In the run-up to Sunday¡¯s Tokyo gubernatorial election, one candidate¡¯s xenophobic speeches have fanned the flames of an ongoing debate over hate speech.
Makoto Sakurai, the former leader of anti-foreigner group Zaitokukai, urged voters to expel foreign residents from Japan to defend the rights of Japanese nationals.
Speaking to a crowd in Tokyo¡¯s Sugamo district, he claimed that foreign residents ¡ª particularly Koreans, Chinese, and Filipinos ¡ª are exploiting Japan¡¯s welfare system.
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