TOKYO - Three men are suing the Japanese government, citing a pattern of racially motivated police harassment, and asking for improved practices and about 3 million yen ($27,200) each in compensation.
The suit is unusual in Japan, a historically homogeneous place with little precedent for punishing racial discrimination.
The plaintiffs – two permanent residents and one foreign-born Japanese citizen – are seeking to show that disparate treatment based on race violates the Constitution and international human rights agreements.
Plaintiffs say they have been repeatedly stopped for questioning by police for no apparent reason, and had their belongings searched, according to a summary of the case provided by lawyers.
One, an African American who has lived in Japan for more than a decade and has a Japanese family, said he had been stopped more than 15 times before he decided to join the suit.
Another, a Pacific Islander, said he had been questioned about 100 times.
“If police officers are allowed to discriminate, then it creates this image from the top to the citizens that discrimination is OK,” said Mr Moe Miyashita, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.
“On the other hand, if the police, the national government and other public organisations tell people that they can’t do this, it sends a strong message to the general public that discrimination is wrong.”
The suit names the Japanese government and the Tokyo Metropolitan and Aichi prefecture governments.
All three declined to comment on the case. The National Police Agency did not immediately respond to questions about the suit.
The lawsuit adds to simmering questions about how Japan will manage the growing diversity of its population.
To make up for its shrinking workforce, the country is increasingly reliant on immigrants. Foreign workers now number a record high of two million, according to the most recent government data.
Awareness of racism and racial profiling has been rising since a 2021 viral video showed a police officer admitting he had searched a mixed-race man because “many people with dreadlocks carry drugs”.
The United States Embassy in Tokyo warned US citizens about racial profiling by Japanese police on their X account.
Japan’s Constitution explicitly bans race-based discrimination, and the country is a signatory to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Nevertheless, a study by the Tokyo Bar Association showed that among 2,000 respondents of foreign background, more than 60 per cent said they had been questioned by police, and about 77 per cent of those questioned said there was no apparent reason other than the fact they appeared foreign.
“More people are starting to recognise that these issues are happening,” Mr Miyashita said. “I think this is just the beginning.” BLOOMBERG
