Civic group denounces arson attack on Korean settlement in Japan

Only insecure people people promote hate, it is an. extension of their psychological inferiority complex

Please, this is not a third world country! They live together in one area that is definitely not a "settlement". They have been living there for generations, and these attacks against them are just wrong!

I hope the cops find these criminals and toss them in jail!

 "What I am afraid of most is no reaction from society,"

This is the first I heard of it.

kyushubillToday  07:51 am JST

Identify as Japanese which you are as you were born here or move it to Korea.

That might be true in the case of mixed parentage i.e. half Japanese but I know a couple of people who were born in Japan because their parents happened to be living here at the time; they are not, and never will be, Japanese. Being born in a stable doesn't make you a horse.

PaulToday  09:40 am JST

What interactions that I had with Koreans, was very unpleasant and left me with a feeling that I never again wish to have any contact with them. The aggression, the lack of manners, the way they try to not pay for goods or services, and monster claimers. Therefore I am not surprised that someone might have an issue with them...

That is full-on racism. Such people exist in every culture, maybe even in yours.

Donald SeekinsToday  09:22 am JST

"The suspect, identified as Shogo Arimoto from neighboring Nara Prefecture . . ."

Doesn't surprise me. Nara is the prefecture which is represented by Sanae Takaichi, who gained international recognition as an admirer of Adolf Hitler.

So, because of this you think that all natives of Nara are like Arimoto?

They should investigate thoroughly including all communications to ensure that he acted alone and not on behalf of others.

A Hate Crime is a Hate Crime, cannot be justified, swept away or ignored.

The accused needs serious jail time!

I don’t get it. What exactly do they want the government to do?

That wasn’t even hate speech but arson. And the guy was caught to. There are bound to be few crazies around when you have more than a hundred million people in a country. Most normal citizens have nothing against the koreans that stay here as long they obey the rules.

We just had a crazy burn down a clinic where dozens died not long ago. I don’t see how these civic groups expect the government to tackle this problem. If people want to start a fire, is not easy to prevent it.

Throw the book at those responsible. An example must be made to discourage further outrages against minorities living in peace. The "proof" will be seen in the sentencing.

Whatever the political interpretation of toxic Japan-South Korean historic relations.

The Comfort Women, forcing civilian workers from the Korean Peninsula to toil, building railways

A process that needs to be in the hands of skilled diplomatic engagement.

This criminal deliberate arson attack has little or no link to past historic grievances.

This appalling terrorist act, a deliberate arson attempt against a innocent community has to be met with zero tolerance.  

That must entail formal judicial process.

If found to be culpable, an example has to be made.

MarkToday  09:55 am JST

For those who never experienced HATE I say this, it is the worse than any thing you will ever encounter.

Well not really. In my country you can get shot for being in the wrong place, wrong time and wrong color.

Hate crime written in katakana because hate doesn't exist in Japan, lol

And this is the part I hate about Japan.

It is time that people move on towards the 21st century and have some acceptance if possible (preferable) respect for each other.

kurisupisuToday  10:34 am JST

Isn’t it really time for Japanese society to move into the 21st century and to ensure that these types of crimes don’t happen by changing legislation?

We have had such legislstion in most US states for decades. It hasn't really stopped hate crime.

Do other countrues have such legislation, like China or South Korea? If so does it work there?

@ Ego “erode the rights of the indigenous population”. How would anti-discrimination legislation and education erode Ainu and Okinawans’ rights?

South Korea and Japan need to resolve their diplomatic disputes, and work on removing the basis for this kind of crime in both countries. It needs to be mutual, equal and carried out jointly.

https://www.asiaone.com/asia/japanese-net-idol-brutally-attacked-seoul-told-get-out-korea

ReasonandWisdomNipponToday  07:46 am JST

I don't want to see Korean people hurt or injured in Japan. We are better then that.

At the same time I can understand the frustration with S. Korea, the back and forth games of Yes today, No tomorrow.

S. Korea has gone back on multiple agreements with Japan as Final and Irreversible.

Dozens of apologies which never happened or not good enough for S. Korea.

Maybe so but that's no justification for hate crimes like this. You can hate a foreign government but hating the foreigners is stupid. The way it has been for America the past 30 years, it's been 'KOOL' to hate Arabs and/or Islam/Allah. Well, I don't. Saddam Hussein was a jerk, The Taliban and ISIL are rotten fanatical murderers. Gaddafy was a terrormongering pest, nobody's friend.

And in 2021 it was 'cool' for some morons to harass and kill ethnic Chinese (and other Oriental Asian Americans) due to the CoVid and that ill mannered sassybrat with his 'kung flu' jokes. The CCP sucks but they didn't create the virus and nobody is to blame for it.

America is better than that and I like to think Japan is too. After all, the mayor of Yokohama announced that hate crimes in their Chinatown wouldn't be tolerated after some dodos harassed a Chinese restaurant in the city about a month into this pandemic. Common sense prevailed over hate and panic in Yokohama, we all need to do the same. And there's no time for past grievances now.

Slobodan Milosevic murdered Bosnian Muslims in a genocide with the excuse of what Ottoman Turks did 800 years before. How long is that hate crap going to go on, anyway? Give it up!

Kyo wa heiwa dayo neToday  12:34 pm JST

And to know that Japanese are from Korean and Chinese ancestry

And what is the ancestry of the Koreans and Chinese? Or did they just suddenly appear as if by magic in their respective countries?

Such incidents on other groups or minorities or whatever they are, should be condemned in the strongest terms possible. Vehemently discouraged and the Government of Japan should come out strongly to not only condemn but with active methods to counter such occurrences in future.

The Government should not wait for another ugly situation to occur and then take action.

What we are seeing is a precursor of what is happening in Myanmar, Uighur Province in China, most parts of Africa and other developing countries.

“And this is the part I hate about Japan. 

It is time that people move on towards the 21st century and have some acceptance if possible (preferable) respect for each other.”

This hate crime/speech happens everywhere, more or less. Would feel more that in certain neighborhoods in the US and Europe as some local folks used slurs towards immigrants/foreigners/people of different colors

Zainichi issues, especially this Utoro district, is much deeper than just simple hate or discrimination issues.

Time for Japan to treat Zainichi completely equal to other foreigners (including ordinary Korean residents

with ordinary residential permission)

Look at how Germany healed its schisms and rifts due to its actions during WWII. Look at how South Africa came through to find itself anew. It is only massive, insightful, honest undertakings that will ever see South Korea and Japan truly move into the future instead of being prisoners to the past.

"And what is the ancestry of the Koreans and Chinese? "

They are the most immediate descendants of the Australopithecus afarensis, i.e, African Blacks.

As a student of Korean language and culture for well over fifty years, I have abiding affection for the land across the sea and only wish that the demonization of Japan on the part of certain fanatics and opportunists would cease...I've seen over the decades that Japanese prejudice towards and ignorance of Korea have greatly receded. The crime under discussion was committed by a lone individual, no doubt disturbed.

Whenever anyone commits an unjustified act of violence against others or their property, one may surely speak of "hate." Including the term in Incident A, because the victim was a member of an ethnic minority, gay, obese, or left-handed, and not in Incident B, as the perpetrator was "merely" out for the victim's wallet, only leads to further politicization of what should be a non-political matter: law and order and respect for others.

It’s also not correct to book everything under hate crime. In this case it’s even worse, an attempted murder by arson attack. I guess if someone ‘only’ throws the garbage package of an eaten bento box out of the car window in that area, you would also say it’s a hate crime while it’s then an environmental one. A bit more differentiated would be better….

The idiots who perpetrate these crimes should take a DNA test. They might be surprised at the results.

Japanese apologies are worthless as long as Japanese political leaders pay homage to war criminals at Yasakuni. Where is the shrine for the millions that have been victims of Japan’s vicious military attacks? And when will Japanese politicians pray for the millions of souls, victims of Japanese brutality?

We Japanese have the right to repose the souls of those who died in the war.

Also, Koreans were under the protection of the Japanese at the time. Conscription, recruitment, restrictions on the distribution of goods, etc., were all applied to mainland Japan or the Japanese first, and the Japanese government delayed the application of these laws to Koreans as long as possible. In addition, more than 90% of Koreans at that time were cooperating for Japan, and it is a shameful act for them, who were collaborators of Japan, to feign irrelevance and describe Japan as a pawn of evil.

blueToday  12:12 pm JST

@OssanAmericaToday  11:33 am JST

kurisupisuToday  10:34 am JST

Isn’t it really time for Japanese society to move into the 21st century and to ensure that these types of crimes don’t happen by changing legislation?

We have had such legislstion in most US states for decades. It hasn't really stopped hate crime.

According to your "logic", laws have never deterred crime to happen, so why do we bother to have laws to start with...?

Obviouosly my post went over your head. The OP suggested legislation as a solution to prevent such crimes. I merely pointed out that the existence of legislation does not prevent them. Nowhere did I state that such legislation should not exist. Straw man.

I think that arson and murder are serious problems. On the other hand, the actual situation is much more complicated, as North Korean organizations are also involved in the activities of civil society groups calling for hate against Koreans.

Dozens of apologies which never happened or not good enough for S. Korea.

The one person who needed to apologize is dead, and his son and grandson are not "allowed" to make any political statements, including a SINCERE unambiguous apology. Direct to the point of saying, "Japan did it, we humbly apologize, and pray for peace and harmony between our nations" Never happen!

All the so called apologies have been made by the wrong people!

You dont send a politician to do a leaders job!

Korean people are very nice people. Let them alone.

In the year following the Great Kanto Earthquake, the number of Koreans who immigrated to Japan increased by 143% over the year of the earthquake. Did you know that this is also true? And if there was a massacre, would the number of immigrants increase that much? But if Japan as a whole was in such a situation, why did the number of Korean immigrants increase? Can someone with the right education answer this question?

Might as well try.

@ReasonamdWisdomNippon how ironic to write “People in Korea burned themselves with hate towards Japan!” when commenting an arson (actually two, including the one in August) against Koreans. Japanese should be happy Koreans look for justice, not revenge.

Product of Japan's education system.

It is said that roughly 105,000 people died or went missing directly from the Great Kanto Earthquake. Perhaps 6,000 is an estimate of the number of people who died in the disaster, if there was such a number. In those days, many Koreans, especially those who came to Tokyo, came to Japan with no means of livelihood. As a result, it was a known fact that they were chronically struggling to make ends meet and were a hotbed of crime. By the way, where is your evidence that 6,000 people were massacred?

Identify as Japanese which you are as you were born here or move it to Korea.

Absolute nonsense. Move into the 21st century please

When I checked twitter, I found many comments of so called "netouyo" (internet rightist). They are so emotional and do not know to respect other people and their opinions. They are childish and immature. I realized democracy is not fully permeated in Japan yet, At schools, they have to teach democracy to students again.

For those who never experienced HATE I say this, it is the worse than any thing you will ever encounter.

@ Harry

Scientific proof that science isn't exact science so there's no point in me trying to respond with earwax genealogy of where did humans originate

If a society is conditioned not to feel that all human beings are equal then these types of crimes will continue.

In Japan,Japanese education is not progressive when the subjects of equality or egalitarianism are broached.

This leads to a society where these concepts are not even considered let alone deemed important or not.

As there is no type of antidiscrimination legislation in Japan it’s all a bit of wishful thinking to imagine that any progress can be made…

It was the Japanese who were attacked. Koreans took advantage of the earthquake to torch the city, steal and rape. The Japanese were angry and organized vigilante groups and sometimes overreacted.

Reminds one of another soapbox orator notorious for maligning minorities; one in particular.

A one man terrorist romp - based on a rather mentally deficient understanding of his fellow beings. The root of which is in the culture.

As for the criticism of the establishment of 'hate crimes' as antithetical to indigenous inhabitants - that is meaningless twaddle, as the aboriginal peoples of Japan are actually a small minority whose ancestors were treated less than generously by peoples emigrating from the south. And then there are the peoples of Okinawa, which the central government either ignores or foments oppressive policies - racism & bigotry, is institutionalized and an element of the ongoing culture.

The prejudice against individuals who were essentially impressed into serving the Japanese colonial empire and provided labor for the burgeoning assault on mainland Asia, seems to neglect actual history.

Tell us your source!

Where is the peer-reviewed paper?

But if Japan as a whole was in such a situation, why did the number of Korean immigrants increase? Can someone with the right education answer this question?

I may not have a ‘rightist’ education, but the obvious answer is that Korea in 1924 had, by that time, already spent 14 years under the imperialist yoke. Their only choice if they wished to get ahead was to kiss the master’s b***

And to know that Japanese are from Korean and Chinese ancestry

"The suspect, identified as Shogo Arimoto from neighboring Nara Prefecture . . ."

Doesn't surprise me. Nara is the prefecture which is represented by Sanae Takaichi, who gained international recognition as an admirer of Adolf Hitler.

If you want to witness the anti-Korean hatred from Japanese people, then you just need to scroll down any comment section in Japan Today that has the topics related to Koreans and Korea.

Look at the downvotes of this comment from mine for the same result too!

Japanese apologies are worthless as long as Japanese political leaders pay homage to war criminals at Yasakuni. Where is the shrine for the millions that have been victims of Japan’s vicious military attacks? And when will Japanese politicians pray for the millions of souls, victims of Japanese brutality?

Don't fall for this 'hate crime' BS Japan - it is always promoted to erode the rights of the indigenous population and facilitate their loss of control of their own country. Just look at the West.

Isn’t it really time for Japanese society to move into the 21st century and to ensure that these types of crimes don’t happen by changing legislation?

Echo's of the 1930's.

I don't want to see Korean people hurt or injured in Japan. We are better then that.

At the same time I can understand the frustration with S. Korea, the back and forth games of Yes today, No tomorrow.

S. Korea has gone back on multiple agreements with Japan as Final and Irreversible.

Dozens of apologies which never happened or not good enough for S. Korea.

Comfort Women statues being built overseas by Korean communities United by their hate of Japan. Won't defend Asians, but they will definitely bash Japan over the head, time and again and in multiple countries.

Expectations for Japan to support USA 100% against Russia and China, Taiwan, While S. Korea is getting closer to China and Russia and refuses to join Quad Alliace or join USA and Japan in emergency plans for Taiwan.

I want to see equal laws in South Korea against Hate Speech Towards Japan! People in Korea burned themselves with hate towards Japan! Don't you think some laws is necessary in South Korea as well against Anti-Japan propaganda.

Where is the arsonist from ???. Is he born in kyoto ???.

Identify as Japanese which you are as you were born here or move it to Korea.