In 1987, Nissan Shatai transferred ownership of the land to the private company Western Japan Development (西日本殖産).

The villagers eventually lost the case after a decade-long legal battle, although they continued to resist eviction efforts.

He admitted to being influenced by Japanese ultranationalist internet posts that stoked his dislike of Korean people, and was sentenced to four years in prison in 2022.

However, when wartime labor shortages began, Japan forcefully mobillized Koreans to support their war effort.

[3] Koreans who remained in Japan were targeted for harassment and violence by Japanese people in the period immediately after the surrender.

[4] Although Koreans in Japan had experienced discrimination prior to World War II, they had still been Japanese citizens.

[5] These laborers lived in workers' quarters in the area, but the buildings were of poor condition and highly cramped;[6][1] each of the makeshift shacks often housed seven or eight families.

[13][12][14] The company held several negotiations with the settlers, sometimes via the North Korea–aligned organization Chongryon, to have them leave, but no conclusions were reached.

[16] In June 1988,[17] after hearing rumors of the deal's terms, some residents looked up the owner of the land and found that Hirayama had been lying to them.

[20] Beginning on September 7, 1991,[17] resident Yumi Lee (이유미) embarked on a three-month speaking tour of the United States, in which she covered not only Utoro, but also the issues facing Zainichi Koreans as a whole.

The ad was purchased at a discount rate facilitated by Herb Gunther, head of an American advertising company Public Media Center, who had seen the protestors while on a business trip in Kyoto.

[15] It ran on March 1, 1993,[17] and requested that the American public apply pressure to Nissan Shatai to either repurchase the land or compensate the villagers for their wartime labor.

[15] That year, the Los Angeles Times published an article on the topic called "An Eviction Unworthy of the Japanese".

[19] After a broadcast about the village, the Korean-American radio station KCB-FM received more than 18,000 letters and signatures of support for Utoro.

Kana Shimasaki, a pastor in Honolulu, actively petitioned for the cause, and told the Los Angeles Times that:[15] It's shameful that the only way to get Japan to correct a wrong is to bring it to the outside world.

[7] In August 2001, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights acknowledged the Utoro issue within the context of systemic discrimination in Japan against ethnic minorities, especially Korean people.

[25][12] In June 2002, residents founded a volunteer support organization for the elderly called ELFA (エルファ, 에루화).

[17]The citizens and government of South Korea ended up playing a significant role in improving the conditions in Utoro.

[28] In 2005, South Korean TV networks ran a series of Utoro specials on the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, and called for donations.

In December 2016, the National Memorial Museum of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Occupation in Busan, South Korea, held an exhibition on Utoro, and appealed for more donations.

[28] In 2005, Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. Secretary General and South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs, promised the residents aide if private donations were insufficient for the purchase of the land.

[30] Moon Jae-in, then the Chief Presidential Secretary under Roh Moo-hyun and later the President of South Korea, played a significant role in arranging support for Utoro.

[10] In 2007, Utoro residents managed to raise over 380 million yen ($3,200,000) to purchase their land, from private donors and the South Korean government.

The following February, the South Korean government purchased another 3,800 m2 (41,000 sq ft) for 180 million yen on behalf of the residents.

[5] In February 2011, the residents and Council announced they had agreed on a plan to construct medical facilities and flood protection infrastructure in the area.

[34] Saitō Masaki predicted that, as the new buildings were public housing owned by the government, the proportion of ethnic Koreans living in the district would gradually decrease over time.

[27] The Utoro Peace Memorial Museum (ウトロ平和祈念館, 우토로평화기념관) was built through a mix of private donations and assistance from the South Korean government.

[38] On December 14, 2008, the right-wing politician Makoto Sakurai and members of his group Zaitokukai (full name of organization translates to "Association of Citizens against the Special Privileges of the Zainichi [Koreans]") held a demonstration at Utoro, in which they demanded that Utoro residents leave the area.

[40] On August 30, 2021, Arimoto Shōgo (有本匠吾), a 23-year-old unemployed Japanese person, set fire to an empty building in the district.

[41][42][43] Arimoto falsely believed that residents were still living on the land illegally, which had not been true for around ten years by that point.