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19 APLPJ 1 (2017-2018)
Japan's Hate Speech Laws: Translations of the Osaka City Ordinance and the National Act to Curb Hate Speech in Japan

handle is hein.journals/aplpj19 and id is 5 raw text is: Japan's Hate Speech Laws: Translations of the Osaka City Ordinance and the National Act to Curb Hate Speech in Japan Koji Higash ikawa * I. INTRODUCTION 1............. II. JAPAN'S NEW HATE SPEECH LAWS ................................. 4 III. TRANSLATION OF THE OSAKA CITY ORDINANCE ................... 6 IV TRANSLATION OF THE NATIONAL ACT ...................... 17 V. CURRENT CHALLENGES TO THE ORDINANCE ..................... 22 I. INTRODUCTION There have been major legal developments on the problem of hate speech in Japan since 2013. Prior to 2013, hate speech was not considered a serious concern in Japan, while in many democratic countries, it had been one of the top controversies for several decades. In fact, the term hate speech was only known to very limited groups of people in Japan: constitutional law scholars, social scientists, journalists, and other civil rights advocates. In other words, it was assumed that hate speech was a social phenomenon unique to countries with racial problems, and that it had nothing to do with one as racially homogeneous as Japan. The situation has changed as some conservative civic groups in Japan gradually reinvigorated their activities around 2010. One of them is the Zaitokukai, a group regarded as the most notorious and aggressive hate speech group in the country.' After its foundation in 2007, the Zaitokukai held demonstrations mainly against ethnic Korean residents and condemned their alleged privileges. Around 2012 and 2013, the Zaitokukai demonstrations became very provocative and even atrocious,2 *Professor of Law, Kanazawa University, Japan. I would like to thank Erik Bleich, Kevin W. Saunders and Alexendra F. Migneault for their assistance and suggestions. 1 Zaitokukai is the abbreviation for Zainichi Tokken wo Yurusanai Shimin no Kai, or The Civic Group of No Tolerance for the Privileges of Ethnic Korean Residents in Japan. As the name itself shows, the Zaitokukai has been advocating that the Zainichi, or ethnic Korean residents in Japan, are unduly preferred in many instances of the Japanese welfare system, and that they regularly engage in much illegal conduct, which was often, they allege, punished leniently or even overlooked by police. 2 Some examples would be helpful for readers outside Japan to understand the kind of words that were actually heard in the demonstrations. Their hate speech included: You, dirty Chonko (derogatory word referring to the Korean people), I irresistibly hate you; I dare kill you; Bum the dirty Korean Peninsula down; Cleanse the Korean towns. See Koichi Yasuda, Shin Hoshuund5 to Heito Supichi [New Conservative

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