The Extreme Right, Xenophobia, and Historical Revisionism in Contemporary Japan

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel Proposal Application

Abstract

A new ultranationalist and xenophobic movement has emerged in Japan since the mid-2000s. While the movement encompasses a wide range of agendas, it particularly targets Koreans and other minorities whom it accuses of enjoying "special rights”. It also criticizes Korean and Chinese interpretations of Japan’s colonial history and of postwar relations with Japan. The group "Citizens Refusing to Tolerate Special Rights for Koreans in Japan" (Zaitokukai) and its affiliates have emerged as the movement's most influential force.

This interdisciplinary panel is composed of scholars engaging in ethnographic research with participants in this movement, as well as in communities impacted by their actions. The papers all address: 1) the significance of historical revisionism and nationalism for the movement’s emergence and development, and 2) the connection between the mainstream sector of Japanese society and the extreme right.

Based on his interviews with activists, Higuchi reveals that Zaitokukai directed nationalistic sentiments against East Asian countries to foment hate against Koreans. Through her examination of an incident involving Zaitokukai's demonstration against a museum on Korean laborers, Lim explores the contested interpretations of zainichi Korean migration. Saito examines a 2009 incident in which the extreme right attacked a Korean school in Kyoto, and shows how they utilized the North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens to justify their wrongful actions and hate speech. Yamaguchi demonstrates the importance of the “comfort woman” issue for the movement, and examines the movement’s strategies to spread historical revisionism.  Finally, Dudden provides her commentary as a historian of Korea-Japan relation.

Area of Study

• Northeast Asia

Session Organizer

• Tomomi Yamaguchi, Montana State University

Chair

• Tomomi Yamaguchi, Montana State University

Individual Presentations

• What’s behind Japan’s Anti-foreigner Movement? East Asia as the Battleground for Japan’s Extreme Right - Naoto Higuchi, Tokushima University

• Contested Zainichi Korean Historiography: Voluntary and Involuntary Migration and Backlash Hate - Youngmi Lim, Lehman College, CUNY

• Zaitokukai and North Korean Abductions: The Attack against Kyoto Korean School - Masami Saito, Toyama University

• The “Comfort Woman” Issue and Japan’s Extreme Right:  Examining Historical Revisionism in Contemporary Japan - Tomomi Yamaguchi, Montana State University

Discussant

• Haeng-ja Chung, Okayama University