www.donau-uni.ac.at/cedem

1. Social media as hotbed of racism
and hate speech against Zainichi
Koreans in Japan
Tetsuro Kobayashi
Muneo Kaigo
Nojin Kwak

2. Zainichi-Koreans in Japan
• Zainichi = 在日
• Long-term Korean residents of Japan who
trace their roots to Korea under Japanese rule
• Total population: 350,000

3. Prejudice and discrimination against
Zainichi
Source: http://jp.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324582304578486581466328250

4. Rise of hate groups
• 2002 Korea-Japan World
Cup
• Koizumi’s visits to
Yasukuni Shrine (2001,
2006)
• President Lee’s visit to
Dokdo/Takeshima (2012)
• President Lee’s “demand
for JP emperor’s apology”
• Rise of “2 channel”, a
massive bulletin board
system
• Proliferation of social
media including “matome
site” (aggregate “buzz”
media)
• Hate groups started to
mobilize anti-Koran
movement by using social
and aggregate media

5. Kaigo (2013)
• Examination of the tone of argument in 148
politically related threads in Matome sites
• Matome sites generally reflected Net-uyoku
(online “alt-right”) tone of argument found in 2
Channel.
• “This study suggests that these Matome Saito can
be considered to be an emergence of a new type
of political agenda-setters in Japanese politics
and may have a potential impact on the
formation of public opinion in Japan”

6. Googling “在日” as of December 5
1. Matome site (Naver)
2. Wikipedia
3. Wikipedia
4. Matome site (Zainichi celebrity)
5. Matome site (Zainichi celebrity)
6. Blog (“Takuya Kimura is
Zainichi”)
7. Blog (“Akiko Wada is Zainichi”)
8. Matome site (Zainichi celebrity)
9. Blog by a Zainichi Korean
10. Matome site (Zainichi celebrity)
• Related “key words”
– Zainichi & celebrity
– Zainichi & how to identify
– Zainichi & celebrity & coming out
– Zainichi & family names
– Zainichi & companies

7. Matome sites
• Mostly
entertainment/gossip
contents
• Racist comments on 2
channel are aggregated to
a “thread” and posted on
Matome blogs.
• Sometimes Matome
videos are created and
posted on YouTube and
services of Niconico.

8. Research question
• How is the use of Matome sites associated
with racism against Zainichi Koreans?

9. Two types of racism
• Old-fashioned racism
– Blatant racial belief that the minority group is inferior
• Modern racism (McConahey, 1986; Sears, 1988)
– Prejudice and discrimination no longer exist
– Therefore, the inequality is a result of the minority
group’s laziness
– Nevertheless, the minority group is protesting against
discrimination and demanding too much
– As a result, the minority group is getting more than
they deserve

10. Survey
• Two-wave online survey
– Funded by University of Michigan Center for
Japanese Studies
– Japanese adults (age>18)
– 1st wave: June 2016
• N=1900
– 2nd wave: July 2016
• N=1521

11. Key measurements
• Old-fashioned racism
– Zainichi Koreans are generally not as smart as Japanese
– It is a bad idea for Zainichi Koreans and Japanese to marry one
another
– If a Zainichi Korean family with about the same income and educations
as I have moved next door, I would mind it a great deal
• Modern racism
– Zainichi Koreans are getting too demanding in their push for equal
rights
– Over the past few years, the government and news media have shown
more respect to Zainichi Koreans than they deserve
– Over the past few years, Zainichi Koreans have gotten more
economically than they deserve

12. Old-fashioned racism
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
It is wrong to justify the legal equality
between Zainichi Koreans and Japanese.
I am opposed to open or fair housing laws.
It is a bad idea for Zainichi Koreanss and
Japanese to marry one another.
If a Zainichi Koreans family with about the
same income and education as I have…
Zainichi Koreans are generally not as smart as
Japanese.
I favor laws that permit Zainichi Koreans to
rent or purchase housing even when the…
Disagree Neutral Agree

13. Modern racism
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Zainichi Koreanss are getting too demanding
in their push for equal rights.
Over the past few years, Zainichi Koreanss
have gotten more economically than they
deserve.
Zainichi Koreanss have more influence upon
school desegregation plans than they ought
to have.
Over the past few years, the government and
news media have shown more respect to
Zainichi Koreanss then they deserve.
Disagree Neutral Agree

14. Key IVs
• Matome site: 19%
• 2 channel: 17%
• Facebook: 34%
• Mixi: 8%
• Twitter: 26%
• Youtube: 16%
• Instagram: 15%
• LINE: 48%

15. DV: Old-fashioned racism
Matome site 0.025+ 0.009
(0.015) (0.010)
2 channel 0.067** 0.024*
(0.015) (0.010)
Facebook -0.010 0.008
(0.012) (0.008)
Twitter -0.004 -0.015+
(0.013) (0.009)
Youtube 0.007 0.007
(0.011) (0.008)
LINE -0.011 -0.007
(0.011) (0.007)
Racism (1st wave) 0.720**
(0.018)
Observations 1,521 1,521
R-squared 0.060 0.551
Control: gender, age, education, political interest, ideology, TV news, Newspaper

16. DV: Modern racism
Matome site 0.063** 0.021
(0.018) (0.014)
2 channel 0.066** 0.022
(0.018) (0.014)
Facebook -0.000 0.000
(0.014) (0.011)
Twitter 0.005 -0.005
(0.016) (0.012)
Youtube 0.014 -0.002
(0.014) (0.010)
LINE 0.002 -0.000
(0.013) (0.010)
Racism (1st wave) 0.683**
(0.019)
Observations 1,521 1,521
R-squared 0.081 0.498
Control: gender, age, education, political interest, ideology, TV news, Newspaper

17. Vicious circle?
Racism
Use of
Matome
sites to
confirm their
view
Selective
exposure
Reinforcement

18. Old-fashioned racism
0
.2.4.6.8
1
0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1
racism_o
matome=0 matome=1
Predictive Margins with 95% CIs
Interaction effect: p < 0.01

19. Modern racism
0
.2.4.6.8
1
0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1
racism_m
matome=0 matome=1
Predictive Margins with 95% CIs
Interaction effect: p < 0.01

20. Discussion
• Matome sites are attracting large amount of
audience
• Hoax in Matome sites are aggravating users’
racism against Zainichi Koreans
• Vicious circle is suggested
– When those with high level of racism use Matome
sites, they get more racist.