Leiden University Student Repository

Boonen, Marte (2015)

Hate Speech in Freedom: The Japanese Government’s reluctance to legislate

Bachelor thesis | Japanstudies (BA)

In 2014, the United Nations recommended to the Japanese government that it should promulgate laws against hate speech. This advice was ignored by the Japanese government, claiming such laws would interfere with the right of freedom of speech. With the racism against Zainichi Koreans (citizens in Japan of Korean ancestry) as a case study, using the New Haven School of Jurisprudence as framework, this thesis posits that “freedom of speech” is not the Japanese government’s (only) reason for refusing to promulgate laws against hate speech. By researching Diet discussions, newspaper articles, court cases and personal accounts of prominent politicians such as Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, this essay comes to the conclusion that the actual reasons differ from the official one given. The general conclusions of this thesis are that the Japanese government is reluctant to promulgate laws against hate speech because it is concerned about its independence from the United Nations, and because there...Show moreIn 2014, the United Nations recommended to the Japanese government that it should promulgate laws against hate speech. This advice was ignored by the Japanese government, claiming such laws would interfere with the right of freedom of speech. With the racism against Zainichi Koreans (citizens in Japan of Korean ancestry) as a case study, using the New Haven School of Jurisprudence as framework, this thesis posits that “freedom of speech” is not the Japanese government’s (only) reason for refusing to promulgate laws against hate speech. By researching Diet discussions, newspaper articles, court cases and personal accounts of prominent politicians such as Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, this essay comes to the conclusion that the actual reasons differ from the official one given. The general conclusions of this thesis are that the Japanese government is reluctant to promulgate laws against hate speech because it is concerned about its independence from the United Nations, and because there is a disregard for minority issues in general.Show less

hate speech

Japan

zainichi koreans

Abe

government

legislation

Zaitokukai

Author

Boonen, Marte

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

PEIR

Supervisors

Wakefield, Bryce

Language

en