Even the most innocuous upload can carry political baggage online in 2018. It＊s a truth Western users have become used to, where a pancake restaurant＊s can become a discussion about the . Recent examples show that Japanese netizens are just as interested in dissecting content that in years past would have just been expected.

The story actually starts in the United States with actor Donald Glover＊s musical project Childish Gambino and his newest song ※This Is America.§ That release 〞 and accompanying it 〞 are pointedly political. It inspired no shortage of and that was both and in equal measures. It also ushered in , and re-imaginings. Attempts at riffing on it were sometimes met positively, but mostly generated controversy, whether it was via ※§ or a ※women＊s edit§ of the clip of stripping away the meaning from Glover＊s creation.

Unfortunately, Japanese dance crew don＊t appear to monitor U.S. online controversies closely. The trio typically performs but, instead, it went and created a video called ※This Is Japan§ that riffed on Gambino＊s release. Collaborating with production team , they posted a short video to Instagram of them dancing in the streets while singing retrofitted lyrics about , and .