Japan local health center backtracks on asking farmers to 'avoid eating with foreigners'
May 24, 2021 (Mainichi Japan)
The Ibaraki Prefectural Government headquarters is seen in this file photo taken in Mito. (Mainichi)
MITO -- A local public health center northeast of Tokyo has withdrawn documents that called on farmers to "refrain from eating with foreigners," among other expressions it later described as phrases that could be interpreted as discrimination, which were distributed as part of coronavirus countermeasures, it was found May 21.
The documents were created by the Itako public health center in Ibaraki Prefecture, and were distributed to some farmers, according to the Ibaraki Prefectural Government. The documents were dated May 19, and titled "To all farmers who employ foreigners." They called on farmers to avoid dining with foreign agricultural workers, and to wear masks when conversing with foreigners.