Zaitokukai

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

Zaitokukai, full name is Zainichi Tokken o Yurusanai Shimin no Kai (在日特権を許さない市民の会, meaning Association of Citizens against the Special Privileges of the Zainichi), is a Japanese political organization that seeks to eliminate perceived privileges extended 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 15,000.^[2]

It was founded and led by Makoto Sakurai. On November 16, 2014, Yasuhiro Yagi was selected as Chairman for the fifth term as the result of a confidence vote by Zaitokukai's members. ^[3] Although it is considered an extremist group, it generally engages in non-violent protests.^[4]

History

Foundation

Zaitokukai was founded on December 2, 2006, and held its inauguration meeting in January 2007. ^[5]

Sakurai’s founding of Zaitokukai was triggered by TV news reporting that a group of Japanese citizens was organized to support Zainichi Koreans who brought a lawsuit to obtain national pensions without making any premium payment. Sakurai was extremely shocked by the fact that there were Japanese who backed a suit which he thought could destroy the Japanese pension system. He then searched for a conservative political organization protesting against what he regarded as an extraordinary demand of Zainichi Koreans, but could find none. He therefore decided to establish Zaitokukai to do what no one else was doing. ^[6]

Activities

Zaitokukai has been protesting against the extension of the right of suffrage to foreign nationals. In September 2009, Zaitokukai held a demonstration in Akihabara calling for the resistance to granting suffrage to foreign nationals with about 1,000 participants. ^[7] Some time before that demonstration, Zaitokukai held a counter-protest against a demonstration by more than three thousand people in Ginza, Tokyo, organized by Mindan (the Korean Residents Union in Japan) to extend the suffrage to foreigners. ^[8]

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" that are Japanese-style 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 it is 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.^[9]

In pursuit of its goals, Zaitokukai has set an ultimate goal of repealing the Special Act on Immigration Control (入管特例法) ^[10] which gives Zainichi Koreans special 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.^[11] The second chairman, Yasuhiro Yagi, also affirmed in his inauguration message that Zaitokukai’s ultimate objective is to annul the said Act.^[12]

Criticism

Anti-Zaitokukai rally in Tokyo, 2013

Zaitokukai has often been criticized by those who believe that there is no evidence for their claims. Even when Zainichi Koreans do enjoy rights that 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 towards non-citizen residents of Japan, 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.^[13]

Ikuo Gonoi, a professor at Takachiho University and researcher at the Institute of Social Science at International Christian University, has described them as "just an archaic type of 'mob' (which Hannah Arendt defined in The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951), not something like a 'new wave'".^[14]

Incidents

On August 10, 2010, four members of Zaitokukai were arrested for harassing Korean students in Minami Ward, Kyoto,^[15][16] at a pro-DPRK school.^[17]

On 17 June 2013, Makoto Sakurai and three other members were arrested in Shinjuku, Tokyo, when a fistfight broke between counter-protesters and the Zaitokukai.^[18]

See also

• Chongryon
• Ethnic issues in Japan
• Japanese nationalism
• Zainichi Korean

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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