In their after report for Comic Market (Comiket) 95 posted on Monday, Comiket organizers said that the event is “no place for hate speech” after it came to their attention that a particular doujin circle had posted stickers at their booth with the message “No Chinese or Koreans allowed.”
The existence of the stickers was first reported by several Twitter users on December 31, although no photos were circulated. One user claims that the circle in question was located in the east hall near row l46b.
#c95 で胸くそ悪いもん見ちまった。
韓国人中国人お断りとか書いてあった。ご丁寧に日本語と韓国語で。何故か中国語では書いてなかった。暴行されたということだが…。なお撮影禁止札があったので証拠は押さえてない。サークル主はいなかったが、東ホールI46b付近通行の方はご注意を。#antiracism— じゅん@LowTechLabは日曜東ト30b (@jun_84) December 31, 2018
Comiket’s after report states that they had not been aware of the existence of the stickers while the event itself had been running. The report also said that at first, their initial stance was that because the perpetrators do not violate Japanese law, it was the circle’s own responsibility, and not that of Comiket’s. However, after deliberation, the committee has come to the conclusion that they will not tolerate any discrimination within the “space” that is Comiket. Should any similar situation arise again, the committee will take prompt action.
In 2016, Japan’s National Diet enacted a Hate Speech Act in order to comply with the United Nation’s “International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.” However, the law does not contain penalties for perpetrators of hate speech.