KAWAGUCHI, Saitama -- About 1,200 people joined an anti-discrimination march in Kawaguchi, a city near Tokyo where about 8% of residents are foreigners.

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The march, called "Gochamaze Kawaguchi No Hate March," took place Jan. 11. People walked from JR Kawaguchi Station to Nishi-Kawaguchi Station, chanting, "Stop discrimination" and "Hate speech is not cool." "Gochamaze" means "mishmash" in Japanese, showing that Kawaguchi is a mix of many people.

The event was a "sound rally," with a DJ playing international music from a truck.

Mayuko Nakajima, one of the organizers, said, "Discriminatory rhetoric has tended to intensify at election campaign spots, including during last year's House of Councillors contest. I wanted to take action ahead of the Kawaguchi mayoral poll." The election for Kawaguchi's mayor is on Feb. 1.

Recently, Kurdish people from Turkey and other groups in Kawaguchi have faced more hate online and in real life. Anti-foreigner rallies are also happening more often.

A 36-year-old man from the United States who lives in Kawaguchi said he has lived in Japan for 15 years, but now feels people talk about foreigners differently. He hopes the march will make people think about what kind of society they want.

(Japanese original by Takuro Tahara, Saitama Bureau

Vocabulary:

discrimination: treating people unfairly because they are different

hate speech: words that attack or hurt people from other groups

rally: a large public meeting or march

rhetoric: the way people talk about something, often in public