Racism – Japan Subculture Research Center

Should Japanese men have the right to molest women on the train? A close friend of the Prime Minister writes, “Yes!”––the magazine goes out business

“The deepest suffering belongs to the men who are plagued with the symptoms of train groper syndrome (痴漢症候群) in which his hand automatically moves when he steps on a packed train and catches a whiff of a woman. Shouldn’t society protect the rights of them [train molesters]?–Eitaro Ogawa, close associate of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Shincho 45, on the rights of chikan

In this month’s issue of the monthly magazine Shincho 45 (新潮45), Eitaro Ogawa, author of many works praising the leadership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe–and his advisor–published an essay apparently asserting that men (痴漢) should have their right to grope women be protected. Understandably, that is drawing the ire of the on-line community and the real world. UPDATE: In fact, on September 25, Shinchosha (新潮社) announced the publication was being shelved (休刊） for the time being.

The author of this book, which had sales subsidised by Prime Minister Abe, has asserted Japanese men should have a right to grope women on the train. Yes, according to Eitaro Ogawa, if you’re a woman in Japan and you get groped on the train–it’s because you’re giving off pheromones. The scent of a woman is the culprit and the victim is the chikan (train pervert).

Ogawa’s rant was one of many articles in their special October issue about whether it was acceptable to discriminate against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT).

It was a follow up to the August edition of the same magazine which published a piece by lawmaker Mio Sugita bashing the LGBT community as dead weight on society and a waste of any public funding. In the magazine’s October feature section, ““Is Sugita’s article that outrageous?”, Ogawa and others sounded off on the topic. Prime Minister Abe has refused to admonish Sugita, claiming that she was “young and should be given slack”.

Ms. Sugita is 51 years old which makes the “crazy teenagers having fun” aka Brett Kavanaugh defense even more ridiculous.

She was recruited by the Prime Minister to join the Liberal Democratic Party. She’s also blamed rape victims for being raped in other past statements.

The October issue in the special feature, has a rambling nearly incoherent essay by Ogawa on LGBT issues. He seems to classify homosexuality as a fetish, like an ass fetish, or a fondness for BDSM. However, his crowning moment comes in the following passage.

“The deepest suffering belongs to the men who are plagued with the symptoms of train groper syndrome (痴漢症候群) in which his hand automatically moves when he steps on a packed train and catches a whiff of a woman. Repeated offenses show that it is an uncontrollable urge stemming from the brain. Shouldn’t society protect and reserve their rights to grope [women]? Oh, you’ll probably say we should think of the the shock it causes for a woman. If you want to talk about shock, well, the sight of the honorable LGBT walking in the streets in mainstream media is shocking to me. Shocking to the point of a being deadly threat to me. I must ask of them to speak only after they have paid me a insurmountable amount for damages.”

〈満員電車に乗った時に女の匂いを嗅いだら手が自動的に動いてしまう、そういう痴漢症候群の男の困苦こそ極めて根深かろう。再犯を重ねるのはそれが制御不可能な脳由来の症状だという事を意味する。彼らの触る権利を社会は保証すべきではないのか。触られる女のショックを思えというのか。それならLGBT様が論壇の大通りを歩いている風景は私には死ぬほどショックだ、精神的苦痛の巨額の賠償金を払ってから口を利いてくれと言っておく。〉

Yes, according to Ogawa, if you’re a woman in Japan and you get groped on the train–it’s because you’re giving off pheromones. The scent of a woman is the culprit and the victim is the chikan (train pervert). Ogawa attempted to walk back his statement on television programs this weekend by saying the meaning of his essay got lost to the reader. A professor at Meiji University who appeared on a television program with Ogawa responded by saying, “If you write this kind of crap, so that the meaning gets lost, you should just stop writing. Seriously.” Perhaps Ogawa only meant to be rhetorical but the text of his words, on their own, offend most sensible people. He may have been attempting to say that since in his mind, groping people on trains and being homosexual are just two different kinds of sexual perversion, that offering to protect the rights of one (homosexuality) over the other (men groping women on trains) was ridiculous. Of course, he appears to be the most ridiculous of them all.

Ogawa has written many works lavishly praising Prime Minister Abe.

On of his books lauding Abe,「約束の日」(The Promised Day) was published in 2012, right before the Liberal Democratic Party General Director elections which put Abe back in power for his second term as Prime Minister. The book was purchased in bulk by Abe’s political fund, 「晋和会」(Shinwakai). They reportedly spent 7,000,000 yen (70,000 dollars) buying copies of the book, briefly elevating it to best-seller status.

Ogawa is one of several Abe literati profiting from their connection to the politician. Others include his unofficial biographer, Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a former Washington correspondent for TBS. In 2015, Yamaguchi was under investigation for the alleged sexual assault of journalist Shiori Ito and an arrest warrant was issued on rape charges against him. The arrest was stopped by Itaru Nakamura, a career bureaucrat from the National Police Agency, who also served as personal secretary to Abe’s cabinet spokesman. The investigation was then scuttled. Yamaguchi has denied all allegations. Ito is suing him in civil court for damages.

Ogawa was one of several members attending a party supporting Yamaguchi’s efforts to reinsert himself into the media after a period of being shunned.

Takanobu Sato, the president of Shinchosha Publishing Co. made a statement last week that the magazine’s special section contained expressions full of prejudice and was objectively offensive. There was little clarification of what exactly was unacceptable.

Ironically, Weekly Shincho (週刊新潮), in the last year has distinguished itself with outstanding investigative journalism and was the first publication to take up the case of Shiori Ito. It documented how a police investigation into her rape case was hijacked by political forces and how it was derailed by a close friend of the Abe cabinet, abusing his authority as a high-ranking police official.

Unfortunately, Shincho 45, has taken the approach of pandering to right-wing readers in order to boost sales. Or perhaps they are hoping that the Prime Minister’s political fund will buy $70,000 worth of an issue–now and then. Even within Shincho Publishing, there has been concern over the direction Shincho 45 has taken. In the company announcement of suspending the publication, they admitted that in their trial and errors to boost sagging sales their had been insufficient oversight of the contents.

Ogawa has not walked back his essay. So while conservatives may lament the loss of another right wing publication, on the other side, Japan’s train perverts can rest a little easier now that they know they have someone on their side whispering into the ear of the Prime Minister.

While Abe has deftly avoided making racist or misogynist statements, his propensity to surround himself with accused sex offenders, misogynists, gay-bashers and appointing rabid racists and sexists to cabinet positions, suggests that maybe he shares their view. One wonders. Under his reign, Japan’s gender equality ranking has sunk to a new low of 114 out of 144 countries.

Mari Yamamoto contributed to this article.

Even In Japan, Bashing Gays Is Not Okay. Behind The Scenes Of The First Sugita Protest

“We don’t need Parliamentarians who ignore human rights” (人権無視する議員はいらない)

“Mio Sugita, resign now” （杉田水脈は今すぐ辞めろ）

“Silence is death” ˆ(沈黙は死）

These were just some of the statements protesters were chanting in unity, in front of the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters on July 27th, demanding for the resignation of the parliamentarian, Mio Sugita. On July 24th, in the monthly magazine, Shukan Shincho, Sugita published an essay in which she said, among many other offensive things, that no tax money should be spent on lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) individuals because “they can’t reproduce and are therefore not valuable to society.” At first, the protests were confined to the internet, but in a short time, they spilt out into real life–an actual protest, and that was pivotal in getting the Japanese media to pay attention and finally force the LDP to address the issue.

Individuals- active citizens, representatives of NGOs as well as some politicians all gathered together in front of the LDP, angered by Mio Sugita’s comments clearly dissing the LGBTQ+ community.

It seems to be that an eclectic variety of individuals gathered. Those who identify to be LGBTQ+, those who do not, students and surprisingly (in the context of Japan,) a few people seemingly salarymen who came after work in their suits. To me, it seemed like there was an equal ratio of women to men. The crowd was mostly Japanese but there were a handful of foreigners who came to show support too. There were young women angered, who came alone, university students who came with their friends including myself. I believe there were a lot of men who seemed to be in their thirties to forties too. The crowd was very diverse.

There were all kinds of posters and signs held. There were many posters available online and they spread through social platforms such as Twitter. There was an identification number for the posters one could then input in a machine at a convenience store and get printed out. There were rainbow flags held up and most of the posters advocated for acceptance of diversity, lgbtq+. Some of these signs had statements like 生産性で価値を図るな which translates to something like Don’t measure our worth by “productivity.” Many of them criticised Sugita’s comment un “unproductiveness” and how it discriminates against many other groups of people in society. One thing which came a little of a shock to me were some other posters which came off as more aggressive. It wasn’t a majority but there were a handful of people with posters with Sugita’s face on it, however with a little twist. Some of them had a target on her face or one which made her look like a zombie, strongly demonizing her. I personally think this is going a little far and it’s better to argue against her comments and advocating for diversity but various perspectives were apparent.

There were countless numbers of policemen trying to control the people so that the participants were not standing over the studded part of the pedestrian road which is an aid for the blind. The police were trying to control the number of people in the main street and restricted participants from going onto the main street. The police were making some people stand against streets going around other blocks to limit the demonstration, but eventually, people overflowed onto the main street.

This issue may have caught a lot of people’s attention because many individuals saw this not only as an attack on the LGBTQ+ community but as one to all citizens, one to women, men, disabled people or the elderly. Sugita’s comments about how LGBTQ+ individuals are “unproductive” (生産性がない) as “they cannot have children” is inaccurate and extremely discriminatory to everyone as childbearing is an autonomous choice of an individual, not an obligation a citizen has to its government.

So, what exactly happened at the demonstration?

Apart from trying to get the attention of the LDP, the media and the rest of the public by simply being there and protesting, some participants, such as LGBTQ+ individuals, a few university professors, and some politicians delivered speeches explaining how hurtful Sugita’s comments were personally, how they could not sleep for days, illuminating how backwards Japan still is. Some participants also went up to the LDP to hand in a sort of a request for the resignation of Mio Sugita. Even though the few individuals who went up to the LDP headquarters seemed to contain their composure, they were denied a chance to even simply hand in the documents.

This demonstration was certainly not one the LDP could simply dismiss and move on with as they often do. There has been a lot of backlash to Sugita’s discriminatory comments on various social platforms and many other demonstrations have popped up in other parts of Japan. Recently, there was one on August 5th in Shibuya, Osaka and Fukuoka. There was also one on August 6th in Mie prefecture.

The LDP did acknowledge Sugita’s comments but have not condemned her, except for Shigeta Ishiba, who is running against Abe in the LDP internal party elections. Although modern Japanese governments prior to the current one have certainly not been the most transparent and democratic, the current one under Prime Minister Abe has continuously been moving far and far away from democracy, with its powerful members pulling strings in their favour, ultimately guiding the government away from democratic rule. It is does not bode well that since Abe took office Japan has dropped to 67 in World Press Freedom (it was ranked 11 in 2011) and not surprisingly Japan ranks lower than ever in the annual gender equality rankings, 114 out of 144 countries.

Erika Bulach is a university student in Tokyo majoring in social sciences.

ナチス時代へ逆戻りする日本。共謀罪法案は安倍政権のタイムマシーン？

（帰って来たヒトラーの日本版が実録映画かもしれない）

もしナチスと日本帝国が第二次世界大戦を制していたら。想像しただけで恐ろしい話だが、２１世紀の日本において、それを実現しようとする動きがある。舵を取るのはもちろん、釈放されたA級戦犯岸信介の孫である安倍首相だ。いよいよ憲法改正の時期を２０２０年と明言した首相だが、『我が闘争』を教材認定してみたり『ヒトラー選挙戦略』に推薦文書を寄せる大臣らを内閣に置くなど、ナチスへの肯定的な姿勢を無視することは難しくなってきた。

5月3日首相自らが明らかにした２０２０年の憲法改正だが、ナチスがワイマール憲法を都合よく改正していったように日本が誇る戦後の平和憲法を一新するつもりのようだ。それに向けての一歩として共謀罪法案が衆議院にて可決され、現在参議院審議中である。この法案は日本帝国の暗黒時代ともいえる１９２５年から１９４５年の間、日本を恐怖に陥れた治安維持法の再来と言われ、国会前デモや専門家を含め反対する声は数多く上がっている。治安維持法は、制定された当初は共産主義や反政権派を取り締まるためのもので一般市民は対象とならないとされていたが、いつの間にやら政府批判を口にする者は夜の内に消え、二度と姿を見ることはなくなったという。今回の共謀罪は「テロ等準備罪」とされ、あくまでもテロに及ぶ犯罪組織を取り締まるためのもので一般人は対象とならないとされているが、法案内に記載されている２７７の違法行為は解釈によっては容易に範囲を一般人に広げることが可能といえる。この危険性を察知した国連人権理事会のケナタッチ特別報告者からも法案の人権侵害の可能性を懸念した書簡が首相宛に届いている。

しかしこの警告に対して安倍首相は外務省を通じて「強く抗議した」との報道。批判には国内はもちろん、国外からであっても耳を傾けない強硬姿勢を見せている。

政党をナチスになぞらえるのは最も安易な政治批判とされているが、安倍政権とナチスの共通点を見て見ぬふりすることは日に日に難しくなってきている。安倍政権がナチスへの敬意を公言しているからなおさらだ。ナチスと戦前軍国独裁主義への異様な憧憬は政権発足当初から確かにそこにあった。

2013年夏、かねてから失言でメディアを賑わしてきた副総理そして財務大臣である麻生太郎が支援者へのスピーチ内で「ある日気づいたら、ワイマール憲法が変わって、ナチス憲法に変わっていた。誰も気づかないで変わった。あの手口に学んだらどうか」発言している。

また、安倍内閣の高市早苗総務大臣と稲田朋美政調会長に関しては日本のネオナチと呼ばれる山田一成とのツーショット写真が露呈した。そして高市総務大臣はさらに『ヒトラーの選挙戦略』に推薦文を寄せていた事が発覚し、海外メディアを賑わせたが国内メディアは目を瞑った対応となった。

公にナチスをお手本にしているようでは、類似点を指摘されるのも仕方のないことだ。

追い打ちをかけるように、安倍首相は国際的にも非難される在特会との関係が知られる山谷えり子氏を国家公安委員会委員長に任命。首相自身、そしてその他の閣僚たちからも在日韓国人への差別に異論を唱える声は聞こえてこない。そして政府は4 月にはヒトラーの『我が闘争』は教材使用に適切と認定した。野党の質問に対し、「仮に人種に基づく差別を助長させる形で使用するならば、同法等の趣旨に合致せず、不適切であることは明らかだ」と述べるにとどまった。

この件に関して当初主要メディアは報道を自粛したようで取り上げられることは少なかったが、世論の猛反対によってやっと取り上げられた模様だ。そして松野博一文部科学相は4月25日の閣議後記者会見に「人種に基づく差別やジェノサイド（大虐殺）は絶対に許さないという意識を定着させるため、教育の充実を図っていく」と強調したが、これまでの安倍政権の姿勢を見ると今ひとつ説得力に欠けて見えることは否めない。

また今年に入って政権は、特攻隊の思想の源となった教育勅語も再導入を検討していることを発表。明治天皇に１８９０年に制定された教育勅語は、最大の善行は天皇のために命を捧げることと国民を諭すものだった。そしてそのイデオロギーが原動力となり後の神風特攻隊、人間魚雷、沖縄の集団自決などの悲劇が起きたといえるだろう。戦後、1948年に衆議院決議にて「これらの詔勅の根本的理念が主権在君並びに神話的国体観に基いている事実は、明かに基本的人権を損い、且つ国際信義に対して疑点を残すものとなる」という言葉と共に失効が認定されたのだ。それにも関わらず再来の危機が目前まで迫ってきている。戦前回帰を求める軍国主義者にとっては「進歩」の一年といえる。銃剣も体育の種目として再び導入されることとなっており、戦前教育復活に予断がない。

また、安倍政権はこれまでに繰り返し、ナチスを見習うような節を見せている。自民党のマニフェスト自体が、戦前の帝国主義の復活を謳うものといっても過言ではない。神の子孫である優れた大和民族がアジアを制し、下位に当たる他のアジア民族を労働や性の奴隷として使う、といったところか。

直近で日本が直面している危機といえば先述の共謀罪強行採決だろう。現在参議院審議のこの法案だが、正式には「テロ等準備罪」。曖昧な名称だが、その内容も不透明な部分が多々あり、二人以上の人間が犯罪を犯す準備行為に及んだ場合、実際に罪を犯していなくても罰せられるというものである。しかしこの「等」そして「準備」という文字は何を指しているのだろうか。その定義の決定権は政府にあるというのである。つまり、一般市民のいかなる日常行為も犯罪行為になり得る危険性を孕んでいるのだ。

現段階で２７７の犯罪が対象とされており、切手の偽造、無免許で競艇レースに出ることなどが含まれている。しかし改正によっていくらでも項目は後から追加できる。

政府は採決を進める理由として２００３年に国会承認した国際連合条約(TOC条約)に批准するために共謀罪が不可欠であると主張。しかしこれは国民を煙に巻く口実でしかない。

ジャパンタイムズによれば(http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/03/25/national/media-national/how-the-word-terrorism-can-help-pass-a-bill/#.WRqYg1N96SM) 既に日本弁護士連合会からこれを論破する声が上がっている上に、国連関係者からも「この条約はテロに特化したものではない。主要な目的は人身売買、麻薬取引や資金洗浄など国家間の犯罪の防止を強化することだ。」との指摘もある。

政府は「テロ」と「２０２０オリンピック」という二つのキーワードを駆使して、「世界一安全な国造り」を推し進めようとしているのだ。そして首相らが描く安全国家の完成形は、国民を常に監視下に置き、政府の管理のもと反対意見を徹底的に排除する社会だろう。

これでは治安維持法の再来と言われても無理はない。１９２５年に制定されたこの法律は戦前の日本において、政治的弾圧の最も効果的な手段だったと言われている。制定当時は共産主義を取り締まるための法律であり、一般市民は対象とならないとされていたものの、気づけば一般市民の監視、逮捕が日常茶飯事になっていたという。

憲法学者の飯島滋明教授は何ヶ月も前に共謀罪への警笛を鳴らしていた。「この法案は我々の憲法の最も重要な三つの原理に背く可能性がある。基本的人権の尊重、平和主義、国民主権の三原理を疎かにすればまた暗黒時代に逆戻りしてしまう。これは治安維持法の現代版である。」

このように、なんとも恐ろしい共謀罪法案の強行採決だが、これは戦後の平和憲法を取り壊し、戦前の日本を取り戻すという政府の最終目標に向けての序章でしかない。

一つ確かなことは、安倍政権は有言実行であるということだ。

少し遡ってみよう。

２０１３年の麻生大臣のナチス失言のあと、安倍政権は世論の大反対を押し切り特定秘密保護法を押し通した。これは文官、公務員が特定秘密を漏洩した場合１０年間、また記者や一般市民が特定秘密を露呈、もしくは特定秘密について質問した場合５年間の服役が課せられるといった内容の法律である。ここで注目すべきは、どの情報が特定秘密に分類されるのか政府が公開しなくても良いという点だ。(http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/12/13/commentary/japan-commentary/abes-secrets-law-undermines-japans-democracy/#.WRLR1lN96SM)

これでは、無実な一般市民が特定秘密について質問しているとは知らずに、自身が犯した罪さえ分からないまま罰せられるというケースも起こりかねない。カフカ小説のようなシュールな話だがこれが現実になりうる未来が日本を待ち受けている。

さらにこの特定秘密保護法の採決は日本が海外にて戦争に参加することを可能にしてしまった。昨年の明仁天皇の生前退位表明を、平和主義を守り抜こうとする天皇の政府への抗議として捉える世論は少なくない。天皇が現状の憲法の絶対的支持者であり、戦時中の日本軍の数々の悪行を悔いているということは確固たる事実なのだから。

戦後７０回目の憲法記念日でもあり、共謀罪採決に国が揺れる５月３日、安倍首相は極右翼神道カルトである日本会議が主催した会見にて２０２０年１月までに憲法改正を目指すと発表した。国民の反発はすぐに聞こえてきたがもちろんおかまいなしだ。

ここまで来れば自民党の憲法改正案は日本が戦争国家になる以上の危険を孕んでいることが明快である。安倍首相は２０１２年の自民党改正案発表時に改正案に「緊急事態要項」が含まれることを明らかにした。これは国家への外部攻撃、内乱や自然災害が起きた場合、内閣の承認を得て緊急事態を宣言できる権限を首相に付与するというものである。さらに、内閣が通常の法案採決の過程を経ずに、法律と同じ効力を持つ法令を発令することも可能となる。首相は国会を通さずに予算を採択することもできる。

日本の法律学者ローレンス・レペタ教授は、これはナチスの戦略から直接引っ張ってきた手段だと言う。具体的には、ワイマール憲法にあった緊急事態要項を巧みに使いドイツ国会議事堂の放火を受けて「首相や官僚の暗殺を企てたり協力した者は処刑、もしくは終身刑または１５年以上の服役に処すと宣言した。さらには国会議事堂の放火魔が共産主義であったという事実を捏造し、共産党を禁止し全国選挙の出馬候補者全員に逮捕令状を出した。企てる、協力するという行為は警察や検察によっていとも簡単に捏造された」。

調査報道に定評のある『報道ステーション』でも、政府批判を理由に古舘伊知郎氏が降板になる前にこんな特集を組んでいた。２０１６年３月１６日に放映されワイマール憲法から学ぶ、自民党憲法草案緊急事態条項の危うさ』と題された特集は自民党提案の「緊急事態要項」とワイマール憲法第４８条内の緊急事態事項の類似点を検証したもので、２０１６年ギャラクシー賞を受賞している。特集内ではドイツの憲法学者がこれら二つの要項は本質的に同じであると明言し、ナチスがこの憲法の欠陥を乱用して権力を拡大していったことを見れば、日本も改正案を持って進めばこの先同様の危険が待ち受けていると警告している。

森友学園問題から国民の気をそらすために安倍首相が憲法改正時期を発表したのではないかとする声もある。

しかし、そうであれば、安倍首相率いる自民党がまさにナチスのように巧みにメディア操りプロパガンダを刷り込んでいるといえるのではないか。まずは報道の自由を制限し、政府の動きを国民が把握できないようにする。そしてあとはやりたい放題。２０１１年には報道の自由ランキングで世界１１位だった日本だが、たった６年で７２位にまで急落している。

ヒトラーにゲッペルスがいた。トランプにはバノン、ルパート・マードックが付いている。そして安倍首相には世界最大購読数を誇る読売新聞、そして読売王国の帝王渡辺恒雄が付いているのだ。

その癒着ぶりは、国会答弁で憲法改正について問われた安倍首相が「自民党総裁としての考え方は相当詳しく（インタビューに応じた）読売新聞に書いてある。ぜひそれを熟読して頂いてもいい」と発言したことからもありありと伺える。

安倍首相と仲間たちが作り上げたプロパガンダマシーンは準備万端だ。自民党はネット上での反対意見を糾弾するサイバーパトロール隊に報酬を与えて、ソーシャルメディアにもプロパガンダ拡散を推し進めている。そして首相の旧友である籾井氏を会長に任命した国家放送NHKは、今ではすっかり安倍テレビと化している。朝日新聞によれば、党内での異論もすべて弾圧に成功してきたため、党員もみな「ビッグ・ブラザー」に怯える日々だという。

これで日本会議の望む憲法を実現する要素はすべて揃った。

日本は来た道を着々と遡って、過去へと突き進んでいる。そして安倍首相は祖父、岸信介の叶わぬ夢を掴み取る寸前まで来ている。戦犯として逮捕されながらも裁判にかけられなかった岸は後に首相となり、帝国主義の復活を謳った。そしてそれはその夢は安倍晋三の原動力となっている。共謀罪法案の採決は自民党が２０１２年から静かに構築してきた軍国主義タイムマシーンのソフトウェアだったのだ。

歴史は繰り返すというが、日本では歴史改ざんを繰り返した挙句、過去から学ぶことができず今に至ってしまったようだ。それがこの世界の宿命なのか。民主主義を犠牲にしてまでも自身の意思を突き通した者が君臨する新たな時代。トランプ、プーチンそして安倍。「悪の枢軸」ならぬ「エリートの枢軸」誕生なるか。

しかし、安倍総理や自民党の老害幹部は歴史から学ぶことができなくても、歴史の大切さが分かる偉い人はまだ存在する。国家神道の復活を夢見る日本会議が、尊敬しているであろう偉人だ。

それは天皇陛下。

２０１５年の新年挨拶を改めて取り上げましょう。

「本年は終戦から70年という節目の年に当たります。多くの人々が亡くなった戦争でした。各戦場で亡くなった人々，広島，長崎の原爆，東京を始めとする各都市の爆撃などにより亡くなった人々の数は誠に多いものでした。この機会に，満州事変に始まるこの戦争の歴史を十分に学び，今後の日本のあり方を考えていくことが，今，極めて大切なことだと思っています。

この1年が，我が国の人々，そして世界の人々にとり，幸せな年となることを心より祈ります」

合掌

(この記事はThe Daily Beastの英文記事に基づいて書かれ、趣旨翻訳）。

日本で活躍する声優のイギリス人女性が米国の#MeToo運動を解説。セクハラ撲滅への一歩

Reina 「麗」という名前で知られている英語と日本語をいかし、フリーランスの役者・声優のイギリス人は米国の#MeToo運動を説明している記事（日本語）を載せました。

Reina, a professional Japanese & English freelance voice-over artist and actress in Tokyo has written a short blog explaining the #MeToo movement in Japanese. We have posted it here for our Japanese readers.

世の中、色んな不正な場合、沈黙は金ではない。応諾です。
やっぱり黙って何も書かないことが我慢できなくて、今回の臭いもの蓋を開けさせて頂きます。
皆さん、最近ＳＮＳに流行っている #metoo（私も）知っていますか？
日本のマスコミにも、ハリウッドの巨大なセクハラのスキャンダルの取材され、耳にしましたと思います。それから、一人の有名の女優は、
「セクハラや性的暴行を経験したことがる世界中の皆は Me Tooを書いたら、この深刻な問題の規模はどんなに広いのか、把握できると思う。」
軽く説明すると：
“Me too”がSNS上で広がりを見せています。
セクハラ、性的暴行を受けた女性、あるいは男性が、この言葉をツイートしたり、SNSでシェアしたりすることで、いかにセクハラ、性的暴行が日常的に身の回りの人々を傷つけているかを表すためです。「私も」と言うことで、誰にでも起こりうること、実は被害者はかなり居ることを証明する意思表示。
Reinaも「私も」です。
特に、十代の女性にとって全く避けられないことで今でも腹が立ちます。
そして事件後、世の中とても残酷な歪んだ結果は普段こうなる：
被害者は自分を責めます。
加害者を責める気持ちはもちろん、
爆発的にありますが、
被害者は自分自身を責めます。
これから我慢しない、恥で黙って一人で苦しまないような時が来ました。
仕方なく認めないで、沈黙を破りましょう。
そして個人的なお願いですが、被害者が皆さんに相談を持ち掛けたら、縁を断ち切らないで、裁かないで、素直に耳を掛けてください。カウンセリングの窓口に案内してもいいです。
それだけで命を救うかもしれません。
重くても、私達全員、耳を掛けましょう。
理解を。同情を。支えを。
「私も」
（日本語の説明、松下さんに感謝。ありがとうございます。）
#metoo #sexualharassment #japan #japanese #chikan #support #セクハラ #私も #痴漢 #支え #沈黙を破る #日本 #日本人 #女性 #男性 #ハリウッド

Born With It (生まれつき）: Short film captures the angst of being a black child in Japan

While race relations in the United States seem to be tenser than ever, Japan is coming to a crossroads with accepting mixed race Japanese and immigrants into their mostly homogenous society. Japan is a welcoming country to foreigners, especially if you are a temporary visitor. The subtle prejudices only become visible to a foreigner once you have lived here for a while and experienced the day to day difficulties you face as an outsider when you actually try to become part of the society. Any foreigner in Japan who has been turned away from renting an apartment simply because they’re not Japanese, knows that experience.

An American filmmaker, Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, from Texas, depicts this struggle to be accepted as a dark skinned black man in Japan in his award winning short film Born With It(生まれつき). Osei-Kuffour lived in Japan for six years, encountering numerous instances of prejudice and discrimination. The film follows a black elementary school child in Japan experiencing the cruelty of racism and harsh words spoken unfiltered in the world of children, who have not learned the impact of what they are doing or saying, or how to accept difference.

Osei-Kuffour notes “I wanted to tell the story from a kid’s point-of-view because I think its powerful to see someone’s innocence broken for the first time. This is ultimately a story about prejudice and it’s also disarming to see a child unaware of the scars of the adult world. Like most forms of discrimination, the most difficult moments I had in Japan are hard to convey convincingly. Most of the issues I encountered seemed to revolve around me, as a foreigner, not being perceived as an equal, normal human being. There always seemed to be the sense that since I was not Japanese, I would be unable to comprehend Japanese ideas or values, represent my given company in a meeting or share a space with other Japanese people.

Those moments seem small on paper but they begin to get under your skin when you’re trying to assimilate to the culture. I had — and still have — a strong desire to have a film career in Japan. So I’ve always wanted to live and work and get the same chances as my Japanese friends that were same age. But despite a strong command of the language, it became very clear to me that no matter how fluent I became, I had to either be famous outside of Japan or Japanese to really get the chances that I sought out in all Japanese environments. This is not the case for everyone but it is for most. ”

The seventeen minute film has resonated with many people in and outside of Japan, and garnered praise including The Best Film & Social Impact Award at the NBC-Universal Short Film Festival and Honorable Mention for Best Short Film at Toronto International Film Festival (Kids Section) and many more festivals.

“Born With It” will be airing on PBS KQED as part of the show “FILM SCHOOL SHORTS” in San Francisco 10/13 11pm.

Watch the trailer here.

If you love Japan, make it better. Our mission statement.

A note from the editor:
Criticism is caring.

If you don’t address social problems or recognise they exist, nothing changes. I love Japan and many Japanese people are hard-working, honest, and polite. That doesn’t mean the society doesn’t have problems, such as child poverty, gender inequality, discrimination against: the handicapped, women, foreigners, especially Korean Japanese—powerful organised crime, nuclear dangers, staggering injustice in the legal system, repression of the free press, sexual assault on women with impunity for many assailants, rampant labor exploitation, death by overwork, and political corruption. Ignoring the problems doesn’t make them better. If you are offended by that, rethink your love of Japan.

The Japanese government has stated: “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that all human beings are born free and have the right to live with dignity. Many people in the world, however, are not able to enjoy their rights. The United Nations has thus engaged itself in activities to improve human rights situations. Japan strongly supports UN activities in the human rights field, believing that all human rights are universal”
Is it unfair to expect Japan to live up to its promises?

The argument that “It’s worse in XXX (China,North Korea, US) so it’s okay to have XXX (sexism/racism/fascism/wage slavery/death by overwork) in Japan” is silly. It’s like the accused in a murder trail arguing, “I should be declared innocent because I only killed one person in the robbery but my partner killed three.” Some things are never okay. Whataboutism is the last resort of the intellectually dishonest weasel. (Sorry kids).

I don’t think that the work we do is shouting to the wind. Every effort matters. Sometimes sarcasm is an effective tool. We try to be polite in our response to the comments but rudeness is sometimes met with rudeness. 親しき仲にも礼儀あり

Does any of our work make a difference? Yes.
Actually, in my time as a reporter, me being “Jake Adelstein”, on editing duty today–criticism of huge problems in Japan, via articles that I have written and written with others, resulted in better laws against human trafficking, comprehensive measures to deal with dioxin pollution, and the Japanese government recently admitting that there is a huge problem with exploitation of underage girls that needs to be dealt with.

I and many of the writers on this blog who live in Japan, love this country, and loving a country doesn’t mean remaining a silent; it means speaking up about what is wrong, and correcting it. The effort doesn’t always work but sometimes it yields results. And people who can’t see any fault or social problems in their country or refuse to do anything about it or just as complicit in the rise “dark corporations,” greedy nationalists, death by overwork, exploitive enterprises, corrupt politicians, and the nuclear industrial complex that have done so much harm to the nation. For decades many warned of the dangers that TEPCO and its poorly managed nuclear power plants held. They were ignored. It doesn’t make them any less correct.

The battle to protect human rights, worker rights, equal rights, the environment, democracy, the public right to know, justice, gender equality and to fight poverty and end corruption are important struggles. All over the world. Japan is no exception.

I’m a Soto Zen Buddhist priest in training, which is a part of Japanese culture–surprise! I wouldn’t argue the metaphysics of Buddhism are true, but there are universal truths and there is a motto that I have as an editor and journalist and try to keep in my own personal life. Pardon the idealism but I believe this creed applies everywhere in the world.
So below is a modified version of our editorial policy, adapted from the Dhammapada (法句経）. Thank you for your consideration.

Jake Adelstein, Japan Subculture Research Center, editor in chief

Conquer anger with compassion.
Conquer evil with goodness.
Conquer trolls with humour & sarcasm
Conquer ignorance with knowledge
Conquer stinginess with generosity.
Conquer lies with truth

The Great White Woman Is Here to Save Japanese Men

Hey, Asian guys! You’re hot! Don’t you feel better now. As a reward here is an unasked for smooch from a white woman—for free. She’s even blonde! Feel better now? No? Wait this isn’t the Valentine’s Day gift you always wanted?

As they say, all roads to hell are paved with good intentions.

It is unclear though, if the intentions of Leela Rose, an actress and self-proclaimed activist/Youtuber, were purely altruistic as she claims.

On September 30^th, last year, Rose unleashed a now infamous video (trigger warning) titled Kissing Guys In Tokyo an instant sensation on the internet that went viral in a chickenpox kind of way. She prefaces the video with her sentiment that “white women can find Asian men attractive and that Asian men are not represented in Hollywood to her liking as romantic leads”. She declares that by going around Tokyo and kissing Asian men in Tokyo she wants to help fight the stereotype that Asian men are not desirable.

At this point, which is only the prelude to a white privilege nightmare, so many questions come to mind. How is a video of a white woman kissing random men on the street going to change the minds of those who run Hollywood? Moreover, her tone is completely devoid of any perspective from Asian actors who are fighting this stereotype on a daily basis, she speaks on the issue as a savior for the powerless who, conveniently are the object of her desire.

Does anyone remember Julien Blanc? Raise your hand if you do. Some are called Leela Rose a female version of the Pick-Up Artist—aka Juliette Blanc—but that is missing the point.

As her “social experiment” begins, there is a stream of horrific imagery of a blond woman forcefully launching surprise attacks on the faces of many bewildered Japanese men.

Many, after a stunned moment, go along with it.

The video continues to make the rounds on the internet but it has met with some harsh criticism, as well as scattered praise.

Japanese American playwright Leah Nanako Winkler, a vocal critic on the lack of Asian American representation in the US entertainment industry, weighs in on the issue.

“I think this white woman exemplifies clueless American entitlement–and reeks of privilege in such a destructive way that is embarrassing for our country. She is claiming to represent all western women-and I genuinely think she believes this because of the exact cultural biases she is claiming to criticize: she’s white and blonde and fits into the ‘ideal’ female beauty standards perpetuated in American culture -when in reality she cannot speak for anyone except for herself. As an American Woman- I’m mortified people like her are the clueless avatar for our country.”

Winkler further dissects “She is still fetishizing Asian men because she’s conflating all Asian identities into one- and making assumptions about an entire country (Japan) and its social politics regarding male desirability. Men in Japan as a whole don’t have problems getting laid in Japan.* How dare she assume they want her? It’s a level of entitlement that is next level honestly. American white women need to educate themselves before they speak up on Asian American issues…look what happens. It’s like white savior complex dressed in glitter and stupidity.”

It is worth repeating that Asian-American culture/people and other Asian cultures/people are not the same thing as Leela Rose assumes. Sexualizing one does not elevate the status of the other. In other words, objectification has never been empowering.

Another angered viewer, Greek woman Persephone Narra and her Korean American husband Kim Du Han uploaded a Youtube video in response. Han claims that if he was suddenly kissed on the street by a white woman he doesn’t know “he would know that she invaded my privacy and that it was sexual harassment and completely inappropriate.” Persephone stresses that if this were a man kissing random women, it would be sexual assault and the man would be in jail. She concludes the video saying, “No one in Hollywood is going to consider Asian men desirable because a girl sexually harasses them on the street.”

They go further by confronting Leela Rose on Facebook. When pressed to take the video down, Rose claims that she has apologized multiple times and that, “I’m not taking anything down because what I feel that I’m doing is right and I’m taking a stand for something that I care deeply about! I’ve gotten too much positive remarks from the Asian men to take this down. I will continue to try my best to promote more leading Asian men in the film industry whether people agree with my method or not.”

In other words: Watch out Asian men! Blond Face Sucker is on the loose!

As an Asian woman, writer and actor, I thought I’d ask Rose a few questions. She has yet to respond and she may never do but here they are. Some food for thought.

-Do you have Asian actor friends?

-Have you had conversations with them about their lack of representation in the industry? If so what was their response to your video?

-Have you gotten any positive feedback from the Asian American actor communities?

-Did you know that this would be controversial when you were making it? Were you surprised that some people are offended?

-Did all the men you kissed in the video consent to you before the shooting? (It seems in one instance you are informing them of the shoot after you have made out with them)

-Some people are drawing comparisons to you and Julian Blanc, a dating coach, who went around in Tokyo pushing Japanese girls’ faces to his crotch and preaching that foreign men can get away with this in Japan. How would you differentiate yourself?

-What other things can you do to help the Asian actors on their lack of representation?

-Would you recommend that other white females make these videos too so it becomes a movement?

-Other than Hollywood not thinking Asian men are desirable/fit for lead roles, what other problems are causing lack of representation in your view?

-How do you feel about the lack of representation in Hollywood for Asian actresses?

-You have said in other interviews that you are sexually attracted to Asian men. Would you say, you took advantage of this cause to help them being acknowledged as an opportunity to simultaneously fulfill your personal desires/agenda?

-In a different interview you stated you are attracted to Asian men. In your mind are Asian Americans and Asians for instance Japanese men the same? You point out that Japanese men are shy to approach women but also rail against the stereotype Hollywood has given them as nerds and losers. If you wanted to change the image of Asian American men, would it not be more effective to carry out this “experiment” in the US on Asian American men?

Gentle readers, how would you answer these questions?

*The writer would like to point out that while this is true, not many people in Japan are having sex these days but this is another issue entirely.

Pedophiles, JK, AKB48 and Trolls

Few thing we have written, gathered as many responses as: In Japan, Teenage Girls Folding Paper Cranes Has Taken on a Whole New Meaning. The article is a companion piece to the VICE Documentary, “Schoolgirls For Sale” which examines Japan’s weird and creepy industry that makes money off the backs of high school girls and boys.

The response from readers to both the English article and the Japanese translation of the article was tremendous. We are not saying that if you’re an AKB48 fan that you’re a pedophile. We are using the band as a means of discussing the endemic and exploitive nature of the JK Business. Maybe if you really are fans of these girls, you should lean on the management to pay them better and ensure they have a decent life after their youth is misspent.

Two trolls in particular have jumped all over the article—the two trolls seem to be a team. I usually ignore them but since they seem intent on defaming my co-worker I’ll address them briefly.

I know you’re not supposed to feed the trolls, but sometimes I feel like stuffing their mouths with information until they choke on it. (Trolls: please confine your spiteful attacks to me in the future. Thank you)

In the journalist community we know them as Creepy Johnson and Creepec for their habit of harassing other journalists, especially women. Creepy Johnson began harassing me in 2011 after I failed to respond to his demand that I clear his name. (He had been denied entry into Japan). He writes to every publication I work for hassling my editors; he harasses and stalks anyone who he thinks might be my friend, especially if they’re female.

I gave him the benefit of the doubt, by not naming in him the first time I dealt with him, because it’s standard journalism policy in Japan to shield the names of the possibly mentally ill, but he outed himself anyway. I’m not giving these two the attention they crave by using their real names or twitter handles. If you want to find them, you can.

Creepy Johnson, the top half of the duo, is infamous for getting fired from Japan’s Public Broadcaster NHK, after threatening to sexually molest the children (boy and girl) of another reporter there. He left a recording on the answering machine—a not very brilliant move. Here’s an excerpt:

By all means, do go and tell your side of the story to them, motherfucker.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I heard that your daughter gives really good head… and so does your son.
Hey, I wanted to hear if your children are getting a good sleep because… when you get fired, and I get fired, you’re going to have to put your kids out of international school and into Japanese school and I’ll be waiting for them. (2007)

So Creepec, who apparently approves of his idol’s behavior sent me a list of questions demanding answers, for an “article” he’s writing. The letter is very much like one Creepy Johnson sent me years ago. I bring up the association between these two because I feel like it’s important to understand the motives of the trolls. And wow, these guys are persistent. The questions themselves are nasty and unpleasant and belittle the efforts of a friend and co-writer. This really makes me angry. But okay, here are my brief answers.

Q & A with a troll.

1). Did VICE fact check your work in any way?

Yes.*

*Journalism 101. If you ask a “yes/no” question, you will get a “yes/no” answer more often than not.

2. What was Angela Kubo’s contribution to this piece? Does she have any significant journalistic experience? Is she a 23 year old full-time employee of an accounting firm who you hired when she was working at a bar in Roppongi

Angela Kubo was an assistant editor at the Diplomat when I hired her to work for me and she was paid a good salary in a time when many interns work for free. She had graduated from college. She writes for The Japan Times and is a very talented young bilingual writer. This means she can read Japanese, something you don’t seem able to do. Her former boss Jeff Quigley certainly vouched for her work (see his full comments below) and also, as I do, finds your insinuations cheap and low. He is angry with your underhanded smears.

Unless you’re a rich kid, you have to work to pay your way through college. She did not work at “a bar in Roppongi.” She worked at an event space that serves food and drinks. I won’t name the restaurant because you’ll simply harass them. “Roppongi bar-girl”– you seem to be making some sly allusion that she was doing something shady. That’s mean-spirited. She is just starting her career but has been writing for two years. She writes ten times better than Creepy Johnson did at the peak of his self-destructive career.

For the article, she read books and numerous articles on AKB48, in Japanese, did research on the group in Japanese, proof-read for grammatical mistakes, and reached out for comments. Angela Kubo is also a Japanese-American woman who understands both cultures and went to high school in Japan. She is uniquely qualified to comment on the JK Business and how it generates problems for all women in Japan.

Where she works now is not something I feel would be acceptable to divulge to someone who I believe is a cyber stalker. Nice fishing attempt. Also: creepy question.

3. Do you feel it is fair to label the manager of AKB48 as having yakuza connections based on only rumor. Would you, for example, accuse Katy Perry’s manager of being tied to the mob if you heard such a story and were writing for an American publication?

I’m not a Katy Perry expert. It’s not based on rumour.

See a portion of the article on this page in Japanese. There are photos. There is HUMINT from the police force. I have a list of 800 former members of the Goto-gumi and spent months nagging at them until I found some that confirmed the photos and explained to me what they knew of the AKB48 management’s past relation to organized crime. I did the same with police sources. The management has never sued the magazine or other publications for making these allegations.There are several other sources related to this. If I have time, I may put a list of them here. They are not all on-line. Some of them only exist as books and printed materials. Yep.

I have written about AKB48’s unsavoury ties in 財界展望 in Japanese and haven’t been sued yet. What else would you like? A signed confession from the management?

4. I don’t see any evidence that you actually interviewed a girl from the sex trade or a cop. Why would you expect me to believe you? Jason Blair fabricated stories. How is this piece diffeemet from one of his that got him fired.

In journalism, we don’t reveal our sources, especially if they are police officers. Or if they are victims of certain crimes which still carry a social stigma, such as rape or sexual assault. This is why VICE blurred out the faces of the women they interviewed. It is not difficult to interview women who have been in the JK business. It’s done all the time. We do it at Lighthouse, a non-profit organization in Japan.

I don’t really get your Jason Blair question but let’s take your logic and ask you a question. Your friend threatens to sexually molest children and stalks women. Since you have never publicly disavowed him, why should I believe you are any different and not a sexually perverse, potentially harmful individual? What proof do you have that you are not?

Also, you misspelled “different”.

5. Many claim that you were mainly used for fluff pieces at the Yomiuri but you claim you were on the crime beat. What is your response.

Who is many? You and Creepy Johnson? I was at the Yomiuri Shimbun from 1993 to 2005. I was in the 警視庁記者クラブ for nearly two years. Go to G-Search and look for articles written under my name. Most reporters don’t get by-lines but I wrote several feature pieces where I was credited. I have contributed to books on crime in Japan written while I was at the newspaper.

Try doing some research. You may have to take time and money to do it and translate it but be my guest. I have a real job. I’m not going to do your work for you.

I have no idea what the hell you do for a living or why you have such a man-crush on me and why you seem to be a sexist creeper who is overly sensitive to being made fun of. 😛！

PS. “Japan has one of the worst levels of gender equality in the developed world, below that of Tajikistan and Indonesia, coming in 104th out of 142 assessed countries in 2014, according to a study released Tuesday by the World Economic Forum.” That’s from a Japan Times article. You can find the original study if you like. It’s very hard for women here to break into any profession. So when white self-entitled elitists like yourself ridicule young women here trying to make it as journalists because 1) they didn’t go to journalism school 2) they worked at an event space (that served drinks) to pay their college tuition and 3) imply they must be using their looks to get work—and ignore their efforts, the articles they have written, and their past experience just for the sake of trolling–you discourage other young women from entering our profession. And that’s unfortunate.

It’s condescending and sexist attitudes like yours that encourage women and girls to go into the JK Business in the first place, because they are made to believe that they will never be taken seriously or valued for their intellect and ability. Shame on you. 恥を知れ.

****

Continue reading Pedophiles, JK, AKB48 and Trolls

This week in Hate Mongering In Japan: Fuji TV wins for Korean mistranslation ‘sans malice’

“Damn those wily hateful Koreans for actually understanding their own language—and why are they watching our TV?!!”–

One would imagine those were the thoughts going through the minds of Fuji Television executives after getting caught ‘mishandling’ the subtitles in interviews done with Korean citizens that made it appear as if the individuals hated Japan.

On June 29th, Fuji Television officially apologised for their June 5th broadcast of 「池上影緊急スペシャル!」(Akira Ikegami Emergency Special). Akira Ikegami is a well respected journalist who worked for NHK from 1973 to 2005, during that period when it was a public broadcaster and not a corrupt mouthpiece for the Abe administration. He served as the host of the network’s news program for children. He now works freelance. In his Emergency Special, ordinary Korean citizens were interviewed as to their views on Japan. The subtitles shown on television were radically different from what the people were actually saying on screen.

A Korean woman was presented by Fuji as saying about Japan, “I hate (Japan). Didn’t they make Korea suffer?”

Her actual words were about why she likes Korea, “There is much culture here. This seems why many foreigners visit.”

Another scene had a Korean man reportedly saying the equivalent of the US racist cliche, “Some of my best friends are black.” In the scene shown, the man is subtitled as saying, “There are some good Japanese people but I hate the country.”

He actually says onscreen, “Japan doesn’t reflect solemnly on past history. That part of Japan, well…..”. According to Fuji Television, in unaired other parts of the interviews, the people said exactly what was shown in the subtitles.

Sure. Of course.

Fuji Television didn’t apologise for the content of the program itself but did apologise for the editing mistakes. Click here for the full apology, brimming over with sincerity. Fuji-Sankei group is one of Japan’s most conservative and right wing television/newspaper consortiums. On February 11, a well-known author and former education advisor to Japan’s prime minister published a column in their Sankei Shimbun praising the racial segregation in South Africa—apartheid—as a model for Japanese immigration policy.

The hits keep on coming.

Note: We at Japan Subculture Research Center apologise in advance for any possible mistranslation of the Fuji apology over their mistranslations/editing mistakes. Our contributors include Koreans, Jews, Japanese, Half-Japanese, A Quarter Chinese, and Women. All the types of people that would normally be segregated in the ideal apartheid world tacitly sanctioned by the Fuji-Sankei group. With few ethnically pure Japanese on staff, we regret if our attempts to translate the apology into English fail to meet the high professional standards of Fuji Television. お詫びします。

Should Fuji-Sankei Group be red-faced over scheduled blackface music program in Japan?

Updated: This article was originally posted on February 28th, 2015. In the end, Fuji Television backed down and there was no minstrel show.

By Baye McNeil

Fuji Television has set off a controversy in Japan when it was announced on 2/11 that their popular music program Music Fair would feature the pop group Rats & Star singing alongside the uber-popular idols Momoiro Clover Z in blackface. (Blackface is the makeup used by a nonblack performer playing a black role. The role played is typically comedic or musical and is generally considered offensive to modern sensibilities.)

The announcement was made on February 11th along with a photo of the two groups taken behind the scenes. That photo, of the two groups posing together in blackface, white gloves and costumes, gained attention when tweeted by several journalists, going viral. While some supporters of these Japanese musicians have labeled this scheduled show innocuous or done in honor of black musicians, the internet for the most part, does not share this sentiment.

Japanese musicians in blackface: a tribute or an insult? In Japan, it's not clear---to the Japanese people and the network planning to broadcast a musical number with the cast members in this make-up. — Japanese musicians in blackface: a tribute or an insult? In Japan, it’s not clear—to the Japanese people and the network planning to broadcast a musical number with the cast members in this make-up. Fuji-Sankei Group is like the News Corp. of Japan. Recently their flagship newspaper published an opinion column advocating apartheid for Japan, suggesting that blacks were bad for property, and recommending that caucasians, blacks, and asians live separately. The columnist was an education advisor to Japan’s current leader, Shinzo Abe.

It’s been called everything bad, ranging from poor judgment and a questionable style choice, to flagrantly racist and a mockery of black history and culture. A petition has since been started to urge Fuji-TV not to air the program, scheduled to be broadcast on March 7th at 6pm on the program Music Fair. Though in the days since this controversy began, Momoiro Clover Z has canceled a film screening and press conference with the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ) scheduled for February 23rd — reportedly for fear of being questioned about this situation. Fuji-TV has yet to release a statement or respond to the petition, which has thus far garnered over 2000 signatures and comments from Japanese and non-Japanese alike.

Fuji-TV is part of the Fuji Sankei group, which according to Wikipedia is a keiretsu in Japan. This media conglomerate was founded by Nobutaka Shikanai*(Please see editor’s note at the bottom). In 1991, it was the fourth-largest media company in the world and the largest one in Japan. In the same year, the company’s yearly revenue was $5 billion. It includes the ultra conservative newspaper, Sankei Shimbun, which has 1.6 million printed copies distributed each day. On February 11^th, Sankei Shimbun published an article extolling the merits of apartheid, suggesting that blacks, asians and whites should not live together—and that when blacks “who favor big families” move into condominiums where white people live that they end up making the facilities uninhabitatable. The column was written by a former education Abe Shinzo adviser and conservative novelists, Sono Ayako. The Ambassador of South Africa formerly protested the column and the poor judgement of the the newspaper, also admonishing the Japanese government as well:

It is important to place apartheid in its correct context in order to avoid any country… glorifying it as a policy consideration.

All South Africans were racially classified into one of three categories: white, black (African) or colored (of mixed descent), and Asian. Classification into these categories was based on color of a person’s skin, appearance, social acceptance, and descent. Non-compliance…was dealt with harshly. These laws gave the apartheid regime the leeway to torture and detain blacks arbitrarily, it forced blacks to work under the most humiliating conditions earning meager wages…

Surely the respected columnist and writer is not suggesting such treacherous and archaic laws for nursing care immigration to Japan? Why would Japan, a respected member of the United Nations, and a bidder for the United Nations Security Council non-permanent seat for 2016 even consider such laws?

Obviously, the Sankei Shimbun column is clearly deplorable. It is worth mentioning because Sankei Shimbun is part of the Fuji-Sankei group. For more on the Fuji Television story, please watch the following video by the blogger known as Hiko Saemon. His explanation is below the video.

Hiko Saemon explains why the black face performances scheduled for Fuji Television are offensive, in Japanese with English subtitles. And why it's worth protesting. フジテレビに「Blackface(ブラックフェイス)」のグループの出演に関する署名について — Hiko Saemon explains why the black face performances scheduled for Fuji Television are offensive, in Japanese with English subtitles. And why it’s worth protesting. フジテレビに「Blackface(ブラックフェイス)」のグループの出演に関する署名について

“I know that when the racism flag comes up from the local foreign community, a lot of Japanese people flip into defensive mode saying “don’t bring YOUR racist history and hangups and impose them on Japan” and “you are unfairly and incorrectly assuming malicious intent when there is none, this is YOUR misunderstanding”. My drive with the video was to say “people flagging this are not accusing anyone of being racist, or attacking Japan. Point here is that as people who love Japan and care about Japan’s image, we don’t want Fuji TV to go harming Japan’s image by airing a show with this sort of content. And even accepting the idea that this band STILL doesn’t know this kind of blackface act does hurt the feelings of many people – well, now they know, and it really isn’t necessary in this day and age. I want people to know about why this is an issue, and help send a message that can reach Fuji TV by adding their voices to the petition.”

The petition urging Fuji-TV not to air the blackface minstrel show can be signed here↓

Urge Fuji-TV Not to Air Blackface Minstrel Show / フジテレビに「Blackface(ブラックフェイス)」のグループの出演停止を要求する

*Editor’s note: It may be worth mentioning that Mr. Nobutaka Shikanai, the supposed founder of Fuji Sankei group, in his own memoirs gleefully discusses his role in procuring women to sexually service Japanese soldiers during WWII. Many of these women who were treated in ways that would classify them as human trafficking victims in modern times, were called “comfort women.” The editorials and articles in Sankei Shimbun (Newspaper) have implied that the comfort women did not exist or if they did, they were all happy hookers. The Sankei Shimbun has yet to address the implications of the testimony of their own founder.

Jake Adelstein also contributed to this story.