Tomoka Inogari, 33, of the idol group Masked Girls, who is in a wheelchair after sustaining a spinal cord injury in an accident, updated her X (formerly Twitter) by the 14th. She expressed her thoughts on the fact that she was called “Nettoyo” (short for “Internet right wing”). In her update on the 13th, Inogari attached a post reporting an article about a foreign-born celebrity’s comments in a TV program, saying, “This was astonishing…. If a Japanese person were to say in another country, ‘Why don’t you just let Japan rule!’ I think we would be in big trouble if we said that,” he continued. Inogari then quoted this post of his and attached a post in which some users commented, “Oh, so this is how a nepotistic idol is born. I am neither left nor right, but just because I express my rejection of Japan being ruled by another country, I am certified as a neto-yo…,” she wrote in bewilderment. In response to Inogari’s post, various comments were made such as “It’s an amazing world we live in,” “I get the impression that there are too many unfortunate people who want to put labels on people who can only think in polarized terms…” “It is the usual method of those in that area to put labels and accusations like this and make it difficult to speak out against politics in order to shut down dissent. It is a common practice of the people in that area to make it difficult for people to speak out against politics and to block their opposition.
