How should hate-filled statements from candidates on the campaign trail be handled?

In the July Tokyo gubernatorial election -- which took place after a law encouraging local and central governments to implement measures against hate speech went into effect on June 3 -- a candidate that has a record of spreading discriminatory messages ran in the poll, using his campaign as a platform to publicize his nationalist and hate-laden views.

It was July 15, the day after the gubernatorial race was officially announced. A campaign van pulled up by the main entrance of Mindan, also known as the Korean Residents Union in Japan, in Tokyo's Minato Ward, and an election campaign banner was set up. That this was taking place in front of one of the hubs for Korean nationals in Japan, who do not have any voting rights in this country, was unusual.

Tokyo gubernatorial candidate Makoto Sakurai, 44, wearing a light blue election sash hung diagonally against his chest and back, screamed from the campaign van. "Get the hell out of Japan." "You are not needed in Japan!" There were few people walking the streets nearby, and about 10 people, including Mindan staff and Sakurai supporters, looked on.

Sakurai is the former head of the nationalist organization Zaitokukai, short for Zainichi Tokken o Yurusanai Shimin no Kai (Association of citizens against special privileges of Zainichi). In late June, less than a month after the enforcement of new hate-speech legislation, Sakurai revealed in a press conference that he intended to run in the gubernatorial election. This is the same man who in December 2015 was issued an advisory by the Tokyo Legal Affairs Bureau for repeatedly displaying threatening behavior in front of Korea University in the Tokyo suburb of Kodaira. Asked about the advisory at the press conference, Sakurai stated, "I was never involved in activities that amount to hate speech."

As for the possibility of objections being voiced toward his campaign speeches, he responded -- with a Public Office Elections Act stipulation prohibiting the obstruction of the freedom of election campaigns in mind -- "I assume that those who protest will be arrested for obstructing my campaign."

Most of Sakurai's stump speeches were made in front of train stations near busy shopping and entertainment districts and other locations in Tokyo, but toward the end of the campaign period, Sakurai chose to speak near JR Shin Okubo Station in Shinjuku Ward, a bustling Koreatown. He also made a speech in front of the Chiyoda Ward headquarters of Chosen Soren, or the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, another major organization for Korean nationals in Japan. Sakurai's supporters, meanwhile, pulled up to Korea University, unauthorized, in a campaign van.

"Sakurai used the fact that it was the election campaign period to go around spewing hate as much as he wanted," one 58-year-old Mindan official said. "He spread seeds of hate that could be stirred up across the internet."

Among the things that Sakurai said during his campaign were admonitions to reject South Koreans, North Koreans and Chinese who live in Japan. But during one speech, Sakurai said, "I am merely telling the members of Mindan to get out of Japan. How can that be considered hate speech?"

Meanwhile, Sakurai kept statements unequivocally calling for the elimination of foreign nationals from Japan under wraps during his televised campaign speeches. The Public Office Elections Act prohibits candidates from making defamatory remarks or taking any kind of action that would hurt the dignity of others during televised campaign speeches.

To ensure that candidates run for election under fair conditions, the Public Office Elections Act stipulates the period during which candidates can conduct their campaigns, limits the number of rallies that can be held, and prohibits door-to-door canvassing. It does not, however, place restrictions on the content of the candidates' remarks and speeches. The reason? Because any restrictions on speech could be turned into a real threat against democracy.

The law that was passed with the aim of eliminating hate speech is one of "principle" lacking any provisions that actually ban hate speech. As for countermeasures against candidates who may use their campaigns to spew hatred, a Justice Ministry official explained, "Regardless of whether such speech occurs during an election or not, we will try to stop hate speech through public awareness and educational initiatives."

The Tokyo Metropolitan Electoral Management Committee, meanwhile, says that it is tasked with carrying out elections, and is not in a position to judge the contents of stump speeches. But, one official adds, "If you're asking if a candidate can say anything on the campaign trail, that's a different issue. If a candidate's actions infringe upon laws aside from the Public Offices Election Act, they will be handled accordingly. The Tokyo Metropolitan Electoral Management Committee explained to candidates in a pre-campaign information session that they must not act in ways that are not truly campaign-related, or do anything illegal while campaigning.

Japan has not taken action on the obligation to take legal action against hate speech, as stipulated by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), but has signed on to a provision that prohibits the promotion of racial discrimination by civil servants. The newly enforced hate-speech legislation places the onus on municipal governments to make efforts to eliminate hate speech. Alongside the effectuation of the law, the National Police Agency (NPA) has sent out a notice to police nationwide to make full use of existing laws, including those relating to libel and traffic violations, to crack down on hate speech demonstrations.

"Diet deliberations on the hate-speech law and the subsequent NPA notice confirmed that the government was going to clamp down on hate speech using what they can of existing laws," says Takahiro Akedo, an adjunct lecturer in sociology at Kanto Gakuin University who has written about hate speech. "Even during elections, candidates do not become immune to the law, nor do the Justice Ministry's and courts' decisions on human rights violations and defamation change." He continues, "We can expect to see hate speech in future elections. We must build up the efficacy of the new law by creating a provision banning hate speech, while at the same time clarifying what is protected under the Public Office Elections Act and what does not change during campaigns."

Seijo University's Shoichiro Nishido, a professor of constitutional law, emphasizes, "Just because the Public Office Elections Act does not restrict the contents of one's speech, it does not mean that speech and actions that injure someone's honor and violate human rights is permissible." He remains, however, cautious about establishing a provision banning hate speech in the hate-speech law, citing the risks of such a provision being abused by administrative bodies. Instead, Nishido points to Justice Ministry advisories and the establishment of a domestic human rights protection organization that is independent from the government as possible ways of dealing with hate speech.

Nishido, meanwhile, urges the media to take on more responsibility for curtailing hate speech. "The Public Office Elections Act allows newspapers and television the freedom to report on and critique elections. The mass media should be criticizing speech that violates human rights." He also points out that the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association released a comment in 1966 that "how a newspaper reports on and critiques elections are not legal problems, but editorial policy problems that are up to each newspaper to decide on."