VIDEO TRANSCRIPT 

Zain, originally from Pakistan, now lives in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan.
The 27-year-old said he has had bitter experiences at Nagoya Station.

S/ Zain / The police stopped me for questioning twice a day here. I was astonished.

This wasn’t the only day it happened.

S/ Zain / At Nagoya Station alone, I was stopped for questioning at least five times, so often that I forgot how many times it has happened.

Zain was born in Pakistan and came to Japan with his mother and his siblings when he was eight.

His father had already lived in Japan for more than 10 years at that time. When Zain was 13, the family applied to become naturalized citizens of Japan, and the application was approved.More than 15 years have passed since he started living in this country, and his Japanese is fluent.

S/ Zain / When I was riding a bicycle, a police officer stopped me and the first thing I was told was, "This ain't your bike, is it?"

But that wasn't all.

S/ Zain / Another time, an officer looked at my driver's license and asked if we no longer have our residence card when we become Japanese citizens.He said he had a difficult time trying to convince the police that, as a Japanese citizen, he does not have to carry a residence card for foreigners anymore.

These experiences led Zain to think something had to be done.

S/ Zain / When I ask Japanese people who were born and raised in Japan, they say they were never stopped by police and if they were, it happened only once or twice. But people with foreign background were stopped many times. I felt that I wasn't alone, that everyone was feeling the same way, and that was wrong. I had to bring about change for everyone.

Observing that Japanese police were stopping people based on their appearance, Zain and two others with foreign roots filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court in January.

They sued the national government and others, claiming that police profiling based on factors like ethnicity and skin color was discrimination and therefore illegal.

They are seeking 3.3 million yen in compensation for damages per plaintiff.The first hearing for the case took place on April 15. Racial profiling involves suspecting people for wrongdoing based only on their race or ethnicity.

United Nations entities are calling for measures against such police action.

At the first hearing, Zain asserted that police behavior based on prejudice against people with foreign background has become widespread.

But the defendants countered the argument, denying the existence of racial profiling practices.

Through the lawsuit, Zain hopes to change the way Japanese society perceives people who appear to have foreign roots.

S/ Zain / I think it's important to rethink things like prejudice and discrimination with doubtful eyes. I hope people will think about how it would feel when they put themselves in the shoes of those with foreign background who were born and raised in Japan and have experienced only Japanese culture.

STUDIO TALK 

R/ Mori Keisuke, Anchor / We have our Nippon TV reporter Shiraga Etienne who covered this news with us today.
The plaintiffs and defendants are apparently at odds with each other in their opinions and assertions. What are the arguments of the plaintiffs who claim that there is racial profiling?

R/ Shiraga Etienne, Reporter / The plaintiffs themselves have experienced it, and they say there are police internal documents that show racial profiling is being conducted. According to the lawsuit, the Aichi prefectural police has a "manual" that encourages officers to have a firm belief that people who appear to have foreign background and do not speak Japanese must have committed some kind of illegal act. This is why they are asserting that there is racial profiling.

R/ Saito Yuki, Anchor / Are there many people with foreign roots who feel they have been racially profiled?

R/ Shiraga Etienne, Reporter / Yes. The Tokyo Bar Association conducted a questionnaire in 2022 on people with foreign nationality or background, and of about 2,100 respondents, 62.9% had answerd that they had been stopped by police for questioning in the past five years.
And half of them experienced it two to five times, and over 11% said they were questioned 10 times or more. Over 90% said they felt that officers determined they were of foreign origin due to their "physical characteristics".

R/ Mori Keisuke, Anchor / So the characteristics include their appearance. Straightly asking, You also have foreign background. Have you ever had similar experiences?

R/ Shiraga Etienne, Reporter / My father is French, and I moved to Japan when I was eight. I have been stopped by the police for questioning multiple times. One time, I was on a shinkansen bullet train and the passengers were getting off. But when I was about to get off, the police stopped me for some reason and asked for identification.

R/ Mori Keisuke, Anchor / But you weren't doing anything suspicious?

R/ Shiraga Etienne, Reporter / I didn't know why they stopped me.

R/ Mori Keisuke, Anchor / We've been talking about police officers, but in other aspects of your daily life, have you experienced that kind of prejudice?

R/ Shiraga Etienne, Reporter / The plaintiff I interviewed said he feels that not many people recognize that there are people who appear to have foreign roots who are living as Japanese nationals. He expressed his hope that the trial will prompt people to think again not only about racial profiling and police questioning,but also the way they perceive people with foreign background on an everyday life basis.

R/ Mori Keisuke, Anchor / There are more people like that nowadays.

R/ Shiraga Etienne, Reporter / People might feel distant from this issue, but I think the trial will be an opportunity for people to think about how they feel when they see someone who appears to have foreign background.

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