Kunichi City, a little over an hour's drive from central Tokyo.



In the morning, the police were in the art hall in a small city of 75,000 people.



The reason is that the 'Unfreedom of Expression 2022' Tokyo exhibition will be held.



The works of 16 artists are on display, including the 'Peace Girl Statue', which symbolizes the comfort women victims of the Japanese military.



It is the first time the statue of a young girl is being exhibited in Tokyo in seven years since the exhibition first started in 2015.



Originally, the exhibition executive committee planned to hold the event last year.



The committee said it did not worry too much because it expected that Japanese right-wing groups would continue to interfere, such as intimidation.



However, the position of the place that rents the place is different.



In addition to this exhibition, other exhibitions should be held, but the right-wing forces expressed their displeasure because of fears that they would come in the future, and in the end, the exhibition was postponed.



This exhibition was divided 9 to 10 times a day for fear of Corona and allowed only 40 people to watch for 50 minutes each, but tickets were already sold out on the weekend I went to cover.



[Oyama/Visitors: When I saw (the statue of a girl), I really felt a sense of presence, and I only thought of sitting next to the statue of a girl, but I saw that the conversational appreciation became part of the work.]



After covering the exhibition When I came out, the right-wing protests got worse.



I am in Kuchidachi, Tokyo, where the 'Freedom of Expression Exhibition' is held after 10 months.



Now, as you can see from this poster, the exhibition is being held for the first time in 10 months, and the police are very strict.



The reason is that the right wing, who is making a lot of noise, is talking about stopping the exhibition, but on the other side, people in favor of the exhibition criticize the right wing.



[Right wing opposing wartime: Freedom by burning a picture of the Emperor (Emperor), where is such foolish freedom



] .

He died because he was Japanese at the time.]



The audience also criticizes the right-wing forces



[Yamada/Visitors: I think it is not good to have an ideological confrontation in small parts while everyone is hoping for an era of peace] The



executive committee reported that prior to the exhibition, reporters He held an interview and said that he thought that the failure to protect freedom of expression and the inability to hold another exhibition was a crisis of democracy in Japan.



Right-wing interference with the exhibition continues.



However, there are also many Japanese citizens who support the Executive Committee and its supporters.



The committee also explained that it was possible to hold this exhibition thanks to the cooperation of Kunichichi City and the local police.



At the same time, he confidently said that if writers who do not yield to the support and intimidation of conscious citizens join forces, they will be able to overcome the obstruction of the right-wing forces with confidence.



(Reporter: Park Sang-jin, PD: Kim Do-kyun, Video coverage: Moon Hyun-jin, Editing: Jung Yong-hee, Producer: D Content Planning Department)