The Kawasaki Summary Court on Friday ordered a man to pay a fine of ¥300,000 for making derogatory and racist remarks against a Korean resident of Japan on Twitter.
The court imposed the fine after Shigeyuki Ikeda, 51, of Fujisawa was found by prosecutors to have violated a Kanagawa Prefecture ordinance that bans troublesome behavior. It is the first time criminal punishment has been imposed for hate speech under such an ordinance, the plaintiff's lawyer said.
"While a criminal penalty serves as a deterrent to an extent, only a small fraction of the damage has been addressed. There need to be laws to punish discrimination itself," the lawyer, Yasuko Morooka, said during a news conference in Tokyo.