Racism in Japan

In 2005, a United Nations report expressed concerns about "deep and profound" racism in Japan and insufficient government recognition of the problem. The author of the report, Doudou Diène (Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights), concluded after an investigation and nine-day tour of Japan that racial discrimination and xenophobia in Japan primarily affects three groups: national minorities, descendants of former Japanese colonies and foreigners from other Asian countries.

Background

Foreigners in Japan in 2000 by citizenship.
Source:Japan Statistics Bureau

Only about 1.6% of Japan's total legal resident population are foreign nationals. According to 2007 data from the Japanese government, the principal groups are as follows

Nationality	Number	Percentage
North and South Korea	598,219	28.7%
China and Taiwan	560,741	26.9%
Brazil	312,979	15.0%
Philippines	193,488	9.3%
Peru	58,721	2.8%
USA	51,321	2.5%
Others	309,450	14.8%
Total (as of 2006)	2,084,919	100%

The above statistic does not include about 50,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in Japan and illegal immigrants. Moreover, the statistics do not reflect minority groups who are Japanese citizens such as the Ainu (an aboriginal people primarily living in Hokkaido) and the Ryukyuans (who may or may not be considered ethnically Yamato people).

Japanese minorities

The nine largest minority groups residing in Japan are the North and South Koreans, Chinese or Taiwanese, Brazilian people (mostly Japanese Brazilian), Filipino people (mostly Japanese Filipino), the Ainu, the Ryukyuan, and the Burakumin. There are also a number of smaller ethnic communities in Japan with a much shorter history.

Korean people

Main article: Koreans in Japan

Zainichi (resident in Japan) Koreans are permanent residents of Japan, but hold North or South Korean citizenship. Most Zainichi came to Japan during the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945. A large proportion of this immigration is said to be the result of Korean landowners and workers losing their land and livelihood to Japanese land and production confiscation initiatives and migrated to Japan for work. According to the calculation of R.J.Rummel, A total of 5.4 million Koreans were also conscripted into forced labor, and shipped throughout the Japanese Empire.Of these, 210,000 to 870,000 Koreans died during forced labor in Manchuria, Sakhalin, etc..

Large numbers of Korean refugees also came to the country during the Jeju massacre in the First Republic of South Korea. Though most migrants returned to Korea, GHQ estimates in 1946 indicated that 650,000 Koreans remained in Japan.

After World War II, the Korean community in Japan was split between allegiance to South Korea (Mindan) and North Korea (Chongryon). South Koreans in Japan are called Zainichi Kankokujin (在日韓国人, 재일한국인), while North Koreans are called Zainichi Chosenjin (在日朝鮮人, 재일조선인). Zainichi who identify themselves with Chongryon are also an important money sources of North Korea. Charles Wolf, Jr. of the RAND Corporation estimated the total annual transfers from Japan to North Korea may equal more than $200 million.

Japanese law does not allow dual citizenship, and until the 1980s required adoption of a Japanese name for citizenship. Partially for this reason, many Zainichi did not obtain Japanese citizenship as they saw the process to be humiliating. Although more Zainichi are becoming Japanese citizens, issues of identity remain complicated. Even those who do not choose to become Japanese citizens often use Japanese names to avoid discrimination and live their lives as if they were Japanese. This is in contrast with the Chinese living in Japan, who generally use their Chinese names and openly form Chinatown communities. The Dienne Report identifies Zainichi Koreans as those who have been most discriminated against in Japan, for example in employment, housing and marriage.

An increase in tensions between Japan and North Korea in the late 1990s led to a surge of attacks against Chongryon, the pro-North residents organisation, including a pattern of assaults against Korean schoolgirls in Japan. For a long time, Chongryon enjoyed unofficial immunity from searches and investigations, although it has long been suspected of a variety of criminal acts on behalf of North Korea, such as illegal transfer of funds to North Korea and espionage. The Japanese authorities have recently started to crack down on Chongryon with investigations and arrests. These moves are often criticized by Chongryon as acts of political suppression.

Chinese and Taiwanese people

Main article: Chinese people in Japan

Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese are the 2nd largest minority in Japan after Koreans. Mainland Chinese in particular have been targets of anti-immigrant sentiment along with government, police and media portrayal of them as being likely to commit crime. According to a recent survey, Japanese showed a very "unfriendly attitude" toward Chinese people (followed by Koreans), and the image of Chinese people was of mistrust and general lack of credibility . The Chinese community, together with Koreans and Russians, are amongst the most prominent targets of ultranationalist uyoku associations in Japan.

Ainu

Main article: Ainu people

The Ainu are an Indigenous group mainly living in Hokkaidō. The Tokugawa Shogunate tried to develop Hokkaido to counter Russia's growing influence in the Far East, but mostly left the place for the native Ainu. Then the Meiji government started development programs, increasingly aimed at assimilating the Ainu, outlawing Ainu language and restricting them to farming on government-provided plots. Many of the Ainu were also used in slave-like conditions by the Japanese fishing industry. As the Japanese government encouraged immigration of ethnic Japanese to populate Hokkaido, the Ainu became increasingly marginalised in their own land.

At present, fewer than 20,000 Ainu are considered racially distinct. Most, if not all, of the Ainu in Japan are of mixed ancestry. 80-90% of Ainu now either ignore or don't know of their Ainu identity. Many customs and traditions of the Ainu have been lost, abandoned or annihilated by way of assimilation, and the Ainu language is no longer in common use.

Only in the decades after World War II have the Ainu started to become aware of international aboriginal rights movements. Thus, as of late, some schools in Hokkaido have been established to preserve and revive the Ainu culture.

Ryukyuan people

Main articles: Ryukyuans and Ryūkyū independence movement

The Ryukyuan people lived in an independent kingdom until it came under the control of Japan's Satsuma Domain in 1609. The kingdom, however, retained a degree of autonomy until 1879 when the islands were officially annexed by Japan as Okinawa prefecture.

The Okinawan language, the most widely spoken Ryukyuan language, is unintelligible to many Japanese people, yet sometimes believed to be a distant dialect of the Japanese language. Even within the four main islands of Japan, different regions may speak local dialects that are unintelligible to other regions.

Culturally, Okinawa is close to southern China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia reflecting its long history of trade with these regions. However, because of the standard use of Japanese in schools, television, and all print media in Okinawa, these cultural differences are often glossed over in Japanese society. Consequently, many Japanese consider Okinawans to be Japanese, sometimes ignoring their distinct cultural and historical heritage in insensitive ways.

Some Okinawans intensely resent what they perceive to be second-class treatment from the Japanese government, especially in regard to friction with the United States military presence in Okinawa.

Other groups

Main articles: Filipinos in Japan, Iranians in Japan, Indonesians in Japan, Vietnamese people in Japan, Mongolians in Japan, Russians in Japan, Turks in Japan, and History of the Jews in Japan

Other notable minorities in Japan include Brazilians and Filipinos.

"Western" foreigners in Japan, particularly those from Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, are often called Gaikokujin or Gaijin. The first large influx of such foreigners occurred in the 1980s, when the Japanese government adopted a policy to give scholarships to large numbers of foreign students to study at Japanese universities. In addition, as the Japanese economy grew quickly in the 1980s, a sizable number of Westerners began coming to Japan. Many found jobs as English conversation teachers, but others were employed in various professional fields such as finance and business. Although some have become permanent residents or even naturalized citizens, they are generally perceived as short-term visitors and treated as outside of Japanese society.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the Keidanren business lobbying organization advocated a policy of allowing South Americans of Japanese ancestry (mainly Brazilians and Peruvians) to work in Japan, as Japan's industries faced a major labor shortage. Although this policy has been decelerated in recent years, many of these individuals continue to live in Japan, some in ethnic enclaves near their workplaces. Many people from Asia (particularly Vietnam and the Philippines) and the Middle East (particularly Iran) also entered Japan during this time, making foreigners as a group a more visible minority in Japan. Those foreigners are called Rainichi ("coming to Japan") in contrast to Zainichi ("in Japan").

The main concerns of the latter groups are often related to their legal status, a public perception of criminal activity, and general discrimination associated with being non-Japanese.

Although there is but a tiny Jewish community in Japan, and Jews have little historical ties to the country, Japan has been repeatedly accused of anti-semitism.

Ethnic issues

Government policy

Because of the low importance placed on assimilating minorities in Japan, laws regarding ethnic matters receive low priority in the legislative process. Still, in 1997, "Ainu cultural revival" legislation was passed which replaced the previous "Hokkaido Former Aboriginal Protection" legislation that had devastating effects on the Ainu in the past.

Article 14 of the Constitution of Japan states that all people (English version) or citizens (Japanese version) are equal under the law, and they cannot be discriminated against politically, economically, or socially on the basis of race, belief, sex, or social or other background. However, Japan does not have human rights legislation which enforces or penalizes discriminatory activities committed by citizens, businesses, or non-governmental organizations. The country does not have specific hate crime laws and so racism and hate-motivated offenses such as assault, vandalism, and robbery are prosecuted as regular crimes.

Attempts have been made in the Diet to enact human rights legislation. In 2002, a draft was submitted to the House of Representatives, but did not reach a vote. Had the law passed, it would have set up a Human Rights Commission to investigate, name and shame, or financially penalize discriminatory practices as well as hate speech committed by private citizens or establishments. Though the anti-discrimination clause raised little objection, the anti-hate speech clause received very hostile reception from Japanese media. In 2005, the ruling coalition government attempted to resubmit a revised version of the draft which somewhat limited the application of hate speech clause, but it still failed to reach a consensus within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Another issue which has been publicly debated but has not received much legislative attention is whether to allow permanent residents to vote in local legislatures.{fact} Zainichi organizations affiliated with North Korea are against this initiative, while Zainichi organizations affiliated with South Korea support it.

Finally, there is debate about altering requirements for work permits to foreigners. Currently, the Japanese government does not issue work permits unless it can be demonstrated that the person has certain skills which cannot be provided by locals.

Higher learning

Although foreign professors teach throughout the Japanese higher education system, Robert J. Geller of University of Tokyo reported that the tenure for these foreign professors was extremely rare in 1992.

Non-Japanese citizens and crimes

Similar to other countries, many foreigners come to Japan to work, sometimes entering the country illegally, and overstaying the term of their visas. Their employment tends to be concentrated in areas where most Japanese are not able to or no longer wish to work. Consequently, accusations of foreigners stealing jobs are not often heard in Japan.

According to National Police Authority record in 2002, however, 16,212 foreigners were caught committing 34,746 crimes, over half of which turned out to be visa violations (residing/working in Japan without a valid visa). The statistics show that 12,667 cases (36.5%) and 6,487 individuals (40.0%) were Chinese, 5,272 cases (15.72%) and 1,186 individuals (7.3%) were Brazilian, and 2,815 cases (8.1%) and 1,738 individuals (10.7%) were Korean. The total number of crimes committed in the same year by Japanese was 546,934 cases.

Within these statistics, Japanese committed 6,925 violent crimes, of which 2,531 were arson or rape, while foreigners committed 323 violent crimes, but only 42 cases are classified as arson or rape. Foreigners, however, were more likely to commit crimes in groups. About 61.5% of crimes committed by foreigners had one or more accomplice, while only 18.6% of crimes committed by Japanese were in groups.

However, the former head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Emergency Public Safety Task Force, Hiroshi Kubo, published a book disputing foreign crime statistics, suggesting that such statistics were being manipulated by politicians for political gain. He suggested, for example, that including visa violations in crime statistics is misleading. He also said that the crime rate in Tokyo is based on reported rather than actual crimes.

Access to housing and other services

Some apartments, motels, night clubs, and public baths in Japan have put up signs stating that foreigners are not allowed, or that they must be accompanied by a Japanese person to enter. Some legal battles have been fought on this issue. Most notably, activist Debito Arudou, a naturalized Japanese citizen of American descent, has sued the Japanese government several times for not upholding Article 14 of the Constitution.

In housing there is also discrimination based on ethnicity. In a 2006 survey by the Information Center for Foreigners in Japan, 94% of foreign residents reported being refused by at least one real estate agent.

Political correctness

By global standards, Japan is highly homogeneous ethnically. Thus, there are some issues which many non-Japanese find insensitive. The debate over these issues parallel the debate over political correctness in the West.

When Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara referred to Chinese and Koreans as "sangokujin" in context of foreigners being a potential source of unrest in the aftermath of an earthquake, the foreign community complained. Historically, the word has often been used pejoratively and Ishihara's statement brought images of the massacre of Koreans by civilians and police alike after the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake to mind. Therefore, the use of the term in context of potential rioting by foreigners is considered by many as provocative, if not explicitly racist.

Another example was a perceived lack of sensitivity among the Japanese toward racism against black people. For example, one Japanese doo-wop pop group (see Rats & Star) in the 1970s routinely appeared on stage painting their skin dark brown and wearing sunglasses to look black. During the 1980s, Takara created and sold a doll called "Dakko-chan" (snuggle baby), an inflatable dark-colored plastic doll with fat lips and arms that could wrap around human arms or other pole-like objects. After receiving numerous complaints, the sales of the doll were stopped. Sales of Japanese translations of the book Little Black Sambo and dolls were halted by protests by foreign residents and international pressure in 1988. In 2005, however, Little Black Sambo once again went on sale in Japan.

See also

• Demographics of Japan
• Japanese people
• Ethnocide
• Human rights in Japan
• Language minority students in Japanese classrooms
• Gaijin
• Xenophobia in Showa Japan

External links

• Broadcast and Human Rights/Other Related Rights Organization
• The Civil Liberties Bureau
• Movements carried on by Zainichi Korean (English)
• Online Newspaper covering Zainichi Korean and Mindan (English)
• Portal for 100-20 years of imigration between Japan and Brazil, Covering Dekasegi and their issues, Rare pictures