods of job hunting, directs his anger unexpectedly toward foreigners. Although foreign workers play a role in supporting the local economy, B believes that Japanese people are being discriminated against instead. B solidifies his thoughts while encountering anti-immigration arguments on SNS. At a right-wing rally held in Tokyo, he directly holds a megaphone to criticize the government's immigration policy. A young man who wants to reclaim the glory of Japan, which was once a great power. We look into what kind of anxiety and anger are contained in his cry of 'Japanese priority.'

The reality of 'death for the Emperor,' memories of war passed on by a 16-year-old boy soldier who has become 100 years old

"They say that when a kamikaze pilot sorties and dies, they all become 'gods' and are buried in Yasukuni Shrine. I want to say that is not the case. Because among the kamikaze pilots at the time, they just called it a 'pointless death'." - Kunitake Toriya / Former kamikaze pilot (100 years old) -

Even about 80 years ago, there were boys shouting for a 'strong Japan.' At the Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum, photos and belongings of boy aviators from the time of the Pacific War remain. The owner of the pilot insignia found there is Mr. Kunitake Toriya, who turned 100 this year.

Having received training to dive planes toward enemy ships, he still cannot escape the nightmares of that time. Above all, what he cannot forget is the sight of his friend who confessed, "I don't want to die," before a sortie. That friend never returned.

What was the end for the youths who were taught it was a glorious death for the Emperor? Mr. Toriya, who experienced the horrors of war firsthand, still vividly conveys the memories of those days even now at 100 years old. Mr. Toriya says, "I wish the young people would remember this even a little," expressing his desire to pass on the lessons of the tragedy from 80 years ago to the next generation. However, Japanese civil activists point out the reality that the history of colonial rule is not properly handled in schools. Is the wish of a survivor, that the tragedies of the past should not be repeated, reaching the teenagers who are shouting for a 'strong Japan' again today?

On August 15, 2026, "Long live the Emperor" still echoes at Yasukuni Shrine. Records from the war in the 1940s intersect with the sight of teenagers marching with Rising Sun Flags today.

Although 80 years have passed, the slogans repeat. What lessons did the tragedies of the past leave for Japan today? 'The Generation Obsessed with Nippon' will be broadcast on Thursday, October 15, 2026, at 10 PM on KBS 1TV.

Read the original (Korean)