Members of Japan's Far Right drive around Tokyo in vans with flags and slogans, playing music and shouting over roof-mounted loud loudspeakers. (Some of the Nationalists apparently are paid for by politicians, and there may be Yakuza (gangster) links. In other words, Rent-a-Mob).

Beyond the Yasukuni Shrine, which - perhaps unfairly - is now shorthand in the international media for those threads of Japanese society who are unapologetic about Japan's behaviour in the first half of the 20th Century, the Nationalists like to head for three foreign embassies: the Korea, the Chinese and the Russian. As a result there is a heavy police presence near each embassy, with mobile barriers. When the Nationalists approach, announcing their intentions at high volume from a long distance, the police block the road; sometimes the Nationalists drive straight past; and at other times there's a dialogue before the Nationalists move on again, away from whichever embassy. What's generally so interesting is that the roads are only ever blocked during office hours - ie for this particular issue the Nationalists and the Police keep regular hours (I don't know if by arrangement); and by letting everyone know they're coming, the Nationalists ensure there can be no element of surprise at all. It's the direct opposite of sneaking up, which suggests a substantial degree of choreography to the protests.

And in this particular case what was interesting was that the Nationalists were really persistent, causing blocked traffic at a busy intersection for some time, while different policemen negotiated with them. (This intersection is a few hundred meters from the Russian Embassy). Then they drove off a short distance - the police started shouting "u-turn, u-turn" - and sure enough the Nationalists executed u-turns and came back again, but this time drove on and away.