A bit of controversy is unfolding as a notable youth activist is slated to appear at the annual Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. The controversial figure is Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy (SEALD) leader Aki Okuda, who has been invited as a guest speaker for the event.
SEALD is a youth-oriented group. The group is a prominent critic of security laws enacted last year by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. SEALD claims that the new security laws renounce the Article 9 to expand the scope of Japans Self-Defense Forces which are deployed abroad.
Okuda is scheduled to appear as a guest on a talk show which is hosted by Atomic Café, an anti-nuclear group. The youth activist will appear on the show on July 23. The talk show is considered as a side event to the main attraction which is the Fuji Rock Festival, an annual festival held at the Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture.
Following the release of the official guest list showing Okuda included, the hashtag "ongaku ni seiji wo mochikomu nayo," which translates to "don't politicize music" started trending on Twitter. The hashtag was apparently promoted protest against Okuda's inclusion in the Fuji Rock Festival.
Some staunch supporters of the Fuji Rock Festival claim that Okuda should not have been invited in the first place since he is not a musician.
Despite the growing opposition, Okuda also gained supporters who claim that the Fuji Rock Festival has also been used to host several political events in the past.
Asian Kung-fu Generation front-man and main singer Masafumi Goto shared a tweet stating, "People who don't know about Fuji Rock say, 'Don't politicize Fuji Rock.' Until now many NGOs and artists have repeatedly expressed their various opinions on stage."
