With Thursday marking two years since the enactment of a law against hate speech targeting ethnic Koreans and other minorities, local governments — required to take action under the legislation — called on Tokyo to present clear standards on how to eliminate racist propaganda.
Some municipalities have set their own guidelines to counter hate speech, but they find it difficult to strongly deal with the issue while maintaining freedom of expression.
Critics and human rights activists say the law has had little positive impact because it only takes a negative stance against such speech and does not impose penalties or fines on perpetrators. Instead, the law merely condemns "unjustly discriminatory" language and states such behavior is "unforgivable," meaning it is up to local governments to decide how to handle the issue.