Japan's 1st ordinance making hate speech punishable with fines enacted in Kawasaki

KAWASAKI -- The municipal government in this eastern Japan city has from July 1 begun enforcing an unprecedented ordinance that penalizes people who repeatedly use hate speech in public spaces, with potential fines of up to 500,000 yen (about $4,655).

It marks the first enactment nationwide of a human rights ordinance imposing criminal penalties against hate speech. On the same day it was put into force, members of a Kawasaki citizens' network fighting hate speech voiced their hopes for the statute's effectiveness at a press conference held in the city of Kawasaki, in Kanagawa Prefecture south of Tokyo.

The anti-hate speech local ordinance forbids individuals from using means such as megaphones, signs or flyer distribution in public spaces including parks and roads to air hate speech that discriminates against people from foreign countries, or their descendants. The three types of actions entailing criminal penalties are: Calling for or instigating others to call for particular groups of residents to be driven away from areas in which they live; threatening to or instigating others to threaten to inflict damage on the lives, honor, property or any other possessions of members of a target group; and clearly insulting other people, such as by comparing them to anything non-human.

Choi Kang-ija, 47, a third-generation Korean resident in Japan who pushed for the ordinance to be enacted, also attended the press conference. She commented, "I think that this ordinance is a treasure of Kawasaki and Japan, as it indicates there is social justice that will punish discrimination as a crime. We would like to put high expectations on the ordinance's effectiveness in restraining hate speech, and continue to support its enforcement while trusting in the city government's resolve."

(Japanese original by Kazuo Ichimura, Kawasaki Bureau)