Tatemae and honne. According to Sugimoto tatemae and honne are usually set in opposition but they seem to run in parallel when referring to racial homogeneity as he states: The tatemae of Japan’s racial and ethnic homogeneity goes hand in hand with the honne of many Japanese, who believe that “Japaneseness” has superior qualities and should not be contaminated (Sugimoto, 2003, p. 183). Although Sugimoto (2003) translates tatemae as political correctness, I believe that tatemae does not correspond to a British notion of political correctness when applying the concept to the uni- raciality of Japan. This political correctness does not seem to be imposed by the Japanese government but by international law in terms of human rights and anti-discriminatory laws (see Solidarity Network with Migrants in Japan, 2007). Honne would seem to be used to refer to popular public opinion which is generally supported by the majority as opposed to politically correct notions of internationalisation which are imposed on Japan by Western democracies. Senior Japanese politicians ‘have often expressed their honne and referred to the superiority of the Japanese race, a race uncontaminated by other racial and ethnic groups’ (Sugimoto, 2003, p. 184) when giving speeches even in an international arena as was the case with Prime Minister Xxxxxxxx. They would seem to be reflecting their true ethnocentric feelings as purported by the Nihonjinron ideology. Senior politicians can make such racist and ethnocentric comments in Japan because they are appealing to the honne of their (racially ‘pure’ Japanese) supporters and ‘[t]o that extent, the top politicians reflect the belief of the community at large’ (Sugimoto, 2003, p. 184). This could be why it is considered acceptable for senior politicians to use the language of honne in the public arena when referring to Non-Japanese as it would seem to be that a ‘ “homogenous Japan” is indeed the dominant discourse amongst the average Japanese’ (Xxxxxxx, 2012, p. 42). As the largest ethnic groups in Japan, the Koreans and the Chinese, are virtually racially indistinguishable from the racially ‘pure’ Japanese, an immutable characteristic of ‘pure Japanese blood’ underpins the notion of uni-raciality (Yoshino, 1992).
