Presenter: Sharon Yoon (University of Notre Dame)

This paper introduces the concept of racial exorcism to analyze the enduring colonial foundations of anti-Korean hate in Japan, focusing on how Zainichi Koreans are rendered hyper-visible and demonized, then symbolically or materially expelled in the name of national purification. Inspired by religious exorcism rituals, racial exorcism functions as a public performance of societal self-cleansing, aimed at restoring the fantasy of a “pure” or “normal” national body. We argue that racial exorcism operates through visibility regimes—institutional and affective structures that determine who becomes visible, and under what conditions. While the underlying logic of these regimes remains consistent, their enactment adapts to shifting historical and technological contexts. We trace these transformations across three techno-social eras in Japan: (1) the colonial era of bureaucratic control, (2) the postwar analog era of proximate violence, and (3) the digital era of platformed hyper-surveillance. Focusing on the racializing chant “Kaere!” [Go back!], we demonstrate how this speech act has long functioned as a core logic of racial exorcism. By linking colonial scripts of domination to contemporary forms of digital hate, “Kaere!” illuminates the continuity of racial governance across eras and the enduring production of Koreans as figures of national anxiety.