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Concept
Zaitokukai
Summary
Zaitokukai, full name 在日特権を許さない市民の会, is an ultra-nationalist and far-right extremist political organization in Japan, which calls for an end to state welfare and alleged privileges afforded to Zainichi Koreans. It has been described by the National Police Agency as a potential threat to public order due to its "extreme nationalist and xenophobic" ideology.
Its membership is between 9,000 to over 15,000. Vice News called them "J-racism's hottest new upstarts" in 2014. The group is considered by critics to be an anti-Korean extremist hate group, and have been compared to neo-Nazis in the western world. Sociologists quoted by The New York Times in 2010 stated "they lack an aggressive ideology of racial supremacy. There have been no reports of injuries, or violence beyond pushing and shouting."
It was founded and led by a man who goes by the assumed name of Makoto Sakurai. On November 16, 2014, Yasuhiro Yagi was selected as chairman for the fifth term as the result of a vote of confidence by the group's members.
Sharon Yoon and Yuki Asahina argue that Zaitokukai quickly succeeded in framing Korean minorities as undeserving recipients of Japanese welfare benefits. Even as Zaitokukai declined, far-right anti-Korean discourse powerfully influences public fears.
Zaitokukai was founded on December 2, 2006, and held its inaugural meeting in January 2007.
Sakurai founded Zaitokukai after seeing a TV news report on a group of Japanese citizens organizing to support the Zainichi Koreans who brought a lawsuit to obtain national pensions without making any premium payments. Sakurai was disturbed by the fact that there were Japanese who backed the suit which he thought could destroy the Japanese pension system. He then searched for a conservative political organization fighting against what he regarded as an extraordinary demand of Zainichi Koreans, but could find none. He then decided to establish Zaitokukai.
The group has been protesting against the extension of suffrage to non-citizen foreign nationals.
Official source
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