Mark MacKinnon’s Wildly Sensationalist Article About “Rising” Nationalism in Japan

The Globe and Mail has printed a piece by Mark MacKinnon that claims right-wing extremism is “rising” in Japan:

Take the past week alone. Infuriated by a perceived Japanese climbdown in a dispute with China over an island chain that both nations claim, right-wingers tossed smoke bombs at the Chinese consulates in the cities of Fukuoka and Nagasaki. Another man was arrested with a knife in his bag outside the Tokyo residence of Prime Minister Naoto Kan. On Friday, a motorcade of 60 cars organized by a right-wing group briefly surrounded a bus carrying Chinese tourists in Fukuoka, prompting Beijing to issue a warning to its citizens about the dangers of visiting Japan.

No one was hurt in any of the incidents. But they highlight a tide of rising nationalism that is just one of the new social ills afflicting a country that 20 years ago was the richest and most stable on the planet. Two consecutive “lost decades” and a dearth of political leadership – five prime ministers in the past four years – have unmoored Japan.

He highlights the activities of a few right-wingers over the last week – a period of extraordinary tensions with China – as an example of the “new” and “rising” tide of nationalism in Japan. He ignores the fact that right-wingers have been carrying out those kinds of protests for decades, always resorting to threats and petty crimes when there are major flare-ups with China or Korea. If anything, recent years have shown the right-wing to be less violent than they were in the past: several decades ago they were stabbing and shooting people. But who cares about presenting an accurate picture of the situation when you can weave a good yarn about Japan returning to its militarist past as its economy and society crumble?

On Saturday, an estimated 2,700 rightists marched through Tokyo’s main shopping district, decrying the government’s perceived weakness in the dispute with Beijing and calling for Chinese and Koreans to leave Japan. Several smaller anti-Chinese and anti-foreigner marches took place again Sunday, with some in the crowd wearing military-style black uniforms and others waving the Rising Sun flag the country’s military flew while conquering nearly all of East Asia during the Second World War.

“If you are not tough enough to stand up for Japan, get out of Japan! We need to fight against China!” a member of the extremist Zaitokukai movement shouted through a bullhorn Sunday morning, his anger echoing through the high-end shopping malls and coffee shops of Tokyo’s Shibuya district.

MacKinnon writes that there were 2,700 protesters, uncritically taking protest organizers for their word about turnout to the event. Other media outlets have been more honest in their coverage, noting that the estimate was not independently verified.

But even if the protest in Shibuya did indeed have a turnout of over 2,700 people, it is misleading to present Zaitokukai members as typical representatives. There were surely many anti-Korean and anti-immigration people in that crowd, but the crowd only reached the size it did because it drew on a diverse mixture of groups that disliked the Chinese government. The crowd contained Pro-Taiwan independence activists, Pro-Uyghur independence groups, free Tibet groups, anti-N-H-K groups, and some other people who were just angry about the Japanese government’s weak stance in the recent crisis with China. MacKinnon almost entirely places the focus on Zaitokukai. He highlights the fears that other right-wingers have about Zaitokukai’s extremism without properly explaining that those other right-wingers are more numerous.

MacKinnon goes on to include this lovely sensationalist gem:

Another marcher switched targets when it was his turn at the bullhorn. “Throw illegal immigrants into Tokyo Bay!” he yelled to loud cheers from his fellow marchers and silent stares from shoppers who paused to watch the procession. If anyone disagreed with the sentiment, no one said so publicly.

I suppose we should conclude that a lack of onlookers willing to get into shouting matches with loud lunatics is a sign of the power of these “rising” nationalist groups?

MacKinnon even tries to make it look like Japan is riding a wave of xenophobic nationalism that will put it on a path to become a new Nazi Germany:

As in Europe 80 years ago, blame for the country’s troubles has fallen on foreigners. The No. 1 target is ethnic Koreans who live in Japan (Zaitokukai is the Japanese acronym for the group’s unwieldy formal title, Citizens’ Group That Will Not Forgive Special Privileges for Koreans in Japan), followed by the Chinese. A liberalized immigration system, which pundits across the spectrum agree is desperately needed to help deal with a rapidly aging population, is considered too sensitive to touch for any politician concerned about keeping his job in the next election.

“There are of course some similarities with the fascist and Nazi movements. Those who join Zaitokukai are the jobless and the underemployed, those on the periphery of the established society. They’re disheartened, and they have a lot of frustration,” said Gemki Fujii, a right-wing intellectual and author. However, he said that Zaitokukai is doomed to remain a fringe group because few Japanese admire the group’s abrasive tactics.

But the xenophobia that Zaitokukai helps spread via the Internet and its street demonstrations appears to be taking hold in Japan, which has a long tradition of isolating itself from the world. Racist comments about the country’s ethnic Korean and Chinese citizens are startlingly common, while other foreigners – including some long-term residents of Japan – say they also feel increasingly unwelcome, and complain of police harassment and rules that prevent non-Japanese from renting homes or gaining professional tenure.

MacKinnon dismisses Mr. Fujii’s reasonable assessment with vague claims about how more extreme nationalism “appears to be taking hold in Japan.” He tops it off with assertions about how foreigners now feel “increasingly unwelcome” in Japan, introducing readers to problems like housing discrimination and harassment from police. He doesn’t provide any numbers or even quotes from sources to back up his claims about the situation being any worse than it was years ago.

MacKinnon also mentions the existence of right-wing and revisionist history books being sold at bookstores in Japan as evidence of Japan’s new “rising” nationalism. He does not inform readers that the same bookstores also contain plenty of accurate history books from major publishing houses. It is noted that right-wing history books would never be sold in Germany, but the article does not remind readers that Germany has laws restricting freedom of expression that would make it illegal for right-wing groups to publish the kind of niche history denial books that are published in Japan.

In countries that respect and preserve freedom of speech and expression, extremist fringe groups are allowed to hold loud public protests and publish and sell offensive books. Post-war Japan has always had extremist groups – some on the right, and some on the left. This country has had right-wingers driving around in sound trucks and holding loud protests for many years.

Groups like Zaitokukai have used YouTube to make their protests more visible, but how does that make them important or influential? MacKinnon mentions Zaitokukai’s self-proclaimed membership of over 10,000 people – as if that number should impress us in a country with a population of 127 million people. Even the supposed turn out of 2,700 people at last week’s anti-China protest is not significantly larger than anti-nuclear weapons or anti-base protests regularly held by left-wing groups in Japan. There don’t appear to be any numbers backing up the idea that MacKinnon’s ominous “black sun” is “rising” over Japan.

To argue that there is a “rising” tide of right-wing extremism in Japan, one must produce credible evidence that they are increasing in numbers and influence. MacKinnon’s article doesn’t contain a shred of credible evidence to support his bold assertions. I think it would be fair to say that this article is nothing more than sensationalist garbage.

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