An Deockwoo - Korean People in Japan: Thinking about Coexistence for Future through Their History and Present

1. My Interests in Diversity and Equality in Japanese Society

Recently, racism in Japan is being a huge issue, and some researchers are focusing on the issue. This seminar is also taking the topic which is racism. I am a “Zainichi Korean” that is sometimes discriminated. As you know, there are a lot of “Zainichi Koreans” in Japan. However, some Japanese people treat them harshly . For instance, on internet, especially “5ch” which is a Japanese textboard “Zainichi Koreans” are criticized by some ruthless people. Even though history of “Zainichi Korean” is long, they still have hard time in Japan. Therefore, I would like to learn what drives people to discriminate. Not only Japan but also other countries are facing this serious issue. The Christchurch mosque shootings are fresh in our mind. This massacre is one of the hate crimes which caused by Islamophobia. I believe this kind of hate crime will happen in Japan in near future. In 2016, nineteen people were killed at a care for disabled people by the suspect who believed “disabled people must be discarded ” . Some researchers says this incident is a sort of hate crime. It is clear from the incident that hate crime will happen in Japan. I wish to make Japan tolerant toward minority group. I decided to research about Korean in Japan. I mainly researched about Chosen school, relationship between Zainichi Korean and internet media, and histotry of Shin-Okubo, and I would like to explain these.

2. Chosen Schools

I researched about “Chosen school”and “Zainichi Korean”. Reason that I researched about Chosen school is because it is educational institute for Zainich Korean, and they learn their ethnicity through CHosen school.

Zainichi Korean is Korean who came to Japan during age of annexation of Korean by Japan. A lot of Koreans had to live in Japan because of getting jobs or recruitment. There are 500,000 Zainichi Koreans in Japan now,and a lot of them choose to get Japanese nationality which means they give up their Korean nationality,because in Japan,dual nationality isn’t allowed by Japanese government. Most of Zainichi Koreans are special permanent residents. People who are special permanent residents have political background. First generation of special permanent residents had Japanese nationality before and during WW2,but 1951,after Treaty of San Francisco,they lost Japanese nationality,they became special permanent residents instead. According to Data of Foreigners in Japan (Houmushou, June 2018),there are 452,701 Koreans in Japan,and 292,878 of them are special permanent residents. Also,there are 30,181 of people who have Chosen nationality in Japan,and 29,569 of them are special permanent residents.

Chosen school is ethnic school for Zainichi Korean which established right after WW2. At the time,a lot of Zainichi Koreans were going to Chosen schools,so there were over 500 schools in Japan. However,currently,number of Zainichi Koreans are decreasing,and also number of Chosen schools is decreasing in proportion to it. About 60 Chosen schools are in Japan now,but still 10% of Zainichi Korean children are going to Chosen schools. Like I said,Chosen is school is ethnic school which is one of the interesting points of it. Not only ethnic school,Language immersion which is Chosen school’s education style is the interesting point. Language immersion is atechnique used in bilingual language education in which two languages are used for instruction in a variety of topics,including math,science,or social studies. In my opinion, this improves Korean language skill of the students dynamically. Therefore,when students from Chosen school graduate,they have high language skill of Korean and Japanese. Chosen school is supported by General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (GAKRJ,朝鮮総連)which is the North Korean organization in Japan. It’s one of reasons that Chosen high schools can’t get financial support by government. Surprisingly,50% of students from Chosen school have Korean nationality,48% of students have Chosen nationality,and rest is Japanese. There is a reason why Koreans go to Chosen schools. The reason is because there are only few schools in Japan,so a lot of Korean parents let their children go to Chosen schools instead of Korean schools. As I said Chosen school has deep relationship between GAKRJ. Ministry of Education has started the policy which exempts free or discount education fee of high school. But Chosen school wasn’t exempt from the policy.

Because of political background of North Korea such as abduction issue and Chosen school has relationship between GAKRJ,so Chosen schools in Hiroshima,Fukuoka,Nagoya,Osaka,and Tokyo brought suits against Japan. Acording to Chosen schools in Tokyo,Nagoya,and Hiroshima lost a suit at district court. Osaka won at district court (Asahi, March 14 2019). But Chosen school in Osaka lost a suit at High court in September 27th 2018. Also Fukuoka lost in March 14th 2019.

They are planning to appeal. Also Zainichi Koreans are struggling in dilemma between going to Japanese school and Chosen school. If they go to Japanese school by using Japanese name,they would not get discriminated,but they would lose opportunities to grow their identities and nationalisms. If they go to Chosen school,they would get discriminated, but Chosen school would work kind of safety place.

3. Internet Media Hate Speech against Zainichi Koreans.

Relationship between internet media and Zainichi Korean is really deep. To know current Zainich Koreancurcumstance, you must know relationship between Zainichi Korean and internet media.Currently,internet media is one the most influential media in the world. Internet has a lot of sources,and it is really easier to access than other medias such as newspaper,TV...etc. However,internet has no reliability,because anyone can write anything even fake news on internet. Especially,fake news are spreading on social media,and 2ch(2ちゃんねる)is one of the biggest social media in Japan.

2ch is the biggest Japanese text board which established in 1999. In 2007,2.5 million posts were made every day. Netouyo(ネトウヨ)is the term used to refer to Japanese neo-nationalist who interact almost entirely within their own cyber community especially 2ch. According to research of Daisuke Tsuji who is the associate professor of Osaka University,1.3% of 2ch users are Netouyo. Zaitokukai(在特会)is organized by Nerouyo mainly. Zaitokukai means Association of Citizens against the Special Privileges of the Zainichi). This group is an ultra-nationalist and far-right extremist political organization in Japan,which calls for an end to state welfare and alleged privileges afforded to Zainichi Koreans. This group’s protest is as know as discriminative. In Tokyo gubernatorial election2016, the ex leader of Zaitokukai named “Makoto Sakurai” got 114,000 of votes(Yahoo News, August 1 2016). It means how Netouyo people have power and there are a lot of Netouyo.

Against the hate speech, The Hate Speech Act of 2016 is a Japanese law dealing with hate speech. It was enacted on 25 May 2016 by Japan‘s National Diet. Lee,freelance writer of Zainichi Korean sued Web master of Matome site called Hoshu Sokuhou(保守速報)means conservative news as defamation. The web master lost the case(BuzzFeed, Dec 12 2018).

Also66 years old man got criminal penalty because of criticizing middle school student of Zainichi Korean on website as crime of defamation It’s a first case that anonymous hate speech gets criminal penalty as crime of defamation(Mainichi, Jan 16 2019)

4. From Korean Town to Multicultural Town: Changes in Shin-Okubo

Shin-Okubo is one of the biggest city for Koreans in Japan. Also it is one of the symbolical place that explains history of relationship between Korea and Japan. Therefore, I researched about Shin-Okubo. Shin-Okubo is one of towns in Shinjuku-ku. Shinjuku-ku is the ward that has the highest number of Korean population. It is as known as the most famous Korean town in Japan. However,Shin-Okubo is changing to multicultural town now.

In the beginning,Shin-Okuno was not Korean town before 1950. In 1950,Lotte’s founder who is Zainichi Korean built a factory in Shin-Okubo. At the time,Zainichi Korean couldn’t get good jobs because of racism and discrimination. Therefore,a lot of Zainichi Koreans came to Shin-Okubo to work at Lotte. Reason of the above is the beginning of Shin-Okubo’s history as Korean town. Also,financial crisis in Korean which happened in 1997 contributed Shin-Okubo to be Korean town,because a lot of Korean lost their jobs and they decided to get jobs or start their own business in Shin-Okubo. Early 2000s,Korean dramas such as “Winter Sonata”were huge hit in Japan. Not only Korean dramas,but also K-POP stars were huge hit in Japan in early 2010s. These made Shin-Okubo as the most popular Korean town in Japan. In the golden age of Shin-Okubo,about 14,400 of Koreans lived in Shinjuku-ku(Jan 2011)

However,after huge earthquake which happened in 2011,many Koreans in Shinjuku-ku decided to leave Japan. Furthermore,ex Korean president named Lee-Myonbuk landed in Takeshima. It made huge conflict between Japan and Korea. It also made Japanese extreme right groups upset. These groups targeted Shin-Okubo to do hate speech.