"Kyoto court bans 'hate speech' around school for ethnic Koreans"

VAOJ has been covering this story since 2009. This court case decision is important and a step in the right direction in fighting against any form of discrimination in Japan. But there is still much to be done. This can be illustrated by the press coverage of the major Japanese newspapers. I am providing the story as covered by the left-leaning Asahi Shimbun not because of their ideology (and perhaps greater sympathy) but because they had the greatest amount of information in their story. This is opposed to the more right-leaning The Japan News (English version of The Yomiuri Shimbun) story consisting of 5 short paragraphs buried deep in its website. Click the link below to see the first VAOJ coverage. More commentary appears after the Asahi story.

Previous coverage from VAOJ (including a YouTube video of one of the hate speech incidents): http://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.jp/2009/12/men-yell-children-of-spies-at-korean.html

From The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 8, 2013:

A court here on Oct. 7 banned an anti-Korea organization from demonstrating near a pro-Pyongyang elementary school, ruling that the group’s words blared through sound trucks were “extremely insulting and discriminatory.”

The Kyoto District Court also ordered Zainichi Tokken wo Yurusanai Shimin no Kai (Group of citizens who do not tolerate privileges for ethnic Korean residents in Japan) to pay about 12.26 million yen ($126,400) in damages.

“It is defamation of character and amounts to racial discrimination,” Presiding Judge Hitoshi Hashizume said about the use of sound trucks by the group, known more commonly as Zaitokukai.

The lawsuit was filed by Kyoto Chosen Gakuen, an operator of pro-Pyongyang Korean schools, including Kyoto Chosen Elementary School in Kyoto’s Fushimi Ward.

The operator sought a ban on Zaitokukai activities using sound trucks within a radius of 200 meters from the main and east gates of the school building. They also sought 30 million yen in damages from the group and nine members for past protests, saying their activities made it difficult to carry out ethnic education in a quiet environment.

“The ruling recognized the wrongfulness of the hate speech that was directed at the children, guardians and teachers, and it also took into consideration the psychological damage that we suffered,” Son Ji Jong, head of Kyoto Chosen Gakuen, said at a news conference.

Kyoto Chosen Elementary School was created through a merger of two schools, including Kyoto Chosen Daiichi Elementary School, in April 2012. It moved to Fushimi Ward in April 2013.

The Zaitokukai has not sent sound trucks to the new school site, but the district court referred to previous acts near the site of Kyoto Chosen Daiichi Elementary School in Minami Ward.

According to the plaintiffs, Zaitokukai members on three separate occasions between December 2009 and March 2010 gave speeches near Kyoto Chosen Daiichi Elementary School. Their words included: “Children are being educated by criminals” and “Go back to the Korean Peninsula.”

Zaitokukai argued that it had performed a legitimate protest based on the constitutional right to freedom of expression.

But the court ruled that “acts to defame the character of the school through demonstrations could not be considered as having a public objective since they involved the use of sound trucks and microphones near the school while classes were being held.”

The ruling also said the Zaitokukai speeches were racially discriminatory in light of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, of which Japan is a signatory.

Article 4 calls on signatory states to legally ban “incitement to racial discrimination.” However, Japan has not passed legislation against hate speech.

A lawyer for the plaintiff said it is extremely rare for a court to order compensation in cases involving hate speech.

The district court said it accepted the injunction because of the danger that the group and its members could demonstrate in front of the new school building.

Yasuhiro Yagi, deputy chairman of Zaitokukai, told reporters that the ruling was unfair.

“It is regrettable that our actions were not recognized,” he said. “While there may have been some inappropriate comments made (during the protest), most were legitimate. We cannot be convinced by the argument that the comments were discriminatory through the focus on less than 10 percent of the comments.”

He added that his group’s activities were gaining the sympathy of society.

Amid strained relations between Japan and South Korea, as well as lingering problems concerning North Korea, incidents of hate speech against ethnic Koreans have become more prevalent this year, especially in the Shin-Okubo district of Tokyo.

The U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has called on Japan to prevent hate speech.

Groups are taking action to counter anti-Korea protesters who have shouted such words as “Kill all Koreans” in the Koreatowns of Tokyo and Osaka.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also expressed disdain toward the actions and words in the anti-Korea rallies.

During the court proceedings, Zaitokukai also argued that the plaintiff had been the one acting illegally.

“The comments were a fair commentary based on facts,” a Zaitokukai official said. “The activities by the sound trucks were in protest of the illegal occupation of a children’s park, and the activities have stopped since the problem was resolved. There is no reason for the court to approve an injunction protecting the vicinity of the new school building.”

In 2010, the Kyoto District Court made a provisional decision banning sound truck activities around Kyoto Chosen Daiichi Elementary School.

Subsequently, four Zaitokukai members were indicted on charges of using force to interfere with school operations and insulting the school.

In April 2011, the Kyoto District Court convicted the four on grounds that their actions went beyond the limits of political expression.

In September 2010, the former principal of Kyoto Chosen Daiichi Elementary School was fined for violating the law controlling urban parks. The elementary school used a nearby park for some school activities because it did not have its own playground.

By GAKUSHI FUJIWARA
Source: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201310070090

Coverage from The Japan News: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000705914

Coverage from Japan Today: http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/kyoto-court-rules-anti-korean-hate-speech-illegal

Commentary:

It is important to note that Japan has no laws of its own that bans discrimination. This case was decided upon the fact that Japan signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Why doesn't Japan has its own anti-discrimination laws?

The Japan News (The Yomiuri Shimbun) despite its brief coverage of the court decision ran a longer editorial two days later. It begins:

The Kyoto District Court’s recent ruling on an ethnic discrimination case stated that a derogatory street campaign aimed at inciting ethnic discrimination constituted an unlawful act. The court decision can be seen as compatible with socially accepted moral norms.

Later it states:

...caution must be exercised in restricting hate speech.

Huh? But wait, there's more:

...it should be noted that when it comes to thinking about discrimination, Japan’s historical background greatly differs from that of Europe, where there still is a clear memory of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis.

The Japanese government has been cautious about laying down legal restraints on potentially discriminatory speech and behavior, wary that such legislation might infringe on freedom of expression, a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution.

If such legal restrictions are in place, it would be difficult to draw a line between what is lawful and what is not. That could prompt public authorities to impose legal restrictions in a manner that would serve their own interests. There also is no denying that such legislation would discourage people from exercising their legitimate right to express their opinions. Given this, the government should adhere to its cautious stance on such legal restrictions.

Link to the whole editorial, "Hate speech ruling laudable, but restrictions must be limited," October 10, 2013: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000710714

It seems that there is no clear memory of Japanese imperialism and its colonization of Korea, which can be seen as the cause of this particular court case. How did Koreans get to Japan in the first place?

The Asahi Shimbun in its editorial acknowledged the difficulty in Japan drafting its own anti-discrimination laws:

Imposing any restriction on people’s expression of thought and opinion is tricky because of the difficulty in drawing the line of acceptability.

There are also concerns about the possibility that such legal restrictions can be used arbitrarily. The issue requires careful and cautious debate.

But it concludes:

It is vital for Japanese society as a whole to share the view that discrimination is absolutely unacceptable and take a harsh stance against any words and actions that incite discrimination. By accumulating such efforts, we need to prevent our own society from falling into a vicious cycle of hate begetting hate.

Link to the whole editorial, "Kyoto court ruling a strong warning against hatemongers," October 8, 2013: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/views/AJ201310080028

In 2006 Chiba was the first prefecture to draft and pass an ordinance to prohibit discrimination against disabled people. The ordinance included examples of what constitutes discrimination, mediation, coordination and corrective orders to remedy the situation. But in the end there were no penalty clauses if the discrimination continued. The Daily Yomiuri ("Chiba finds helping disabled no easy task," 2006) covered this story and quoted one Chiba official:

"No one opposes the elimination of discrimination against handicapped people, but there was no precedent of a public system for procedures to eliminate discriminatory actions, partly because of the difficulty in clearly defining what constitutes discrimination."

Unfortunately I can't find the original story on the internet anymore, but here is a link to general information about the Chiba ordinance: http://www.hurights.or.jp/archives/newsinbrief-en/section2/2006/10/chiba-became-the-first-prefecture-in-japan-that-prohibits-discrimination-against-people-with-disabil.html

It seems as if the Japanese  really don't understand what discrimination is, they should study this ordinance, the international treaty they signed and this recent court decision.

"Film shows family torn by N Korea-Japan relocation program "

From Japan Today, 10/7/12:

Korean-Japanese filmmaker Yang Yonghi says she leaned on her own personal history and similar stories from her pro-North Korean community in Japan for her latest movie, the feature film “Our Homeland,” which made its South Korean debut Saturday at the Busan International Film Festival.

“Our Homeland” tells the story of Sung Ho, a Japanese-born Korean who was among the estimated 90,000 people sent by their families to North Korea during a wave of repatriations from the late 1950s to the 1970s. He returns to Tokyo after 25 years away for a brief reunion with the rest of the family still living in Japan and medical treatment for his brain tumor.

The movie, which premiered at the Berlin film festival, was selected as Japan’s Academy Awards entry this year for best foreign-language film - a notable accomplishment for an ethnic Korean director from Japan, a country long accused of treating its ethnic Korean residents like second-class citizens.

“Our Homeland” is among three films screening in Busan with connections to North Korea. Feature film “Comrade Kim Goes Flying” is a joint North Korean-European production about a coal miner with aspirations to become a trapeze artist, and “Choongshim, Soso” is a short South Korean-made film about a North Korean defector hiding in China.

Yang belongs to the ethnic Korean “zainichi” minority in Japan, many of them descendants of Koreans brought there during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of Korea. The community is divided between those pledging allegiance to Pyongyang and those to Seoul; all are assigned Korean passports at birth, even if their families have lived in Japan for generations.

“Our Homeland,” her first feature film, is based on her own reunion with a brother sent to North Korea at age 16 by their pro-North Korean father at a time when North Korea had a stronger economy than South Korea. Like many fathers of his generation, he believed life would be better for his son in North Korea than in Japan, where Koreans faced widespread discrimination.

Yang explored the same issue in two documentaries, “Dear Pyongyang” of 2005 and “Sona, the Other Myself” of 2009, both based on interaction with her family in North Korea.

Read the whole text: http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/film-shows-family-torn-by-n-korea-japan-relocation-program

Happy New Year 2010 from VAOJ!

新年あけましておめでとうございます。今年もよろしくお願いします。

2010 is the Year of the Tiger and let's hope it's the Year for the Hanshin Tigers as well. To celebrate the new year I want to share some visual anthro experiences and photos from the end of 2009 that I haven't had a chance to post until the new year's holidays. The three events described below were all extremely positive and I hope the positive energy from the events and their participants carry over into 2010.

Kyoto Higashikujo Madan


Madan took place on Culture Day, November 3, in Higashikujo, Kyoto. Kyoto is home to many so-called zainichi Koreans. VAOJ has reported about the prejudice and discrimination these people face in Japan before, but Madan was a day to forget the bad and celebrate Korean culture. And a grand celebration it was. People of North Korean descent, South Korean descent, hearing people and deaf people all came together to enjoy food, music and other activities. The photo above shows one of the many drumming groups at the event. It also shows photographers getting into the mix to get their shots. For the most part I stayed in the background shooting and was annoyed when many of my photos had other photographers in them. I was told that one of the photographers was affiliated with the event organizing committee so I imagine he had permission for "getting in the way" and hopefully had knowledge about how to properly get in the way. I must admit he got some excellent shots.


Above is one of my better shots - this drumming group was incredible. Often they would break down into pairs or small groups to have "battles." Wonderful drumming and acrobatics.


How can one resist the wonderful and spicy Korean food? This food stall was run by the group fighting for elderly deaf zainichi Koreans to receive social welfare benefits in Japan. While the group has lost all of its lawsuits in Japan, it continues to get support for the people, both in Japan and Korea. These women were visitors from South Korea that came to help out with the cooking. Korean Sign Language is about 60% the same as Japanese Sign Language (because of the past colonial relationship between the countries) so I was able to communicate effectively with these women to ask them which food was the best.

See more Mandan photos in my Photobucket album:
http://s164.photobucket.com/albums/u39/visualgonthros/Madan%202009/

See more photos and and read more information about the event (in Japanese) at their website: http://www.h-madang.com/


Kyoto Fuku Fuku Festsa


Fuku Fuku Festa was held in Kyoto on December 12 as an event to bring together so-called disabled people for fun, entertainment, shopping and food. So of course there were a large number of deaf people present. This first picture illustrates the interpretation services available for the deaf people. A sign language interpretor interpreted announcements and speeches. There were also people writing the spoken messages on an overhead projector.


One of the groups that entertained was a taiko drum ensemble.


Even the taiko drum performance was interpreted via the overhead projector. Literally the wrote the sound of the drum, the vocal exclamations of the drummers and what instrument was being players ("the sound of a flute").


There was a bazar and several food stalls. The older fellow pictured here is very well known in the Kyoto deaf scene, so much in fact that someone made a very lifelike bust of him. I saw the bust before I met the man and was a little weirded out...

See more Fuku Fuku Festa photos in my Photobucket album:
http://s164.photobucket.com/albums/u39/visualgonthros/Fuku%20Fuku%20Festa%202009/


Atolier Sign Language Circle 2009 Christmas Party


Atolier is an independent sign language circle in Hirakata city established by deaf people about 11 years ago. It has and remains an important research site and more for me. Every year Atolier has a large Christmas Party with snacks, games, sign language choruses and plays. The above photo is from one of the plays. The theme of the play was "hearing world" vs. "deaf world." For example, one scene of the play features deaf customers having to interact in a "normal" hearing restaurant. The waitress can't do sign language and has no knowledge of deaf culture so the deaf customers have many difficulties. The tables are turned in the next scene when hearing customers have to navigate in a "deaf only" restaurant. One of my favorite scenes was a deaf couple meeting a doctor. The doctor informs them that their baby was born hearing. The deaf couple is sad and upset. But they soon became happy when the doctor informs them that their is a special operation that could make the baby deaf. This scene was an interesting reaction to cochlear implants for deaf babies.


While Atolier was formed by deaf people that doesn't mean they shun the hearing. Hearing people as long as they try to communicate in JSL are more than welcome. During Atolier's meetings, the first rule is "JSL only - no speaking."


This photo has a lot going on: Members of Atolier are performing a sing language chorus; the man in the middle is dressed as a grand father clock but will later ditch the clock mask and become Rudolf the red nosed reindeer. To the right is a deaf-blind woman feeling interpretation of the performance.

View more X-mas party pics at my Photobucket album:
http://s164.photobucket.com/albums/u39/visualgonthros/Atolier%20X-mas%202009/

All three of these events were successful examples of unity, cooperation, understanding and fun. These are qualities that VAOJ hopes can be applied in the new year. Here's to a Happy 2010 and more good Visual Anthropology of Japan!

Japanese Film Workshop at Meiji Gakuin University

Another announcement from H-Japan:

Please join us for the first meeting of the Japanese Film Workshop on Thursday, October 1, 7PM, at Meiji Gakuin University, Shirokane campus. The venue is called the Kyozai junbi sitsu (教材準備室), a room next to the office of the Department of Art Studies (芸術学科) on 6F of the main building. The Japanese Film Workshop is open to all, and directions to Meiji Gakuin can be found at:

http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/access/index.html

Unburdening Zainichi Films

Oliver Dew - PhD candidate at Birkbeck College, London and JSPS research fellow at Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo.

Critics have long recognised that films depicting traumatic historical events have a privileged access to public memory forming. All too often though the critic of the zainichi film is caught in a dilemma: how to engage with the film’s claim to represent diasporic Korean histories and identities, yet at the same time avoid sliding into the “historical scorecard” approach to criticism, which repeatedly asks, “is this depiction realistic?” This approach implies that historical verisimilitude rendered in the realist mode is the only appropriate way to tell these stories. This can only reproduce the burden of representation that zainichi films carry.

To move beyond this concern over whether the details of plot are factually verisimilar, yet still be able to interrogate the films’ politics, I argue for a closer attention to these films as rhetoric, as specifically cinematic interventions in a debate that is conducted across TV variety shows, weekly opinion magazines, long-form essays, celebrity memoirs, internet blogs, and other popular media. To this end I will focus in this presentation on the narrative figure of “coming out” as zainichi, first seen onscreen in the mid-1970s, most notably in the early film roles of Johnny Kura. Since the success of the Kaneshiro Kazuki’s novel Go in 2000, and its film adaptation a year later, this has become a recurring motif. The heightened, manichaean terms in which this narrative figure is so often staged are at odds with the main features of “post-zainichi” writing: calls to go beyond a fixed ethnic identity on the one hand, and the strategic deployment of prosaic, de-dramatised ordinariness on the other. But the critical preoccupation with whether, say, the Pacchigi films’ depiction of inter-ethnic relations is “representative” too often forecloses the question of mediation: in this case, the extent to which audiences are appreciative of dramatic license and the highly codified imperatives of melodrama that are operative in Pacchigi.

For more information, please contact naoki.yamamoto@yale.edu