Tokyo men ready to ‘Smash Valentine’s Day’

TOKYO (TR) – Are you ready for romance this Valentine’s Day? Have the chocolates ready for a loved one? Restaurant booked?

If yes, it might be wise to keep an eye on Kakuhido (Unpopular Revolutionary League): The group will hold a “Smash Valentine’s Day” demonstration next Saturday in Shibuya.

Wielding bullhorns and hoisting flags with slogans to denounce the annual tradition and the “passion-based capitalism” it sows, participants will take to the streets around JR Shibuya Station.

Kakuhido first took up its anti-Valentine’s Day crusade the year after its founding in 2006. It has since set up a number of similar demonstrations that even the staunchest of Grinches would blush about.

At Christmas, Kakuhido, which more literally means “the revolutionary grouping of men that women are not attracted to,” marched against the festivities to demand “couples self-criticize,” as was reported in weekly Aera(Dec. 22).

In June 2013, according to site Joshi Spa, Kakuhido held the “June Blind” event, where participants asserted that “if women in their 30s who have failed to marry are loser dogs, then men in that situation are winning pigs.”

Kakuhido’s beliefs are misogynistic. At the 2013 event against marriage, Mark Water, the group’s leader at the time, explained his position to rousing cheers. “That housewives stay at home is unforgivable,” he said. “They control Japan’s direction from their homes!”

This, he argued, has negatively impacted Japan’s class of unpopular men. “Salarymen who struggle with women pay a premium for these women who stay at home. The special rights afforded housewives are unforgivable.”

Kakuhido’s thoughts on economic and social policy are, unsurprisingly, inconsistent and difficult to piece together. However, as the promotion for their Valentine’s Day demonstration makes clear, they do not want to see companies profiting from romance or couples having a good time.

According to the group’s site, the demonstration starts from the north entrance to Miyashita Park within an hour of 1:30 p.m.

Those wishing to participate are advised to get behind Kakuhido’s slogans. This time, the group will rally around a number of claims, including “flirting in public is terrorism.”