Race in Japan

A Chinese family says a medical clinic in Tokyo engaged in anti-Chinese discrimination when it handed them a survey that asked if they planned to cause a ruckus or resell the drugs they were given. The clinic insists the survey isn't discriminatory.
A supposed "Ainu History Learning Association" has been holding "learning sessions" that promote disinformation about the indigenous group. Last month, a local activist group showed up to protest the propaganda.
A new report based on historical documents shows that Japan's government feared Korean students would talk about the Kanto Massacre. The government kept tabs on the students and refused to let them return to Korea out of fear it would destabilize Japan's colonization of the peninsula.
Japanese politician Sugita Mio is no stranger to controversy. Now, a Sapporo legal bureau says she's slandered the Ainu people - but she says otherwise.
Several multiracial Japanese basketball stars are speaking out on social media about the racism they face on a daily basis.
News Show "Sukkiri" caught flak on social media after airing a discriminatory joke towards the Ainu people.
Extreme right wingers in Japan slam Nike and threaten a boycott over a commercial that's being praised by...well, virtually everyone else.
Naomi Osaka's masks memorializing murdered Black Americans have made some of her sponsors uneasy - but have also sparked valuable discussions about race in Japan.
As xenophobia ramps up during COVID-19, we take a deep dive into the history of the Japanese image of a dangerous, "anti-Japanese" China.

Japan in Translation

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