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Prof. Sangyun KIM
Professor, Faculty of Law, Ryukoku University; Director, Hate Crime Unit, Criminology Research Center
[Profile]:
Studies the problem of discrimination and often delivers lectures, study groups, and symposiums.

Non-Punitive Prevention of Hate Crime
The issue of discrimination encompasses not only racial discrimination, but also discrimination against buraku (outcasts), people with disabilities, and more recently LGBTQ people. Today’s society has become a breeding ground for hate crime by the very dint of its stratification of people into simple binary groups such as men and women, or majority and minority, which run counter to individual diversity. The internet, originally intended as a means of expanding the horizons of communication and bring more diversity, can also narrow our field of view by entrenching certain ideas among like-minded groups.
Also, while programs of academic and social education teach us people are equal and not to discriminate, we also witness cases of unilateral discrimination in speech and film, resigning us to the fact that while we may not discriminate, the society we live in allows discrimination to occur.
Why is it wrong to discriminate prejudicially based on differences in race, sex, or other attributes? Education in Japan fails to address this fundamental question in a satisfactory manner. The purpose of this research is to investigate the state of education and background to discrimination against minorities, explores the ability of society and the public to resolve discrimination by non-punitive methods, and examines whether this ability could also prevent hate crime.

Uncovering the Process by which Discriminatory Beliefs Lead to Violence
Hate speech became a familiar social concept around 2009. Hate speech is not discrimination against individuals, but speech that attacks a particular attribute or group regardless of ability, character, or personality. For example, Japanese people who label Korean residents of Japan as different, thereby making every aspect of Korean residents a target of attack. In a worst-case scenario, this discriminatory belief can go beyond public propagandizing with hate speech and political demonstration and escalate to hate crime.
A major motivation for this research was the surge in hate speech that followed the Kyoto Korean Elementary School incident (2009), and the immense disappointment I felt at how language originating from the colonial occupation of Korea remained in vociferous use in 21st century Japan.
By using field surveys of political propaganda and demonstrations and interviewing people affiliated with these events, I study the kinds of motivations and processes that give rise to discrimination. Through understanding these processes, we might identify the reasons why crime based on prejudice and discrimination occurs.

Assembling a General Theory of Discriminatory Phenomena
In this increasingly exclusionary climate, the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (enacted in 2013), the Hate Speech Act (established in 2016), and the Act for Elimination Discrimination against Buraku (established in 2016) were all put into effect in 2017. The LGBTQ problem is also gaining prominence, though the disparate nature of how these four types of discrimination are handled, including in law, presents a problem. First, I think we need to describe a general theory of why the phenomenon of discrimination is so prevalent, and then derive theories and laws that eliminate issues apparent in individual discrimination phenomena.
The final goal for this research is to construct and publish a general theory of discrimination and discriminatory crime. Since this has not yet been done in Japan, I believe my research is extremely important and holds immense significance for the Criminology Research Center.

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Prof. Tsukasa SAITO
Professor, Faculty of Law, Ryukoku University; Director, Sexual Crime Unit, Criminology Research Center
[Profile]:
Studies the Code of Criminal Procedure at university. Author of “The Thought Process of Criminal Procedure Law” (2019, Nippon Hyoron Sha) and other works.

What are the Effects of Legal Reform?
In July 2017, provisions in Japanese criminal law related to rape and incapacitated rape were amended for the first time in 110 years. My research concerns the implementation of these amendments in criminal procedures on sexual crime and how these amendments affect the treatment of criminals. Although academic departments necessarily address sexual crime through lectures and in other ways, an increasing number of students seem to be reluctant engage in this topic or have tired of it. One of the reasons I started this research was after seeing these responses and wondering how sexual crime should be approached in education. Sexual crime can be a familiar issue that deserves special consideration. One of the major changes brought about by the recent legal reform was to remove a limitation that only males can commit sexual crime. The starting point for my study of sexual crime is to comprehend sexual crime and sexual offenders as notions that have changed over time, including sexual crime by male to female, by female to male, and if possible by LGBT.

Predictions Based on Historical and International Comparisons
With this research, I want to examine the changing social consciousness in terms of how sexual crime and sexual criminals have been viewed by society, including in law, and try to make comparisons between different countries. This includes regions such as Northern European countries and Germany that recently implemented legal reforms on sexual crime similar to those implemented in Japan. Taiwan and South Korea resemble Japan in how their countries developed from the laws of prewar Japan, though the present circumstances of each country differ from current day Japan. Investigating the reasons for these differences should reveal the characteristic features of sexual offenders and sexual offending patterns in Japan, and reveal clues for future measures against sexual crime. The clues revealed by historical research and comparisons between countries will inform an examination of the state of Japan regarding legal provisions for sexual crime and the treatment of sexual criminals.
Crimes are acts that violate the rights (interests) of the individual. Many years ago, rape of a married woman was considered a violation of the husband’s rights and not the woman’s rights. Our view of sexual crime has changed to now consider it a violation of the rights of the individual to their sexual freedom. Notions have also changed in terms of the relationship between sexual crime and criminal law, and notions of sexual offenders have changed as a consequence. Although notions of sexual crime have changed substantially over the years, this remains an area yet to be studied in any real depth. Studying changes in social consciousness and comparing sexual crime between countries should inform us in determining how best to proceed in the future.

Identifying Gaps in the Law and Punishments for Sexual Crime
After remaining almost entirely unchanged for many years, the Code of Criminal Procedure was amended and brought about the lay judge system and other reforms that changed Japan in ways unforeseeable 10 or more years ago. These amendments addressed the view that the minimum statutory penalty for sexual crime was too low given the maliciousness and gravity of the crime and increased the minimum statutory penalty from a 3-year to a 5-year prison term. One of the themes of this research is examining whether the law as observed is at odds with punishments for sexual crime as demanded by society. After we reach a clear definition of sexual crime and sexual offenders, we must consider not only how best to punish sexual offenders, but also how best to provide support aimed at preventing the recidivism of sexual crime.

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