Netto uyoku or Net uyoku (ネット右翼, Japanese internet right-wingers), often abbreviated to Netouyo (ネトウヨ), is the term used to refer to Japanese neo-nationalists who interact almost entirely within their own cyber community, shut off from the rest of Japanese society. Netto uyoku frequently post nationalistic and xenophobic articles on the Internet.
Contents
Origins
Netto uyoku appeared on the internet during the Lost Decade, which was an economic crisis in Japan from the 1990s to 2010s.
Characteristics
Netto uyoku generally express support for historically revisionist views, portraying Japan in a positive light, juxtaposed with a negative portrayal of China (Sinophobia), North and South Korea (Anti-Korean sentiment), which defends Japan's actions prior to and during World War II. Netto uyoku tend to express hostility towards immigrants from other countries, particularly Zainichi Koreans (在日韓国・朝鮮人, Zainichi-Kankoku-Chōsen-jin, Koreans in Japan), take the Japanese side of territorial disputes such as Takeshima (dispute), Okinoshima, Oki District, Shimane Prefecture and the Senkaku Islands (dispute), Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, and encourage visits by conservative politicians to the Yasukuni Shrine. 2channel was where much of the netto-uyoku movement first took shape, and continues to be where a significant portion of their online activism takes place.
Furuya Tsunehira, who writes about the netto-uyoku, makes the observation that although active on the web, they lack institutional political representation offline, leading to a sense of frustration and a tendency to be more active online and to back the more right-wing elements of the LDP, especially the Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's administration as a substitute for having a party of their own.
A former Netto-uyoku confessed that he was lonely so he spent lots of time on the internet writing xenophobic articles on Twitter.
"I was lonely and had nothing to do at that time. So I spent a lot of time on the Internet. This was just as “matome” meme aggregator websites were just becoming popular in Japan。 After reading websites that focused on discrimination, I felt great because I thought I had gained knowledge that they did not teach in school nor you could not get by watching TV。
I was also very happy because I was sharing the knowledge with “someone” even though I had not met them in person. The topics we were discussing were often about how to set the world right。
So, I felt I was someone important。When I saw those comments making fun of the Koreans or even worse, they did not bother me at all. Perhaps it was partly because I didn't know anything about Korea and the Koreans。In any case, they were living in a different world from mine and frankly speaking it didn't matter to me at all。