▲ An image combining a character from the Japanese anime Naruto and US President Donald Trump
It has been revealed that the Japanese government repeatedly expressed concerns to the US government through official diplomatic channels regarding US President Donald Trump posting videos on social media that unauthorizedly use Japanese anime characters.
The Mainichi Shimbun reported today (August 4) that the Japanese Foreign Ministry conveyed its concerns to the US Embassy in Japan in April and June regarding the Trump administration's unauthorized use of Japanese anime, but the problematic videos have not been deleted.
The Trump administration has been creating and posting videos featuring popular characters from Japanese anime such as Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Naruto on social media to promote its policies.
In September of last year, Satoshi (known as Ash Ketchum in the English localization), the main character of Pokémon, was arbitrarily used to promote a crackdown on undocumented immigrants by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
HSI posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) featuring an image of Satoshi throwing a Poké Ball to catch a Pokémon from the anime, accompanied by the catchphrase "Gotta catch them all."
The anime theme song played in the background of the video, and images of arrested undocumented immigrants popped up like Pokémon cards.
Following the outbreak of the war between the US and Iran in March of this year, the White House posted a video on X that used images from Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dragon Ball without permission from the copyright holders.
In the video titled "JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY," Yu-Gi-Oh! protagonist Yugi Mutou and Dragon Ball character Lord Beerus appeared alongside characters from other films such as Iron Man and Top Gun, interspersed with scenes of US attacks on Iran.
In response, the production company of Yu-Gi-Oh! announced on X that footage from the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series was used on the official White House X account without permission from the rights holder.
As the unauthorized use repeated, the Japanese government demanded in April that the US respect copyright laws and the potential damage to the works' images, stating that "even public institutions need permission from production companies when using intellectual property."
However, in early June, President Trump posted a video on his social media platform Truth Social combining himself with Naruto Uzumaki, the protagonist of Naruto.
In response, the Japanese government expressed concerns to the US side once again that same month, but only some of the videos in question have disappeared from YouTube, while they remain undeleted on social media accounts.
Mainichi reported that US artists are pushing back against the Trump administration's unauthorized use of content and Japan is stepping up its response, while quoting a Japanese government official who criticized that "the US has long been vocal about protecting intellectual property rights, but now administration promotion is taking priority."
(Photo: Captured from Truth Social, captured from the White House website, Yonhap News)
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