Foreign Student (hereinafter FS): Racial discrimination has long been a problem the world over. Are foreigners discriminated against in Japan? Teacher (hereinafter, T): A few decades ago Japanese people often called non-Japanese gaijin. As this is a discriminatory term, it became a social problem. As Japanese people are mostly racially homogeneous, they have a tendency to make a distinction between themselves and non-Japanese. Though some people might have used it with ill intent, most Japanese used the term simply as an abbreviation of the word gaikokujin. These days gaijin is almost never used, instead, people say gaikokujin. FS: I’ve heard that hate speeches are given at demonstrations against Koreans. Is there any truth to this? T: The problems between Korea and Japan have deep historical roots. Japan annexed Korea between 1910 and 1945 – when World War Two ended. One can understand that this was a huge insult to Koreans who were proud of the fact that they had once taught their own expertise –which included Chinese customs they’d adopted – to the Japanese. Having achieved incredible economic growth after World War Two, Japan normalized its relations with Korea by paying out a huge amount of compensation; a sum equivalent to the then Korean government’s yearly budget. FS：Why have relations worsened? T: After that Korea raised one contentious issue after another – issues such as territorial disputes and comfort women that Japan had thought were settled through the payment of reparations –reactivating anti-Japanese sentiments. Feeling disgusted by the behavior of the Korean government, some Japanese have taken part in anti-Korea demonstrations. This is not exactly racism. Many Japanese take the view that Korean politicians are manipulating Korean citizens into turning against Japan. FS: Hitler targeted the Jews and stirred up hatred amongst his people. These days, discrimination against refugees and immigrants is occurring in many countries. T: The outbreak of terrorism was preceded by a history of powerful nations arbitrarily carving up new borders and unfairly exploiting the resources of countries in the Middle East and Africa. It could be said that this is the main cause of terrorism. Even so, terrorist actions should not be tolerated. FS: Does the Japanese government have any policies to combat racial discrimination? T: In fact, at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 after World War One, Japan was the first country in the world to propose the abolition of racial discrimination. However, due to opposition from nations with colonies and those with endemic racial discrimination, the proposal was not adopted. At present, due to geographical considerations and other reasons, Japan has accepted few refugees. As racial discrimination is not a big social issue, Japan is taking a wait and see stance towards the issue.