Modern right-wing activism in Japan

Abstract

Nationalist or right-wing activism in Japan can be traced back to the end of nineteenth century when Japan as a state emerged and when the formation of modern Japanese nation had started. Since then, some of the features have remained unchanged while others have naturally evolved. Since 1945, when numerous right-wing organizations were abolished, modern right-wing activism has evolved into three main groups – the traditional right-wing organizations, the New Right, and the Action Conservative Movement (ACM). ACM, as the most recent formation, has a wide array of organizations with different goals but what defines and unites them is the ideological background and mode of activism. The emergence of ACM is tightly connected to the historical revisionism, which entered a public domain in mid 1990s and internet right-wing activism. The convergence of the two resulted in an abundance of alternative history explanations, assessment and interpretation. Eventually, this broke out from the internet space in 2006 when organization called Zaitokukai was established. Its activities encompassed the historical revisionist myths like “special privileges of Zainichi Koreans” and united the right-wing citizens that were fragmented until then. Although Zaitokukai played important role in changing the right-wing landscape in Japan, it is also responsible for the spread of racism, xenophobia and hate speech.