Racial profiling, discrimination in Japan far more serious than stats reported by police The Mainichi Shimbun delved into the reality of police discrimination by examining specific cases where foreign residents were the targets of abusive language, body checks, and other unjust actions by authorities. Mainichi, 2022.
Survey Investigates Discriminatory Police Questioning in Japan A survey of people with foreign roots living in Japan found that over the past five years many had been questioned by police in the street and other public areas, and some had faced questioning several times. Nippon.com, 2022. Japanese version here: 日本語
Dirt cheap wages and no doctor: Foreign trainees' dreams dashed in Japan This article includes the story of a Indonesian woman on the Technical Internship Training Programme (TITP) working for a farmer in Aichi Prefecture who violated his contract with her and paid her wages below the legal minimum. The last paragraph of the article also explains foreign trainees who leave their workplaces because of violence, exploitation or poor working conditions cannot receive any welfare support and may turn to crime to survive. Mainichi Shimbun, 1 June, 2022. There are more examples of trainees experiencing illegal low pay and working conditions in the page on the Technical Internship Training Programme
Prejudice against immigrants explained in numbers: UTokyo researcher studies Japanese people’s attitudes toward non-Japanese residents Explains the views of Associate Professor Kikuko Nagayoshi at Tokyo University about discrimination against foreigners and minorities in Japan as well as her research on attitudes of Japanese people to the rights of foreign residents and the issue of foreign residents and public safety/crime. University of Tokyo, 16 Jun, 2021.
80% believed fake rumors of crime by foreigners in Japan after quake: poll "Fake rumors of rampant crime by foreigners in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami six years ago were believed by over 80 percent of respondents in a recent survey of people who said they had heard them" The article looks at the spread of rumours about crimes by foreigners after 3/11, and at the actual crime rate, as well as similar rumours after other disasters in Japan. Mainichi Shimbun, 13 Mar 2017.
>>> More on Images, ideas and stereotypes about foreigners and minorities in Japan and Discrimination against foreigners and minorities >>>
Japan is young Kurd's only home, despite challenges of 'illegal resident' status This article tells the story of Ramazan, a young Kurdish man who came to Japan with his family of asylum seekers when he was 9. He talks about the difficulties he faced as a child growing up in this situation and now as an adult who is on provisional release, and doesn't have legal residence status and so cannot work. The article includes the views of Yasuzo Kitamura, a Chuo Law School professor on the situation of people like Ramazan who the government treats as illegal residents. Mainichi Shimbun, 6 Jul 2021.
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Hard Work, Furtive Living: Illegal Immigrants in Japan by Sharon Noguchi. Japan relies on illegal workers who are employed in low-wage jobs and unprotected from exploitation. Immigrants from China, Latin America and South Asia seek jobs with employers willing to risk legal punishments in order to hire workers at lower wages. Illegal workers are willing to accept bottom-rung pay, risking arrest and finding it difficult to claim all the wages they are owed. YaleGlobal, 2 March 2006.
Publicized Images of Non-Japanese in Japan This webpage looks at images and stereotypes of foreigners in Japan especially in terms of foreign crime. From debito.org
The Japanese Police and their Methods of Tackling "Foreign Crime" Looks at information for the public from the Japanese police on foreign crime. From debito.org
Foreigners: beware The Japanese media have seized upon the arrest of a Peruvian man accused of murdering a young girl as evidence that the nation is in the grip of a foreign crime wave. This article looks at the way the media in Japan created fear of a foreign crime wave. Guardian, 6 Dec 2005.
Japan's ethnic crime database sparks fears over human rights Ethnic profiles derived from biological material at crime scenes are set to become an integral part of criminal investigations in Japan. The move has provoked criticism from scientists and human-rights activists who fear that the data will be used to target foreigners unfairly.Nature, 29 Jan 2004.
The 2003 PM Koizumi Cabinet Anti-Foreign-Crime Putsch is overlooked by the foreign-language press This article takes a critical view of the allegations of increasing crime by foreigners made by the Koizumi government in 2003 and of the focus on 'foreign crime and criminals' in the Japanese media. Debito.org, 7 Oct 2003.
Criminals or Victims? The Politics of Illegal Foreigners in Japan By Apichai W. Shipper Public opinion over illegal foreigners in Japan is highly contested. Some political leaders construct negative images of illegal foreigners as criminals, while activists portray them as victims. Journal of Japanese Studies, Summer 2005.