ABSTRACT

A highly formative component of the Alternative Right was “Online Antagonistic Communities.” These are reactionary online communities built around various interests, but which all engage in exclusionary, antagonistic behavior. Despite the overlaps between the Alternative Right and the Netto Uyoku, it is important to place the latter more in the context of the changing Japanese far right so as to draw attention to the divergences between these movements. The Netto Uyoku has likewise mainly been active online, with less of a regular and well-organised offline presence, though with one particularly prominent exception: the “Association of Citizens against the Special Privileges of the Zainichi,” or the Zaitokukai. A common theme in the Alternative Right is the deep fetishisation of Japanese culture, frequently invoking an idealised vision of Japanese society, with many in the alt-right especially seeing the nation as a model for their desired white ethno-states in Europe and the US.