[corresponding author: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]]
Japan Government and NGOs Effort Towards Eliminating Racism in Japan
Angel Aurelia, Fransiska Priskilia Bero, Nethania Georgina Rosarika Surya Santoso Universitas Udayana
INTRODUCTION
Japan Diversity
Ethnically, Japan is a highly homogenous country with 97.8% of the population being Japanese. According to statista.com, approximately 2.76 million residents of foreign nationality were registered in 2021, making up the rest of 2.2% of the Japanese population.
Distinguished types of foreign nationalities found in Japan include Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese and Brazilian. Japan’s homogenous society has its own diverse perception when it comes to ethnic and cultural minorities within the country. Theodore Bestor of Harvard University once said that the Japanese see their unique identity to be sort of inaccessible to foreigners. This had emphasized the homogeneity of Japanese society and perhaps a clue to the approach of ethnic minorities in their country. The development of ethnic minorities in Japan began during the Meiji Restoration, which had opened up the borders after having it not fully open throughout the early years. This restoration, as what has been considered as a pivotal moment in Japanese history, was actually forced by outside forces, which were leading to colonialism and the rise of immigration within Japanese society. Approximately 40 years after World War II ended, the main ethnic minorities found in Japan (outside national minorities namely the Okinawans or Ainus) were Chinese and Koreans, which were referred to as ‘Zainichi’. However, in the late 1980s, migrants from Asia and South America became notably members of the ethnic minorities. Since then, the number of ethnic and cultural minorities in Japan has increased.
ABSTRACT
Japan faced racist issues and it impacts the society. Which is crucial since society play an important role in a country. Therefore are there any efforts coming from the government of Japan and NGOs to solve this problem? Knowing the efforts made by both governments and NGOs to combat racism could help increase accountability, transparency, and public trust in these organizations and the initiatives they undertake. The primary data in this study were obtained from the results of interviews conducted by the authors of the informants, while the secondary data was in the form of documents and journals that were relevant and could support the research. The government does provide facilities such as consulting services for foreigners to report racist acts they experienced. The government and NGOs initiate a campaign in the form of a billboard. It is considered not effective and has little impact. On the other hand, the Japanese government has begun to socialize by giving some advice to companies in Japan to provide a Japanese language learning medium to train foreign workers. Based on the results of the research, most of our informants stated that the efforts made by the Japanese government and NGOs aren’t enough. The Japanese government and NGOs should consider bigger efforts to eliminate racism in their society.
Keywords: Racism, Japan, Government, NGOs
elaborate this matter we should look back to the post World War II where Japan's economy experienced growth but then fell into recession. The severe economic distress call is being regularly assessed and the reform in human resource management practices is a leading factor in Japan’s economic development (Jyoti & Sarthak, 2019). Japanese people are known to have a great work culture, such as discipline, punctuality, hard work, honesty, and conscientiousness, as well as various soft skills that support a better work ethic.
In Japan, both the Japanese natives and foreign citizens work and have a role in the country's growth. Japan is now cooperating with various countries and accepting immigrants from other countries. Conceivably the appearance of inclusiveness is present on the surface, but is it accurate to say that in both the workplace and daily life, there are no distinctions that exist based on certain traits between individuals who are native and those who are not?
In a journal, Hiroshi Fukurai and Alice Yang stated that Japan has a historical background as a closed country and refers to the term 'homogeneous country'. Since the 19th century, especially after World War II, Japan has opened up mainly to international trade.
Moreover, the flow of cultural exchange and mixed marriages occurred a lot and 'cut off' the term homogeneous state. What we know now is that Japan's defeat in World War II also affected Japan's current position as one of the superpowers in Asia that controls world trade.
Back then, the word 'racism' was unknown in Japan. Although in reality, the actions taken perpetuate racism. Japan itself has a diverse race, for instance the Ainu race residing in Hokkaido. The Ainu race has a different culture from the rest of the Japanese race. Therefore it was doubtful that the Ainu in Hokkaido at that time were recognized as Japanese residents.
But over time, Hokkaido entered Japanese territory but the Ainu are categorized as minorities in Japan. Japan acknowledges that its actions restrict individuals who do not share the same cultural and traditional practices. But it’s not restricted to physical appearance because at that time, their physical appearance looked the same.
In the contemporary era, the Racism issue in Japan is not overly shown as in the Middle East, America, or Africa. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There are still several cases that prove racism is still alive in Japan. One of the most striking examples is racism towards black people. The slogan 'Black Lives Matter' is considered by the Japanese to be a problem that only occurs in America, although not a few Japanese people also voice this slogan. This racial discrimination was experienced by Miss Universe Japan 2015, Ariana Miyamoto who is of African, American, and Japanese descent. She was considered unable to represent Japan because she had a darker skin tone. The tennis champion, Naomi Osaka, who is of Japanese-Haitian blood, also experienced the same thing. In a commercial, her skin is edited to be lighter. There's also an immoral joke that comes from comedians in Japan.
They stated she should use bleach products to lighten up her skin. Otherwise, people who had white skin or mixed race with white skin could be treated differently. They generally get more appreciated and often get the opportunity to work in the entertainment sector. They're called the 'golden half' because of their white skin and attractive physical characteristics that are inherited by westerners, which are what the Japanese desire, such as high nose bones, chin sticking out forward, forward forehead bones, narrow distance between eyes, double eyelids, and others. Biracial people in Japan are called 'hafu', which means 'half'. Hafu is addressed to those born to parents of different races (half Japanese-half non-Japanese).
The problem of racism against biracial people often occurs in various circles. Among children and youth, bullying often occurs for those who are half Japanese and half 'foreign',
especially those with black skin. They are called various names such as 'Gaijin' which means outsider, or 'Daburu' alias Double which refers to having two races. Even some school rules in Japan require that children have black hair no matter what color their natural hair is from birth. Among adults and the world of work, biracial people may be able to work more freely, but professions such as civil servants and jobs in the government sector are more prioritized and there was even a rule for those who worked in this field was only native Japanese. This certainly needs attention from various parties to make people aware that every human being has the same rights.
Why This Issue Matters?
Racism is a complex and serious ingrained issue that has afflicted societies for centuries. For this matter we’re talking about the racism that goes through Japan. As for racism in Japan, they think of themselves as Nihonjin which a native Japanese and racism is seen as an issue outside Japan (Kawai, 2020). Different parts of Japanese history are used to build up the idea of racism (Arudou, 2021). In modern Japan, racism has something associated with the idea of Japaneseness. Racism itself could take in many actions, such as racial slurs, discriminatory policies, and institutionalized systems of oppression, and its impact can be felt across a range of areas, including education, employment, housing, and the criminal justice system. Racism matters since it has a damaging effect on the victim. It took the victims' right to reach their full potential, express their own self, and have an equal right to social and economic mobility. Writers conceived the importance of racism and realize this matter has been discussed before. Writers offer a new element when it comes to racism.
Are there any efforts coming from the government of Japan and NGOs to solve this problem? Governments play a critical role in shaping policies, laws, and regulations towards reducing and eliminating racism. Furthermore, NGOs play a key role in raising awareness about the issue, promoting public education and engagement, and advocating for policy change. Knowing the efforts made by both governments and NGOs to combat racism could help increase accountability, transparency, and public trust in these organizations and the initiatives they undertake. Additionally, it can help to inform individual action, encourage community engagement, and promote collective efforts to address racism. By being informed about the efforts constructed to combat racism, individuals and communities can better understand the challenges and opportunities for progress and play a more active role in promoting change. Writers find the effort of these two crucial organizations could deflate the number of racism caused by diversity. Therefore this research will conduct government and NGOs efforts to combat racism and do the residents of Japan acknowledge the efforts.
ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
Data Source
In this study, the authors used various data sources that were considered to be able to support the research. The author uses two types of research data, namely primary data and secondary data. Primary data is data obtained directly from the source, while secondary data is data obtained through indirect intermediaries from the main source. The primary data in this study were obtained from the results of interviews conducted by the authors of the
Data Processing Technique
In processing the data, the writers used four steps of data organizing, which are: data study, data identification, data classification and data reduction. The primary data, which was obtained from the interviews conducted by writers, also the secondary data which takes the form of relevant documents and journals, were read and studied thoroughly. The data identification was then done by finding parts of the data that are to be analyzed. The third step, data classification is done by classifying data by analyzing it based on which data is appropriate in answering formulation of the problem. The last step, which is the data reduction, is done by disregarding data that has no correlation in answering the problem and is unrelated to the study. After organizing the data, data analysis will be done by analyzing the already selected data to answer the determined problem formulation. The results of the complete analysis will then be presented in the results part of this paper.
Data Presenting Technique
Based on Ahmad Rijali’s journal, data presenting is an activity when a set of information is arranged, and gives the possibility to withdraw conclusions and take action towards the issue. Writers choose to describe the collected data by narrative text, so readers could expect detailed yet informative data. Writers believe if we present in the form of narrative text it will be very compatible with our research objective, which is to find out what the government and NGOs efforts on overcoming racism in Japan. Since if we want to know what their effort is in order to solve the issue, we must describe it in a very detailed way to avoid data error and hoax. This study examines local NGOs and Japan government action towards eliminating racism in Japan. However, writers encourage future research on the development of actions and citizens behavioral changes as the time passes by.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Analysis Result
Japan - just like other countries - has their own problem regarding racism. For example, Japan used slogans in its new national story to make people aware that there were
"Others," even physically different "Others," far away from the next village (Baree, 2023).
One of many examples are the Ainu people who lived in Hokkaido and the East Asian ethnic group indigenous to Japan. In April 2019, the Japanese government officially legally recognized the Ainu as Indigenous people (Library of Congress, 2019). After 11 years from a resolution called the National Diet of Japan, the Ainu was officially recognized. Moreover, Japan has significant racial and ethnic minority populations and it leads to differences in the country. Japanese society has long tolerated hate speech and racial animosity toward Japan's minority populations (Fukurai & Yang, 2018). In order to regulate hate speech, Professor Craig Martin calls for greater government involvement in the revision of Japan's hate speech laws to include more specific restrictions and sanctions (Martin, 2018). There’s also an verbal example such as, As for example, A train conductor in Osaka apologized publicly to Japanese passengers last year for any "discomfort" caused by the "quantity of foreigners on board".
Sometimes, Japanese may prefer travelling by standing instead of sitting beside a foreigner in train (Baree, 2023) But writers wonder, is that it? While racism is packed with many forms - not just hate speech - is there any effort or movement from the Japan government and NGOs in order to maintain a peaceful country? It is one of the reasons writers write this
study by analyzing and interviewing people who are exposed towards Japan society. Authors successfully gained 5 informant, informant B and C is Indonesian but lived in Japan for university and they’re 2nd year student on Nanzan University majoring, informant A is Japanese who lived in Indonesia for a long time, informant E is a Japanese-Indonesian who lived in Japan for 12 years, informant D is also a Japanese-Indonesian but she recently moved to Japan since 2019 and often visit Japan on her school holiday. We provide 11 questions to every informant since we’re targeting detailed information. Our questions are,
1. In your opinion, what is racism?
2. Is racism a good thing to do?
3. Have you ever seen acts of racism before? In what form does the act of racism take place?
4. Have you ever become a victim of racism? In what form does the act of racism take place?
5. Based on your environment, is racism increasing or decreasing?
6. Why do you think racism around you is increasing or decreasing?
7. Is there any effort from the Japanese government and Japan NGOs to eradicate racism (rules, policies, related NGO movements)?
8. Based on your opinion, are there any Japanese government policies that are influencing racist behavior?
9. Are there any policies you feel need to be made in order to decrease racism?
10. Is there a view of society that has been passed down from generation to generation?
11. Tell me your aspire or hope for Japanese society regarding cases of racism in the future!
We asked all of these questions to all of our informants in order to align the racism viewpoint and gain comprehensive and detailed information regarding the government and NGOs attempt to eliminate racism. For the first question, everyone agrees that racism is a form of discrimination against others in a negative way because of their race, ethnic, skin color and culture. One of the informants said racism could occur because of the differences of social strata. The second question, all of the informants agree that racism is a bad attitude.
As for the third question, 4 informants saw the racist act directly but 1 informant didn't see it directly but only heard racist action. Informant A stated that he saw racist acts on Chinese tourists where they describe Chinese people as dirty and sloven when they litter their public facilities in this context, toilets. Informant B and C stated they saw racist attitudes when they’re having their part-time job. Informant D stated she saw many racist attitudes and one of them is when there’s a foreigner sitting next to a Japanese on MRT, the Japanese would immediately go from that seat. She also informed that racism had 3 forms or 3 causes of racist acts in Japan. The first one is disability, the second one is foreigners, the third one is employment status, the last one is based on their living region and family name. Informant E stated she only heard racist attitudes from mouth to mouth. But she heard bad stigma about foreigners in Japan. This stigma is passed over the generation. For example, there’s a Hip Hop store in Harajuku where the employees are all foreigners, Japanese people would avoid them because they’re scared. Informant A ever experienced racist act because he is Japanese. It all started when his Chinese girlfriend’s dad didn’t agree with their relationship because he is Japanese. He also saw racist attitudes towards Japanese people when he’s studying at one of Korea's universities. He stated that he saw a Japanese store being mocked
racist acts from his environment. Informant B and C however experienced racism through rejection with their coworkers since they didn’t speak Japanese fluently and received injustice at their work environment such as a they give a quite heavy task for foreigners but they couldn’t refuse it since they’re minorities and limit contact with foreigners rarely even done directly verbally. Informant B and C agree Japan racist act is not the same as America, Japanese people tend to be indifferent. To be precise they’re not interested in other cultures.
Nonetheless, there’s few people who’s open minded and willing to accept other cultures.
Informant D stated she received racist action because she's a mixed-race person. Her friends assume she’s different from the way she thinks, dress, etc so her friends didn’t accept her as a friend because she’s mixed-race. She was also humiliated because she’s mixed-race and their friends speak badly about her other race (besides her Japanese blood). Informant E haven’t received racist acts towards her physical appearance since she got a Japanese face but when she ace her English lesson in Japan other kids would start to say “No wonder she’s good in English, she’s a foreigner after all.” Moving on to question number 5 and 6, informant A, B, C, and E stated racism in Japan is decreasing. Informant D stated racism in her environment is decreasing but in general it’s still in a stagnant condition. Informants A, B, C, and E agree it is caused by the willingness of Japanese people - especially youths - to open their minds and start to accept foreigners. Informant A and E also stated there is some negative stigma about foreigners that was planted to youths by their elders but because of the internet they could open their minds and started to accept foreigners. Informant B and C added that after frequent communication they begin to accept foreigners. Since Japan is famous for having difficulty communicating in foreign languages because of strong nationalism. Informant D however believes the decrease of racism in her environment is because she transferred to an Indonesian school in Japan and believes in general there’s still some harsh racism attitude. For example, they could judge someone's face by stating “Why is your face similar to an animal?” It's used casually. They could also differentiate people from their appearance - fashion - by judging their style and casually judging “Why is her sense of fashion so lame, this is 20xx.” Informant D believes it’s caused by the lack of education from school and parents itself. She stated the teachers are ignorant towards racism.
Additionally, it’s hard to speak up about discrimination since the bully - usually - got so many powers until the victim does “Hikikomori”. The appearance of people in Japan, especially young men, who stopped going to school or the workplace and spent most of the time withdrawn into their homes for months or years, came to be seen as an increasing social phenomenon called Shakaiteki hikikomori (Kato, Kanba, & Teo, 2018). Informant D also reported there’s a lot of Hikikomori cases being covered by the news. Hikikomori cases in school are usually caused by bullying by classmates and teachers. Moving on towards the next question, question 7. Informant A doesn’t remember anything since he was little when he’s in Japan. Informant B and C stated Japan companies started to open their opportunity to foreigners to work there since there’s a decreasing number of productive people.
Informant D stated the NGO and government do a campaign to stop racism because it’s not a good attitude. The government also encouraged people to call a private counselor if they received a discrimination or racist action but that’s it. There’s no further action to this matter. Informant E stated there’s no racism education given in school and there’s no civic
education since informant E believes it’s because Japan people have a high pride for themselves. Informant E also stated the National Commission of Human Rights have performed a socialization to educate students regarding hate speech that leads to racism but it’s still not enough. Moving on to question 8. Informant A and B don't know about any policies that influence racist attitudes. Informant C stated there is no specific policy that indicates racist values in it. In fact, there are several policies or facilities built to maintain the comfort of foreign citizens in Japan. “The embassy is doing well in Japan, there are consulting centers in Japan for foreigners. Then government services also didn’t discriminate against natives and foreigners. Everyone gets the same service.” Informant D stated there’s none.
Informant E stated there’s no policies encouraging racism on the contrary there’s some policies to control racism. The next question number 9, Informant A and D agrees the root of racism in Japan is caused by the planted mindset by the elders. The government should educate the elders about racism and its impact so the next generation could be an educated one. Informant D added the family should not perform racist attitudes towards others and the government should improve the quality of education especially regarding racism.
Informant E also agrees to improve the education towards racism and it’s not a good thing rather than making a harsh penalty towards hate speech that leads to racism because racism is a mindset issue and what’s the point of giving a penalty if the root causes are not resolved.
Informant B calls on the government to be more open and the community could be more open. Informant C wishes the community could be more friendly to foreigners and eliminate discriminatory behavior. For the next question, Informant A and E did not answer the question. Informant D agrees there’s a passed down mindset from the elders. For example the harsh beauty standard in Japan where it’s expected of all Japanese humankind to have a double eyelid. If the standard is not fulfilled then it’s only a matter of time to get bullied. “It’s one of the reasons why plastic surgery is common here (in Japan).” Informants B and C believe Japanese people tend to have a high sense of nationalism. Up until now there are still not a few people who are not even open to foreign cultures at all. Moving on to the last question, informant A and E did not answer the question. Informant B stated “I hope people are more aware of upholding human rights, because we are all human.” Informant C stated
“Let's humanize humans.”. Informant D believes racism education has to be further developed which can start as soon as possible. Parents shall teach their children that racism is a bad act.
Writers also gained information from @kyounobokura_yohji TikTok account where he interviewed a Russian-Japanese woman who has lived and was born in Japan. The woman stated “Why do you (Japanese people) call us (her and her Korean-Japanese friend) Gaijin (foreigner)?” She stated her confusion because in the United States people don't care where you come from and they don't point up to someone and say “Oh! You’re a foreigner” She also said she’s tired of being called a foreigner in Japan. The interviewer (Japanese people) also stated that Japanese people usually live only with Japanese people. The women wish to be treated as normal human beings in Japan.
Researchers analyzed the answers from five informants concerning the research objectives or research hypotheses and concluded that there were various answers. Informants generally understood racism and believed that this action violated human rights. Some of
themselves and limiting their interaction with foreigners. However, some have never seen it happen in person, they only hear the information from mouth to mouth.
Racism developed in Japan due to a variety of factors, and that caused racism to continue and develop in Japan. It all started from a culture that has been passed down from generation to generation, a developed stigma about foreigners and continues to be maintained in Japan, the lack of racism education and it could be seen by the fact people didn’t abandon acts of racism, a society that is closed and doesn't want to accept change and foreign culture, and also too much sense of nationalism. Although we know that Japan is a modern and developed country, they have a low birth rate. This information is supported by CNN World’s data who stated that Japan is currently experiencing a population crisis due to its low birth rate. Just in 40 years since 1982, Japan, which initially scored 1.5 million for the birth rate, has now fallen to 799,728 for the birth rate. Around 1,500 people have been estimated to be elderly residents since 2000. This turned out to be caused by the high cost of living in Japan, especially for raising children. In addition, high working hours, work culture, and wages that are still relatively minimum compared to the cost of living make people stressed and start to avoid having children. Due to the dramatic decline in the birth rate every year, there are fewer and fewer people of productive age. Consequently, they are forced to recruit workers from abroad to keep their economy running. As a developed country, Japan should not allow racist actions to exist and develop since it will impede its economic growth.
Furthermore, the community also has a big role in expediting government efforts because this matter is related to every person in Japan. Unfortunately based on our interview, all of the informants stated they didn't find any big action by the government (officially) and NGOs or related organizations in order to eliminate racism in Japan. Nevertheless, the government does provide facilities such as consulting services for foreigners to report racist acts they experienced, but there is really no concrete action that can guarantee victims of racism will not experience the same thing. They only initiate a campaign in the form of a billboard. It is considered not effective and has little impact. On the other hand, the Japanese government has begun to socialize by giving some advice to companies in Japan to provide a Japanese language learning medium to train foreign workers. This helps to eliminate racist attitudes towards foreign workers since it helps the foreigners to adapt easily to their co- workers and helps them communicate effectively.
CONCLUSION
The writers have tried to identify and analyze a common social problem found in Japan, racism. Not only identifying the problem, we have humbly attempted to find solutions regarding racism in Japan. 5 informants were found to provide us with relevant data. All 5 informants have somewhat seen or experienced various acts of racism in Japan, verbal and non-verbal racism. Racism development in Japanese society is believed to happen long time ago and passed through stigmas made by the elder generation. Our informants agreed that racism is a bad thing to be done and mentioned the government's actions as a part of their solution. The government is wished to have stricter policies and educate people better, especially since racism is a mindset that is passed from generations to generations. Mandatory human rights and hate speech education must be given to children from a very young age
with the aim that the younger generation is more ready to face distinguishments of people amongst the national-international society. Since Japan is experiencing a population crisis due to its low birth rate, also the fact that globalization has unvaryingly expanded around the world, it should be considered that the country has no choice but once again opening up their ‘borders’ both in literal meaning and also metaphorical meaning. Japan as a developed country did understand how the world is growing to be multicultural and that racism is a problem that they need to solve. Sadly based on the results of the research, most of our informants stated that the efforts made by the Japanese government and NGOs aren’t enough. The Japanese government and NGOs should consider bigger efforts to eliminate racism in their society.
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