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Japanese Racism and the use of Kanji in names - a thread
Did you know that there's a lot of "Anti-Chinese/Korean" racism embedded into how JP kanji names are used?
The image below shows all the characters that can be used to write "Sai" in the JP name "Saito".
(1/11) https://twitter.com/dameningen1gou/status/1290771347237289985
Did you know that there's a lot of "Anti-Chinese/Korean" racism embedded into how JP kanji names are used?
The image below shows all the characters that can be used to write "Sai" in the JP name "Saito".
(1/11) https://twitter.com/dameningen1gou/status/1290771347237289985
Japan brought over CHN/KOR labourers during WW2. Many ended up not being able to go back to their home countries. They would go on to adopt Japanese names and become "Zainichi-Korean/ Chinese".
The convention used to "make" JP surnames was interesting. Here's a few:
(2/11)
The convention used to "make" JP surnames was interesting. Here's a few:
(2/11)
1) Adding an extra character
金 (Kim)→ 金村 (Kanemura)
張 (Cho)→ 張本 (Harimoto)
In JP, when 2 kanji characters are added together, the way the character is read changes a lot.
The kanji in my name 高 (Kou) becomes 高橋 (Takahashi) when it has another character.
(3/11)
金 (Kim)→ 金村 (Kanemura)
張 (Cho)→ 張本 (Harimoto)
In JP, when 2 kanji characters are added together, the way the character is read changes a lot.
The kanji in my name 高 (Kou) becomes 高橋 (Takahashi) when it has another character.
(3/11)
2) Breaking up a Name
朴 (Park) →木下 (Kinoshita)
崔 (Sai) →山住 (Yamazumi)
3) Adopting "common" JP surnames to "blend in".
新井 (Arai)、佐藤(Sato)、高橋(Takahashi)、木村（Kimura) etc
4) Changing the pronounciation
林 (Lim) →林 (Hayashi)
(4/11)
朴 (Park) →木下 (Kinoshita)
崔 (Sai) →山住 (Yamazumi)
3) Adopting "common" JP surnames to "blend in".
新井 (Arai)、佐藤(Sato)、高橋(Takahashi)、木村（Kimura) etc
4) Changing the pronounciation
林 (Lim) →林 (Hayashi)
(4/11)
These methods aren't the definitive guide to identifying Zainichi but the racists who were anti-CHN/KOR sure did become very paranoid.
There was a time where JP companies had a "Black book" list of "Names of Zainichi" that HR used to conveniently reject applications.
(5/11)
There was a time where JP companies had a "Black book" list of "Names of Zainichi" that HR used to conveniently reject applications.
(5/11)
So what a lot of right-wingers started to do was to change how they wrote their names.
And this is where my family name comes in.
高橋 is a very common JP name, but due to modern typography conventions the 高橋 with the square box in 高 is more commonly used.
(6/11)
And this is where my family name comes in.
高橋 is a very common JP name, but due to modern typography conventions the 高橋 with the square box in 高 is more commonly used.
(6/11)
Some JP families use 髙橋 with the "ladder" inside 髙.
The ladder style is the "Old Japanese" used in the past, meaning "the one the Zainichis don't use".
But I didn't know this as a kid. Didn't realise that my sweet grandma was a racist pos either.
(7/11)
The ladder style is the "Old Japanese" used in the past, meaning "the one the Zainichis don't use".
But I didn't know this as a kid. Didn't realise that my sweet grandma was a racist pos either.
(7/11)
When I was a kid, I had to sign some documents and used 高橋. My grandmother lost her shit and went on a rant about "Using the same character as Chinese and Korean people" and how "we are a proud lineage of 髙橋".
Since then just to spite her, I've always used 高橋.
(8/11)
Since then just to spite her, I've always used 高橋.
(8/11)
There are many other names that have a "traditional way" of writing them that can be weaponized for racism, but the people who take part in this kinda circus is a small minority, thankfully.
(9/11)
(9/11)
But right-wingers still blindly throw around accusations of "you must be Zainichi" the moment they spot certain kanji characters in names. This is hilarious because these kanji are so commonly used, that if you make enough mental leaps, anyone can be branded as zainichi.
(10/11)
(10/11)
I'm not a journalist so there are better written materials out there about the "HR Zainichi List" and the treatment of Zainichi people if you want further reading.
Japan isn't racism-free. Far from it. They just use all sorts of tactics to hide it.
(11/11)
Japan isn't racism-free. Far from it. They just use all sorts of tactics to hide it.
(11/11)
For those who want additional reading materials about Zainichi names in Japan.
http://www.kyy.saitama-u.ac.jp/~fukuoka/alias.html
http://www.kyy.saitama-u.ac.jp/~fukuoka/alias.html
