Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

Based on ethnographic research with Kyoto-based youth activists, this paper examines how Japanese youth engage with the pro-Palestine movement through digital platforms and localized protest practices, revealing new forms of political participation across online and offline spaces.

Paper long abstract

In recent years, Japanese youth have become increasingly visible in transnational solidarity movements, particularly in response to the Israel–Palestine conflict. While earlier waves of student activism in Japan—such as the 1960s ANPO protests or the 2015 SEALDs movement—were largely oriented toward domestic political issues, contemporary mobilization is increasingly shaped by global media flows and platform-mediated forms of engagement. This paper examines how Japanese youth activists in Kyoto participate in the pro-Palestine movement, and what this engagement reveals about the changing nature of youth political participation in Japan.

Drawing on qualitative ethnographic research conducted between 2024 and 2025, the study combines participant observation, semi-structured interviews with youth aged 15–34, and digital ethnography of Instagram and X (Twitter). The empirical focus is on Kyoto-based youth initiatives and networks, including Kyoto University Volunteers Association in Solidarity with the Palestinian People (KUVASP), Ritsumeikan University Students for Palestine (RS Palestine), Kyoto Youth Movement for Change (KYMC), and the Kyoto Youth Peace Program. These groups operate through flexible coalitions rather than formal student unions, reflecting broader transformations in the organizational ecology of youth activism in Japan.

The paper explores how global political grievances are translated into locally meaningful narratives, practices, and affective registers within the Kyoto context. Particular attention is paid to how digital platforms shape protest visibility, narrative framing, and transnational connectivity, while simultaneously constraining activism through algorithmic mediation, platform norms, and audience management. Online engagement—especially via Instagram—functions as a key site for political learning, moral alignment, and mobilization, complementing offline practices such as demonstrations, teach-ins, and public marches.

The analysis argues that contemporary Japanese youth activism is best understood as a form of networked solidarity operating across online and offline spaces, rather than as a revival of traditional student movements. Engagement with Palestine serves not only as an expression of international concern but also as a means through which young people negotiate political identity, ethical responsibility, and belonging in a context of limited domestic political opportunity.