Making headlines worldwide last month was the publication of a magazine entitled "Kyogaku no Gaijin Hanzai Ura Fairu ("Shocking Foreigner crime: the Underground File"). On sale at major Japanese bookstores and convenience stores nationwide, Gaijin Hanzai (GH) attributed criminality to nationality, and depicted foreigners as "dangerous" and "evil."
Much ink and many pixels have already described the magazine as an example of "hate speech" (archive at www.debito.org/index.php/?cat=27). So this article will not dwell on its contents. See all of it yourself at www.flickr.com/photos/ultraneo/sets/72157594531953574/
The news: Despite Japan's lack of laws, or a civil society that can curb hate speech of this sort, activists put GH out of circulation. Despite no help from domestic groups or Japan's press, "newcomer" residents and immigrants demonstrated their power as consumers for probably the first time in Japan's history.
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