Ask a Korean! News: Rumors Begin to Spread in Japan
Well, it would be strange if a society was totally immune to crazy rumors in the wake of a disaster in a historical scale. According to Asahi Shimbun (via Dong-A Ilbo,) around northeastern Japan rumors such as "there is a group of foreigner thieves," "there are more rape cases," etc. are spreading.
The zainichi community -- Korean-Japanese people who are mostly the holdovers from the colonial era -- is apparently getting somewhat nervous, as they clearly remember the Kanto massacre. In the aftermath of a massive earthquake in 1923, false rumors spread that Koreans were poisoning the well in a plot to kill Japanese. Vigilante mob violence broke out, which killed numerous Koreans living in Japan -- estimates run as high as 6600 Koreans dead. According to the Dong-A Ilbo article, some parts of the Japanese Internet are starting to blame Korean-Japanese or Chinese-Japanese communities for the perceived lawlessness.
The world is admiring Japan for its calm and orderly response to this unimaginable disaster. Let us hope that Japan can keep it up.
Got a question or comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
The zainichi community -- Korean-Japanese people who are mostly the holdovers from the colonial era -- is apparently getting somewhat nervous, as they clearly remember the Kanto massacre. In the aftermath of a massive earthquake in 1923, false rumors spread that Koreans were poisoning the well in a plot to kill Japanese. Vigilante mob violence broke out, which killed numerous Koreans living in Japan -- estimates run as high as 6600 Koreans dead. According to the Dong-A Ilbo article, some parts of the Japanese Internet are starting to blame Korean-Japanese or Chinese-Japanese communities for the perceived lawlessness.
The world is admiring Japan for its calm and orderly response to this unimaginable disaster. Let us hope that Japan can keep it up.
Got a question or comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
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