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A recent decision by the Japanese government to permit local governments to hire non-Japanese for general administrative positions was particularly noteworthy because it represented a major departure from the government's 'nationality clause' which prohibits local governments from hiring foreigners for administrative positions.

Of course the 'foreigners' in question here are for the most part Korean residents of Japan, the majority of whom were born here and yet are nevertheless subject to a wide range of official discriminatory policies in their daily lives. From time to time the issue of the Koreans' lack of rights is discussed by the media and roundly criticised. It is generally assumed that the Korean minority suffer greatly from prejudice and discrimination but rarely is there any discussion of how the Koreans have survived in the face of so much discrimination and what their attitudes towards the Japanese are. Many Koreans have in fact developed a mature attitude to their position and have taken proactive measures which have benefited both their own and the Japanese communities.

At present there are approximately 700,000 Koreans residing in Japan, a large proportion of whom live in the Kansai region. During the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula in the period 1910-1945, the people of Korea were regarded as Japanese nationals by virtue of the act of annexation but at the same time the basic legal and political rights of citizenship were not extended to them. In principle Koreans were free to take up employment anywhere in the Japanese Empire and many chose to come to Japan to seek a better life.