Monday, March 13, 2017

Rumors of Crime by Foreigners Followed Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011




The Mainichi [Japan]
13 March 2017


SENDAI -- Fake rumors of rampant crime by foreigners in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami six years ago were believed by over 80 percent of respondents here in a recent survey who said they had heard them, it has been learned.

Tohoku Gakuin University professor Kwak Kihwan, who specializes in co-existing society studies, conducted a survey on the rumors in September and October last year. […]

A total of 51.6 percent of respondents said they had heard rumors of crime by foreigners in the disaster areas. Of these, 86.2 percent responded that they had either "largely" or "somewhat" believed the rumors. When asked what crimes had been rumored, with multiple answers permitted, "looting and theft" took the top spot at 97 percent, followed by "damage to corpses" (24.4 percent), and "rape and assault" (19.1 percent). When asked who they thought had committed the crimes, again with multiple answers permitted, 63 percent said "Chinese," 24.9 percent said "Koreans," and 22.7 percent answered "people from Southeast Asia." […]