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Sangokujin (三国人?) is a Japanese term referring to ex-colonial nationals of Korea and China in the aftermath of World War II. The original term, which literally means "the third country person" and has a meaning of the third party country person, is said to have been coined to establish a separate political, social and legal status from Japanese. The term derives from translating the English term "third country national" as used during the allied occupation of Japan.


In the immediate aftermath of the war, the legal status of Koreans and Taiwanese was not clear. The occupying American force enjoyed an immunity from the Japanese legal system. Some Koreans and Taiwanese came to insist that, since they were from a liberated country, they were no longer under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Imperial government. This resulted in many poor Taiwanese and Koreans who were previously suppressed under colonial rule to form criminal gangs such as the Yamiichi (闇市), a black market which was against the rationing system which continued after the war. The occasional clash of these gangs and Japanese police was widely reported by the newspapers of the time. One such incident was the Shibuya incident. Many of these rioters were referred to by the term "Sangokujin", which was invented by the American administration.[citation needed] Soon, many Japanese began to associate the term Sangokujin with the criminal behavior of ex-colonial residents.[1]

As the country became more stable, the term became something of an anachronism and was mostly forgotten. However, the use of the term was revived when the nationalist Tokyo Metropolitan Governor Shintaro Ishihara used it in an April 9, 2000 address to the Japanese Self Defense Forces (JSDF). In the speech, Ishihara suggested that the JSDF would be needed to suppress Sangokujin criminal activity in the event of a catastrophic earthquake in Tokyo.[2] This has provoked much criticism, since the term has developed a derogatory connotation. Ishihara's hypothetical scenario also attracted criticism because of its historical reference to the aftermath of the Great Kantō Earthquake, in which Korean residents were massacred by civilian vigilantes.

The governor later stated, "What is wrong with calling Sangokujins 'Sangokujins'?" Ishihara insisted that the term is a neutral reference to the Zainichi population for his generation. This has provoked much discussion about the political correctness of the term.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ David E. Kaplan, Alec Dubro (2003) Yakuza: Japan's criminal underworld, University of California Press, p35
  2. ^ CALVIN SIMS (2000) Tokyo Chief Starts New Furor, on Immigrants New York Times