Racism in Japan
There is a "prevalent belief in Japan," Dr. John G. Russel says, "...that racism is something that Japan has been free of. Racism is something that you find in America and Europe” (Jones). Dr. Russel is a Black anthropologist in Gifu University and a Japan resident for three decades. He states that racism, anti-black racism in particular, does exist in Japan (Japan on the record). Another scholar, Dr. Arudou (2015), articulates in his book, Embedded Racism, that Japan's racism may not always be explicit, but its implicit racism is embedded in law to everyday discourse.
According to U.N. Special Rapporteur Doudou Diene’s 2006 report, racial discrimination in Japan affects three discriminated groups: 1) the national minorities, such as the Buraku people, the Ainu and the people of Okinawa, 2) people and descendants of former Japanese colonies, such as Koreans, Chinese, and Taiwanese, and 3) gaijin, foreigners and migrants from other Asian countries and from the rest of the world (United Nations).
Despite having these populations above, "the country's ethnic diversity has not been highly visible and has not gained much attention from authorities," Dr. Yuka Kitayama (2018, P. 251), a Japanese scholar who conducts research on social justice in education, criticizes. In the case of Diene, in spite of his efforts to unveil the truth, this report on racism in Japan was ignored by the Japanese media and was criticized by right-wing commentators. Unfortunately, this type of criticism seems to be not rare. "Those who have attempted to dismantle the myth of a racism-free Japan have usually faced harsh criticism," Dr. Russel says (The Japan Times).
Meanwhile, those who act upon discrimination may be overlooked for there is no law prohibiting racial, ethnic, or religious discrimination, or discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Japan has no national human rights institutions either (Human Rights Watch).