A Japanese kindergarten with ties to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife apologized for comments described as hate speech against Koreans and Chinese people, as the incident has underscored the seemingly indelible nature of racial discrimination in Japan.
The private Tsukamoto kindergarten in Osaka, western Japan was alleged to have handed out to students' parents a copy of a statement slurring both Korean and Chinese residents in Japan.
The kindergarten has a curriculum taught to 3-to-5 year old students based around notions of instilling national pride and patriotism.
The school has also come under fire for posting remarks on its web page that could have also been construed as hate speech.
According to Kyodo News, the statement handed out by the kindergarten described Korean residents in Japan and Chinese people as those with "wicked ideas," calling the latter with a term considered derogatory toward Chinese people.
Following these allegations, officials at the school, operated by Moritomo Gakuen, were questioned by Osaka prefectural officials for suspected hate speech.
A separate pamphlet was also distributed to parents in December, stating: "The problem is that people who have inherited the spirit (of Koreans) exist in our country with the looks of Japanese people," Kyodo News said in a recent article, having obtained a copy of the pamphlet.
On Feb. 17, local media here said the school apologized for its online remarks in a post stating: "We apologize for expressions about foreigners that caused misunderstanding," although added it believed some online reports about the kindergarten were "malicious criticism."
While the school may deny that it is a breeding ground for racial hatred, discrimination and nationalism, the children there begin their days singing Japan's national anthem in front of the country's flag and recite the Imperial Rescript on Education, which demands devotion to the emperor and sacrifice for the country.
The rescript was abolished after World War II, but reintroduced 15 years ago by Tsukamoto kindergarten, the walls of which are lined by historical pictures of the imperial family to which the students bow to as they pass in the corridor, according to local accounts.
Along with the rescript and other such "cultural" instruction, according to the kindergarten's principal, Yasunori Kagoike, the school's curriculum is supposed to foster patriotism and not nationalism.
However, with the students' visits to military bases and the fact that Kagoike heads the Osaka branch of Nippon Kaigi, or Japan Conference, a nationalist, non-political entity which supports the State Shinto religious organization, it would not be a huge leap to link the school, its teachings and supporters to discriminatory issues that plague the area and the broader nation.
