ANT1 TV

A viewer who contacted Kotaku about the news broadcast helped translate what is being said during the part where Kojima is shown on screen.

Tetsuya has confessed to his actions to the police, admitting that he wanted Abe dead because he was disappointed and upset with him. The police have learned that he [the culprit] had served in the Navy Special Forces and taught a unit in Medical School on Physiotherapy for dementia patients. He was passionate about Che Guevara.

Advertisement
Advertisement

It appears that some online—as well as this news broadcast—are connecting the killer to Che Guevara based entirely on one of the photos of Kojima, which shows him standing next to an image of the famous Cuban revolutionary leader.

And to be clear: No, Kojima isn’t the assassin, and the only reason this has become a thing is because of racists joking online that all Japanese people look the same. A horrible example of how shitty, offensive humor can have real-world consequences.

Hideo Kojima has yet to respond to being misidentified as the killer of Shinzo Abe, but I can’t imagine how horrible this situation is for the Metal Gear creator. Over on ResetEra, where a thread has developed about this situation, many are calling the people sharing this nonsense idiots and suggesting outlets and media companies don’t rip their stories from 4chan or joke accounts on Twitter. Good advice!