A video released Tuesday purports to show a member of the militant extremist group ISIS threatening to kill two Japanese hostages. The group requested a $200 million ransom.
Japanese social media users are currently mocking and protesting ISIS with a hashtag called #isisクソコラグランプリ or the "ISIS Crappy Collage Grand Prix."
As of Friday, the hashtag is full of "crappy" Photoshops and memes about ISIS, with a decent mix of English anime fans also participating.
Peter Payne, the owner of J-List.com, an online store that sells Japanese goods, explained the hashtag's overall meaning to Business Insider.
"You can kill some of us," Payne said. "But Japan is a peaceful and happy land with fast Internet. So go to hell."
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said earlier this week the pair’s lives were his “top priority,” and that he would not give into terrorism.
ISIS gave the Japanese government 72 hours to pay the ransom. The deadline is Friday.
Junko Ishido, the mother of Kenji Goto, a Japanese journalist currently being held by ISIS, pled for their release at a press conference on Thursday.
Know Your Meme, an online meme database, made the point that Japan doesn't have a considerable Muslim immigrant population, and thus young Japanese people might not have a great understanding of the issues currently happening in the Middle East.
Regardless of why or how, though, the "ISIS Crappy Collage Grand Prix" doesn't appear to be slowing down.
According to the social analytics site Topsy, the hashtag has been used more than 77,000 times since Monday.
(H/T Reportedly)