Zaitokukai

Zaitokukai demonstrating against the right of non-citizens to vote in Shinjuku on January 24, 2010

Zainichi Tokken o Yurusanai Shimin no Kai (在日特権を許さない市民の会, meaning Citizens against Special Privilege of Zainichi, shortened to Zaitokukai), is a Japanese ultra-right group. They aim to eliminate some privileges awarded to foreigners who have been granted Special Foreign Resident status. Most such foreigners are Zainichi Koreans and hold South Korean or North Korean citizenship.^[1] According to its official website, its membership is over 11000.

It is led by Makoto Sakurai. Although they are an extremist group, they generally engage in non-violent protests.^[2]

Agenda

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 Zainichi Koreans use "pass names" which are Japanese style names and often very different from their original Korean names and they exploit their pass names to abuse welfare and administrative systems. It also believes that it is much easier for Zainichi Koreans to claim and receive welfare benefits than for Japanese citizens, causing serious problems in the entire welfare system in Japan to the detrimental effects on Japanese citizens. It attacks Zainichi Koreans for cheating the tax system as well, claiming that Zainichi Koreans pay reduced amounts, or none, of income tax, corporate tax, council tax, and so on. It argues that Zainichi Koreans wrongfully claim those rights by saying that they are a deprived and discriminated minority of the Japanese society and that Japan should deny them all of those special rights.^[3]

Criticism

Zaitokukai has often been criticized by those who believe that there is no legal proof to that claim. Even where Zainichi Koreans enjoy administrative treatments which differentiate them from Japanese citizens, such as the use of a "legal alias" or Japanese common name, it is argued that these are not exclusively given to Zainichi Koreans but used by many other foreign nationals in Japan.

The group is criticized for its aggressive and racist behaviour against other Japanese citizens, mostly Zainichi Koreans. 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.^[4]

Ikuo Gonoi, a professor for Takachiho University and fellow researcher for the Institute of Social Science of International Christian University, has described them as "just a typical 'mob' (which Hannah Arendt defined in The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951)" .^[5]

Incidents

On October 31, 2009, Zaitokukai protested Westerners in Halloween costumes, waving a sign that stated, "This is not a white country."^[2][6]

On 24 January 2010, members of Zaitokukai stated towards Caucasian foreigners, "Go home, white pigs!" in a public demonstration against a bill to give foreigners the right to vote.^[7]

On August 10, 2010, 4 members of Zaitokukai were arrested for harassing Korean students in Minami Ward, Kyoto,^[8][9] at a pro-DPRK school.^[10]

On 17 June 2013, Makoto Sakurai and 3 other members were arrested in Shinjuku, Tokyo when a fistfight broke between the counterprotesters and the Zaitokukai.^[11]

See also

• National conservatism
• Chongryon
• Racism
• Ethnic issues in Japan
  • Ainu people
  • Ryukyuan people
  • Korean people

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zaitokukai.

• Official website (Japanese)
• 'A battle for Japan's future' The Japan Times
• New Dissent in Japan Is Loudly Anti-Foreign The New York Times

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