Tokyo District Court on Wednesday sentenced a Chinese man to eight months in prison for vandalizing the war-related Yasukuni Shrine.
According to the ruling, Jiang Zhuojun, 29, conspired with two other Chinese men to write “toilet” in red spray paint on a pillar at the shrine on May 31.
Handing down the ruling, judge Yasushi Fuke said that Jiang actively played an essential role in the case, such as previewing the site and preparing the spray paint, although his responsibility was lighter than the other two, who are on the wanted list.
Referring to his claim that he intended to protest the release into the sea of tritium-containing treated water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the judge said, “It cannot be considered an extenuating factor.”
