Matsushita displays a sign of solidarity with Gaza during a demonstration near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo (Reuters)

Young Japanese poet Shindo Matsushita, who has become a well-known figure in the pro-Gaza rally, is on hunger strike to demand a complete ceasefire and an end to the massacre in Gaza, while talking about the history of Palestinians in the archipelago of the rising sun.

The site pointed out – in a report by Johan Fleury – that "many Japanese see in the bombing of the Gaza Strip a history that repeats itself, such as the history of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that we experienced in our bodies, I want to dream of a world where war no longer exists," according to Shindo.

Shindo, 27, has a family history of discrimination because he was born into the Burakumin community, Japan's "untouchables" who worked in the leather trade, slaughterhouse and funeral administration and were landless.

Japanese protest war continues, demands a ceasefire in Gaza (Reuters)

Even today, despite the long abolition of this system, the heirs of these communities still suffer from work- and marriage-related discrimination because of their roots: "I think since my childhood, I've been thinking about these questions of belonging to a landless community," says Shindo.

Shindo's taste for arts and literature led him to Palestinian culture, and he was fascinated by wartime life stories as well as Nakba, which tell the story of peoples who were discriminated against and expelled from their lands.

His curiosity also led him to Auschwitz and then to Hebron in the occupied West Bank, marking a milestone in his life, as he discovered "checkpoints" but also "warm hospitality," and met people who pushed him back to Hebron and Jenin last summer.

Shindu: My body is weakening but I want to continue, I want this genocide to stop

When the first Israeli bombardment of Gaza began, Shindo was gripped by despair: "I can't live anymore and this part of the world is suffering so much," he said, so he began his first hunger strike and ended it when he fell near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo, before deciding to embark on a second strike a little over two weeks ago.

"My body is weakening but I want to continue, I want this genocide to stop," he said, noting that he is ashamed of his government, "There are similarities between Israel and Japan, in their authoritarian positions so that public opinion and people's feelings do not matter."

Little by little, citizens began to join the ranks of the demonstrations, taking their places alongside activists like Shindo and his friends, some of whom are Palestinians originally from Gaza and have been living in Japan for several years.

Oki Kanoo, singer of the band Oki Dub Ainno, spoke about Gaza, when he said, "We can only sympathize with the Palestinians," adding, "Just as they were expelled from their lands, discriminated against, turned into poverty and violence, the Ainu people lived the same story."

Source: Mediapart