At a special exhibition organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to promote understanding of people with mental disorders, the capital did not approve the screening of a video work dealing with Koreans with mental disorders in the early Showa era, and the producers responded that it would be "censored." criticize.
On the other hand, the metropolitan government said, "It does not match the purpose of the project, and it does not censor."
On the 22nd, a group of artist Yuki Iiyama and seven other members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly held a screening of a video work about Koreans who were hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital in the early Showa period at the assembly building of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. have participated.
Mr. Iiyama was commissioned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to present the contents of the exhibition at the "Tokyo Human Rights Plaza" in Minato Ward, Tokyo, to promote understanding of people with mental disabilities. but was not accepted.
In the work, there is a scene in which the performers visit an expert who studies the history of Koreans in Japan and receive an explanation such as ``It is true that Japanese killed Koreans in the confusion of the Great Kanto Earthquake''. It means that an e-mail was sent to the people concerned from the person in charge of the city expressing concern.
After the screening, Mr. Iiyama said, "At the event, I tried to explain the anguish and history of mentally handicapped people, but it was not accepted. I feel that the murder of Koreans is also a problem, as it seems not to be true." He criticized the city's refusal to approve the screening as "censorship."
In response to this, the Tokyo Human Rights Department told NHK, ``This work does not have direct expressions that lead to promoting understanding of people with mental disabilities, and from the perspective of deepening understanding among a wide range of Tokyo residents, it is difficult to understand and does not fit the purpose. The exhibition space is a 'place for the dissemination of human rights,' not a place where artists can freely present their own works, and is not subject to censorship."
Emails that exchanged opinions about screenings
We still have emails that exchanged opinions about the screening between the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which hosts the exhibition, and the person in charge of the Human Rights Enlightenment Center, an affiliated organization of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, who is coordinating on-site.
In the work, there is a scene in which the performers visit a specialist who studies the history of Koreans living in Japan, and receive an explanation such as, ``It is true that the Japanese killed Koreans in the chaos of the Great Kanto Earthquake.''
With this scene in mind, Miyako said in the email, "The city does not mention this historical recognition."
Furthermore, after pointing out that Governor Koike has not sent a memorial letter to the annual memorial ceremony for the Korean victims of the Great Kanto Earthquake, he said, I have concerns about using videos that say the massacre is 'fact'."
Iiyama's production group criticized this exchange, saying, ``If the governor's attitude affected the decision to cancel, it would be a problem.''
In response, the human rights department of the Tokyo metropolitan government acknowledged the existence of the email and said, ``The text of the email was poorly written. I explained.
On top of that, he said, ``Rather than whether or not there was a murder, there were various opinions about the contents of the email, such as the number of people killed, and I wanted to confirm that part. It's not because it's being done, but because it's out of touch with the theme of people with disabilities and human rights."