THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
2010/04/30
The remote island of Aogashima became inundated with messages from around the country, warning of an invasion by hostile foreign forces and claiming that the very survival of Japan was at stake.
Masanobu Yoshida, head of the general affairs section of the Aogashima village office, was one such recipient of the ominous e-mails.
For two weeks, he deleted these messages from his office computer, only to see his inbox fill up again with warnings of impending doom.
"What on earth is happening?" he asked no one in particular.
What was happening at that time was the campaign for the Jan. 24 by-election. Up for grabs was a seat in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly representing the constituency covering Aogashima and other islands under Tokyo's jurisdiction.
Although the main issue in the election was economic promotion, the e-mailers were more concerned about foreign residents getting the right to vote on the island.
They warned that small island municipalities, such as Aogashima with a population of 167, could be easily invaded if foreign suffrage was granted, putting the entire nation in danger.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government is considering giving the country's 910,000 foreign residents with permanent residency status the right to vote in local elections.
That idea has sparked a number of loud and angry protests from right-wing groups in front of offices of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan around the nation.
Now, their message has reached Aogashima island, 358 kilometers south of Tokyo, and other islands in the Izu and Ogasawara chains through e-mails and faxes.
The messages were sent to nursing homes, elementary schools, inns and other institutions. One person received more than 1,000 of the e-mails a day.
As society becomes increasingly swayed by online rumors and commentaries, the doomsday scenario has even been promoted by a politician.
Yoichiro Amameishi, a 41-year-old member of the city assembly of Musashimurayama in western Tokyo, wrote in his blog last November what might happen if foreigners could vote on Aogashima.
In such a situation, Chinese people would move to Aogashima in droves. The island would become independent of Japan and form an alliance with China, he wrote. With this island under its control, China would overpower the U.S. armed forces in Japan and then invade Taiwan and Okinawa Prefecture.
His scenario spawned a novel published by Takarajimasha Inc. this spring.
Aogashima was taken up because the village has the fewest residents among all municipalities in Japan.
"A village mayor has been elected by winning only 10 more votes than the runner-up. It could be controlled by manipulating only a handful of people. It's a blind spot in national security," Amameishi warned.
The e-mails to Aogashima and the other islands could be traced to another blog written by Tokyo-based journalist Masanori Mizuma, 59, which carried contact information on more than 150 people and organizations on the Izu and Ogasawara island chains.
"If the media had properly reported (on the foreign suffrage issue), people on the Net would not have been worried," Mizuma told The Asahi Shimbun, referring to the huge number of e-mails sent. "I'm sure it's an act of goodwill out of concerns that they did not want to endanger Japan."
The contact information was gathered by people who read his blog.
"I only convey the information. Silent people who were worried are awakening on the Internet," he said.
After the interview, Mizuma updated his blog, which describes himself and like-minded people as "individuals with good intentions who have obtained the ability to spread information."
He also suggested The Asahi Shimbun interviewed him with an ulterior motive. "There is a possibility of a conspiracy to remove the power of Internet users before the Upper House election (in the summer)," he wrote on his blog.
The by-election, meanwhile, was won by a candidate from the Liberal Democratic Party over one from Hatoyama's DPJ.
The invasion theory and concerns about foreign residents voting are spreading throughout the country.
Thirty-five prefectural assemblies have taken some sort of action concerning foreign suffrage, including adopting statements opposing the move or urging careful deliberations.
While Aogashima is regarded as a potential target of a Chinese takeover, the island of Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, is seen as being in the sights of South Korea.
The city assembly on the island, which is near the Korean Peninsula, adopted a statement in late March against foreigners' voting rights, based on a similar statement by an outside citizens group.
In fall 2008, group members visited the island and shouted: "Tsushima citizens, wake up!" and "This is war!"
In 2008, 72,000 South Korean tourists, or double Tsushima's population, visited the island. Some accommodations are geared toward South Koreans.
Claiming that South Koreans are buying up Tsushima land, members of the citizens group shouted, "Get the Koreans out of the island!"
Group representatives met the city assembly chairman and other leaders.
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