Will Tokyo Games strike a blow for peace?

For two months, the Korean residents of the Shin-Okubo district of Tokyo have lived in peace.

The aggressive and abusive demonstrations that had become a regular occurrence every Sunday - designed in part to intimidate as well as to damage the neighbourhood's economy by frightening people away from the shops and restaurants - suddenly stopped.

The banners demanding that Japan sever all ties with Korea and the vicious chants of "Kill Koreans" or "Send them to the gas chambers" disappeared overnight. The police no longer had to wear riot gear as they carried out their regular patrols.

But everything changed again on September 8.

Within hours of the International Olympic Committee announcing that Tokyo had been selected to host the 2020 Olympic Games, extremists linked to Zaitokukai - the nationalist group that refuses to tolerate special privileges for Korean and Chinese residents of Japan - were out in force once more.

Protesters ranging from aggressive young toughs to well-dressed retirees met in a public park and, marshalled like a miniature army, deployed their banners and marched towards the nearby Tokyo Korean School.

Banners were held aloft proclaiming "Congratulations on the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo!" and "Break off relations with South Korea". Outside the gates, the demonstrators chanted slogans demanding that the government halt state subsidies to the school and others like it across Japan.