Abstract Japan had one of the most restrictive entry bans between 2020 and 2023 to curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). While there was critical coverage of this entry ban by foreign media, how did Japanese citizens perceive these restrictions? We fielded a survey in February 2022 with 6,033 respondents, in which we asked the respondents whether they supported the ban and what types of foreigners they would support getting entry to the country. Our results show that the overall level of support for the ban was very high. Those with a stronger sense of ethnic identity expressed a higher level of support, although those with more of a civic sense of national identity were also supportive of the ban. Furthermore, while the respondents were more likely to tolerate the entry of foreign spouses of Japanese citizens and resident foreigners compared to the other immigrant types, even the supporters for the admission of the spouse category were only barely a majority. In sum, our data show that Japanese citizens were uniformly negative against any entries by non-Japanese citizens into Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract This article examines the role of survivor and witness testimonies in revealing the truth about the massacre of Koreans that occurred after the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 and the significance of anti-denialist activism. Few sources in the English-language scholarship have discussed the massacre of Koreans, and none have examined the history of activism surrounding its commemoration in Japan. This article focuses on the Association for the Exhumation of the Remains and the Commemoration of Korean Victims Massacred after the Great Kantō Earthquake (Hōsenka), formed in 1982. Although Hōsenka was unable to find remains of Korean victims, the 1982 excavation nonetheless enabled local residents to give testimony. Through cooperation between Japanese residents and Zainichi Koreans, Hōsenka succeeded in collecting several testimonies from witnesses and survivors in the 1980s. Hōsenka’s investigation was a breakthrough in research history, as it uncovered the actual involvement of the military and the police in the massacre. In the 1990s and 2000s, Hōsenka worked to erect a monument but failed to obtain cooperation from Japan’s national and local governments. In 2009, the group built and installed the monument on private property. The monument explicitly assigns responsibility for the massacre to the Japanese army, police, and vigilante groups. In response to the rise of right-wing denialism since 2009, Hōsenka has published books and lobbied the local authorities. In 2023, a group of young activists assumed Hōsenka’s mantle. The testimonies collected by Hōsenka allow the younger generation to comprehend the magnitude of the massacre. In postcolonial circumstances, the dichotomy of perpetrator and victim fades, as succeeding generations of both parties rediscover and reinterpret the memory. This article illustrates how the history of atrocities committed by imperial Japan may be temporarily forgotten or denied, yet persists as local memory, continually rediscovered through the efforts of activists.

Abstract Muslim migrants are a fast-growing ethnic minority in Japan, where they are increasingly settling, ageing, and passing away. One critical issue arising from their settlement is the lack of access to burial grounds, given that 99.97 per cent of the nation is cremated. Unlike in many Western European countries, municipal cemeteries in Japan typically lack burial plots. However, individuals or organizations that secure permits from local governments are legally allowed to construct private burial cemeteries. This legal–institutional context compels Muslims to purchase land and establish their own cemeteries as a means of self-help. Outcomes vary, with some Muslim associations succeeding in acquiring a burial cemetery while others fail. By using the concepts of bonding and bridging social capital, this study examines the processes involved in the struggles to acquire burial cemeteries and explains these divergent outcomes. Associations that managed to develop social networks with native Japanese successfully gained access to burial cemeteries, highlighting how the uneven distribution of social capital shapes the realization of the constitutional right to religious practice. This study thus carries policy implications regarding the state’s role in accommodating the needs of religious minorities, especially as Japan gradually adjusts its migration policies to expand migrants’ legal rights and duration of stay.

Abstract This paper introduces yorokonde morau (YM), a novel concept of well-being originating from lay discourse on happiness in Japan. YM describes the experience of making someone happy and feeling happy because of it. Existing approaches to the measurement of well-being do not explicitly account for this interactive and reciprocal understanding of well-being. The concept presented here is the outcome of a sequential mixed-methods research project designed to expand upon this perspective, focussing on the ‘positive feedback loop’ of reciprocal well-being we observed in high-trust communities. We began with semi-structured interviews to develop a theoretical outline of YM, emphasizing its inherently bidirectional nature as a shared experience. We then developed a YM Scale, which we validated using a quantitative survey comparing its relative pattern of predictor importance with that of more established concepts of well-being, specifically interdependent happiness. By triangulating our qualitative and quantitative findings, we found that the reciprocal experience of YM is characterized less by negative social capital and more strongly linked to generalized trust in others than interdependent happiness, highlighting their discriminant validity. Grounded in the real-life experiences of everyday Japanese people, this approach represents a new reciprocal facet of sociocentric well-being.

Abstract How can in-group members enhance their perceptions of out-groups? Most scholars emphasize intergroup contact as a key factor. Specifically, they often advocate for face-to-face or direct contact. However, the Japanese context presents a contradiction to this suggestion. For Japanese people, the most frequently encountered foreign nationalities are Chinese and South Koreans, yet they exhibit the most negative attitudes towards these groups. I propose that the monocultural, peaceful, and conservative nature of Japanese society may hinder the realization of the assumptions underlying direct contact. Drawing on advanced studies in intergroup contact theory, I adopt a comparative approach to determine which form of contact is more effective. My findings indicate that viewing Chinese films, a form of parasocial contact, can more positively influence Japanese perceptions of Chinese people than direct communication. This conclusion also applies to the Japanese perspective on South Koreans. Consequently, this study offers a broader social strategy for fostering improved bilateral relations in East Asia.