Sangokujin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sangokujin (Japanese: 三国人 san goku jin; "third country person") is a Japanese derogatory term referring to colonial nationals of Taiwan (Taiwanese aboriginal), Korea and China. The original usage of the term is said to be coined to establish a separate political and ethnic identity for ex-colonial nationals, especially Koreans.
One common interpretation is that "sangokujin" refers to zainichi Koreans who were conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army or brought to Japan as laborers and settled in Japan after World War II and the Korean War with a "special permit of permanent residency" (特別永住資格, see also ja:特別永住者)—a residency status that denies suffrage and limits koseki-related rights. The term can also apply to colonial subjects from Taiwan and those who voluntarily migrated to Japan before and after World War II.
The term was becoming something of an anachronism until the nationalist Tokyo Metropolitan Governor Shintaro Ishihara revived it in an April 9, 2000 address to the Japanese Self Defence Forces to suggest that crimes would be committed by illegal stay foreigners in the aftermath of an earthquake. Ishihara received widespread criticism for this.
