Japan’s doors are opening wider than ever, as the country grapples with its aging population and seeks fresh energy from abroad. Foreigners come here for work, study, or to join family—each with their own story.

However, another group arrives under very different circumstances: refugees escaping hardship and danger, hoping for safety and a fresh start. While Japan may seem like a safe haven, the reality is often far more complicated. For Kurdish residents in Kawaguchi City, that uncertainty has recently turned into living in fear.

Rising suspicion

Clashes between locals and Kurdish communities in Kawaguchi have been brewing for years, deepening mistrust on both sides.

A 2024 survey by Kawaguchi City underscores the rising tension. Nearly half of residents now say they feel unsafe, a sharp increase from 31.8% in 2023 to 49%. “Poor public safety” topped the list of concerns about the city.

While the survey report calls for greater mutual understanding, the reality on the ground tells a different story.

Some residents point to the Kurdish community, citing incidents like the 2023 fight that ended in a stabbing. As often happens, whether isolated or not, these events were picked up by local media, fueling fear and reinforcing long-standing narratives. What starts as individual cases quickly morphs into broad suspicion and blame.

Now, the Kurdish community in Kawaguchi is navigating an increasingly hostile and uncertain environment.

Living in limbo

Kawaguchi is home to one of Japan’s highest percentages of foreign residents—8.3% as of June 2025. Among them are around 2,000 Kurds living between Kawaguchi and neighboring Warabi City.

Originally from the region known as Kurdistan, Kurds have faced persecution and forced assimilation after World War I, when their homeland was divided among Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. Most Kurdish refugees in Japan today come from Turkey. The first waves arrived in the 1990s, thanks to a visa-waiver agreement that allowed short-term stays.

Today, Kurdish residents in Japan fall into two legal categories: those with designated activities visas—allowing them to work while asylum claims are under review—and those on provisional release (仮放免), whose applications have been denied but who are not detained. The latter live in legal limbo, unable to work, access healthcare, or fully participate in society.

Of the roughly 2,000 Kurds in Saitama, about 700 fall under provisional release. And while some residents link them to rising tensions, it could be argued that it’s the prolonged uncertainty and social exclusion they endure that truly fuels the sense of unease.

Through the media’s lens

Tensions between Kurdish residents and local Japanese in Kawaguchi escalated after the 2023 Immigration Control Act left many repeat visa applicants vulnerable to deportation.

The situation escalated on July 4, 2023, with an attempted murder involving a Kurdish and a Turkish resident. Sankei Shimbun’s coverage of this episode echoed familiar concerns about foreign residents threatening public safety.

Another report from the right-leaning Sankei questioned Kurdish refugee claims, suggesting some use asylum as a backdoor to work in Japan. That article also quoted a local who said Kurds’ rural roots and limited education make it hard for them to fit into urban Japanese society, reinforcing the outsider stereotype.

Though framed as crime reporting, these stories use rhetoric that fuels suspicion. By tying social issues directly to Kurdish identity, they help create an environment where hate speech and false accusations can spread.

Hate on the rise

Hostility toward Kurdish communities in Japan has moved beyond isolated incidents and into daily life. From hate speech to anti-Kurdish protests, the backlash has shifted from individual crimes to broad targeting of a minority.

Since 2023, rallies shouting “Kurds out of Japan” have regularly taken place near the Japan Kurdish Cultural Association in Kawaguchi. But the hate goes beyond the streets—individuals are being targeted too.

Nudem, a 36-year-old Kurdish resident in Japan since age 17, told Mainichi Shimbun that someone secretly filmed a Kurdish acquaintance’s children and posted the footage online with discriminatory captions.

In another case in November 2023, members of the Hinomaru Gaisen Club filmed Kurdish men without consent, accusing them of smoking on the street. When the men tried to stop the filming, group leader Watanabe Kenichi posted the video online, falsely claiming the Kurds had “suddenly attacked” them.

Watanabe later said he was just filming himself “patrolling” the area to warn misbehaving foreigners. But Mainichi noted he has previously made baseless claims linking the Japan Kurdish Cultural Association to terrorism. Plus, street smoking is a common sight in Japan—hardly a foreigner-specific issue.

“I’ve never seen them cause trouble,” said a Japanese man who frequents the area. “It looked like he [Watanabe] was provoking them. The Kurds didn’t hit him—they just tried to block the camera. I’d be angry too if someone suddenly filmed me like that.”

And it doesn’t stop there. Someone filmed a Kurdish girl inside a 100-yen store and falsely accused her of shoplifting online. Another video showed a children’s birthday party in a park, with captions claiming the Kurds had illegally occupied the space.

The problem escalates when public figures amplify such content. Kawai Yusuke, a city councilor in Toda, Saitama, reposted the park video himself. When not only neighbors but also the media and politicians promote these narratives, it’s no surprise that they spread—and take root—among the public.

Challenging misconceptions

Locals are increasingly pointing fingers at the Kurdish community for the area’s uneasy atmosphere. Yet the reality is more complicated.

First, the conversation around Kurds in Japan is fueling a broader, misleading narrative about refugees. It paints a picture of a country overly lenient toward asylum seekers.

The truth? Japan’s refugee recognition rate is just 2.1%. In 2023, the country only approved 303 of the over 13,000 applications it received.

Until 2022, not a single Kurdish person had ever been granted refugee status. That lone case remains the exception. Attorney Ōhashi Takeshi believes Japan’s reluctance to acknowledge Kurdish refugees reflects a calculated effort to safeguard its diplomatic ties with Turkey.

With little legal recognition or support, most Kurdish residents live in limbo. Many have spent decades in Japan; some were even born here. Yet they’re stuck in endless visa renewals.

Those rejected either end up in detention or, if fortunate, under provisional release. But that state offers no real freedom: they can’t work, access health care, travel outside their prefecture, or use public services due to the lack of a resident record. This bureaucratic dead-end, not their education level or rural origins, is what truly keeps them from integrating.

The second issue is a familiar one: the widespread belief that foreigners cause more crime. But data tells a different story. The Ministry of Justice’s White Paper on Crime shows that penal offenses have sharply declined over the past two decades, from 2.85 million in 2002 to just 570,000 in 2021. Meanwhile, the number of foreign residents has steadily climbed.

Still, a 2021 Cabinet Office poll found that 54.5% of Japanese respondents felt the country had become more dangerous over the past decade. So why the disconnect?

Simple: what changed wasn’t crime, but coverage. Today, when crimes happen, the media seizes on them. These stories dominate headlines and social media feeds, making it easy for the public to draw false conclusions and harder for nuance to break through.

Uncertain futures

Ultimately, the fear spreading in Kawaguchi points to a deeper question about Japan’s treatment of refugees. Trapped in legal limbo, facing daily uncertainty and growing hostility, many Kurdish residents find that life here offers little more security than the one they fled.

As Japan turns outward to fill labor shortages and revitalize its economy, one question remains: Are dignity and rights truly offered to all, or do barriers still stand?

Sources

川口市「治安が悪い」市民の5割が感じる　前年から2割増、20代女性は7割　市意識調査　産経新聞

総合計画のための市民意識調査結果報告書　川口市

在日クルド人のいま－埼玉県川口市・蕨市から－　一般財団法人アジア・太平洋人権情報センター

川口や蕨のクルド人　ヘイトスピーチ、盗撮被害…　募る恐怖と危機感　毎日新聞

事実はどこだ？ネットに流れる「クルド人批判」　記者が現場を歩き、投稿者に会って事情を尋ねた結果は　東京新聞

川口のクルド人はなぜ増えたか　きっかけはイラン人、民主党政権で難民申請激増　産経新聞

病院でクルド人「１００人」騒ぎ、救急受け入れ５時間半停止　埼玉・川口　産経新聞

在留外国人増加により日本の犯罪率は上昇するか？統計から詳しく解説　外国人整備士の採用センター

”日本で育ってきたのに、働けない”　クルド人難民申請者のこどもたち　NHK

「治安に関する世論調査」の概要　内閣府政府広報室

Pussy cats are the cutest little animals in the whole wide world, and I have a ferocious (but adowable) widdle black cat (seen above) that will scratch your face off if you disagree.  Oh, you think your puppy is cute? Pfft, does it curl up in a sunbeam and make you beg for its affections? Exactly. Get outta here with your darn dog.

You know what else are cute? Muppets.  Oh man, they’re so cute!  Like Abby Cadabby with those big blue eyes?  Or Elmo with his cute little laugh?  Man, SO CUTE!  Hell, they even made a Muppet whose whole identity was cuteness, and now he’s the star of a long running theme park attraction which isn’t going anywhere anytime soon! (Note: This article was written in August 2021).

So if kitty cats are cute, and Muppets are cute, it only stands to reason that Muppet cats would be SUPER cute!  That’s double cuteness!  So let’s look at a couple now and see if that’s true!

ARGH!  What the hell is that?  That’s not cute!  This cat from Muppet Christmas Carol is awful! It looks so angry.  Nope, I don’t like that.  That’s not a cute Muppet cat.  Let’s look at another one.

OH MY GOD!  Oh, sorry, that scared me.  This is Catgut, and that name is accurate, because she looks like a mound of cat guts.  Truly, why would they make that?  What’s wrong with her? Ugh, fine, let’s keep going.

MY EYES!  Why is it so smooth!? I know there are Sphynx cats out there, but their heads are notoriously small, not the watermelon this dude is sporting! And those ears! They’re haunting…  I don’t want to look again…

SATAN!  Uh, sorry, I’m so sorry.  I think it was the eyes that got me.  I mean they’re really trying with the nice blue bow, but it can only get us so far.  It’s not as awful as that previous orange monstrosity, so maybe we’re on the incline?

OH FOR GOD’S SAKE!  What the hell are we even doing?  Why is it so ugly? Look, I get it, it’s supposed to always be scared because it lives with Scary Mary. I read the damn thing’s Muppet Wiki page.  But those eyes…  No thank you.  Alright, let’s try just a couple more…

AHH!  Well, that’s the most harrowing thing I’ve ever seen in my life.  I know most cats of these cats are scary to look at, but she’s the first who looks like she’d also be super mean to me.  My cat is already super mean to me, but at least he’s not a stuck up socialite like this thing.

HELL SPAWN!  This is the first cat on the list that looks like it’s been in a terrible accident.  This is why you must keep your cats indoors.  Because otherwise they run out on the road and get hit by a cement truck and look like this, and yet somehow they continue to exist as the thing of nightmares!

Okay, okay.  Look, we’ve tried domestic cats.  But there are also big cats! Like lions!  I remember Chicago the Lion!  He’s cool!  Maybe there are other big cats that are cute!

WHAT THE CRAP IS THAT!?  Okay but why? But why though? Like, why would they even do that? I thought maybe it was a wacky Dr Suess lion but no, this thing was on the German version on Sesame Street.  Haven’t the German’s been through enough?  I’ve just read she wasn’t built by Muppet Workshop, so maybe she isn’t an official Muppet? So maybe that makes it not so ba– nope, I looked again, it’s bad.

Ahhhh, that’s better.  Little Murray Sparkles, the cat so cute I named my own cat after him.  This is good.  This is my happy place.  What a little cutie patootie.  He’s the goodest pussy cat, and I would like him to curl up on my lap and then drink milk from a saucer.

I feel so much better.  I don’t know what I was so afraid of.  Okay, maybe we try one more cat.  Let’s go for another big cat!  A tiger this time!

I give up.

By Jarrod Fairclough – Jarrod@ToughPigs.com

Click here to wonder if Khan the tiger is sick on the ToughPigs Discord!

The post Fluff Fridays – Are Muppet Cats Cute? first appeared on ToughPigs.

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In a world where AI seems to be cropping up in every app and on every device, it's nice to read a news post where it's absolutely trounced at something by a games console from the 1970s. It might be able to make a picture of you looking like a viking warrior or tell you how to write an essay on silica sand without you having to do any research (can you tell I don't like AI?), but when it comes to playing chess against a retro Grand Master, it doesn't stand a chance.

Robert Caruso, a Citrix software engineer has taken to LinkedIn to give his account of how ChatGPT got, in his words, 'absolutely wrecked' by an Atari 2600 console from 1977.

For regular readers of Retro Dodo, the Atari 2600 is a name you'll be very familiar with. If you're new to retro gaming, however, then this machine was one of the most pivotal home consoles from the second generation of console gaming. It sold over 30 million units worldwide, 27 million more than its next competitor the Intellivision, which coincidentally Atari now owns.

You would think that something as advanced as ChatGPT would be able to take an old timer like the 2600 for a walk in the park and beat it at chess while helping someone from Brussels get cheaper broadband at the same time, but no. The Atari 2600 managed to beat it on the easiest level, with the Atari only ever thinking 1 to 2 moves ahead.

'It started as a simple experiment: pit ChatGPT against the Atari 2600’s chess engine,' says Caruso, 'I figured it would be a lighthearted stroll down retro memory lane. ChatGPT got absolutely wrecked on the beginner level. This was after a conversation we had regarding the history of AI in Chess which led to it volunteering to play Atari Chess.'

Caruso goes on to say that 'Despite being given a baseline board layout to identify pieces, ChatGPT confused rooks for bishops, missed pawn forks, and repeatedly lost track of where pieces were — first blaming the Atari icons as too abstract to recognize, then faring no better even after switching to standard chess notation. It made enough blunders to get laughed out of a 3rd grade chess club'

In the end, the 8-bit behemoth just did what it's done for decades, quietly making moves without any flash or a language model. All it had was the level of difficulty that developers put into games back then. Come to think of it, I'd like to see ChatGPT have a go at Zelda II!

IT took 90 minutes for ChatGPT to admit defeat. Hopefully it will go back and tell its other Skynet pals that while they think they're the most powerful beings in the universe, the Earth's retro consoles are still in control.

King K. Rool piñata awarded as a prize to the winner of a contest as part of Nintendo’s Camp Hyrule program in 2003. Camp Hyrule was a virtual camp run by Nintendo of America between 1995 and 2007, which included various sweepstakes, contests and activities.

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It’s a game you may never have heard of. I certainly hadn’t until I saw the news about it. But gateball has been popular in Japan since the end of World War II. However, new reports say the sport, invented in Hokkaido and a favorite national pastime for decades, is on its deathbed. What happened?

The emergence of a post-war pastime

Gateball made its initial appearance in Japan in 1947. Suzuki Kazunobu (previously Suzuki Eiji) invented the game as a variation on croquet. Rubber was scarce at the time, but wood was plentiful, and croquet is played with wooden balls and mallets. It became popular in Kumamoto in the 1950s and spread nationwide in the 1970s.

Gateball has since spread to multiple countries across Asia, including China, South Korea, and Indonesia. There is an Asian as well as a World tournament, the latter of which was last hosted in Japan in Niigata in 2018.

The game is played on a 20 by 15 meter court containing three gates and a goal pole. Two teams of five face off, earning points for balls that go through a goal or hit the pole. At the end of 30 minutes, the team with the highest score is the winner. It is reportedly a fast-paced and strategic game that anyone of any age can play.

From over 10,000 players to 138 in Yamaguchi

Despite its pan-Asian popularity, the sport appears to be falling on hard times.

The decline is especially marked in Yamaguchi Prefecture. At its peak in the 1980s, it’s estimated that the prefecture’s Gateball Association had over 10,000 members. Its largest number of recorded members stands at 5,764 in 1997.

Today, however, the association has a scant 138 members remaining. As a consequence, many of the prefecture’s 72 gateball courts have fallen into disrepair.

Handa Toshio, the co-chair of the association and the leader of the team that won last year’s national playoffs, says he’s still playing with friends. However, the team can’t attend this year’s tournaments due to a lack of members who can commit to the competition.

This trend isn’t limited to Yamaguchi. The Japan Gateball Union reported 680,000 members in 1998. Today, that number stands at a mere 35,000.

What explains the plummet?

So why has gateball fallen out of fashion?

Nakada Noriaki, who heads Yamaguchi Prefecture’s Gateball Association, says the sport has suffered from its reputation as being “a game for senior citizens.” That’s resulted in two negative effects.

First, it means that young people aren’t picking up the sport. That’s leading to a loss of awareness and enthusiasm around gateball in general. Second, even though Japan’s elderly population is increasing rapidly, many seniors in their 60s and 70s are finding they have to keep working in order to make ends meet in today’s rough economy. That’s cutting into their time for recreational activities like gateball.

“This is our last chance to bolster the community,” Handa said. He says gateball enthusiasts need to spark more interest among kids and youth, pitching it as an easy-to-play and fun game even for those who don’t feel they’re good at sports. Handa is proposing that gateball associations target middle schools and school boards to boost the fortunes of the home-grown game.

Will that be enough to save it, however? Some experts differ. In a comment on Yahoo! News JP, aging expert Saitō Tōru says many are moving away from gateball because the rules are overly complex and the game is too competitive, which can damage instead of strengthen personal relationships. Saitō argues that ground golf, another Japanese invention from Akita Prefecture, is gaining popularity as a low-less, low-competition alternative.

Sources

ゲートボール人口が激減　山口県で全盛期1万人超が138人に　なぜ？ Chūgoku Shimbun

Gateball. Wikipedia