The message of nearly 2,000 people marching through Shinjuku, in Tokyo, last Sunday was strong and direct — stop hate speech and learn to get along. The protest march, dubbed The March on Tokyo for Freedom, was a strong rebuke to the repeated anti-Korean rallies this year led by right-wing groups in areas such as Shin-Okubo, where many Koreans live, work and do business. Their message was one of peace, tolerance and openness to people from different backgrounds.
That message deserves emphatic dissemination in the face of rallies that included perhaps the worst and most virulent hate speech in many, many years. Right-wing groups marching in Korean areas in Tokyo and Osaka called Koreans "cockroaches," and carried signs saying, "Go back to Korea!," "Beat them out of Japan," and "Kill all Koreans."
Those types of sentiments stand at the extreme fringe of Japanese society, as does all hate speech. This virulent type of hate speech has the potential to incite violence. It also intends to create a climate of fear, not only for the targeted ethnic groups but throughout the entire society.