Witnessing #MeToo in Japan: mapping digital footprints in online news comment sections

Talking about rape is taboo in Japan, where sexual assaults are rarely reported. Shiori Ito, a #MeToo symbol in Japan, broke the silence on rape by disclosing her victimization experience against the public backlash. This article conducts a feminist critical discourse analysis of popular online responses to Ito’s case in Yahoo’s news comment sections to explore the public witnessing of personal rape stories in Japan. Our findings demonstrate that three different discursive positions—victim-blaming, feminist, and reformist in orientation—negotiate and contest the notions of rape. These footprints are characterized by conflicting attitudes toward Japan’s rape culture and patriarchy. The contradictory interpretations generated by witnessing reveal how the Japanese socio-political context restricts and enables critical possibilities for the #MeToo movement. This study conceptualizes these heterogeneous, fragmented, and multifaceted popular discourses as constituents of the digital footprints of #MeToo. These footprints offer insights into the possibilities and challenges of Japanese gender politics.