Marches in Japan as part of the Black Lives Matter movement reflect a strong level of interest in and feelings for America, says the U.S. consul general of Osaka-Kobe.
In an interview Thursday in Kyoto, Karen Kelley, head of the U.S. Consulate, which is based in Osaka and represents American interests in 17 western prefectures, suggested the movement also showed the desire from Japanese and non-Japanese participants alike to declare that police brutality against African Americans is not the America they know and support.
This has created a deep and widespread interest in what’s happening overseas and a desire to protest what Japanese also see as a violation of American ideals of justice.