Photo/Illutration A civic group protests an exhibition in Nagoya held by a political group known for discriminatory propaganda on Sept. 26. (Hwan Chul)

NAGOYA--City officials here allowed a political group with an anti-immigration platform and xenophobic slogans to continue its exhibition at a municipal venue even after protesters argued that it was fueling discrimination.

The event was organized by the Aichi prefectural chapter of the Japan First Party, which is headed by the former chairman of Zainichi Tokken wo Yurusanai Shimin no Kai (Group of citizens that do not tolerate privileges for ethnic Korean residents in Japan).

The group has carried out demonstrations in many parts of Japan, with some members calling for the “killing of Koreans who are anti-Japan.”

Earlier this month, the municipal government and the Nagoya City Cultural Promotion Agency, which operates the venue, approved the use of the site by the chapter for the two-day event from Sept. 26.

City officials said the organizer pledged not to make hate speech at the venue, the Sakae municipal gallery in Nagoya’s Naka Ward.

The officials added that they would respond if the exhibits pose problems in light of the nation’s anti-hate speech law.

The event organizer refused entry to reporters of The Asahi Shimbun and other news outlets.

But according to people who were allowed in, about 30 exhibits were on display, including drawings related to World War II.

One of them featured an apparent brothel with a woman in “chima jeogori,” Korean traditional clothing, and a tout who resembled Aichi Governor Hideaki Omura.

Omura had come under fire from conservative groups over his decision to allow the display of a statue of a girl symbolizing wartime “comfort women” at the Aichi Triennale 2019 international arts festival last summer.

“Comfort women” is a euphemism for those who were forced to have sex with Japanese troops before and during World War II.

The girl in the statue was wearing chima jeogori, representing many comfort women from the Korean Peninsula, a former Japanese colony.

Showing a split with the prefectural government, Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura demanded the removal of the comfort women statue immediately after the Triennale opened, saying it “tramples on Japanese feelings.”

The Japan First Party had also applied for the use of a prefectural government facility this year for the two-day event. But prefectural officials turned down the request, citing security reasons.

However, the Nagoya city government allowed the chapter to use its gallery.

Civic groups disagreed with the city’s stance and held a protest near the exhibition site on Sept. 26. They described the event as an attempt to fuel racial discrimination.

The municipality and the Nagoya City Cultural Promotion Agency gave the greenlight to the exhibition’s continuation after seeing what was on display.

They apparently concluded that the exhibition does not constitute “unjust discriminatory action” banned under the 2016 law on the elimination of hate speech.

Japan First Party members also staged their own rally near the venue, with one shouting, “Anti-Japan foreigners should get out of Japan.”

Yuka Aoki, a lawyer well versed in issues of discrimination, called the remark “textbook hate speech.”

This was not the first time the Japan First Party has held an event where such slogans have been seen or heard.

Last year, it exhibited traditional Japanese playing cards, including one that read, “Crimes are always committed by Koreans,” at a prefectural government facility in Nagoya’s Higashi Ward.

(This article was written by Hwang Chul and Kenji Seki.)

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