| Zaitokukai | |
|---|---|
| 在日特権を許さない市民の会 | |
 A demonstration by Zaitokukai against Koreans in Japan took place in Tokyo in 2013. A woman carries a placard written "Kill all Koreans". | |
| Leader | Yasuhiro Yagi |
| Dates of operation | 2007[1]–present |
| Active regions | Japan |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Major actions | |
| Status | Designated as a potential threat to law and order by the Japanese government due to their "extreme nationalist and xenophobic" ideology.[3] |
| Part ofa series on |
| Koreans in Japan |
|---|
Zaitokukai, full nameZainichi Tokken o Yurusanai Shimin no Kai (在日特権を許さない市民の会,lit. 'Association of Citizens against the Special Privileges of theZainichi'), is anultra-nationalist andfar-right extremist political organization inJapan, which calls for an end to state welfare and alleged privileges afforded toZainichi Koreans.[3] It has been described by theNational Police Agency as a potential threat to public order due to its "extreme nationalist andxenophobic" ideology.[3]
Its membership is between 9,000[4] to over 15,000.[citation needed]Vice News called them "J-racism's hottest new upstarts" in 2014.[5] The group is considered by critics to be an anti-Korean extremisthate group,[6][7] and have been compared toneo-Nazis.[8]
It was founded and led by a man who goes by the assumed name ofMakoto Sakurai. On November 16, 2014, Yasuhiro Yagi was selected as chairman for the fifth term as the result of a vote of confidence by the group's members.[citation needed]
Sharon Yoon and Yuki Asahina argue that Zaitokukai quickly succeeded in framing Korean minorities as undeserving recipients of Japanese welfare benefits. Even as Zaitokukai declined, far-right anti-Korean discourse powerfully influences public fears.[9]
Zaitokukai was founded on December 2, 2006, and held its inaugural meeting in January 2007.[1]
Sakurai founded Zaitokukai after seeing a TV news report on a group of Japanese citizens organizing to support the Zainichi Koreans who brought a lawsuit to obtain national pensions without making any premium payments. Sakurai was disturbed by the fact that there were Japanese who backed the suit which he thought could destroy the Japanese pension system. He then searched for a conservative political organization fighting against what he regarded as an extraordinary demand of Zainichi Koreans, but could find none. He then decided to establish Zaitokukai.[10]
The group has been protesting against the extension ofsuffrage to non-citizen foreign nationals. In September 2009, it held a demonstration inAkihabara calling for the resistance to granting suffrage to non-citizen foreign nationals with about 1,000 participants, according to Sakurai himself.[11] Some time before that, Zaitokukai held a counter-protest against a demonstration by more than 3,000 inGinza, Tokyo, organized byMindan (the Korean Residents Union in Japan) to extend suffrage to foreigners.[12]
The group involves themselves extensively onsocial media.[5]
Several members of the group made donations to the political funding organization ofTomomi Inada between 2010 and 2012.[13]
Zaitokukai alleges that Zainichi Koreans have special legal rights granted to them through the process of their integration into the Japanese society. It claims that members of this ethnic group use "pass names" that are Japanese-style and often very different from their original Korean names to abuse welfare and administrative systems. Members of the group also believe that it is much easier for Zainichi Koreans to claim and receive welfare benefits than it is for Japanese citizens, causing serious problems in the entire welfare system in Japan to the detriment of Japanese citizens. It accuses Zainichi Koreans of cheating the tax system as well, claiming that Zainichi Koreans pay reduced amounts for many taxes, including income tax, corporate tax, and council tax. It argues that Zainichi Koreans wrongfully claim those rights by saying that they are a deprived and discriminated minority in Japanese society.[14]
In pursuit of its goals, Zaitokukai has set an ultimate goal of repealing the Special Act on Immigration Control (入管特例法)[15] which gives Zainichi Koreansspecial permanent residence status which can never be granted to other foreign nationals. The first chairman Sakurai declared in his book that Zaitokukai would be dissolved when the Special Act on Immigration Control is repealed.[16] The second chairman, Yasuhiro Yagi, also affirmed in his inauguration message that Zaitokukai's ultimate objective is to annul the said Act.[17]
The group has been compared toneo-Nazis although sociologists[who?] quoted byThe New York Times in 2010 stated "they lack an aggressive ideology ofracial supremacy. There have been no reports of injuries, or violence beyond pushing and shouting."[8]
The group is criticized for its aggressive and racist behaviour towards non-citizen residents of Japan, mostly Zainichi Koreans. Its supporters have described Zainichi Koreans as "criminals" and "cockroaches", and called upon them to be killed.[3][18]
It frequently organizes small-scale public demonstrations against Zainichi Koreans and other social and political issues, and its members make racist insults against Koreans, Chinese, and other foreign nationals in these demonstrations.[19] A writer forVice News pointed out they tend to focus on Zainichi Koreans to the exclusion of other groups that might violate immigration statutes.[5]
They also take to the Internet, and in August 2014, Lee Sin (variously named as Lee Shinhae and Lee Shin-hye), a Zainichi Korean freelance writer, filed two lawsuits, one for damages of ¥5.5 million against the group and Sakurai and ¥22 million against the administrator of Hoshu Shimpo, a conservative news website compiler fordefamation by hate speech, the first of its kind. Lee received sometimes hundreds of negative messages daily on her social networking site and says that she would like to hold responsible the website compiler that profits from compiling discriminatory internet commentary.[20]
Ikuo Gonoi, a professor atTakachiho University and researcher at the Institute of Social Science atInternational Christian University, described them in 2013 as "just an archaic type of 'mob' (whichHannah Arendt defined inThe Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951), not something like a 'new wave'".[21]
In 2009 they showed up at the school and home of a Filipino girl whose parents were deported for overstaying their visas.[22] In 2010 they protested showings ofThe Cove.[4]
On December 4, 2009, four members of Zaitokukai were arrested for harassing Korean students inMinami Ward,Kyoto,[23][24] at apro-DPRK school.[25]
On June 17, 2013, Makoto Sakurai and three other members were arrested inShinjuku, Tokyo, when a fistfight broke out between counter-protesters and the Zaitokukai.[26]
In early 2014, their demonstration of 100 inIkebukuro were met by double the number of counterprotesters. Sakurai's van was surrounded but managed to escape to Koreatown, and one member and four counterprotesters were arrested.[4]
The post was recruiting activists for a counter protest against a right-wing group called Zaitokukai, J-racism's hottest new upstarts.
Though some here compare these groups toneo-Nazis,sociologists say that they are different because they lack an aggressive ideology of racial supremacy. There have been no reports of injuries, or violence beyond pushing and shouting. Rather, the Net right's main purpose seems to be venting frustration, both about Japan's diminished stature and in their own personal economic difficulties.
(in Japanese)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
