Anti-Chinese sentiment in Japan

2010 Japanese anti-Chinese protest in Shibuya, Tokyo, concerning Chinese claim of sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands. Anti-Chinese rally in Hibiya in 2010

Anti-Chinese sentiment has been present in Japan since ancient times. While Japan was historically influenced by China with its writing system, architecture, and religion, negative sentiment of China has persisted to modern times, due to nationalistic and historical disputes.

## History

[edit]

### Tokugawa period

[edit]

Main article: Tokugawa period

Beginning in the Tokugawa period (1600 to 1868), Japan left a prolonged period of civil war and began to prosper as a unified and stable state.[1] This period saw an attempt to remove foreign influences on Japanese culture, including the influence of Chinese culture. During this time, Japan maintained a policy of self-isolation, leading to the further development of its culture with little foreign influence. A rise in national self-respect at this time resulted in Japan viewing itself as the centre of a "civilised world surrounded by barbarians."[2]

A key proponent of these movements and schools of thought was the cultural movement and branch of scholarship known as kokugaku (国学), translating literally as "national studies", and translated commonly as "Japanese studies". Kokugaku aimed through its practitioners (known as kokugakushu) to distinguish between a perception of genuine Japanese culture in contrast to what was considered as foreign culture,[3] with the resulting goal being to revert Japanese culture to one devoid of foreign influence.

Practitioners of kokugaku placed particular importance on Shinto,[3] Japan's indigenous religion,[4] seen as a bulwark against foreign, and especially Confucian and Buddhist, influences. However, by the time kokugaku developed, Shinto had already been heavily influenced by both Confucianism and Buddhism;[5] due to this, the net effect of kokugaku scholarship and its achievements is debated.

### Empire of Japan

[edit]

Main article: Empire of Japan

Following the Meiji Restoration and the abandonment of its self isolationist policy, Japan pursued a policy of aggressive Westernisation and industrialisation in effort to match the progress of Western nations. At the same time as this, China had begun to sink into a state of deep dysfunction, and was perceived as a declining power by many, including Japan.[citation needed]

The World War II also compounded on this, resulting in the loss of life of more than 20 million mostly civilian Chinese people. The property loss suffered by the Chinese was valued at US$383 billion at the currency exchange rate in July 1937, roughly 50 times the GDP of Japan at that time (US$7.7 billion).[6]

### Post World War II

[edit]

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|

Results of the 2021 Pew Research Center poll
Views of China by country/region[7]
Sorted by Pos-Neg  Country polled | Positive | Negative | No answer | Pos-Neg

|
|
|
|

Japan |

10%

88%

| –78
Sweden |

18%

80%

| –62
Australia |

21%

78%

| –57
United States |

20%

76%

| –56
South Korea |

22%

77%

| –55
Canada |

23%

73%

| –50
Germany |

21%

71%

| –50
Netherlands |

24%

72%

| –48
Taiwan |

27%

69%

| –42
Belgium |

28%

67%

| –39
France |

29%

66%

| –37
New Zealand |

30%

67%

| –37
United Kingdom |

27%

63%

10%

| –36
Italy |

38%

60%

| –22
Spain |

39%

57%

| –18
Greece |

52%

42%

| 10
Singapore |

64%

34%

| 30

Results of the 2020 Pew Research Center poll
Views of China by country[8]
Sorted by Pos-Neg  Country polled | Positive | Negative | No answer | Pos-Neg

|
|
|
|

Japan |

86%

| –77
Sweden |

14%

85%

| –71
Australia |

15%

81%

| –66
Denmark |

22%

75%

| –53
United Kingdom |

22%

74%

| –52
South Korea |

24%

75%

| –51
United States |

22%

73%

| –51
Netherlands |

25%

73%

| –50
Canada |

23%

73%

| –50
Belgium |

24%

71%

| –47
Germany |

25%

71%

| –46
France |

26%

70%

| –44
Spain |

36%

63%

| –27
Italy |

38%

62%

| –24

Police officers monitor anti-Chinese protests in front of the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, during the 2012 Senkaku Islands dispute.

Following the end of the World War II, openly Sinophobic sentiments were stifled and became taboo in mainstream Japanese media, despite the opposing positions taken by Japan and the People's Republic of China in the Cold War. Use of the formerly common word Shina (支那) (lit., "China") has all but disappeared except in a handful of cases, such as the Japanese name for "South China Sea" and an alternative term for ramen.[vague]

Following the Cold War, there was little contact between Japan and the People's Republic of China, and little discussion of China until the relationship between the countries was normalised in 1972, following a surge of interest within Japan about its neighbour. China renounced reparations for the Second World War, partly to avoid appearing less generous than Taiwan — which had earlier done the same — and to strengthen its position against the Soviet Union. The response was of considerable gratitude and goodwill in Japan, with Sinophobia confined to anti-communism. Public animosity toward the People's Republic of China was minimal compared to the public animosity held against the Soviet Union, and a friendly mood prevailed.[9] Improvements were also seen in social attitudes toward ethnic Chinese residents of Japan, along with other minorities such as Zainichi Koreans and the Ainu people.[citation needed]

However, since 2000, Japan has seen a gradual resurgence of anti-Chinese sentiments, coupled with the effects of an increasingly tense political relationship between Japan and the People's Republic of China. The reason partly stems from the Japanese history textbook controversies and official visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, as well as Chinese use of anti-Japan sentiment to buttress their own domestic politics.[10] The anti-Japanese riots of 2005 are cited as raising tensions within China and fear of China within the Japanese public. Many Japanese nationalist groups, such as Ganbare Nippon and Zaitokukai, are anti-Chinese, with data from the Pew Global Attitude Project (2008) showing that 85% of Japanese people surveyed held unfavourable views of China, and that 73% held unfavourable views of Chinese people.[citation needed]

The Economist has written that according to a survey done in 2021, more than 40% of Japanese aged 18–29 feel an "affinity" towards China, compared to only 13% for those aged in their 60s and 70s.[11]

## See also

[edit]

* China–Japan relations
* History of China–Japan relations
* Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States
* Anti-Korean sentiment in Japan
* Anti-Japanese sentiment in China
* Nativism (politics)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Tokugawa Period. BookRags. Retrieved on 2008-08-24.
2. ^ Kanji Nishio II. Japan's Identity: Is Asia One? Is Japan Part of the East? Archived February 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Japan Forum on International Relations. Retrieved on 2008-08-24.
3. ^ a b Tokugawa Enlightenment Archived May 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ Shinto Archived 2021-03-17 at the Wayback Machine. Japan-guide.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-24.
5. ^ Ng, Wai-ming. The I Ching in the Shinto Thought of Tokugawa Japan Archived 2017-12-12 at the Wayback Machine. University of Hawaii Press (1998). Retrieved on 2008-08-24.
6. ^ "BBC - History - World Wars: Nuclear Power: The End of the War Against Japan". Archived from the original on 28 November 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
7. ^ "Large Majorities Say China Does Not Respect the Personal Freedoms of Its People". Pew Research Center. June 30, 2021.
8. ^ "Unfavorable Views of China Reach Historic Highs in Many Countries". Pew Research Center. October 6, 2020.
9. ^ "asahi.com: English". Archived from the original on 8 February 2005. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
10. ^ Forney, Matthew (December 10, 2005). "Why China Loves to Hate Japan". Time. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
11. ^ "Japanese youngsters want to look like Chinese starlets". The Economist. 19 January 2023. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2023-01-19.

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* Sociology of race and ethnic relations
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Anti-Chinese sentiment (Sinophobia)

Background|

* Anti-Han sentiment
* Coolie
* Yellow Peril
* Chinese emigration
* The Unparalleled Invasion
* Japanese nationalism
* Minzoku
* De-Sinicization

By persecutor|

* Adriaan Valckenier
* Andrew Jackson Bryant
* Denis Kearney
* Hideki Tojo
* Suharto
* Pol Pot
* Plaek Phibunsongkhram

By country|

* Hong Kong
* India
* Indonesia
* Japan
* Racism in Japan
* Korea
* Malaysia
* Racism in Malaysia
* Ketuanan Melayu
* Myanmar
* Nazi Germany
* Philippines
* Singapore
* Taiwan
* Thailand
* United States
* China Initiative
* Vietnam

By institution|

* Anti-Chinese Union
* Asiatic Exclusion League
* Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees
* Tsagaan Khas
* Uyoku dantai

By incident|

| 17th century|

* Sangley Rebellion (1603)
* Sangley Rebellion (1639)
* Sangley Massacre (1662)

|

18th century|

* 1740 Batavia massacre
* 1782 Saigon massacre

19th century|

* Buckland riot (1857)
* Lambing Flat riots (1860–1861)
* Anti-Coolie Act (1862)
* Los Angeles Chinese massacre of 1871
* Pigtail Ordinance (1873)
* Page Act of 1875
* Trout Creek Outrage (1876)
* San Francisco riot of 1877
* New Zealand head tax (1881–1944)
* Chinese Exclusion Act (1882–1943)
* Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration (1885)
* Chinese Immigration Act, 1885
* Attack on Squak Valley Chinese laborers, 1885
* Tacoma riot of 1885
* Rock Springs massacre (1885)
* 1885 Chinese expulsion from Eureka
* Chinese head tax (1885–1923)
* Seattle riot of 1886
* 1886 Vancouver anti-Chinese riots
* Hells Canyon massacre (1887)
* Scott Act (1888)
* Geary Act (1892–1943)
* Union Colliery Co of British Columbia v Bryden (1899)

20th century|

* White Australia policy (1901–1973)
* 1907 Vancouver anti-Asian riots
* Beipu uprising (1907)
* Torreón massacre (1911)
* 1918 Kudus riot
* Soviet deportations of Chinese people (1920s–1930s)
* Chinese Immigration Act, 1923
* Wanpaoshan Incident (1931)
* Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)
* Nanjing Massacre (1937–1938)
* Nanshitou massacre (1942–1945)
* Japanese war crimes
* Three Alls policy
* Sook Ching (1942)
* Changjiao massacre (1943)
* Home Office 213/926 (1945–1946)
* Bersiap (1945–1947)
* Mergosono massacre (1947)
* Legislation on Chinese Indonesians (1950s-)
* Chinese Confession Program (1956–1965)
* Internment of Chinese Indians (1962)
* 1964 race riots in Singapore
* Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66
* 1967 anti-Chinese riots in Burma
* Monosodium glutamate controversy (Chinese restaurant syndrome)
* 13 May incident (1969)
* 1969 race riots of Singapore
* Malari incident (1974)
* Cambodian genocide (1975–1979)
* 1997 Banjarmasin riot
* May 1998 riots of Indonesia

21st century|

* 2006 Nukuʻalofa riots
* Abacus Bank prosecution
* 2008 Kunming bus bombings
* July 2009 Ürümqi riots
* 2011 Kashgar attacks
* Wolf Amendment
* 2013 Tiananmen Square attack
* 2014 Vietnam anti-China protests
* 2014 Kunming attack
* April 2014 Ürümqi attack
* May 2014 Ürümqi attack
* 2015 Plaza Low Yat riot
* 2015 Aksu colliery attack
* China Initiative
* COVID-19 pandemic incidents
* 2021 Atlanta spa shootings
* 2021 Solomon Islands unrest
* 2024 Papua New Guinean unrest
* Boycotts of Chinese products

By victim|

| 19th century|

* Chae Chan Ping
* Fong Yue Ting
* Mary Tape
* Wong Kim Ark
* Yick Wo

|

20th century|

* Vincent Chin
* Ita Martadinata Haryono
* Qian Xuesen
* Velma Demerson
* Wen Ho Lee

21st century|

* Anming Hu
* Danny Chen
* Ee Lee
* Eileen Gu
* Feng "Franklin" Tao
* Gang Chen
* Haoyang Yu
* Jiansheng Chen
* Jiayang Fan
* Lee Chi-cheung
* Mi Gao Huang Chen
* Sherry Chen
* Teoh Beng Hock
* Xiaoxing Xi
* Yao Pan Ma
* Michelle Go

Slurs|

* Chinaman
* Chinaman's chance
* Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees
* Ching chong
* Chink
* Locust/Wongchung
* Shina/Zhina
* Sick man of Asia

Related|

* Anti-People's Republic of China
* Chinese imperialism
* Anti-Taiwanese sentiment
* Hong Kong nationalism

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