A hate-speech group is met by citizens protesting the group's rally in Nakahara Peace Park, Kanagawa Prefecture, on May 5. / Courtesy of Yonhap News Agency

By Lee Han-soo

In a heartwarming scene, hundreds of Japanese citizens from Kanagawa Prefecture were first on the scene to stop a hate-speech rally formed by an anti-Korean group.

Anti-hate-speech groups shouted "stop hate speech" and "return" as the hate-speech group tried rallying in Nakahara Peace Park to start their protest at 11 a.m. on Sunday. This was the first hate-speech rally after the anti-hate-speech bill passed on April 24. The anti-Korean group rallied after being denied the use of a park in Kawasaki last month.

The anti-Korean group was blocked by hundreds of counter-protesters, according to the Huffington Post. The group dispersed within an hour after strong persuasion from the police who restricted them from coming within 10 meters of the park.

Around 20 members of the anti-Korean group marched the streets with signs slandering Koreans and foreign nationals. Their picket signs read "Stop employing anti-Japanese citizens as civil servants" and "Don't allow world bully organizations such as the UN, UNESCO, UNICEF." Another sign claimed that Chinese and Koreans each made up 33 percent and 32 percent of foreign criminals who murdered Japanese.

"I hope children and the elderly don't fall victim to any form of hate speech," said a third-generation Korean-Japanese who participated in blocking the hate-speech rally. "Today is the day when despair is being replaced with hope by the participation of the citizens."