Koreans in Japan A Wikipedia article focusing on the history of Koreans in Japan and issues concerning their intergration into Japanese society.
Koreans in Japan At present, there are 700,000 Koreans in Japan, three-fourths of whom were born in and have grown up in Japan. Most are legally classified as "resident aliens." Koreans make up 85 percent of Japan's resident alien population. Most Koreans in Japan speak no Korean. World Culture Encyclopedia.
Koreans An overview of the situation of Koreans in Japan that looks at both history and current issues. Minority Rights Group International, 2008.
Japan's Hidden Apartheid: Koreans in Japan(1/2) and Japan's Hidden Apartheid: Koreans in Japan(2/2) A video report about Zainichi Koreans. The report focuses on how Zainichi Koreans in Japan suffer discrimination and racism, particularly in situations such as applying for a job or searching for housing. It also look at the Kawasaki Fureai Kaikan which was set up with the support of Koreans living in Kawasaki and at Yokohama Chosen School. Al Jazeera, Dec 8, 2007.
A foreigner in her own home: Shoddy treatment of its Korean residents once again deals Japan a black eye An article about a 72 year old Korean resident of Japan who made an illegal donation to a Japanese politician. It takes a critical view of how Korean residents of Japan are excluded from any involvement in Japanese politics. Economist, May 10, 2011.
Japanese Alias vs. Real Ethnic Name: On Naming Practices among Young Koreans in Japan An article looking at why many young Koreans in Japan use Japanese names instead of their legal Korean names, how this system works and what the significance of using real ethnic Korean names is. By Yasunori Fukuoka, Saitama University, Japan, 1998.
Beyond Assimilation and Dissimilation: Diverse Resolutions to Identity Crises among Younger Generation Koreans in Japan by Fukuoka Yasunori. Another article looking at identity issues for young Koreans in Japan based on in-depth interviews with 150 zainichi young people. Saitama University Review.
Mintohren: Young Koreans Against Ethnic Discrimination in Japan By Yasunori Fukuoka and Yukiko Tsujiyama. This article focuses on Koreans youths in Japan who fight against ethnic discrimination against them and on the organisation Mintohren that usually leads these struggles. The Bulletin of Chiba College of Health Science.
Koreans weigh merits of gaining Japan citizenship One Hokkaido resident is too proud to give up his South Korean nationality despite the disadvantages it brings while living in Japan. Japan Times, April 21, 2001.
'I want to make Japan a better place to live'- Korean nurse blocked from promotion by Tokyo vows to fight on The 54-year-old public health nurse spent a decade fighting the Tokyo Government for the right to take a promotion exam, from which she was barred because of her South Korean nationality. Japan Times, Feb. 1, 2005.
Supreme Court approves Tokyo Government's denial of promotion to Korean resident in Japan The Supreme Court on January 26 overturned a lower court decision that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's denial of a promotional test to its non-Japanese employee is unconstitutional. Japan Press Service Co.
Ruling rejects `nationality' suit In a blow to non-Japanese civil servants seeking promotion, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the Tokyo metropolitan government was not wrong in barring a resident Korean health worker from applying for a managerial post. asahi.com, January 27, 2005.
Chong Hyang Gyun more than deserves what Alberto Fujimori does On January 26 the 15-justice Grand Bench at the Supreme Court overturned, in a 13-2 vote, a November 1997 Tokyo High Court ruling in favor of Korean resident Chong Hyang Gyun, 54, and supported the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's decision to bar her from taking a managerial promotion exam. Tokyo Free Press.
Japan-born Koreans live in limbo After a decade-long battle, the Supreme Court ruled recently that Chung Hyang Gyun, the daughter of a Japanese woman and a South Korean man, who was born in Japan and has lived all her life here, could not take the test to become a supervisor at a public health center because she was a foreigner. New York Times, April 2, 2005.
Koreans in Japan the 'Undigested Other' Chong Hyang Gyun looks and sounds Japanese but from her name you'll guess that she had at least one parent from Korea. Her father came to Japan before World War II, married a Japanese woman and the couple had two children: a son and a daughter. Ohmy News.
Aso Mining's POW labor: the evidence One year after media reports that Aso Mining used 300 Allied prisoners of war for forced labor in 1945, Foreign Minister Taro Aso is refusing to confirm that POWs dug coal for his family's firm — and even challenging reporters to produce evidence.Japan Times, May 29, 2007.
Family Skeletons: Japan’s Foreign Minister and Forced Labor by Koreans and Allied POWs Aso Mining Company had been producing coal to fuel Japan’s modernization for nearly 70 years by the time Aso Taro, Japan’s current foreign minister, was born in 1940. Faced with a severe heavy labor shortage as the China war gave way to the Pacific War, Japanese industry increasingly turned to Korean, Allied POW and Chinese forced labor. Japan Focus
Japan's PM hopeful fails to acknowledge family use of slave labour Taro Aso, who is likely to be installed as Japan's new prime minister next week, today refused to acknowledge the use of hundreds of allied prisoners of war by his family's coal mining business during the second world war. Guardian co.uk, September 19, 2008.
Japanese minister ignores slave labour claims by British PoWs Japan's embattled Foreign Minister, Taro Aso, has been denounced by British former PoWs for his connection to Allied prisoners forced to work in slave-like conditions in his family's coalmines during the Second World War. Guardian co.uk, May 14, 2006.
Some Indignities to End for Koreans in Japan An article about the ending of the requirement to be fingerprinted for younger Zainichi Koreans in 1990. It also looks more at the conditions of Korean permanent residents in Japan and complaints of discrimination and abuse against Koreans in Japan. New York Times, May 2nd, 1990.
Identity crisis for Japan's Koreans This articles discusses the reaction of the Korean community in Japan to news in 2002 of the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea, and the growing anger shown to them by some Japanese. It also looks at North Korean school in Yokohama, and at the story of Shunsuke Miyazaki, a Zainichi Korean who returned to North Korea in the 1960s, but who escapped again in the 1990s because his family faced starvation and hostiliity in North Korea. BBC News, 25 November, 2002.
Koreans here inclined to assimilate to dodge racism: More 'zainichi' adopting Japanese citizenship amid identity problems, state discrimination This article looks at issues of identity for Zainichi Koreans who grow up in Japan but as nationals of North or South Korea. It explains how many Zainichi Koreans have hid their identities and used Japanese names in order to assimilate into Japanese society, but also looks at the story of Takae Hayama who swtiched to her Japanese name and sought to learn about her ethnic background when she went to university. It also looks at the growing numbers of Koreans in Japan who take japanese nationality or marry Japanese people. Japan Times, Aug. 6, 2005.
Young 'Zainichi' Koreans look beyond Chongryon ideology Former students of pro-Pyongyang schools offer diverse views on regime in North, identity. Japan Times, Dec 16, 2008
Osaka school offers new approach to education for ethnic Koreans. In 2008, a new type of school for Koreans opened in Osaka in response to Korean residents’ desire for an education that, while emphasizing their roots in the Korean Peninsula, is not restricted by North Korea-South Korea differences. As well as Korean students, Korea International School in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture has attracted Japanese students and students who have returned from living abroad. Japan Times, Apr 3, 2014.
Seeing from the Korean side North-linked schools play avaluable role for ethnic Koreans in Japan, argues Jason Williams, an English teacher working at a Korean school in Okayama. Japan Times, May 22, 2007.
Koreans speak out on schooling Students, parents, teachers at a Korean school in Okayama, talk about why they continue to maintain and attend the school and defend Pyongyang-linked institutions in Japan. Japan Times, July 24, 2007.
North Korea-funded schools in Japan have an image problem This article looks at difficulties faced by North Korean affiliated schools in Japan, at changes the schools have made to reduce associations with North Korea and inprove their image and at calls for further changes in these schools. LA Times, February 23, 2010.
Pro-N.Korean Schools in Japan Cave in to Funding Pressure Pro-North Korean high schools in Japan changed textbook entries about North Korea's kidnapping of Japanese nationals and the bombing of Korean Air passenger plane in 1987 to receive local government funding, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Thursday. Chosunilbo, 3rd June, 2011.
New Dissent in Japan Is Loudly Anti-Foreign An article about new right-wing anti immigrant groups in Japan, who have demonstrated outside a Korean elementary schoo in Kyoto. New York Times, August 28, 2010.
Hundreds of Koreans, foreign residents rally to demand vote Nearly 600 residents of Korean descent and some of other foreign nationalities gathered Wednesday in Tokyo to demand that the government grant permanent foreign residents the right to vote in elections for local government heads and assembly members. Japan Times, April 18, 2008.
This link takes you to a webpage giving information about Koreans in Japan, discrimination, citizenship, North Korean schools, and Japanese wives in North Korea.This is an article from the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) about Koreans in Japan.
Chongyon: A Wikipedia article
Mindan: A Wikipedia article
Terror attacks on Koreans rise in Japan is the title of an Independent newspaper article from January 1998.
The small corner of Tokyo that is forever Pyongyang "Hundreds of thousands of Koreans have lived in Japan since their country was annexed in 1910. But suddenly, they are no longer welcome" This article looks at the Korean community in Tokyo including the only Korean university in Japan. Independent, January 2011.
North Korea-funded schools in Japan have an image problem This is a 2010 article from the Los Angeles Times about the issue of funding for Korean high schools in Japan.
'Koreatown,' Tokyo Sky Tree see rise in land values Part of this story discusses the increasing popularity and price of land in the Shin Okubo area of Tokyo known as 'Korean town'. Asahi Shinbun, 23 Mar 2013.
Hate aimed at ethnic Korean residents continues, but one man changes This article looks at Zaitokukai, a right wing organisation that claims ethnic Koreans in Japan receive unfair privileges and calls for them to be forced to leave or even killed. It also tells the story of one Japanese man who became an active member of Zaitokukai but who changed his views and left. Asahi Shinbun, 28 April 2013.
Anti-Korean protests trigger counter-protests against hatemongers This article looks at tension in Shi-Okubo, Shinjuku, where there have been counter-protests against right-wing nationalist Japanese demonstrations calling for Koreans to be made to leave Japan. It looks at the views of people of both Korean and Japanese ancestry who have joined the protests, which call for better relations between Japanese and Koreans, and discusses how these counter demonstrations are a new development for the Korean community in Japan. Asahi Shinbun, 26 March, 2013.
Osaka school offers new approach to education for ethnic Koreans. In 2008, a new type of school for Koreans opened in Osaka in response to Korean residents’ desire for an education that, while emphasizing their roots in the Korean Peninsula, is not restricted by North Korea-South Korea differences. As well as Korean students, Korea International School in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture has attracted Japanese students and students who have returned from living abroad. Japan Times, Apr 3, 2014.
A foreigner in her own home: Shoddy treatment of its Korean residents once again deals Japan a black eye An article about a 72 year old Korean resident of Japan who made an illegal donation to a Japanese politician. It takes a critical view of how Korean residents of Japan are excluded from any involvement in Japanese politics. Economist, May 10, 2011.
Japan’s resident Koreans endure a climate of hate This article looks at the history and current situation of Korean permanent residents in Japan (Zainichi Koreans) and focuses on the development of Korean schools, reviewing a film called 'A Crybaby Boxing Club' ,made about a North Korean affiliated school in Japan. Japan Times, 7 May, 2016
Chapter 7. Minority Groups: Ethnicity and Discrimination, in Sugimoto, Yoshio. (2003). An introduction to Japanese society. Cambridge [England] : Cambridge University Press. Available from: Chuo Library 中央書庫 309.152/S94 & Mike. Section IV Korean Residents.
Chapman, D. and Weiner, M. (2009) ‘Zainichi Koreans in history and memory’, in M. Weiner, (Ed). Japan's minorities: the illusion of homogeneity. 2nd Edition. London: Routledge. Available from: Chuo Library 開架 301.45/J35.
Chapter 4. The representation of absence and the absence of representation: Korean victims of the atomic bomb, by Michael Weiner. In Weiner, Michael, (Ed). (1997). Japan's minorities: the illusion of homogeneity. 1st Edition. London: Routledge. Available from: Chuo Library 総合政策 301.45/J35 & Mike.
Koreans in Japan: Past and Present This is a paper by Fukuoka Yasunori, Saitama University, which focuses on (i) the historical background of Koreans in Japan (the factors which made them come to Japan during Japan's colonial rule over Korea; the reasons why they had to remain in Japan even after Japan was defeated in 1945; what kind of Koreans remained in Japan; and the way the post-war Japanese government treated them), and (ii) the current situation of young Koreans in Japan (the lives of third-generation Koreans in Japanese society; the degree of their retention of Korean ethnicity; and their identity conflicts).
The Identities of Young Koreans in Japan An article based on life history interviews with young Koreans in Japan between 1988 and 1993, which looks at the identity conflicts facing many of them and the diversity of identities of Koreans in Japan. By Yasunori Fukuoka, Saitama University, Japan, 1997.
Zainichi Recognitions: Japan’s Korean Residents’ Ideology and Its Discontents This article discusses questions of Korean identity in Japan, looking in particular Zainichi Korean identity and ideology as well as at the experiences of Korean people in Japan and arguing for recogniton of the diversity of the Korean community in Japan. Japan Focus, no date.
The Crossover between Korean Ethnic Education and Multicultural Education in Japan: Kawasaki Fureaikan and ethnic classes in Osaka by Kim, Tae Eun, Kyoto University, no date. This academic article examines "the historical background of Korean ethnic education in Japan since the end of WWII, and the crossover between Korean ethnic education and multicultural education,1 especially from the 1990s onwards."
Tai, E. (2007). 'Multicultural Education in Japan', Japan Focus, December 27, 2007. Korean ethnic education in Japanese public schools, which started in the 1960s, is a form of multicultural education that provides useful ideas for multiculturalist teachers dealing with children of newcomer foreigners. In Osaka, Japanese and Korean activists with different political agendas developed two distinctive approaches. Those interested in the homeland politics of the two Koreas tried to develop an ethno-national identity among Korean children, while those involved in civil rights politics in Japan encouraged the development of political subjectivity.
Tai, E. (2007). 'Multicultural Education in Japan', Japan Focus, December 27, 2007. Korean ethnic education in Japanese public schools, which started in the 1960s, is a form of multicultural education that provides useful ideas for multiculturalist teachers dealing with children of newcomer foreigners. In Osaka, Japanese and Korean activists with different political agendas developed two distinctive approaches. Those interested in the homeland politics of the two Koreas tried to develop an ethno-national identity among Korean children, while those involved in civil rights politics in Japan encouraged the development of political subjectivity.
在日韓国・朝鮮人―若い世代のアイデンティティ 福岡安則著. 中央大学に日本語版書籍あり。さほど問題なく日本社会に適応しているかのように言われる在日韓国・朝鮮人の若者は、実際には、その多くが成長の過程で日本人側の偏見と差別にぶつかり、アイデンティティの葛藤を体験している。だが、彼らの存在と意識は実に多様化し揺れ動いている。本書は、2世３世と呼ばれる人々の聞き取り調査を通して、民族問題とそのアイデンティティを考えるとともに、日本社会の構成員としての９０年代の「在日」の生き方を模索する。
Korean Residents Union in Japan (MINDAN) This is organization of Korean permanent residents. It’s policy is improvement of the international relationship, economic development and peaceful reunification of Korea, protection of the legal rights, social welfare, and cultural improvement of the Korean residents in Japan ('zainichi').
The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan This is the other main organization for Korean Permanent Residents in Japan and has close ties to North Korea (DPRK).
Zainichi Kankoku Seinen Doumei (Korean Youth Alliance in Japan)
Zainichi Korean Jinken Kyoukai (Human Rights Association for Koreans in Japan)
Osaka Kokusai Rikai Kyoiku Kenkyu Centre (Korean Minority Japan)
Kawasaki Fureai Kan （ふれあい館）- a community centre run jointly by Zainiichi Korean and Japanese residents in Kwasaki and providing support for Zainichi Koreans, foreign residents from other groups, and local Japanese residents
Seikyusha 青丘社 Support organization for Korean and Japanese residents of Kawasaki, based at the Kawasaki Fureaikan