Fact Check: Did Tokyo Billboard Show 'Stop War, Stop Zelensky'?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sought support and alliance with Japan throughout Russia's invasion, welcoming Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Kyiv in March 2023, and attending the G7 summit in Hiroshima two months later.

Zelensky appealed directly to other leaders during his visit to Japan in May, comparing the destruction of Bakhmut in the east of Ukraine to the decimation of Hiroshima during World War II.

However, according to at least one tweet shared online this week, support toward the Ukrainian leader is not well-shared across the country, with a billboard in one of Japan's busiest districts seemingly carrying anti-Zelensky propaganda.

The Claim

A tweet by YouTuber Jackson Hinkle, posted on July 31, 2023, viewed 447,000 times, shows a video of what appears to be a billboard in Japan, stating "Stop War, Stop Zelenskyy."

The Facts

Zelensky has been a regular target of misleading video footage shared on social media. A heavily edited video of Lord of the Rings actor Elijah Wood went viral earlier this month suggesting the Ukrainian president seek help for alcohol and drug addiction, a false narrative that has followed the leader throughout the conflict.

Like others before it, the video of the anti-Zelensky billboard is not real. It's an edit of a video posted two years ago, viewed eight million times, on YouTube showing someone walking around Shibuya, among the busiest and most popular neighborhoods in Tokyo.

The clip used on Twitter appears around 21:20 into the video, shared below.

The billboard shows a few images of Japanese models, not the anti-Zelensky messaging as the edited clip on Twitter suggests.

It's not clear whether regulations and restrictions in Japan would have made the display of such an ad illegal were it shown in Tokyo.

Guidance on Japanese advertising, regulated by its Consumer Affairs Agency, does not suggest whether such a billboard would have been prohibited had it actually existed, particularly as it does not advertise a product nor is it attached to any Japanese political party or organization.

Crucially, however, the video shown on Twitter is bogus and there is no evidence that there has been a similar billboard shown in the popular Shibuya district before now.

Jackson Hinkle, who shared the clip, has helped spread other misleading information concerning Ukraine recently. The YouTuber shared another video earlier this month, taken from The Joe Rogan Experience, in which it was claimed the U.S. had "accidentally" sent $6.2 billion to Ukraine.

This false claim was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how U.S. military spending works.

Newsweek has asked Hinkle for comment.

The Ruling

False.

The video of the anti-Zelensky billboard in Shibuya, Japan, is fake. It was edited from a popular clip that's been on YouTube for more than two years and viewed more than eight million times. There is no evidence that any such billboard has been displayed in Shibuya, one of the busiest and most popular neighborhoods in Tokyo, Japan.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team