Immigration and national identity have become increasingly prominent political issues in Japan. Following last year’s Upper House election, in which parties including Sanseito campaigned under the slogan “Japanese First,” activists and researchers have warned that anti-foreigner rhetoric has become more visible both online and in public discourse.
Now, one of Japan’s most celebrated novelists has found herself at the center of that debate.
On X, Yu Miri, an award-winning author of Zainichi Korean heritage, criticized recent anti-foreigner political rhetoric in Japan, warning against the growing normalization of exclusionary attitudes. Her posts quickly attracted a wave of discriminatory abuse, with some arguing she shouldn’t be allowed to speak because of her heritage.
For many of her detractors, the message was simple: because she’s not ethnically Japanese, she had no right to comment on the country’s politics.
The backlash soon became so severe that her editor at Weekly Gendai, Hatori Ryō, publicly came to her defense, condemning the attacks.
“I can’t turn a blind eye to discrimination,” he wrote.
It’s getting worse and worse. Japan has always been racist but now it’s in your face racism and it’s so stupid. They’re basically doing MAGA tactics to distract from failing economic policies to focus on the foreigner, and divert public spending to the American war industry.
