People gather near the scramble crossing in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Sunday to pay tribute to those who died in Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris. | SATOKO KAWASAKI
Hundreds of French citizens in Japan attended a rally at the French Embassy in Tokyo on Sunday, with French Ambassador Thierry Dana urging them to remain united in the fight against terrorism.
The rally was attended by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government’s top spokesman, as well as Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe.
“We have been strongly shocked and feel indignant” over the “inhuman and despicable acts,” Suga said in a meeting with Dana earlier in the day.
“We offer our heartfelt sympathies over the people who died,” Suga said, adding that Japan “resolutely condemns” the attacks.
During the rally, Dana reported that a French citizen who lived in Tokyo was killed during one of the simultaneous attacks carried out in the French capital Friday night.
French police questioned on Sunday the relatives of one of the suicide attackers, with France denouncing the coordinated strikes that killed 129 people and injured 352 — including 99 in serious condition — as an act of war, vowing to destroy the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in Turkey for the Group of 20 summit, instructed Suga to step up counterterrorism measures in response to Friday’s attacks, Suga said Saturday.
The government plans to collect terrorism-related information, strengthen security and immigration control and take measures to ensure the safety of Japanese abroad.
Earlier Sunday, the chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, Taro Kono, suggested on a TV program that the government will do its utmost to collect and analyze intelligence in the wake of the attacks.
“Next year, we will host a Group of Seven summit and the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are approaching in 2020,” Kono said, adding that he intends to take all measures needed to prevent terrorism.
During the rally on Sunday, the French ambassador said that he feels “a pain” in his chest when thinking of the victims, their families and their heartbreaking losses.
“We need to show a sense of solidarity,” he said through a translator.
“Our strength is the fact that we remain united,” he added.
France “should clearly continue measures against terrorism.”
The ambassador also thanked Japanese officials for quickly expressing support in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.
Following the ambassador’s speech, participants sang the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise.”
On a table set up in the compound, visitors offered floral bouquets dedicated to those killed.
Shortly before the rally, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met with Dana and vowed that Tokyo would “stand by” France in its fight against terrorism.
“We consider such a terrorist act a challenge to our shared values,” Kishida said. “We want to say again that we, Japan, stand by France.”
In response, the ambassador thanked Japan for its “solidarity.”
Elsewhere in the capital Sunday evening, Tokyo Tower was bathed in the red, white and blue of the French national flag in a show of unity with Paris. The tower, inspired by the Eiffel Tower, usually shines orange from sunset until 11 p.m.
Meanwhile, a few hundred people, mostly non-Japanese, gathered in front of JR Shibuya Station on Sunday evening to show support, singing the French national anthem while holding up signs with a drawing depicting the Eiffel Tower as a symbol of peace.
Information from Reuters, Jiji, Kyodo added
Hundreds rally at French Embassy in wake of attacks | The Japan Times