Monday, October 13, 2025

Privilege for Korean Residents in Japan (14/15) -The dark side of Japanese villages

Excerpt, Tentative translation

Privileges for Koreans Living in Japan (14/15)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
October 14, 2025 edition
As of that date, there are no pages in languages ​​other than Japanese and Korean.


【Receipt of Public Assistance Benefits and Receipt Rates】

 According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's 2020 "Survey of Residents," of the total number of households headed by Japanese nationals (54,471,321 households[88][89]), 1,571,226 households[90][91] received public assistance, representing a 2.88% public assistance recipient rate. Meanwhile, of the total number of households headed by Korean or South Korean nationals (200,549), 28,966 received public assistance, representing a 14.44% recipient rate, approximately five times higher than that of Japanese households. By nationality, this rate is also higher than that of Filipino households (2.96%), Brazilian households (0.09%), and Chinese households (1.6%).[92][93]

The Public Assistance Act, enacted in 1950, targets "nationals living in poverty." Even though the Supreme Court's Second Petty Bench ruled in July 2014 that "foreigners are not entitled to receive public assistance under the Public Assistance Act,"[94] over 40,000 foreign households continue to receive public assistance. This is because a notice issued in May 1954 by the Director-General of the Social Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Health and Welfare entitled "Regarding Measures for Public Assistance for Foreigners Living in Poverty" provided "temporary" protection for Korean and North Korean nationals who lost their Japanese citizenship under the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, for humanitarian and security reasons.


Katayama Satsuki has questioned the continuation of this temporary measure 50 years after the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea. She points out that South Korea only grants basic living assistance to foreigners who are "married to a South Korean national (including divorced or widowed) and raising a minor with South Korean nationality (including during pregnancy[95])," arguing that this provision violates the principle of reciprocity in the context of globalization.[96]

Fraudulent Receipt of Benefits
Foreigners are eligible for welfare benefits if they hold a residence status under the Immigration and Refugee Act, such as permanent resident, long-term resident, or have a Japanese spouse. Applicants are generally screened in the same way as Japanese nationals. However, while Japanese applicants are investigated to determine whether they have parents or relatives who can provide financial support, it has been pointed out that in the case of foreign nationals, it can be difficult to trace their family register, which has led to lax screening.[97]

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