Minister Shindo Tours Parks in Kawaguchi City Amidst Concerns of Foreigner Discrimination

Minister Shindo (middle) and Parliamentary Vice-Minister Nakano receive an explanation from city officials (left) about the situation of the toilets that were destroyed in January in Kawaguchi City.

In Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, Economic Revitalization Minister Yoshitaka Shindo and others toured the city’s parks on the 13th in order to “confirm the current state of nuisance behavior by some foreigners.” Mayor Nobuo Okunoki and fellow members of the Liberal Democratic Party Opinions were exchanged privately with five members of the city council. In recent years, there have been frequent expulsion movements against the Kurdish population living in the city, and some experts have expressed concern that the inspections themselves may encourage prejudice against foreigners. (Kenji Okubo, Ao Ida)

Mr. Shindo, who is a member of the same party and was elected locally, Hideyuki Nakano, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Justice, and Hiroshi Kimizuka, Director of Immigration Services at the Immigration Services Agency, visited two parks in the city. The location was chosen by the city, and the city’s Collaboration Promotion Division said, “We had received multiple reports from local city councilors that Kurdish people were gathering and causing noise problems, so we chose the location from among them.”

Among these, toilets at Kamiaoki Park in the same city were vandalized in January. The department said, “The security camera footage showed a person who appeared to be a foreigner, but we have not confirmed his nationality.” The city has not identified the person who caused the damage, but he was compensated through his lawyer after his arrest.

Mr. Shindo and others toured the repaired toilet. A city councilor explained the local troubles involving Kurds. There were several Kurdish and Japanese residents in the park, and one said, “Since I came to inspect the site, I should have listened to what they had to say directly.”

After the opinion exchange meeting, Mayor Okunoki said, “As a city, we are spending money on medical care and education for foreigners because it is a humanitarian issue, but we are not given the financial resources or authority to do so.” I once again asked for it.”

Ryuo Nukui of the support group for Kurdish residents, “Together with Kurds in Japan” said, “The area we inspected is a residential area for Kurds, who are estimated to number 2,000 to 3,000 people in the city.“Some foreigners.” The Kurds are also continuing to carry out nighttime patrols on their own to prevent any nuisance.If we are to resolve the issue, we need to have discussions with those involved.”

Masayuki Watanabe, a specially appointed professor at Daito Bunka University who is an expert on discrimination issues, said, “The inspection itself clearly seems to have an intention to exclude foreigners. “This is an act that encourages discrimination and risks leading to hate speech.”