The Kawasaki municipal government will fully implement an anti-hate speech ordinance that includes penalties on July 1. Under the ordinance, those who are found to have discriminated against people from other countries can face criminal charges and be fined up to 500,000 yen if found guilty.
While laws and ordinances against hate speech already exist in Japan, it is the first time in the country that an ordinance stipulates penalties against it.
The ordinance prohibits speech and behavior, such as that using loudspeakers, in public places in the city that discriminates against people for being from a particular country or region. Once the actions are confirmed, a panel of experts will discuss whether they are discriminatory and the mayor can request that those carrying out the actions stop. If a repeat case is confirmed again within six months, the mayor orders that they stop, and, if there is a third incident, their names and addresses are made public and then criminal complaint will be filed against them.
The ordinance itself went into effect in December last year, but the penalties will be effective from July. Although the ordinance also prohibits discriminatory behavior on the internet and against Japanese, those acts are not subject to punishment.
Demonstrations including hate speech have been happening around the nation since about 2013, and in Kawasaki -- where there are many ethnic Koreans -- they have been occurring frequently since around 2015.
The nation's first ordinance on measures against hate speech was enacted in January 2016 in Osaka, and the Tokyo metropolitan government and Osaka prefectural government followed. Although the ordinances stipulate the publication of an offender's name and restrictions on their use of facilities going forward, they do not include punitive measures because they could violate freedom of expression. The central government enacted a law to combat hate speech in 2016, but it has no punitive provisions.
Daito Bunka University Prof. Yoshiharu Asano, a constitutional specialist, said: "Hate speech is unforgivable, but it is also important to protect freedom of speech. Since the authorities will judge the right or wrong of such speech, careful application is required."
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