{"id":11273,"date":"2013-03-15T10:56:16","date_gmt":"2013-03-15T20:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11273"},"modified":"2025-12-22T15:32:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T23:32:14","slug":"my-latest-on-asia-pacific-journal-japan-focus-japans-rightward-swing-and-the-tottori-prefecture-human-rights-ordinance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11273","title":{"rendered":"My latest academic paper on Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus:  &#8220;Japan\u2019s Rightward Swing and the Tottori Prefecture Human Rights Ordinance&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Books etc. by ARUDOU Debito (click on icon):<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/handbook.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1298\" title=\"Handbook2ndEdcover.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Handbook2ndEdcover.jpg\" alt=\"Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants to Japan\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/inappropriatecoverthumb150x226.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8577\" title=\"inappropriatecoverthumb150x226\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/inappropriatecoverthumb150x226.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/tshirts.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1701\" title=\"joshirtblack2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/joshirtblack2-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\\&quot; width=\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/japaneseonly.html#japanese\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1700\" title=\"jobookcover\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/jobookcover-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/japaneseonly.html#english\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1699\" title=\"japaneseonlyecover\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/japaneseonlyecover-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"JAPANESE ONLY: The Otaru Hot Springs Case and Racial Discrimination in Japan\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cinemabstruso.de\/strawberries\/main.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2735\" title=\"sourstrawberriesavatar\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/sourstrawberriesavatar.jpg\" alt=\"sourstrawberriesavatar\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?cat=32\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4921\" title=\"debitopodcastthumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/debitopodcastthumb.jpg\" alt=\"debitopodcastthumb\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=10137\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-10142\" title=\"Fodors\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Fodors.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nUPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito<br \/>\nDEBITO.ORG PODCASTS on iTunes, subscribe free<br \/>\n&#8220;LIKE&#8221; US on Facebook at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/debitoorg\">http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/debitoorg<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/handbookimmigrants\">http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/handbookimmigrants<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hi Blog. Here&#8217;s my latest publication, which came out last Sunday, elaborating more on the historical arc of Japan&#8217;s rightward swing I have already talked about journalistically in three recent Japan Times columns:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11152\">Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE Column 60, Feb 4, 2013: \u201cKeep Abe\u2019s hawks in check or Japan and Asia will suffer\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=10980\">Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE Column 59: The year for NJ in 2012: a Top 10<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=10733\">My Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE Column 57, November 6, 2012: \u201cIf bully Ishihara wants one last stand, bring it on\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here is how I see the build up to what came to fruition with PM Abe and his cadre&#8217;s reinstatement to power last December. \u00a0Excerpt follows. \u00a0Arudou Debito<\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<br \/>\n<strong>The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 9, No. 3, March 4, 2013.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Japan\u2019s Rightward Swing and the Tottori Prefecture Human Rights Ordinance<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> \u65e5\u672c\u306e\u53f3\u50be\u5316\u3068\u9ce5\u53d6\u770c\u4eba\u6a29\u6761\u4f8b<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Arudou Debito<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>ABSTRACT<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><em>Japan\u2019s swing to the right in the December 2012 Lower House election placed three-quarters of the seats in the hands of conservative parties. The result should come as no surprise. This political movement not only capitalized on a putative external threat generated by recent international territorial disputes (with China\/Taiwan over the Senkaku\/Diaoyu islands and with South Korea over Takeshima\/Dokdo islands). It also rode a xenophobic wave during the 2000s, strengthened by fringe opposition to reformers seeking to give non-Japanese more rights in Japanese politics and society.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em> This article traces the arc of that xenophobic trajectory by focusing on three significant events: The defeat in the mid-2000s of a national \u201cProtection of Human Rights\u201d bill (jinken y\u014dgo h\u014dan); Tottori Prefecture\u2019s Human Rights Ordinance of 2005 that was passed on a local level and then rescinded; and the resounding defeat of proponents of local suffrage for non-citizens (gaikokujin sanseiken) between 2009-11. The article concludes that these developments have perpetuated the unconstitutional status quo of a nation with no laws against racial discrimination in Japan.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Keywords: Japan, human rights, Tottori, racial discrimination, suffrage, minorities, Japanese politics, elections, xenophobia, right wing<\/p>\n<p><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em> As has been written elsewhere (cf. Arudou 2005; 2006a; 2006b et al.), Japan has no law in its Civil or Criminal Code specifically outlawing or punishing racial discrimination (jinshu sabetsu). With respect to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (which Japan adopted in 1996), Japan has explicitly stated to the United Nations that it does not need such a law: \u201cWe do not recognize that the present situation of Japan is one in which discriminative acts cannot be effectively restrained by the existing legal system and in which explicit racial discriminative acts, which cannot be restrained by measures other than legislation, are conducted. Therefore, penalization of these acts is not considered necessary.\u201d (MOFA 2001: 5.1)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em> However, in 2005, a regional government, Tottori Prefecture northwest of \u014csaka, did pass a local ordinance (j\u014drei) explicitly punishing inter alia discrimination by race. What happened to that law shortly afterwards provides a cautionary tale, demonstrating how public fear of granting any power to Non-Japanese occasioned the ordinance to be rescinded shortly afterwards. This article describes the defeat of a similar bill on a national scale, the public reaction to Tottori\u2019s ordinance and the series of events that led to its withdrawal. The aftermath led to the stigmatization of any liberalization favoring more rights for Non-Japanese.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> Prelude: The Protection of Human Rights Bill debates of the mid-2000s<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em> Throughout the 2000s, there was a movement to enforce the exclusionary parameters of Japanese citizenship by further reinforcing the status quo disenfranchising non-citizens. For example, one proposal that would have enfranchised non-citizens by giving them more rights was the Protection of Human Rights Bill (jinken y\u014dgo h\u014dan). It was an amalgamation of several proposals (including the Foreign Residents\u2019 Basic Law (gaikokujin j\u016bmin kihon h\u014d)) that would have protected the rights of residents regardless of nationality, ethnic status, or social origin.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Read the rest at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\/3907\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/apjjf.org\/2013\/11\/9\/arudou-debito\/3907\/article<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Other Japan Focus articles by Arudou Debito at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\">http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito<\/a><\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\/3907\">3907<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\">Arudou Debito<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\/3907\">Japan\u2019s Rightward Swing and the Tottori Prefecture Human Rights Ordinance<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-A_-Higuchi\/2708\">2708<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\">Arudou Debito<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-A_-Higuchi\">A. Higuchi<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-A_-Higuchi\/2708\">Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants to Japan<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\/2559\">2559<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\">Arudou Debito<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\/2559\">Japan&#8217;s Future as an International, Multicultural Society: From Migrants to Immigrants<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\/2386\">2386<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\">Arudou Debito<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\/2386\">Gaijin Hanzai Magazine and Hate Speech in Japan: The Newfound Power of Japan&#8217;s International Residents<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\/2078\">2078<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\">Arudou Debito<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\/2078\">The Coming Internationalization: Can Japan assimilate its immigrants?<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\/1743\">1743<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\">Arudou Debito<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/japanfocus.org\/-Arudou-Debito\/1743\">JAPANESE ONLY: The Otaru Hotspring Case and Discrimination Against &#8220;Foreigners&#8221; in Japan<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 9, No. 3, March 4, 2013.<br \/>\nJapan\u2019s Rightward Swing and the Tottori Prefecture Human Rights Ordinance<br \/>\n\u65e5\u672c\u306e\u53f3\u50be\u5316\u3068\u9ce5\u53d6\u770c\u4eba\u6a29\u6761\u4f8b<br \/>\nBy Arudou Debito<br \/>\nABSTRACT<br \/>\nJapan\u2019s swing to the right in the December 2012 Lower House election placed three-quarters of the seats in the hands of conservative parties. The result should come as no surprise. This political movement not only capitalized on a putative external threat generated by recent international territorial disputes (with China\/Taiwan over the Senkaku\/Diaoyu islands and with South Korea over Takeshima\/Dokdo islands). It also rode a xenophobic wave during the 2000s, strengthened by fringe opposition to reformers seeking to give non-Japanese more rights in Japanese politics and society.<\/p>\n<p>This article traces the arc of that xenophobic trajectory by focusing on three significant events: The defeat in the mid-2000s of a national \u201cProtection of Human Rights\u201d bill (jinken y\u014dgo h\u014dan); Tottori Prefecture\u2019s Human Rights Ordinance of 2005 that was passed on a local level and then rescinded; and the resounding defeat of proponents of local suffrage for non-citizens (gaikokujin sanseiken) between 2009-11. The article concludes that these developments have perpetuated the unconstitutional status quo of a nation with no laws against racial discrimination in Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,36,22,34,52,20,5,4,14,11,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academia","category-bad-social-science","category-cultural-issue","category-exclusionism","category-hate-speech","category-history","category-human-rights","category-japanese-government","category-japanese-politics","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-sitys"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17671,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11273\/revisions\/17671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}