Old clips misrepresented as 'Japanese troops deployed to disputed Russian islands'

Published on October 7, 2024 at 10:35
4 min read
By Tommy WANG, AFP Hong Kong

Unrelated clips of troops from the Japanese Self-Defence Force and naval vessels have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times in social media posts that falsely claimed they show Japan deploying its forces in a chain of disputed islands with Russia in September 2024. One of the videos shows a parade that took place in 2019, while the rest were uploaded months before the falsely shared clip surfaced.

"Update from foreign media: Japan continues to increase troops on the four northern islands," read the simplified Chinese-language text overlaid on a TikTok video shared on September 3, 2024.

"Japan is targeting Russia directly," added part of the caption to the video, which has racked up more than 210,000 views.

The video features clips that show a parade of armoured vehicles as well as naval vessels, including one hoisting Japan's "Rising Sun" flag.

The flag has been an ensign for Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Forces since 1954, but in much of East Asia, it is seen as a symbol of the country's military aggression during World War II.

Screenshot of the false TikTok post, captured on September 24, 2024

The post referred to a string of volcanic islands -- called the Kuril Islands by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan -- that are at the heart of a feud between the two countries that has prevented them from signing a formal World War II peace treaty (archived link).

Talks stalled for decades due to Japan's claim to the four strategic islands seized by the Soviet army in the final days of the war.

Russia has military bases on the archipelago and has deployed missile systems on the islands.

The video alongside similar claims was also shared on social media site X, Facebook, Weibo and TikTok's Chinese version Douyin.

However, the clips are old and have previously appeared in unrelated online posts.

Misrepresented clips

Reverse image searches on Google using keyframes from the video, followed by keyword searches, found the clip of the parade corresponds to a YouTube post from May 31, 2023 (archived link).

The caption says it shows an old parade of the Japanese Western Area Ground Self-Defence Force held in Kumamoto Prefecture before the outbreak of Covid-19.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video falsely shared online (left) and the one published on YouTube (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video falsely shared online (left) and the one published on YouTube (right)

The convoy of vehicles corresponds to scenes from another YouTube video uploaded on September 30, 2019 (archived link).

At the time, the force staged a parade to celebrate the 64th anniversary of the country's Western Army division (archived link).

AFP was able to confirm the location of the footage by comparing it to Google Maps street imagery of a junction near the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force's Camp Kengun in Kumamoto Prefecture (archived link).

Further reverse and keyword searches found a higher resolution version of the second clip shared on May 13, 2024 on an Instagram account that frequently published content related to warships and fighter jets (archived link).

According to the post, the clip shows Japan's Taigei-class submarine leading Jingei (SS515) reportedly commissioned in March 2024 (archived links here and here).

The third clip was also shared by the same Instagram account on June 2, 2024 (archived link).

It said the clip shows FFM-5 JS Yahagi owned by the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF), which was reportedly commissioned in May 2024 (archived links here and here).

Below are screenshot comparisons of the clips falsely shared online (left) and those published on Instagram (right):

Screenshot comparisons of the clips falsely shared online (left) and those published on Instagram (right)

AFP has not seen credible media reports of Japan deploying troops to the disputed island as of October 6, 2024.

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