"Korean Alumni Song Moves Fellow Koreans to Tears"
Kyoto International High School, a Korean ethnic school for Zainichi Koreans that won the Japan National High School Baseball Championship (Koshien), reportedly faced difficulties due to the widespread anti-Korean sentiment across Japan. At this school, which was established mainly by Zainichi Koreans, the school anthem is sung in Korean, and when this anthem was broadcast, some right-wing groups unleashed hateful remarks.
On the 23rd, Baek Seunghwan, principal of Kyoto International High School, revealed on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show," "This time, we received about five hate speech calls to the school, which is relatively better compared to the past," adding, "It was really severe when our school reached the semifinals of Koshien in 2021."
On the 23rd, after winning 2-1 in the final of the National High School Baseball Championship (Summer Koshien) held at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, players from Kyoto International High School, a Korean international school, rushed to the mound and cheered. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The target of hate speech from Japanese right-wing groups was the Korean school anthem. At Koshien, it is a tradition to play the winning school's anthem, and the fact that Kyoto International High School's anthem, broadcast through Japan's public broadcaster NHK, was in Korean sparked backlash. Even after the final match ended, the scene of Kyoto International High School players singing the anthem, which includes the lyrics "Across the East Sea, the Yamato land is the sacred dreamland of our ancestors," was broadcast live nationwide in Japan.
The reason the anthem of Kyoto International High School is in Korean is that the school was founded in 1947 mainly by Zainichi Koreans in Kyoto. The school emphasizes ethnic identity education through subjects such as Korean history, Korean language, and Zainichi Korean studies. Currently, about half of the students are Japanese, but many of them are naturalized or have at least one parent who is a Zainichi Korean.
Principal Baek said he often receives messages from Zainichi Koreans who were moved upon hearing the Korean anthem resonate in the stadium. He stated, "When I see fellow Koreans at the site, my eyes involuntarily become moist. Many elders tear up while listening to the Korean anthem echoing in the stadium," adding, "After the game, I receive dozens of texts and calls expressing how moved they were."
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