• Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    And he’s absolutely right.

    Japan lacks any law which prohibits racial, ethnic, or religious discrimination. The country also has no national human rights institutions.[3] Non-Japanese individuals in Japan often face human rights violations that Japanese citizens may not.[4] In recent years, non-Japanese media has reported that Japanese firms frequently confiscate the passports of guest workers in Japan, particularly unskilled laborers.[5][6]

    In July 2005, a United Nations special rapporteur on racism and xenophobia expressed concerns about deep and profound racism in Japan and the Japanese government’s insufficient recognition of the problem.[108][109][110]

    Doudou Diène (Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights) concluded after an investigation and nine-day tour of Japan that racial discrimination and xenophobia in Japan primarily affect three groups: national minorities, the descendants of people from former Japanese colonies, and foreigners from other Asian countries.[110] John Lie, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, believes that the widespread belief that Japan is an ethnically homogeneous society is inaccurate because Japan is a multiethnic society.[111] Such claims have long been rejected by other sectors of Japanese society such as the former Japanese Prime Minister Tarō Asō, who once described Japan as a nation which is inhabited by people who are members of “one race, one civilization, one language and one culture”.[112]

    While it expressed support for anti-discrimination efforts, Sankei Shimbun, a Japanese national newspaper, expressed doubt about the impartiality of the report, pointing out that Doudou Diène never visited Japan before and his short tour was arranged by a Japanese NGO, IMADR (International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination). The chairman of the organization is Professor Kinhide Mushakoji (武者小路公秀), who is a board member (and the former director of the board) of the International Institute of the Juche Idea (主体思想国際研究所), an organization whose stated purpose is the propagation of Juche, the official ideology of North Korea.[113]

    In 2010, according to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Japan’s record on racism has improved, but there is still room for progress.[114] The committee was critical of the lack of anti-hate speech legislation in the country and the treatment of Japanese minorities and its large Korean and Chinese communities.[114] The Japan Times quoted committee member Regis de Gouttes as saying that there had been little progress since 2001 (when the last review was held) “There is no new legislation, even though in 2001 the committee said prohibiting hate speech is compatible with freedom of expression.”[114] Many members of the committee, however, praised the Japanese government’s recent recognition of the Ainu as an indigenous people.[114]

    In February 2015, Ayako Sono, a former member of an educational reform panel, wrote a controversial column in Sankei Shimbun in which she suggested that more foreign workers should be imported in an attempt to alleviate labor shortages, but they should be separated from native Japanese with a system of apartheid.[115][116][117][118] She later stated “I have never commended apartheid, but I do think that the existence of a ‘Chinatown’ or ‘Little Tokyo’ is a good thing.”[119]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_Japan

  • arche7ype@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    8 months ago

    Was playing the Yakuza games recently and was curious to the actual history of the organization. Learned some stuff about Japan in general along the way. Yikes. I wouldn’t say he is wrong on this one either.

    • Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      7 months ago

      He’s definitely not. They’re something like 97 percent plus “pure” there. Also discriminating against foreigners is perfectly legal and common anywhere not in a tourist area.

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        I seen some crazy videos on tiktok. Seems like certain younger Japanese play a harassment game trying to taunt foreigners to lay hands on them.

        • Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          7 months ago

          Yea cause the guvment is more likely to trust locals. That said, I spent a couple weeks there last year and it was great. I’m definitely going back in the near future.

    • Mirshe@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      They actually touch on this in Like A Dragon. One of your party members is a Korean Mafia member, who specifically fell in with the Korean Mafia because Koreans were (and generally still are) completely unable to attain citizenship - even if their family was transported to Japan against their will during WWII.

  • SeaJ@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    Probably not a good political move but he sure as hell is not wrong. Instead of allowing some immigration to help with their decreasing population, they chose robots.