Japan Takes Action against Racism

Amidst growing concern over hate speech against foreigners, the Japanese Ministry has ordered a study to address the social issue. The survey will cover 18,500 foreigners, ages 18 and up. The goal is to glean a greater understanding of Japanese racism for relevant policy changes. The survey will be conducted in 13 languages including English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Portuguese. It will ask the respondents whether they have been the object of or have seen racial discrimination in daily life or in the workplace.  

Last year, Japan saw its greatest number of foreign residents since the government started to track demographic data in 1959. At the end of 2015, there were 2.23 million long-term foreign residents, which is up from 2.12 million in 2014. The largest group was Chinese, followed by South Koreans, and then Filipinos. The government attributes the large surge to its own campaign to attract foreigners and Japan’s stronger than expected economic recovery.

Though Japanese foreign residents only make up 2 percent of total population, there has been a significant reason for the Japanese government to pay attention. The most common hate speech is directed at Koreans. Japan ruled over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. The colonial rule along with other historical issues have created a sharp historical animosity between the two nationalities.

In 2013, a court ruled that an anti-Korean hate group had to stop protests against a Pyongynag-linked school. As punishment, the court forced the group to pay the school ¥12 million ($108,000).

The Diet in June introduced legislation to address racist hate speech against non-Japanese. The survey results will be released at the end of March.