Japan: Racist comic magazine: foreigner crime case

Gaijin Hanzai Ura File (Foreigner crime underground file)is an comic magazine full of distorted information and imagines about foreigners. And it promotes fear against foreigners (mainly Chinese and Korean) by reciting "everyone will become a target of ‘gaijin crime’ in 2007".

It is strange that the issue hasn't been pick up by social movement (such as migrant organizations) and peace activists (there hasn't been any discussion going on within the Asia social movement circle yet), even though the comic book's sensational racist stories and pictures review some very crucial problems.

The internet and bloggers communities are much quicker to respond. Japan Probe launched an international boycotting campaign against Family Mart (an international convenience store) which circulated the magazine. The campaign forced the Family Mart to remove the magazines from all their shelves on Feburary 5.

According to debito's translation, the comic book is targeting on non-white foreigners. There is a danger rating for each country: China: 14; Russia: 5; Korea: 9; Brazil: 8; Colombia: 3 and none for the USA, Canada, Australia or the whole of Europe.

For US military, the "crime" was depicted as minor ones such as bag snatching, shoplifting, petty theft, bilking taxi drivers.

Debito points out various racist elements in the book, includings:

1. Glossies of blood and Violence organized by Nationality

2. Regard interracial sex between foreigners and Japanese women as crime

3. Attributing behavior to nationality, as if Chinese kill because they are Chinese.

Debito also pointed out that the book is very well researched and could not have been published without assistance from police sector. In fact it is published anonymously and get much space in national chain stores...Please read debito for the details.