A 'peaceful nation' on the brink of extremism

Editor's note: Zhou Yaxin is an international affairs observer. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Japan is taking a sharp rightward turn. Its social climate is alarmingly reminiscent of the one that produced the 1923 Kanto Massacre – a bloody episode of anti-Chinese violence in modern Japan that served as a dress rehearsal for the subsequent full-scale war of aggression against China. How do we avoid repeating the tragic mistakes of a century ago is not only a critical choice that Japan must get right, but also an urgent issue that we must confront.

What caused the Kanto Massacre?

After the Meiji Restoration, a socio-political movement that restored imperial rule under Emperor Meiji, a large number of Chinese laborers went to Japan in search of work due to Japan's rapid economic development. By the early 1920s, the Chinese population in Japan had surged to around 16,000. Subsequently, calls to restrict the immigration of Chinese laborers grew increasingly vocal and the Japanese government issued a series of discriminatory ordinances and bills, including the Items on the Prohibition of Chinese Workers.

These directed the local authorities to tighten border entry inspections for Chinese laborers, intensify repatriation, and impose strict restrictions on their residence, daily activities, and employment. As a result, the living conditions of Chinese laborers in Japan became increasingly harsh.

In September 1923, a devastating earthquake struck Japan's Kanto region, leaving more than 100,000 people dead or missing. In the aftermath, rumors spread wildly that Koreans and Chinese were taking advantage of the chaos to commit arson, well poisoning, riots, and looting.

Seizing this pretext, the Japanese military and police, in collusion with extremists, launched large-scale raids targeting Chinese laborers in Tokyo, Yokohama, and other areas. More than 700 Chinese laborers were brutally killed, as well as several Chinese community leaders and students.

Subsequently, under the guise of "protection and resettlement," the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department carried out mass detention of the surviving Chinese laborers, where they were subjected to starvation, dehydration and physical abuse. Approximately 3,000 Chinese workers were forcibly held or repatriated.

After the atrocities, the Chinese authorities lodged representations with Japan and demanded compensation, but the Japanese government consistently denied the massacre ever took place. It grudgingly promised 200,000 yen (about $97,000 at that time) in compensation, a sum that never materialized.

What drives the anti-Chinese sentiment in Japan?

As summarized by historians, the Kanto Massacre stemmed from three main factors: the deflection of Japan's domestic problems, media incitement, and the rise of extremism. Disturbingly, all the three factors seem to be resurfacing in Japan today.

When domestic issues cannot be resolved properly, an "external enemy" is created. After World War I, as European countries returned to the world market, Japan's development dividends faded, and issues like overproduction, business closures, and soaring unemployment converged.

For Japan's ruling class, solving these structural problems was not easy. Instead, deflecting public discontent onto "external targets" became the most expedient political tool. Politicians slandered Chinese laborers for stealing jobs and disrupting public order, portraying the Chinese as the "source of problems." Gradually, the complex social issues were reduced to a single, dangerous narrative: The Chinese were to blame for Japan's troubles.

Today, Japan's economy remains mired in stagnation. Energy shortages and a depreciating yen have further intensified social and livelihood anxieties. Right-wing forces led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi are following the same old playbook, talking up external threats, aggressively pushing the "China threat" narrative, and stirring up xenophobia. Their motive is clear: masking their own governance failures with a tough posture against "foreigners."

Prolonged media incitement turns hostility into "common sense." Looking back at the Japanese public discourse around the time of the Kanto Massacre, one feature stands out: the Japanese media's sustained campaign to inflame anti-Chinese hostility.

At the time, many newspapers and periodicals, driven by commercial gain or political pursuit, churned out stories with virulent anti-Chinese overtones, entrenching stereotypes through provocative language. Over time, they managed to scapegoat the Chinese for Japan's social problems, cementing the collective mindset that "hostility toward Chinese is justified."

Today, Japanese media coverage of China is still rife with prejudice and hostility. Some TV programs routinely discuss China-related issues in an exaggerated, fear-mongering tone. Negative content about China spreads rapidly across social media, while rational voices are easily drowned out by hysteria.

Once an extreme ideology takes hold, society's psychological threshold for violence drops. The Kanto Massacre was a direct outgrowth of the rampant spread of the Japanese militarist ideology before World War II. Its purpose was to tighten internal control, fuel external expansion, and forge social consensus rooted in extreme nationalism, thereby laying the groundwork for the wars of aggression that followed.

Although Japan is currently constrained by its pacifist constitution and the post-war international order, the toxins of militarism have not been fully purged. In recent years, historical revisionism has run rampant, and the younger generation has been systematically fed a distorted version of history.

Narratives once confined to the far-right fringe are now bleeding into the mainstream. Expressions of xenophobia once dismissed as extreme are garnering more public support. Vicious rhetoric and acts targeting Chinese tourists and overseas Chinese are increasingly being repackaged as "legitimate concerns." Some extremist elements no longer view their actions as violence – they earnestly believe they are "defending the nation's honor."

The recent case of Kodai Murata, a Japanese Self-Defense Forces officer who broke into the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo with a knife, is a stark manifestation of this trend.

Where is the extremist sentiment headed?

When a country sustains domestic cohesion by constantly manufacturing external enemies, the hostility will inevitably seep into the fabric of society, and in this case, eventually land on Chinese tourists on the street, Chinese students in the classroom, and Chinese-owned shops in commercial districts.

Revisiting the Kanto Massacre today is not about perpetuating cycles of hatred. It is about learning a painful lesson from history, and staying vigilant in the face of the anti-Chinese sentiment that continues to poison Japanese society today.

For Japan, a question demands honest reflection: Why is a society that has long prided itself on being a "peaceful nation" quietly condoning the spread of such a virulent sentiment? If Japan truly values the peaceful order and international standing it has spent the past 80 years building, it can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to this trend.

Otherwise, when the extremist sentiment finally breaches the moral barrier, the blowback will land squarely on Japan itself.

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