During the post-World War II period, Zainichi Koreans faced various kinds of discrimination from Japanese society. Due to the
San Francisco Peace Treaty, the Japanese government created laws to support Japanese citizens by giving financial support, providing shelters, etc. However, after the treaty was signed, Zainichi Koreans were no longer counted as Japanese citizens, so they were unable to get any support from the government. They were unable to get an insurance certificate from the government, so it was difficult for them to get any medical care. Without medical insurance, Zainichi Koreans were unable to go to the hospital since the cost of medication was too high. Another problem caused by this treaty was that the Japanese government created a law which stated that Korean residents in Japan had to be fingerprinted since Zainichi Koreans had two names (their original name and a name given by the Japanese government). Under this law, Zainichi Koreans had to reveal their identity to the public because when they visited the city hall to provide their fingerprints, their neighbors found out that they were Zainichi Koreans. Therefore, Zainichi Koreans were forced to reveal their identity to Japanese and faced discrimination from them. This made their lives even more difficult. In order to protect themselves, many Zainichi Koreans protested against this law.
Mindan and many Zainichi Koreans opposed this law, but the law wasn't repealed until 1993. Until then, Zainichi Koreans could not escape from the social discrimination which they had faced in Japanese society.
Discrimination Furthermore, it was hard for the Zainichi Koreans to get a job due to discrimination. Zainichi Koreans were often forced into low-wage labor, lived in segregated communities, and faced barriers to their cultural and social practices. Especially, it was very hard for Zainichi Koreans to become public employees since Japan only let Japanese nationals become public employees at that time. Even of those who were able to secure jobs, many ended up working in coal mines, construction sites, and factories under harsh conditions that were markedly worse than those endured by their Japanese counterparts. The disparity was not limited to wages alone; Koreans also faced longer working hours and were subjected to physical abuse by supervisors who enforced strict discipline to maximize productivity. Since many Zainichi Koreans could not get a proper job, they began to get involved in illegal jobs such as "illegal alcohol production, scrap recycling, and racketeering". In addition to labor exploitation and housing discrimination, Koreans also endured significant social discrimination. They were segregated into specific neighborhoods, commonly referred to as "Korean Towns," (which still exist today in
Shin-Ōkubo and
Ikuno-ku) where living conditions were poor, sanitation was inadequate, and access to public services like healthcare and education was severely limited. Korean children faced bullying and discrimination in schools, which often led to high dropout rates and limited their educational and, subsequently, economic opportunities. Zainichi today have established a stable presence in Japan after years of activism. Through
Mintohren, community support by Zainichi organizations (Mindan and
Chongryon, among others), other minority groups (
Ainu,
burakumin,
Ryūkyūans,
Nivkhs, and others), and sympathetic Japanese, the social atmosphere for Zainichi in Japan has improved. There are also Koreans living in Japan who try to present themselves as Japanese to avoid discrimination. Most younger Zainichi now speak only Japanese, go to Japanese schools, work for Japanese firms, and increasingly marry Japanese people. Most
naturalization occurs among the young during the period when they seek
formal employment or marriage. Those who have already established their lives increasingly do not choose to retain their South Korean or
Joseon nationality or heritage and lead average lives alongside other Japanese. This, as well as marriage to Japanese nationals, is leading to a sharp decrease in the original "Zainichi" population in Japan.
Assimilation One of the most pressing issues of the Zainichi community is the rate of
assimilation of Zainichi into Japan. About 3,000 to 4,000 Koreans naturalize in Japan every year out of slightly less than 432,000. Naturalization carries a crucial cultural aspect in Japan, as both Mindan and Chongryon link Korean ethnic identity to Korean nationality, and Japanese and South Korean nationality laws do not allow multiple citizenship for adults. By their definition, opting for a Japanese passport means becoming Japanese, rather than Korean-Japanese. In order to be naturalized as Japanese citizens, Zainichi Koreans previously had to go through multiple, complex steps, requiring collection of information about their family and ancestors stretching back ten generations. This information could be collected through a Korean organization such as Mindan, but with their prohibitively expensive cost, many were unable to afford it. However, these processes have become much easier, and today, it is easier for Zainichi Koreans to naturalize into Japanese citizens. Though there are a few cases of celebrities who naturalize with their Korean name, the majority of naturalized Zainichi Koreans formally choose a name that is both read and appears ethnically Japanese. This supports the aforementioned cultural implication of naturalisation, leading some to take the rate of naturalisation as a rough measure of assimilation. During the post-World War II period, many Zainichi Koreans married with other Zainichi Koreans, and it was a rare case for them to intermarry with Japanese citizens. This was because of Japanese xenophobic prejudice against Zainichi Koreans due to stigma stemming from decades of discrimination. Therefore, Japanese citizens, especially their parents, largely refused marriage with Zainichi Koreans. However, there were problems with marriage between Zainichi Koreans, too. As stated in the previous section, Zainichi Koreans were mostly hiding their identity and living as Japanese-presenting people at the time. Because of this, it was very hard for Zainichi Koreans to connect with other people who had the same nationality as them. They were married mostly through arranged marriages supported by Mindan. In 1975, Hidenori Sakanaka (
Sakanaka Hidenori), a bureaucrat in the
Ministry of Justice, published a highly controversial document known as the "Sakanaka Paper". He stated that the assertion by both Mindan and Chongryon that Zainichi are destined to eventually return to Korea is no longer realistic. He further predicted that Zainichi would naturally disappear in the 21st century unless they abandon their link between Korean identity and Korean nationality. He argued that the Japanese government should stop treating Zainichi as temporary residents (with a
special status) and start providing a proper legal framework for their permanent settlement as "Korean Japanese". In December 1995,
Gendai Korea ("
Modern Korea") published the article, "20 years after the Sakanaka Paper" to assess further development. The article pointed out that in the 1980s, 50% of Zainichi Koreans married Japanese, and in the 1990s, the rate was 80%. (In fact, they quoted only 1518% Korean marriage during 1990 to 1994.) They also pointed out the change in the law in 1985, which granted Japanese citizenship to a child with either parent being Japaneseprevious laws granted citizenship only to a child with a Japanese father. In practice, this would mean that less than 20% of Zainichi marriages would result in Zainichi status. According to the article, since naturalisation is concentrated among the younger generation, the Zainichi population should be expected to collapse once the older generation starts to die out in two decades. The latest figures from Mindan showed that the total population of Zainichi was 598,219 in 2006 and 593,489 in 2007, and that only 8.9% married another Zainichi in 2006. There were 1,792 births and 4,588 deaths, resulting in a 2,796 natural decrease. On top of that, there were 8,531 naturalisations, which resulted in a total decrease of 11,327 in 2006 (2%).
Registration of residents After Zainichi Koreans lost Japanese nationality, the Immigration Control Act of 1951 and the Alien Registration Law of 1952 required them to be fingerprinted and to carry a certificate of registration as other foreigners did. The Permanent Residents by Accord of 1965 allowed Zainichi Koreans who had lived in Japan since the colonial period to apply for permanent residency, but their descendants could not. Twenty-six years later, the
Japanese Diet passed the Special Law on Immigration Control and categorized Zainichi Koreans who have lived without any gap since the end of World War II or before and their lineal descendants as
Special Permanent Residents. The fingerprint requirement for Zainichi Koreans was terminated by 1993. In 2007, the
Constitutional Court of Korea concluded all South Korean nationals don't have the right to vote in South Korea if they are permanent residents of other countries. Zainichi North Koreans are allowed to vote and theoretically eligible to stand in North Korea's
show elections if they are 17 years old or older. There have also been campaigns to allow Zainichi Koreans to take up government employment and participate in elections, which are open to Japanese nationals only. Since 1992,
Mindan has been campaigning for the right to vote in elections for prefectural and municipal assemblies, mayors, and prefecture governors, backed by the South Korean government. In 1997,
Kawasaki became the first municipality to hire a Korean national. So far, three prefectures
Osaka,
Nara, and
Kanagawahave supported voting rights for permanent foreign residents. However, the Japanese Diet has not yet passed a resolution regarding this matter, despite several attempts by a section within the
Liberal Democratic Party of Japan to do so, and there is considerable public and political opposition against granting voting rights to those who have not yet adopted Japanese nationality. Instead, the requirements for naturalization have been steadily lowered for Zainichi to the point that only criminal records or affiliation to North Korea would be a hindrance for naturalization. Both Zainichi organisations oppose this, as both see naturalization as
de facto assimilation. In November 2011, the South Korean government moved to register Zainichi Koreans as voters in South Korean elections, a move which attracted few registrants. While Mindan-affiliated Zainichi Koreans have pressed for voting rights in Japan, they have very little interest in becoming a
voting bloc in South Korean politics.
Chongryon for its part opposes moves to allow Zainichi Koreans to participate in Japanese politics, on the grounds that they assimilate Koreans into Japanese society and thus weaken Korean ethnic identity.
Korean schools with photographs of
Kim Il Sung and
Kim Jong Il The pro-North Korea association Chongryon operates 218
Chōsen gakkō across Japan, including kindergartens and one university,
Korea University. All lessons and all conversations within the school are conducted in
Korean. They teach a strong pro-North Korean ideology and allegiance to
Kim Il Sung,
Kim Jong Il, and
Kim Jong Un. The textbooks include an idealized depiction of the economic development of North Korea and
Songun policy of Kim Jong Il. One of the issues the schools now face is a lack of funding. The schools were originally set up and run with support from the North Korean government, but this money has now dried up, and with dropping pupil numbers, many schools are facing financial difficulties. The Japanese government has refused Chongryon's requests that it fund ethnic schools in line with regular Japanese schools, citing Article 89 of the
Japanese Constitution, where use of public funds for education by non-public bodies is prohibited. In reality, the schools are in fact partly funded by local authorities, but subsidies are given in the form of special benefits paid to the families of pupils, as opposed to paying the schools directly, in order to avoid a blatant breach of Article 89. It is still much less than the amount received by state schools. Another issue is an examination called the High School Equivalency Test, or
daiken, which qualifies those who have not graduated from a regular high school to apply for a place in a state university and take an entrance exam. Until recently, only those who had completed compulsory education (i.e., up to junior high school) were entitled to take the
daiken. This meant pupils of ethnic schools had to complete extra coursework before being allowed to take the exam. In 1999, the requirement was amended so that anyone over a certain age is qualified. Campaigners were not satisfied because this still meant graduates of non-Japanese high schools had to take the
daiken. In 2003, the Education Ministry removed the requirement to take the Equivalency Test from graduates of Chinese schools, Mindan-run Korean schools, and international schools affiliated with Western nations and accredited by U.S. and British organizations. However, this did not apply to graduates of Chongryon-run Korean schools, as the ministry said it could not approve their curricula. The decision was left up to individual universities, 70% of which allowed all Korean school graduates to apply directly. Due to the issues described above, the number of students at Korean schools run by Chongryon has declined by 67%, and many of the children of Zainichi Koreans now choose to go to orthodox Japanese schools. There are a few
Kankoku Gakkō (Korean: , Japanese: ) located in Tokyo, Osaka,
Ibaraki,
Kyoto, and
Ishioka, which receive sponsorship from South Korea and are operated by Mindan. Koreans who live in Japan and support South Korea are likely to attend a
Kankoku gakkō. Alternatively, they may go to a normal school in Japan taught in Japanese. Most Koreans who have lived in Japan since they were born, however, go to normal schools even if there is a
Kankoku gakkō near them.
Legal alias Registered aliens in Japan are allowed to adopt a , often abbreviated to , as their legal name. Traditionally, Zainichi Koreans have used Japanese-style names in public, but some Zainichi Koreans, including celebrities and professional athletes, use their original Korean names. Well-known ethnic Koreans who use Japanese names include
Hanshin Tigers star
Tomoaki Kanemoto, pro wrestlers
Riki Choshu and
Akira Maeda, and controversial
judoka and
mixed martial artist Yoshihiro Akiyama. During the
Korea-Japan 2002 FIFA World Cup, a Mindan newspaper conducted a survey regarding the use of aliases. 50% of those polled said that they always use an alias, while 13% stated they always use their original name. 33% stated that they use either depending on the situation. In a 1986 survey, over 90% of ethnic Koreans in Japan reported having a Japanese-sounding name in addition to a Korean one. In a 1998 study, 80% stated that they used their Japanese names when in Japanese company, and 30% stated that they used their Japanese names "almost exclusively". ==Zainichi in the Japanese labor market==