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Racism in Japan

Posted by on Mar 1, 2013 in Japanzine | 32 comments

Any video that starts with “Some people have been trying censor this video by threatening me and calling the school I used to work at. I believe that censoring this video would be a violation of my free speech” is bound to be good.

Anyone who has heard the words Ainu, Burakumin or Okinawan knows that garden-variety racism exists, or at least has existed, in Japan. It’s fairly uncontroversial stuff. The guy who made this video probably thought so too, until he caught the attention of right-wing Japanese internet warriors.

Angry at the perceived insults to their beloved country, they proceeded to harass this guy in both cyber and meatspace. Classy. He responded by making another video:

He looks pretty stressed. Here at JZ, we found it quite humorous that the best insult the great minds of the defenders of Japan’s honor could come up with was accusing the video maker of being Korean.  Why? Because Koreans “like forgery, exaggeration, and ‘Hate Japan.’” Sheesh.

psy151984364

In addition to their skills at Youtube and Starcraft.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Mc-Carthy/1041303713 Michael Mc Carthy

    Racism is alive and well all over the world.

    • JheriCurl

      Yup, no country is immune!

  • LateandGreat

    This explains the discrimination in “Departures,” a great movie.

    • Beto

      My students were advisors on this film. I was Gaijin and an undertaker in Japan, talk about discrimination.

  • Supporter

    I salute this guy. Im white, but have experienced discrimination, “othering” and other nightmarish behavior for years in Japan. Anybody that says discrimination is nonexistant in Japan lives in a bubble. I really respect you man, your Japanese but speak up about it. Your highly intelligent dude, your analysis is spot on. Thanks for speaking out; many of us cant.

  • Steve

    Go to Okinawa chatan or Okinawa city and see all the Japanese only signs at the clubs, I do understand that many military go and cause trouble but I was a Canadian working for a Japanese mechanical contractor and was denied entry to many clubs and izakaya .but if I went in with a woman I could go but if I went with an American no go. Even if I went with my Japanese male coworkers I couldn’t go in.

  • Fukumaro

    Being white in Japan is mild. Try being half white, half Japanese growing up in Japan in the 70′s. The war was still fresh in everyone’s minds and it was very much taboo for a Japanese woman to marry an American. I grew up being denied an education in Japanese schools, told by adults to go back to my own country (I was born in Japan, where would I go?), adults told me that I was responsible for the deaths of their loved ones during the war (my Japanese Grandfather, whom I was named after, was killed during the war as was my Great-grandfather); on the flip-side, I went through the same thing those kids in the documentary went through – was told I was inferior because my eyes were brown (even though my Dad was a blue eyed, blonde Aryan), I was half-Japanese and often mistaken for Vietnamese (my 1st grade teacher called me a gook halfbreed who was reponsible for her brother’s recent death in Vietnam). As a kid, this prejudice from both sides devastated me to no end. Prejudice doesn’t end in the past though, now that I want my Japanese citizenship back, I’m being denied due to my half-breed status however, if I were a black man from Brazil with a Japanese name, I woud be granted citizenship without a second glance. Thanks for re-opening people’s eyes to the realities that still exist.

    • blackpassenger

      your plight is not that bad, trying being a Negro for a minute.

      • Fukumaro

        Not trying to compare. Merely stating that regardless of your race, racism does exist in Japan (and elsewhere in the world).

        • blackpassenger

          that is true. as long as we humans have eyes and process 2/3 or our data through visual stimuli, racism will be with us forever. the solution? to gouge each other’s eyes out. but then we’ll find some other criterion by which to discriminate.

          • Manjiro

            We process 2/3 of our data, or some crazy number like that, through visual stimuli. And focusing on something as inconsequential as race when judging a person is a stupid (not to mention wildly inaccurate and insulting) short-cut.

          • Fukumaro

            Agree.

          • Fukumaro

            Sad but true. Well said blackpassenger.

    • Fair guy

      What’s the significance of a black guy from brazil? Seems to me you are using race to give an example if someone less worthy than you . Are they lower down the food chain than a white guy from brazil? Quit your bleating

      • Fukumaro

        What’s the significance of me using the example “Aryan” as a race? Why are you focusing on only one of the examples? Trolling for attention is so immature. The only one bleating is you, my friend.

      • Manjiro

        Fair guy, you missed the point. Fukumaro is saying – or, at least, I *interpret* Fukumaro as saying – that his half-Japanese status is holding him back in applying for Japanese citizenship. Don’t focus on the race example, man – focus on the point.

  • Saitamasump

    Oh for goodness sake. This is not exactly news is it. You know: some Japanese people are NOT actually racist. Stop press!

    • JheriCurl

      Yes, we know, some Americans aren’t either, but that’s really not the discussion.

  • HaebaruZamboni

    Awareness precedes change! Well Done!

  • Q.

    Even more pathetic (and ironic), is gaijin-on-gaijin discrimination in Japan (e.g. American white on American Black housing discrimination in Nagoya). You have some ignoble individuals who, even as alien minorities themselves, subject to potential discrimination from the Japanese, still find it acceptable to enact their own racism upon other visiting minorities who are seemingly in an equal position.

    This was inevitable. Japan is a great nation of people, no doubt–though, as the world progresses into a more humane global community, the racial and ethnic inequities that still subsist there must be confronted. The fact that the messenger is of Japanese descent makes this anti-discrimination message more impactful.

    Hats off to Mr. Medama and the power of YouTube to get the message out.
    Just 10 years ago, this wasn’t possible.

    • Manjiro

      Good point, Q. Gaijin-on-gaijin discrimination is perplexing at best, disgusting at worst. Just as meaningless as when practiced in one’s home country.

    • JheriCurl

      For real? Money is green, take any tenant that appears being able to pay rent on a regular basis…that’s just dumb.

      • Q.

        You would think making money would be the priority, huh? Apparently, ignorance sometimes precedes profit. Japanese-on-foreigner discrimination is almost expected in instances, but foreigner-on-foreigner discrimination is just…mind-boggling.

  • Miki

    well done on making videos regarding difficult issues.
    i’m interested in how young japanese kids react to your videos.
    i really hope that your good intention will eventually lead many people to a mutual platform and we somehow could understand one another.
    not many people like to accept bad things they did(without knowing) even when you clearly point it out.
    so i think there is a mission; how you peacefully raise awareness in people?
    if you’re not representing peace, it’s likely that people won’t.
    i know that you closed the video by saying ‘love & peace’, and i truly agree.
    but i think that people don’t like to hear only negative facts. how do goodness in Japanese people overcome negativities????
    what are the goodness in Japanese people????
    analyze that too, then more people might able to open eyes and accept the fact we might have done some bad too………
    My opinion.
    Thanks!!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/karrenola Karen M. Henton

    Excellent job on both videos, good comments in the second video. I see the efforts some have made to keep this away from everyone, but in this information age I am glad to say that’s not possible anymore. Though racism exists all over the world, we must remember that Japan has never been forced to really own up to its top down responsibility for the last great war, and has been allowed to continue its brand of racism in ways Germany was not allowed, under the umbrella of the United States. This US umbrella has, via direct control and indirect pressure, made the situation of racism in Japan, already bad for over 2,000 years, much worse. The reported niceties versus the very real atrocities of the GHQ, along with the fictions of Hollywood and the excuses of the Japanese government regarding building up spirits, has helped create the very thing that stops Japan from becoming a stable world player with a good birthrate. The US, which had a chance to really get Japan to slow the trends of racism, blew it as it was in its own process of stepping up oppression of African Americans, Japanese Americans, women of all colors and so many other Americans with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Michael Moore spoke of his experiences making his great works, and of how he chose to live a threatened life with guards rather than give in to the evil that is racism and oppression, in his recent book ‘Here Comes Trouble’. In the book, he mentioned how at one point all the threats and such had started to wear him down to the point of considering giving up the fight. Then Kurt Vonnegut invited Moore over his home for dinner one night and told him, ‘The extremes to which …people have gone to get you, they directly correlate to just how effective you’ve been. You have done more to put the brakes on them than you realize. It may be too late for all of us, but I have to say you have given me a bit of hope for this sad country,’ Moore asked him if it was all worth it. Vonnegut said ‘No, not really, so you might as well quit complaining and get back to work. SO SAYETH I!’ And Moore went on, and goes on today. I also refer you to the Harry Potter books, which point out it is our CHOICES that make us great, not our abilities, and that there is a huge difference between being forced / dragged into a fight and walking in with your head held high. I choose, as the Potter series also mentions, to do what is RIGHT, not what is easy, and join others determined to use this marvelous information age to fight the evil that is racism and oppression. I’ll be sharing these videos. Again, good job.

  • blackpassenger

    Excellent video Medama Sensei. Oh, and very appropriate name, by the way. As a Negro living in Japan since 2001, I know japan is awash in discrimination. Less incidences of racism, but a great deal of discrimination based on ethnicity. And did I mention the sexism in Japan? I write about that in my book Black Passenger Yellow Cabs. Your next video should be about sexism in Japan and how women are treated like crap here.

  • G

    Good on you for having the guts to stick to your guns.

  • http://twitter.com/Rouillie Rouillie Wilkerson

    My laptop is busted, my headphones were stolen with my thumb drive here at the library, so I can’t hear the video. But I’ll bet you guys are just being whiny babies. Racism exist. So what! Everybody knows it’s usually because the racist is inadequate in some way, or has had a really bad experience. Quit blubbering you babies!

    • JheriCurl

      You added nothing to the discussion, good job.

      • Boomboom

        Miki, great contribution! I do agree. When we need to put focus on sensitive issues it is wise to be diplomatic about it. Don’t just tell me I am racist or there is racism in my country. Activate the art of effective communication. (Talk about some positives and then a little negative) Use intellectual intelligence and wisdom. If you bring out a great point, but your target audience does not accept it, It is worthless. What is your true goal is it a false or true talk of peace? So I know in this day and age no one believes in the negotiator. Everyone things it’s worthless and it’s impossible to achieve anything in this way. So we just bring in the guns and start a war.( or an intellectual war as they did in Iraq,confuse the minds of the people bringing chaos,then stand back and watch them kill each-other )Then you know nobody wins a war. So we need to build effective bridges between the many gaps in our counties and people. Improve laws that protect equality no matter mixed or pure Japanese etc. We are all different but also similar in many ways. But know that the president will be respected more than the carpenter. There will always be status differences in our societies. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Not everyone wants to be a president.Many people are very happy with their social status.

  • Jim

    The problem with racism in Japan is the unique “is but isnt” syndrome of Japan. There is racism, but their isnt. Its due to Japans unique culture, so if your not Japanese, you cant understand it, and if your “discriminated” against, your not Japanese, so your not really being discriminated against. This is the excuse Japanese use for everything. Once you understand the trick, you are better prepared to confront it but it can drive you nuts. This child like mentality will continue because Japan is still a closed country that most people arent interested in and think of it as their pet country or those weird people to stay away from.
    The generalization that racism is everywhere doesnt apply to Japan because Japan is not a multicultural society. Racism in Japan cannot be understood until you live here and your an “other” There is a huge emphasis put on “others” so if you stand out like I do, your othered everyday. The feel good catch all made in America “but racism is everywhere” is not applicable here. Come see for yourself. Everything is opposite here from western culture.

  • Support Change

    I applaud your courage and work on raising awareness of
    racism and discriminatory behavior in Japan, It is an issue that the world’s minorities have battled with since the beginning of time and sadly it has continually found cracks and crevasses and sometimes openly as a river it manifests itself in today’s world. Surprising and very informative is to learn that it excites amount the peoples of Japanese – against each other.

    You noted in your video that some of the naysayers, think that other none Japanese people may think badly of all Japanese, because of your bold step to share information on what is really happening out there, not
    true!! I am a black, South American woman that have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Japanese, 1 of my good friend is Japanese, and I think no differently of them know than I did before I saw this video. After this I believe I respect my friend and colleagues even more for stepping out of their social, and cultural up-bringing and being able to live and work in South America.

    Your work has put the subject on the lips of many and now it
    can’t be silenced…