The senior political adviser who advocates racial segregation in the 21st century

An adviser on education policies to Japan’s government has provoked outrage by suggesting that immigrants in the country be separated by race.

In a column for the conservative Sankei newspaper, Ayako Sono said apartheid-era South Africa showed that whites, Asians and blacks should live apart.

Black people fundamentally have a philosophy of large families. For whites and Asians, it was common sense for a couple and two children to live in one complex. But blacks ended up having 20 to 30 family members living in a single unit.

• Ayako Sono

Ms Sono is a bestselling author and a vocal supporter of prime minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to revive patriotic education. She has been quoted in a government-recommended textbook on morals for secondary school students, alongside Mother Teresa and other prominent figures.

Her article sparked outrage, with online commentators branding it “disgusting” and “appalling”. Sankei defended running the article, saying it was “natural” to run “all kinds of views”.

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