To the Japanese public, [..] you now have 72 hours to pressure your
government into making a wise decision by paying $200 million to save
the lives of your citizens.... Otherwise, this knife will become your
nightmare.
26
The Japanese public, however, did not cooperate with ISIS’s request. Instead, they
embraced a hashtag that translated to “ISIS Crappy Photoshop Grand Prix,” and
embarked upon an aggressive campaign mocking ISIS and the armed militant
featured in the video.
27
Importantly, this hashtag campaign—which included a
significant memetic engagement—aspired in part to inoculate the Japanese
public against the expected horror of the hostages being executed.
The hashtag campaign was varied and far reaching, and included a significant
number of memes. Many of these were iterations of a specific image (in this case, a
screenshot of the hostages and militant taken from ISIS’s video). Some of
the responses were culturally specific, and referenced Japanese gaming, kawaii,
and anime culture; and some were more universally accessible and referenced Star
Wars, cats, and global politics.
28
Some sample memes are shown in Figure 9.
25
Martin Fackler and Alan Cowell, “Hostage Crisis Challenges Pacific Japanese Public,” New
York Times, January 20, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/21/world/middleeast/video-
isis-japanese-hostages.html?_r=0.
26
Ibid.
27
Alicia Lu, “Japan Trolls ISIS On Twitter With Memes In A Defiant, Passionate Show Of
Resistance,” Bustle, January 23, 2015, https://www.bustle.com/articles/60218-japan-trolls-isis-
on-twitter-with-memes-in-a-defiant-passionate-show-of-resistance.
28
@deepquest, “#ISISクソコラグランプリ. #Caturday #ISIS,” January 24, 2015,
https://twitter.com/deepquest/status/559015796127444994; @dedeyudistira, “
Tongsis rek RT
@Mosesofmason: ‘@MFugicle: ‘@temmo5: #ISISクソコラグランプリ ‘even Isis likes to keep it
trendy,’’” January 24, 2015, https://twitter.com/dedeyudistira/status/559054832661569536;
@raktvru, “Reimu owned! #ISISクソコラグランプリ
,“ January 21, 2015,
https://twitter.com/raktvru/status/558025030710599680; @tokyoscum, “ISIS threatens to
execute two Japanese hostages, becomes Photoshop meme: #ISISクソコラグランプリ,”
January 20, 2015, https://twitter.com/tokyoscum/status/557708538282512384;
@Mitch_Hunter, “#ISISクソコラグランプリ #ISIS This has to be my favorite so far. Might be
time to make a few myself ;),” January 22, 2015,
https://twitter.com/Mitch__Hunter/status/558480504874598400; @Top_kek_3,
“@PelayoKnoxville #ISISクソコラグランプリ,” January 21, 2015,
https://twitter.com/Top_kek_3/status/558038543222984704.