Punk rock lawyer Akihiro Shima leads climate fightAFP, TOKYOJapanese punk rock lawyer Akihiro Shima belted out songs at a packed bar in Tokyo, sporting a mohawk and bright-red jacket, nine days after filing a landmark climate lawsuit. The 63-year-old rallied over 450 plaintiffs across Japan last month in a landmark lawsuit seeking damages from the central government over its alleged “grossly inadequate” response to climate change. Aoki and her fellow plaintiffs said that Japan’s “unconstitutional” inaction on climate change violates their constitutional rights to health and a peaceful life, and criticize Tokyo’s emissions reduction targets as unambitious. For all his environmental passion, Shima admits he has not made songs about climate change yet. Could his landmark lawsuit change that?

Source: Taipei Times January 24, 2026 03:47 UTC