Several times before the pandemic, when tourism from China to Japan was booming, I saw encounters in Ginza between Chinese tourists and people carrying signs an

Several times before the pandemic, when tourism from China to Japan was booming, I saw encounters in Ginza between Chinese tourists and people carrying signs and handing out fliers in Chinese critical of the Chinese government. Some of the protesters seemed to be members of the Falun Gong, while others had signs about the Tiananmen massacre. The tourists looked wary of the protesters, while Japanese and other non-Chinese passersby seemed oblivious to the potentially charged encounters taking place on that peaceful Tokyo street.