Human Rights in Japan - Minorities

Minorities

See also: Ethnic issues in Japan and Burakumin

Burakumin, Koreans, Chinese, and alien workers experienced varying degrees of societal discrimination, some of it severe and longstanding. The approximately 3 million Burakumin (descendants of feudal era "outcasts"), although not subject to governmental discrimination, frequently were victims of entrenched societal discrimination, including restricted access to housing and employment opportunities.

According to the MOJ, there were nearly 1.85 million legal foreign residents as of 2002. The largest group, at approximately 625,400, was ethnic Koreans, followed by Chinese, Brazilians, and Filipinos. Despite improvements in legal safeguards against discrimination, Korean permanent residents (so-called Zainichi Koreans, most of whom were born, raised, and educated in Japan) were subject to various forms of deeply entrenched societal discrimination. Harassment and threats against pro-North Korean organizations and persons reportedly have increased since the 2002 admission by North Korea that it had kidnapped more than a dozen Japanese citizens. Other foreigners also were subject to discrimination. There was a widespread perception among Japanese citizens that foreigners committed many crimes. According to a government survey, more than 70% of citizens worried that an increase in the number of illegally employed foreign workers could undermine public safety and result in human rights abuses against the workers themselves. Nevertheless, more than 80% said the country should accept foreign laborers conditionally or unconditionally.

A controversial Immigration Bureau website launched in February allows informants to report the name, address, or workplace of any suspicious foreigners for such reasons as "causing a nuisance in the neighborhood" and "causing anxiety." In the face of protests from human rights groups, the site was amended in March to remove the preset reasons, but remained operational at year's end.

By law, aliens with 5 years of continuous residence are eligible for naturalization and citizenship rights, including the right to vote; however, in practice, most eligible aliens choose not to apply for citizenship, partly due to fears that their cultural identity would be lost. Obstacles to naturalization included broad discretion available to adjudicating officers and great emphasis on Japanese-language ability. Naturalization procedures also required an extensive background check, including inquiries into the applicant's economic status and assimilation into society. Koreans were given the option of adopting a Japanese surname. The Government defended its naturalization procedures as necessary to ensure the smooth assimilation of foreigners into society. Alien permanent residents may live abroad for up to 4 or 5 years without losing their right to permanent residence in the country.

In September 2003, the School Education Law was amended to allow graduates of 21 non Japanese language schools to become automatically eligible to take university entrance examinations. Previously all students of non-Japanese language schools were required to pass a state-run high school equivalency test to qualify for the examinations. The amended law also enabled universities to set their admissions criteria at their own discretion. During 2003, many national universities also admitted graduates of non-Japanese language schools other than the 21 schools included in the School Education Law amendment.