Deleted posts can disappear, and I can believe a few people licked posters because humanity is nothing if not committed to bad ideas.
But “thousands of videos were erased by the Japanese government” is a much bigger claim. I can only find the same recycled clip and meme, with no reporting, takedown notices, court records, archived trend, or Know Your Meme entry.
Do you remember any usernames, hashtags, dates, or original links? Otherwise this is starting to sound like the Great Japanese Poster-Licking Purge of 2025