Netto-uyoku
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Netto-uyoku or net uyoku (ネット右翼, lit. 'Internet rightists'), often shortened to neto-uyo (ネトウヨ), is the term used to refer to Japanese netizens who espouse ultranationalist far-right views on social media. Netto-uyoku is evaluated as having similarities to Western right-wing populism or alt-right in many ways.[1][2][3][4][5]
Origins
The origins of Japan's "cyber nationalist phenomenon" are unknown. But it can be traced back from the 1990s during the Lost Decades, [6] when significant socioeconomic changes from the bubble asset, as well as major incidents such as the Tokyo subway attack and the Great Hanshin Earthquake, led to general distrust and decline of national morale within Japanese society. [7] Nationalism would become more prominent since 2002, when North Korea officially admitted to abducting Japanese citizens[8] and the introduction of the Korean wave in Japan.[9] In an attempt to lash out from the constant frustration and social anxiety, combined with the mainstream media avoiding coverage critical of South Korea and Koreans, netizens displaced their hostility towards South Korea. Thus, online bulletin boards and forums became popular outlets to express such negativity, as the Internet is free from the constraints of official policy or political correctness.
Views
The netto-uyoku have viewpoints that are emboldened via interacting with other people who share the same perspective.
They generally express support for historically revisionist views that portray the former Empire of Japan in a positive light, while maintaining negative sentiments towards countries that have diplomatic tensions with Japan, specifically North Korea, South Korea, and China (anti-Chinese sentiment). Netto-uyoku also expresses hostility towards immigrants and ethnic minorities associated with those countries.
Domestically, the netto-uyoku express criticisms against the left-wing and centre-left parties, such as the Japanese Communist Party, Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the former Democratic Party of Japan, and the Japanese mainstream media, which they accuse of having a liberal bias.[10]
Statistics
Japanese critic and writer, Tsunehira Furuya describes the netto uyoku as a "new breed of neo-nationalists who interact almost entirely within their own cyber community, shut off from the rest of society". According to Furuya, "the average age of Japan's Internet right-wingers is around 40. Some 75% of them are male", and adds that although active on the web, they lack institutional political representation offline. This leads them to be more active online, in order to back the far-right elements of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, especially those under the administration of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.[11]
Rise of Trumpism
The rise of Trumpism among the netto-uyoku community has been observed since September 2020, two months prior to the 2020 United States presidential election.[12] Some Japanese political commentators even theorized that Shinzo Abe's resignation as Prime Minister in September 2020 to be a juncture for netto-uyoku to shift their central figure to Donald Trump as a "political upgrade" in promoting diplomatic policies which embody anti-Chinese sentiment.[13] As such they began spreading Trump's conspiracy theories in an attempt to overturn the 2020 American presidential election.[14]
See also
Notes
References
- ^ Fujioka, Brett (7 August 2019). "Japan's Cynical Romantics, Precursors to the Alt-Right". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- ^ Shinji Higaki; Yuji Nasu, eds. (2021). Hate Speech in Japan: The Possibility of a Non-Regulatory Approach. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Patrik Hermansson; David Lawrence; Joe Mulhall, eds. (2020). The International Alt-Right: Fascism for the 21st Century?. Routledge. ISBN 9780429627095.
... Specifically, to a Japanese nationalist movement that predates the Alternative Right and has numerous striking parallels; the Netto Uyoku ("the online right"). Both the Alternative Right in the US and Europe and the Netto Uyoku emerged ...
- ^ John Lie, ed. (2021). Japan, the Sustainable Society: The Artisanal Ethos, Ordinary Virtues, and Everyday Life in the Age of Limits. Univ of California Press. p. 98.
- ^ Cecilia Menjívar, Immanuel Ness, ed. (2019). The Oxford Handbook of Migration Crises. Oxford University Press. p. 203.
- ^ Sakamoto, Rumi. "'Koreans, Go Home!' Internet Nationalism in Contemporary Japan as a Digitally Mediated Subculture". The Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. The Asia Pacific Journal. Retrieved Aug 28, 2023.
- ^ Kawamura, Satofumi; Iwabuchi, Koichi. "Making neo-nationalist subject in Japan: The intersection of nationalism, jingoism, and populism in the digital age". Communication and the Public (2022): 2. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
- ^ "Xenophobia finds fertile soil in web anonymity". The Japan Times. 8 January 2013.
- ^ Mikalajūnaitė, Ugnė (May 29, 2015). "Anti-Korean Wave and Far-Right Wing Nationalism in Japan". Leiden University: 7. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
- ^ Kaigo, Muneo (2013). "Internet Aggregators Constructing the Political Right Wing in Japan". eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government. 5 (1): 59–79. doi:10.29379/jedem.v5i1.184. ISSN 2075-9517.
- ^ "The Roots and Realities of Japan's Cyber-Nationalism". 21 January 2016.
- ^ Kinoshita, Chigaya (December 22, 2020), 限界ネトウヨと右翼ヘゲモニーの終焉, Asahi Ronza (in Japanese), retrieved February 16, 2021
- ^ 古谷, 経衡 (December 17, 2020), 「勝ったのはトランプ」と一部日本人までが言い張る理由, Newsweek (in Japanese), retrieved February 16, 2021
- ^ 倉山, 満 (December 14, 2020), ネトウヨ芸人も安倍信者も、社会から消えてもらうのみ, Yahoo News (in Japanese), archived from the original on December 14, 2020, retrieved February 16, 2021
External links
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