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The three plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government for racial profiling will appear in the Tokyo District Court on January 29, 2024.
Tokyo CNN –
Three foreign-born residents of Japan are suing the country's government over alleged racial profiling, highlighting an ongoing debate over Japanese identity and nationality.
According to public broadcaster NHK, the three plaintiffs, all Tokyo residents, filed the lawsuit with the Tokyo National Court and held a press conference with their lawyers on Monday.
The lawsuit alleges they were questioned by police based on their race, color, nationality and other factors, which constituted discrimination in violation of the Japanese constitution, NHK reported.
They are demanding compensation of three million yen (about US$20,355) per person from the national government, the Tokyo metropolitan government and the Aichi prefectural government.
A plaintiff came to Japan from India after marrying his wife and has lived there for more than 20 years, NHK reported. Since then, he has repeatedly been stopped and interrogated by police on the street, sometimes twice a day. It got so bad that at times he was afraid to leave the house, he said, according to NHK.
Another plaintiff, a Japanese citizen born in Pakistan, said during the press conference: “I think people in Japan have the image that foreigners who look like foreigners commit crimes.”
“I cooperated with (the police) because I thought it was important to maintain public safety, but when it happened not just once but more than 10 times, I actually began to have doubts,” he added, according to NHK.
The third plaintiff is an American-born man who, according to Portal, said he wanted to raise awareness of the issue among the Japanese population.
Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images
The three plaintiffs and their legal team leave the Tokyo District Court on January 29, 2024.
When contacted by CNN, the Aichi government declined to comment on the specific case. However, she said her police officers have received training in “respect for human rights” and are committed to carrying out their duties in accordance with the prefecture's Human Rights Ordinance.
CNN has reached out to the Tokyo government for comment.
Japan is an ethnically homogeneous country with comparatively low immigration rates, which has led authorities in recent years to push for more foreign residents and workers to fill gaps left by an aging population.
Japan has struggled to balance its conservative views on immigration with the need for new and younger workers, although a 2018 Pew survey found that 59% of Japanese believed immigrants would strengthen the country.
Because of the country's high ethnic homogeneity, people who look different can attract unwanted attention and feel different, even if they identify as Japanese – especially those with darker skin.
For example, people who are “hafu” – the Japanese word for “half” and refers to those who are half ethnically Japanese – have described being treated as foreigners even if they are Japanese nationals.
A number of controversies over the years have highlighted these prejudices and raised questions about beauty standards and what it means to be Japanese. In 2019, noodle company Nissin apologized after it was accused of “whitewashing” tennis star Naomi Osaka – who is of Japanese and Haitian descent – in an animated ad that depicted her with pale skin, brown hair and Caucasian facial features have.
And just this month, a nationwide beauty pageant caused a stir by naming Ukrainian-born model Karolina Shiino the “most beautiful of all Japanese women.” Some critics questioned whether someone without Japanese ancestry could represent the country's beauty ideals.
But Shiino, a naturalized citizen who has lived in Nagoya since she was five and speaks Japanese fluently, said she considers herself “absolutely Japanese” and wants to be recognized as such.
“After all, we live in a time of diversity – when diversity is necessary,” she said.