Zainichi Koreans Archives

April 2024
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Visible Minorities: Non-Japanese Residents Claim Political Power

Non-Japanese politicians find that they must be the change which they hope to bring to the country.

Gonnohyoe Yamamoto and the Great Kanto Earthquake

From 1923-1924, Admiral Gonnohyoe Yamamoto made a return as prime minister. He was brought in to provide leadership in the wake of the cataclysmic Great Kanto Earthquake. Yamamoto made some progress in providing relief services, but was unable to bring political stability.

Taro Katsura and the Annexation of Korea

From 1908-1911, Taro Katsura led a second relatively long and stable administration of Japan. The most consequential event was his government’s decision to fully annex the Korean Peninsula, wiping out that neighboring nation’s independent legal existence.

Kishida Skates to a “Profile in Courage”

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been honored, together with South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol, with a John F. Kennedy “Profile in Courage Award,” despite the fact that he personally has been unwilling to take any political risks to improve Japan-South Korea relations.

Visible Minorities: Judges Strip Equal Protection from Naturalized Citizens

It’s the next stage of evolution in Japan’s variant of racial discrimination: a naturalized Japanese citizen was last year denied membership at a golf course—explicitly for being a former foreigner.

Visible Minorities: Life Lessons from a Naturalized Japanese Politician

An interview with Jon Heese, a naturalized Canadian-Japanese and elected Tsukuba City Councillor of twelve years. A Caucasian Visible Minority of Japan, Heese has long been advocating that other Non-Japanese Residents naturalize and run for office.

Visible Minorities: Remilitarization is a Bad Idea

Pushing Japan to remilitarize was never, and still is not, a good idea. This is not just because an arms race in Asia is the last thing the region needs. But also because Japan, consistently unable to face up to its own history, is simply not the country to represent the world’s liberal democracies in Asia, especially as a military power.