ABSTRACT
If public housing has been available in Japan to resident aliens following the ratification of the Covenant on Human Rights, private rented accommodation remains a difficult issue. Boarding houses often bear notices reading ‘Not available for Koreans and Ryukyuans’ so that unwanted tenants can even include some Japanese nationals. The barrier to public housing was not broken down without a campaign. Yumi Lee describes one such case in Kyoto which vividly illustrates the methods and psychology employed in her movement. Lee also has an example of the more intractable problem of private accommodation. It relates to her sister Ako’s marriage to a fellow Korean. In another case, Japanese was unable to obtain accommodation because he planned to marry a Korean. He became romantically attached to a girl active in the youth section of the Mindan. Faced with the accommodation problem the Koreans have once again taken to the courts.
