Nogi Shrine
乃木神社, Nogi Shrine, located in Tokyo, Japan. It is a popular site for weddings[1].
The shrine is largely unknown to Chinese citizens. The first Baidupedia entry for the shrine was created late at night on August 12, 2021, by du鸿儒. It was continuously edited throughout the day by other members of the Baidu Kedou super mod team.
The popular girls group Nogizaka46 is named after the shrine. The group is very popular in China and performed in Shanghai in both 2018 and 2019. They were invited to perform at the 40th anniversary of the China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty in 2018.
In 2020, Nogizaka46 held their coming-of-age ceremony at Nogi Shrine, an event that was reported on by 人民网 People's Daily Online.
Role in 813 Smear Campaign
In June 2019, Zhang Zhehan was brought as a +1 guest to the wedding of a Chinese expat at Nogi Shrine. Photos and video from this event were dug up in August 2021 and used as part of the 813 smear campaign that led to Zhang's cancellation.
A number of false accusations against Zhang Zhehan based on this event were publicized on August 12, 2021 and spread throughout Chinese social media over the next three days.
The shrine
General Nogi Maresuke died on September 13, 1912, well before the events of World War II. The Nogi Shrine's Baidupedia page did not exist until the night before Zhang Zhehan’s incident. When it was created, it focused on the shrine as dedicated to an invader of China and the general's crimes against the Chinese people. Nogi Maresuke’s Baidu entry was also edited midnight August 13. Edits by regular users typically take months to be approved.
Both the general and the shrine are little known to Chinese citizens. In Japan, it is known for being a popular wedding spot, hosting between 550 to 1000 marriage ceremonies every year[2].
In December 2021, netizens discovered a Sina Weibo official news account that called Nogi Shrine a "mecca for romance" in 2019. When this was pointed out, the account edited the post to remove that line.
Lady Dewi Sukarno
(see full article on Dewi Sukarno)
Mrs. Dewi is Sukarno’s fourth wife. Sukarno was the first President of Indonesia and was committed to the struggle for national independence. From Wikipedia, “Sukarno organised the Bandung Conference in 1955, with the goal of uniting the developing Asian and African countries into the Non-Aligned Movement to counter both the United States and the Soviet Union”. He was overthrown by the later President Suharto in 1965, who discriminated against Chinese-Indonesians, “creating a systematic cultural genocide” (Wikipedia).
From comments that day, many netizens were misled to think Sukarno and Mrs. Dewi were responsible for the genocide, confusing him with Suharto. This confusion was exacerbated by edits made on Dewi Sukarno's Baidupedia page on August 13 by top level editors, changing the name of her husband from Sukarno to Suharto and indicating that she was anti-China and aligned with Japanese right-wing persons.
A photo of Zhang Zhehan and Mrs. Dewi was used to claim that they were close associates. Zhang himself in his interview with Li Xuezheng clarified that he did not know Mrs. Dewi personally and did not in fact know who she was on the day of the wedding. She was introduced to him as a person in the entertainment industry and he agreed to take a photo with her out of respect for her age.
This is also apparent in Mrs. Dewi's own blog post about the wedding, in which she did not know Zhang's name and criticized his informal attire[3]
The groom and his outfit
The false claim was widely spread that the symbol on the groom's wedding outfit was a family seal and that and only family members (of Koizumi Junichiro, former Japanese prime minister) may wear it. In fact, wedding attire with this symbol (takanoha-mon) is very common in Japan and can be bought or rented. This symbol can be easily found on a Baidu search and is not unique to the Koizumi family.
False rumor about groom's outfit
Zhang Zhehan's Japanese
A short video clip was circulated of Zhang Zhehan speaking at the wedding with the false claim that he was fluent in Japanese. In fact, the clip shows him saying in Chinese that he learned one Japanese sentence to wish the couple well on their wedding day, then proceeds to read it haltingly from his phone, with such inaccurate pronunciation that Japanese speakers watching the clip have trouble guessing what he is trying to say[4].
One of countless Weibo posts contributing to the smear campaign
Screencap with subtitles from video clip
Other guest
Based on a single picture, rumors claimed that Toshio Motoya, right-wing, anti-China CEO of APA Hotel, attended the wedding. Based on the pictures alone, they do not look alike at all.
Weibo post that claims Toshio Motoya attended the wedding
The wedding guest
Toshio Motoya
Omissions in Clarifications
In 2022, it became apparent that the initial clarifications published by Sophie and the clarification gang omitted a number of important details related to the Nogi Shrine incident.
Zhang Zhehan was not personal friends with the groom, and was brought to the wedding as a +1 guest by a mutual friend. This was the reason he was not in formal wear, as he had not prepared to attend a wedding on his trip to Japan. The groom himself failed to mention this in his apology and clarification posted during 813.
Zhang Zhehan never set foot in Nogi Shrine. In Shinto ceremonies, friends are not permitted inside the shrine. He waited outside with other guests. Dewi Sukarno was never at the ceremony herself and only attended the reception.
The video from the wedding was first uploaded by the 张作乐 Douyin account. It was quickly picked up by 保安哲么佩, an account operated by HBW.
