Japanese fans urge Tokyo to push back on Trump posts using anime imagery

TOKYO, Japan — Manga and anime fans in Japan have gathered roughly 20,000 signatures on a Change.org petition titled "Protect Japanese Manga," protesting what they say is the unauthorized use of Japanese animated characters in U.S. President Donald Trump's social media posts. The petition was first launched in March after the White House account on X posted a video combining footage of U.S. airstrikes on Iran with scenes from Japanese anime series. The petition says Japan's Foreign Ministry has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo over the use of the imagery without permission from copyright holders. It specifically points to characters from "Dragon Ball," "Yu-Gi-Oh!" and "Naruto" that appeared in posts on the White House X account. The official account of the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" franchise said the work's creators and production team had not given approval for the use of the characters in any form. The dispute flared again over the weekend when Trump shared an image on Truth Social depicting himself as a character from "Naruto." Petition organizers said they revived the campaign on Tuesday and pledged to step up lobbying of the Japanese government. No further details on the government's response were immediately available.