My neighbours - the anti-foreigners.
My neighbours are racists. Not just any racists however, they take their racism very seriously. You see, a great many of my neighbours are members of, or strong supporters of, Uyoku dantai (右翼団体). Uyoku dantai is translated into English usually as “right wing groups.” While this gives a broad understanding of their political leaning, it doesn’t give a complete picture.
Uyoku dantai began in the late 19th century following the 1868 Meiji Restoration. The Meiji Restoration opened Japan to the Western world and ended Japan’s centuries-old feudal system and national seclusion. It saw the abolishment of the samurai class and the feudal government system.
Widespread groups consisting mainly of disgruntled former samurai formed throughout Japan against the newly formed Meiji government. These groups came under the banner of the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement.
Political beliefs differ between the groups but the three philosophies they are often said to hold in common are the advocation of kokutai-Goji (retaining the fundamental character of the nation), hostility towards communism and hostility against the Japan Teachers Union. Traditionally, they viewed the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China and North Korea with hostility over issues such as communism, the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands and the Kurile Islands.
Most, but not all, seek to justify Japan’s role in the Second World War to varying degrees, refute the war crimes committed by the military during the first part of the Shōwa era and are critical of what they see as “self-hate” bias in post-war historical education. Thus, they do not recognize the legality of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and other allied tribunals, consider the war-criminals enshrined in the Yasukuni shrine as “Martyrs of Shōwa” (昭和殉難者 Shōwa junnansha), support the censorship of history textbooks and the historical revisionism”
Children who’s parents are members/supporters are told to hate foreigners - especially Chinese, Koreans and of late, Americans (In Japan, if you are white or black you are automatically assumed to be an American and it is automatically assumed that you speak English).
Many of the children who attend my son’s pre-school are members or supporters of Uyoku dantai or the newer Shin-Uyoku dantai (Anti-American). They have been told to kick my son, hurl abuse at him, and mistreat him calling him “han-bun gaijin” (half-breed) and the like. He is unable to make many friends and this has led to him feeling very depressed and he has started developing a form of self-hate. He hates being half-Japanese and can’t understand why his ancestry/race has anything to do with living life.
These very same people also claim to be Buddhists, I might add. Some of them are also Yakuza members.
To most Japanese, even those who are not right-wing extremists - your race/colour is more important to them than anything else. Here you are either Japanese or gaijin - there is little understanding of other cultures or races and almost no acceptance of other people.
In the first photo the large writing on the side of the van is the name of the group - Ryũkijuku. The smaller writing at the back says “One bullet saves 100,000 people.”
Under Japanese law anyone is free to voice their opinion, including making racists remarks and inciting hatred of others.
