Info on Black Lives Matter demos in Japan in response to excessive police force towards a Kurdish Resident; also the backlash of right-wing Tokyo Katsushika-ku Assemblyman Suzuki Nobuyuki: “expel any foreign demonstrators”.

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Hi Blog.  As you know, following the George Floyd et al. killings by police in America, there is an international wave of condemnation towards institutionalized racism and brutality in law enforcement.  Japan is not exempt from this (in fact, institutionalized embedded racism is one of the reasons Debito.org exists, and the Japanese police are notorious for their normalized racial profiling), and a recent case (see Reuters article below) of a Kurdish man being assaulted by police during a traffic stop has made news.  Given this flashpoint, a Black Lives Matter movement of protecting minorities against state-sponsored unchecked violence has taken wing around Japan.  Please join in if you’re interested.  Information website here:

https://blacklivesmattertokyo.carrd.co/

More on what BLM Kansai has been doing is also at SNA here:

 

Bravo. Meanwhile, as SNA has pointed out, certain elements within Japan have a problem with any Non-Japanese trying claiming their rights in Japan even through peaceful public protest:  Veteran anti-foreign rightwinger Nobuyuki Suzuki, currently a Katsushika Ward assemblyman, demands that any foreigner who engages in a street protest should be tracked down by the police and expelled from the country. (MP)”

 

After all, according to the Suzukis of Japan, foreigners don’t belong here.  They aren’t kokumin, and because they are only here by permission of the government, by definition they should not protest; they should be just good little Guests or get out.  Japan for the Japanese.  You know the mantra.  Even though public demonstrations (for example, by NJ workers in labor unions) are perfectly legal, and have been going on for decades.

That’s why social movements should crest and clean these exclusionary bigots out of government.  And Debito.org will at least add its voice in support.  Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Reuters article:

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REUTERS WORLD NEWS, JUNE 6, 2020
Kurdish case becomes rallying cry for Japan protest against police
By Mari Saito
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-protests-japan/kurdish-case-becomes-rallying-cry-for-japan-protest-against-police-idUSKBN23D0JG

PHOTO CAPTION: A demonstrator wearing a mask holds an ”Antifaschistische Aktion” flag during a protest march over the alleged police abuse of a Turkish man, in echoes of a Black Lives Matter protest, following the death of George Floyd who died in police custody in Minneapolis, in Tokyo, Japan June 6, 2020. 

TOKYO (Reuters) – The case of a Kurdish man who says he was stopped and shoved to the ground by Tokyo police became a rallying cry for protesters marching in solidarity with Black Lives Matter on Saturday.

Several hundred people chanting “I can’t breathe” to invoke the death of George Floyd in the United States marched through the trendy Shibuya district on a sultry afternoon, saying that police abuse – particularly against foreigners – was a problem at home as well.

“I feel very sad,” said Tomohiko Tsurumi, 43, who joined the march with his wife. “I always thought of this country as very safe and I realized that there is so much (police action) we cannot see.”

The 33-year-old Turkish man of Kurdish origin, who asked not to be named, told Reuters this week that he was stopped by police driving in downtown Tokyo on May 22 – three days before George Floyd died in Minneapolis when a police office knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

When the man would not allow police to search his car, two officers shouted at him and shoved him to the ground, the man said. A friend in his car filmed part of the incident.

Police declined to comment, saying they have not made anything public about the incident.

The video, seen by Reuters, includes the officers yelling at him to sit and not make trouble. One of the officers can be seen kicking the man in the leg before making him crouch on the ground.

That officer can be seen with his arms around the man’s neck, telling him to be quiet.

“I couldn’t breathe. If my friend hadn’t been filming I don’t know what would have happened,” the man said, adding the encounter left him with bruises on his neck and back.

“This was in the middle of the day and I was on the way to my dentist,” said the man, who said he has lived in Japan for 15 years and was not at Saturday’s protest due to what organizers said was fear of being arrested. “That’s what’s so upsetting.”

The man filed an assault suit against the two officers with Tokyo prosecutors on May 27, said his lawyer, Yasuaki Nara.

An African man at the demonstration with a friend said their appearance got them more scrutiny from Japanese police.

“I feel what George Floyd was feeling,” he said, declining to give his name or his country of origin. “We feel what his family is feeling.”
ENDS

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42 comments on “Info on Black Lives Matter demos in Japan in response to excessive police force towards a Kurdish Resident; also the backlash of right-wing Tokyo Katsushika-ku Assemblyman Suzuki Nobuyuki: “expel any foreign demonstrators”.

  • Jim Di Griz says:

    Well, it’s nice and all, but where are all the protests every time a detainee dies after being denied medical attention in Japan?
    It’s all just ‘me tooism’, a chance to show up the US, and people who’ve spent a lot of time indoors recently due to the pandemic rationalizing going out in the sunshine in a group.

    Reply
  • Nobuyuki Suzuki has that typical government smug look on his face that just makes me angry. He reminds me of the arrogant jerks like salarymen and city hall workers that seem to despise foreigners no matter how much we assimilate. I’d say most Japanese regardless of what they say, support this kind of rhetoric by right wing groups, because they are indoctrinated at an early age with little critical thinking skills. The Japanese police also support these right wing paramilitary groups which they know have an association with the Yakuza. Unfortunately these protests won’t do much in this society. The ultra nationalists have been propped up by the Japanese government and CIA since 1945 and is deeply embedded within the structure of this society socially and economically. It’s going to take a massive overhaul to change Japan. Sorry to be pessimistic.

    Reply
    • Loverilakkuma says:

      Nobuyuki ‘STEVE’ Suzu’KING’ looks like a Ted Cruz speaking Japanese. His mentality is just like that of a recently ousted racist Iowa GOP Rep. Steve King. Ick.

      I think you are right about the right-wing clout on the Japanese politics. Tokyo gov. Yuriko Koike stopped sending an official letter to commemorate Korean victims in the event of 1923 post-Kanto Earthquake massacre since she took the office in 2017. And she kept refusing to take action against a right-wing organization “Soyokaze” for amplifying hatred through a sound speaker to sabotage the entire commemoration. What’s worse, she rejected a permission request by the organization committee to use the public square in Yokoamicho Park. Instead, she demanded both sides to send a pledge letter for no-confrontation, no-intervention. Can you believe that!?

      She likes to show herself as a centralist figure with pretense for diversity so that she could keep her secret tie with that racist right-wing organization under the hat. I don’t even believe police brutality and corruption of justice are in her agenda for a gubernatorial election next month.

      Reply
      • Sorry it took so long for me to reply back to you. I sincerly appreciate your comment. It was very informative. I had no idea about Yoriko Koike; something I’d like to research even further. A lot of these political figures along with corporate elitists use discrimination and religion as a platform to promote their sociopathic agenda, and to divide the public even further. Together we are strong and divided we will fall. Hopefully we can realize when we are being deceived. Even this Black Lives Matter Movement and protests makes us vulnerable to falling prey to their agenda and losing sight of the big picture. We are on a slippery slope. This movement in Japan seems like a half-assed bandwagon approach to getting to the root of societal issues. I highly doubt Japanese genuinely care about solving racial issues. In Japan, it not just black men, it is all foreigners that matter and deserve to be respected and have civil rights.

        Reply
  • Anthony Kehoe says:

    I wish the headline didn’t read “anti-foreign rightwinger”. It should be truthful and say “racist rightwinger”.

    Reply
  • Loverilakkuma says:

    I was in Shibuya police protest rally this past Saturday. It wasn’t as big as those rallies you see in the US, but it was large enough to draw public attention. Funny thing was that cops (who are ironically Shibuya PD responsible for assaulting a Kurdish-Turkish man on the road two weeks ago) escorted us to the street with no physical confrontation– a huge contrast from obscene display of police brutality against peaceful protesters in NYC, Buffalo, Minneapolis, Dallas, Atlanta, LA, Louisville, etc.

    I learned that the protesters had a skirmish with Shibuya PD a week ago, and a small number of protesters (Japanese) were arrested (and released later) for confronting police staff in front of their building. Predictably, I saw a bunch of police staff standing in front of their fort to protect their premises. We greeted them with jeers and yells every time we passed their building in rounds of trip. We weren’t confronted with right-wingers or hecklers, which was really good.

    On the same day, there was also another protest in Kyobashi. People gathered to protest to Twitter Japan over their handling of anti-racist speeches (allowing right-wingers accounts to spread racist and xenophobic remarks, while freezing Twitter accounts making comments critical of Japanese government on COVID-19 subsidies or politicians over racist remarks at NJ). I don’t know the whole story about Twitter Japan, but it’s quite a disappointment compared to the action of their US headquarters to flag Bunker Boy (Trump)’s tweet inciting violence. Giving tech companies a carte blanche to filter speeches could spark a debate, but granting that to Twitter JP is kind of like having classified national intelligence pundits in MSNBC/CNN to spread Fox/InfoWars/Breitbart level of journalistic integrity.

    In Osaka, there was one heckler who tried to confront with protesters by showing a MAGA hat & Confederation Flag (but no weapons, I mean, “replicas” ). That guy turned out to be a right-wing activist Ryan Dawson. He got his twitter suspended for his action. Obviously, the credit goes to Twitter US.

    Anyway, there’s gonna be another rally by BLM in Tokyo this coming Sunday.

    Reply
  • David Markle says:

    I understand your point, and I doubt the j police are going to ever be defunded, but without at least expressing a voice against the injustices perpetuated on the oppressed minorities in Japan, the silence is taken as acquiescence. It’s about time we raise our voices and try not to be just bandwagon jumpers on. A good start would be taking on this assemblyman Suzuki.

    Reply
    • David Markle says:

      This whole thing feels so strange to me. I am afraid it will morph into something else unrecognizable at all to the original intent. After all, most Japanese have NO idea what living under a racist cloud is like in any country, much less their own. Most also have no idea what its like for NJ living in Japan. I doubt there are many Japanese who have the self reflection necessary to be able to empathize with anyone outside of their field of view. They know only what they like and don’t like without much ability to explain the rational. I feel this could easily become an Olympic competition to be the gold medal recipients of victimhood and blame it on those “others.” Japanese are after all the most victimized people in the world…in their own minds.

      Reply
      • Jim Di Griz says:

        NHK pulls the animation after complaints;
        https://japantoday.com/category/national/japan's-nhk-removes-video-about-us-protests-after-online-outrage

        Naomi Osaka ‘retweeted the video with a GIF expressing bewilderment.’ A GIF? Way to go girl! That’ll show them…
        Not much better than staying silent.

        Favorite comments on the article;

        “We apologise to those who were made to feel uncomfortable,”

        The usual response; instead of apologizing for being outright bigots, it’s “We’re sorry you saw it that way and don’t understand the culture (but we of course understand yours, hence the awesome depictions we okayed)”.

        And;
        ‘NHK stands for Not Having Knowledge.’

        Reply
        • David Markle says:

          I think this video shows the true colors of the powers that be in Japan. This is not just ‘some tv station’ this is friggin NHK! The official propaganda mouthpiece of the friggin government! Does anybody in Minnesota realize how difficult it is to get NHK to cover anything unless it is officially sanctioned by officialdom?

          https://www.startribune.com/japan-tv-station-apologizes-for-us-video-seen-as-offensive/571127512/

          I wonder if Twitter actually diminishes the significance of stuff like this?

          Reply
        • Loverilakkuma says:

          Agree wholeheartedly.

          The dumbest idea is that they think they can summarize a nuanced, complexed issue in just 80 secs with stupid animation. I guess they wanted to do something similar to Vox, but what they made instead was nothing more than InfoWars /Breitbart type garbage.

          I’m with Baye. Their attempt to let this go with one page statement of half-hearted apology is pathetic and disgusting. Maybe this will give people the opportunity to boycott NHK in the upcoming BLM march this Sunday.

          Reply
          • David Markle says:

            I actually had a Japanese guy tell us in school before I knew anything about Japan, when asked what do Japanese people like to eat? he replied: “We Japanese like to eat delicious things.” The whole class bust out laughing. The guy never had a clue what was so funny.

      • Jim Di Griz says:

        This;
        ‘ They know only what they like and don’t like without much ability to explain the rational.’

        It’s not a uniquely Japanese phenomenon, but it’s prevalence is astounding. The inability of most to verbalize their thought process is astounding. Experiment! How many seconds does it take to get a ‘We Japanese…..’ answer?

        Reply
        • Case in point, my Japanese father-in-law and most of the public here will never admit to and wrongdoing by Japanese people. The Japanese standard is the gold standard. For example, I like the freedom of choosing to drink what I want with at dinner and prefer drinking 日本酒 only. He says to my wife that I must follow protocol and drink beer first then 日本酒 in that specific order otherwise it irritates him. He has also mentioned how I don’t hold my chopsticks the correct way. He also told my wife that I must learn the proper manners that Japanese always display and it is her job to teach me even though I have lived in Japan for a decade, but won’t admit to Japanese rude behavior like motorcycle and vehicle obnoxious engine noise, high speeding vehicles in residential areas, people that refuse to give space to others to allow them to get to the train platform, senior citizen being targeted for phone scams always in the news, gropers on trains, the yakuza controlling half or more of this society etc. To him and most Japanese, that’s not considered bad behavior not at all. Sorry if I digressed a little. Like my father-in-law he can’t explain why we must follow protocol, it is just that everyone does this and so must you. He expects me to be Japanese yet doesn’t consider me his equal. That just encourages me to lose respect even further for this country. Too many bigots and hypocrites here.

          Reply
          • David Markle says:

            You will never be accepted by people like your father in law. He will use and expand that list of his to needle you for as long as he lives or your relationship with your wife breaks. Realize you have no hope now or risk being another casuality.

        • Baudrillard says:

          Japan…where stereotypes are loved and cherished.
          Japan…a rationalized (Weber) land that holds no surprises. The Dreamy Day, everyone follows the script and do you want fries with that? (Ritzer, 1993).
          Postmodern Japan. Where copies are authentic. When I said a recent virus case was from some apples, the Japanese putaro replies. Eh? Ipad and I phone now has Covid 19?
          Its all so much easier to follow the script and personality means what you like and dislike.

          I recall a British magazine conducting a survey in Japan in 2001. The question “Why do you like…?” Was almost universally answered with “Because I like it of course!” Amusing how they answered with belligerent indignation.

          Preferences are not supposed to be based on logical choice.

          Reply
    • David Markle says:

      They just announced that horribly insulting racial video made by NHK will be withdrawn. Hah! Only because of foreign pressure. That leaves them scratching their heads in their offices wondering: How can we make our prejudices unrecognizable to outsiders next time? We have to be more clever in our presentations of the evil (especially black) gaijin!

      Nothing changes except the display window manekins.

      Reply
  • David Markle says:

    Well well well it seems Naomi has some hutspa after all. The WP of all places….! Will wonders never cease.

    https://tinyurl.com/y953a2bo

    Granted social media is not the same as getting into the faces of racist police but it’s better than nothing. Now watch what her corporate masters do to her in her adopted native country. She might be sorry she gave up US citizenship.

    Reply
    • Jaocnanoni says:

      Unfortunately it can still lead to getting not your visa renewed, because full guarantee of freedom of polical expression is, according to the supreme court, reserved for kokumin only. This still not overturned ruling is likely also the foundation of the myth that foreigners have no human rights that the police, prosecutors, and too many politicians talk about.

      Reply
      • That non-citizens have no human rights under the Japanese legal system is not a myth. Yes, the McLean decision also demonstrated that, but even moreso the case of the elderly Chinese woman born and raised in Japan who was denied her right to social services she paid for on the basis of her not being a citizen. Dr. Arudō’s Otaru onsen case also made that quite clear, where the judge specifically took into account the fact that Dr. Arudō and his daughters are Japanese citizens and thus could not be said to have been excluded on the basis of nationality. (The ICERD does not ban discrimination on the basis of nationality itself.)

        Those points aside, Dr. Arudō has also repeatedly pointed out that the wording of the Japanese Constitution itself only guarantees the rights of citizens. (Thus, the tired rhetoric about how Japan “protects human rights” is total garbage. If they don’t apply to all humans, they aren’t “human rights.” They are citizens’ rights only.)

        Reply
      • AnonymousOG says:

        I’m glad you reminded folks that the “foreigners not having legal rights in Japan” opinion pushed by many police, prosecutors, and politicians, is a MYTH.

        Folks with a bad agenda focus on the NEGATIVE part of the final McLean ruling, namely: resident permits are at the discretion of the state (especially when a resident has violated the change-of-job notification law) so you can’t force the state to renew your visa:

        「外国人の在留の許否は国の裁量にゆだねられます。」
        “Resident permits are at the discretion of the state.”

        But let’s focus on the POSITIVE part of the final McLean ruling, namely: the final ruling DID admit that Foreigners who are residing with a valid resident permit ARE guaranteed the protections (such as Chapter 3 Article 38 which allows anyone to refuse all questioning requests, Chapter 3 Article 35 which allows anyone to refuse all warrant-less search requests, and Chapter 3 Article 33 which allows anyone to refuse all warrant-less requests to go the police station unless caught in the act of a crime) included in the Constitution of Japan:

        「憲法第三章の諸規定による
        基本的人権の保障は、
        権利の性質上日本国民のみを
        その対象としていると解されるものを除き、
        わが国に在留する外国人に対しても
        等しく及ぶものと解すべきであります。」
        “The guarantee of fundamental rights included in Chapter Three of the Constitution extends also to foreign nationals residing in Japan.”
        https://tinyurl.com/J-Constituion-Includes-Non-J

        So, according to the final McLean ruling, the state CAN legally refuse to renew your residence permit, BUT the police CANNOT legally violate the protections included in the Constitution of Japan, towards legally-residing foreigners.

        Thus, the final McLean ruling actually (quietly hidden in all those sentences about the Ministry of Justice having the ability to refuse to renew residence permits) provides positive citable precedence that all legally-residing foreigners have the right, just as Japanese citizens do, as guaranteed by Chapter 3 of the Constitution of Japan, to refuse all questioning requests, to refuse all warrant-less search requests, and to refuse all warrant-less requests to go the police station unless caught in the act of a crime.

        「憲法第三章の諸規定による
        基本的人権の保障は、
        権利の性質上日本国民のみを
        その対象としていると解されるものを除き、
        わが国に在留する外国人に対しても
        等しく及ぶものと解すべきであります。」
        “The guarantee of fundamental rights included in Chapter Three of the Constitution extends also to foreign nationals residing in Japan.”
        https://tinyurl.com/J-Constituion-Includes-Non-J

        Which dovetails nicely with the other positive citable laws which protect us:

        警察法
        第2条により
        「罪を犯ししたことを疑うに足りる
        相当な理由が最初からない場合
        は憲法違反な違法職務質問です。」
        Police Law
        According to Article 2
        Without first having a reason to believe the individual is involved in a specific crime, any initiation of questioning is illegal questioning (see Chapter 3 of the Constitution of Japan which these Police Laws inherently must obey and cannot be in conflict with.)

        警察法
        第162条により
        「警察法は全個人ににあてはまります。」
        Police Law
        According to Article 162
        Police Law applies to all individuals (all individuals legally means there is no nationality exclusion, and for further confirmation see the final McLean ruling above which admits that all individuals with currently valid residence permits are protected by the Chapter 3 of the Constitution of Japan, which these Police Laws inherently must obey and cannot be in conflict with.)

        警察法
        第79条に基づいて
        「警察法違反なことを見ると、
        ちゃんと強くて捜査するために、
        公安委員会に苦情を申し立てます。」
        Police Law
        According to Article 79
        When any individual sees a violation of Police Law the individual can report that the Public Ombudsman for a strong investigation.

        警察手帳規則
        5条にに基づいて
        「警察法違反なことを
        苦情を申し立てるために
        手帳の全部の情報をちゃんと書くために
        警察手帳をちゃんと提示する義務あります。」
        Police Identification Act
        According to Article 5
        To report a violation of Police Law, any individual can legally demand any Police Officer to allow all the information on their Police Identification badge (name, number, and location) to be written down and or recorded.

        出入国管理法
        第23条により
        「職務の執行に当たりしていない場合、
        在留カードを見せる義務がありません。」
        Immigration Law
        According to Article 23
        The Residence card must be shown only to officers who are acting within the confines of the Police Duties Law (which, according to Article 2, requires FIRST having a reason to believe the individual is involved in a specific crime before any initiation of questioning.)

        Sorry for the brief reminder folks, but knowing the positive citable protections of ALL legally-residing individuals guaranteed by the Constitution of Japan, and Japan’s Supreme Court Ruling, and Japan’s Police Laws, are all important and relevant, especially when anyone tries to imply the MYTH of “foreigners not having legal rights in Japan.”
        https://tinyurl.com/Realized-in-2015
        https://tinyurl.com/Perfectly-Summarized

        Reply
        • AOG, even if we accept without question that your argument is completely accurate, it doesn’t negate the myriad of other ways nom-citizens’ human rights are ignored and violated.

          I agree with the spiri of what you. Let’s do our best to stay knowledgeable of the law and whatever small privileges it affords us.

          Let’s also not lose sight of the many rights yet to be won.

          Reply
        • AnonymousOG says:

          Learning Japan’s Constitution’s Chapter 3 Laws (and learning that the McLean Supreme Court ruling specifically stated the Chapter 3 Rights apply to even foreigners) of course does NOT guarantee the police officers will actually obey the Constitution’s Chapter 3 Laws and the Police Laws.

          But:

          NOT knowing the Constitution’s Chapter 3 Laws and the Police Laws guarantees people will continue to remain in the state of ignorance about the fact that LEGALLY we all have the right to refuse any questioning requests, we all have the right to refuse any warrant-less search requests, and we all have the right refuse any warrant-less requests to go the police station unless caught in the act of a crime.

          Many people unfortunately NEEDLESSLY GIVE THE POLICE PERMISSION to do all those things, due to myths maliciously and negligently regurgitated by everyone from police officers to apologists to regular folks to even top human rights activists.

          Myths such as: “Immigration Law requires foreigners to show their card: even when the police officer is NOT acting within the confines of Police Duties Law which requires seeing a crime first before initiating any stops”, and “people have to stop walking whenever the police ask them to”, and “people have to answer questions whenever the police ask them to”, and “people have to go to the police station whenever the police ask them to” and “the McLean Supreme Court ruling says Japan’s Constitution’s Chapter 3 doesn’t apply to foreigners” etc.

          Believing such myths, and regurgitating such myths, leads to most people meekly bending over when asked, and NEEDLESSLY FAILING TO REFUSE the illegal requests, and that leads to police officers becoming even more emboldened each year to commit even worse violations of the Constitution, the Police Law, and the Supreme Court Rulings.

          The Laws highlighted above exist and are actually quite protective of all people, the problem is a combination of people not knowing the Laws and police officers violating the Laws – as well as judges not sufficiently imprisoning police officers even when presented with film evidence of the police officers caught violating the Laws.

          TLDR: The Constitution of Japan forbids police officers from stopping anyone without evidence of a crime, even foreigners, and the Police Duties Laws do too. Know this: legally all people have the right to keep walking freely.

          Our goal is to get the police officers to OBEY the Police Duties Laws, and Japan’s Constitutions’s Chapter 3, and the Supreme Court Ruling which confirms Chapter 3 includes all legally-residing foreigners.

          And, of course, our goal is also to get the legislators to legislate a law which outlaws BUSINESS OWNERS AND STAFF from committing discrimination of any kind, as Japan’s Constitution outlaws public workers from committing.

          Reply
          • In many posts here it is written that we have to show our residence card to police (only) when requested. So this is actually incorrect and we don’t even have to show it to the police unless they accuse us of some crime, right?

  • Andrew in Saitama says:

    Like the issues behind BLM in the US, here we are seeing the discrepancy between rule of law and the actual application of law.

    Reply
  • I truly hope that we all can find out some sort of follow up if these damn racist cops that violently abused the Kurdish man face any sort of suspension, punishment or justice, or if he sues the cops for the abuse.

    Will keep checking here and thanks for keeping us all aware of this Debito. You’re one of a kind unfortunately.

    Reply
  • Bryan c Wallace says:

    it states that the police made his friend delete the video
    (though there was a copy on the cloud) , but
    what im interested in is are the police legally allowed to do this?
    how do you stop abuses if you cant film it?

    Reply
    • No, they‘re not legally allowed to do it. Police officers are public servants (komuin) and you can legally film them without having to ask for permission. The problem is that most police offers will try to tell you that you have to put away your camera and that you‘re not allowed to film, but they‘re lying. Most foreigners don‘t know their rights though, so they get scared and just comply. In this case, the Kurdish man did know his rights and the law, but the police still abused their power and deleted the footage, which they‘re not allowed to do. They‘re not allowed to access your phone without a warrant, because it‘s your personal belonging. He‘s going to sue the cops and hopefully he wins, but knowing Japan it ain‘t going to happen, even though the cops clearly broke the law. I would generally recommend that you start filming as soon as you‘re approached by cops. Also make sure to film their badge numbers, or read them out loud on video. They will try to lie to you, but just show them that you know the laws. Tell them that you‘re allowed to film and tell them that you‘re only obliged to show them your residency card. You don‘t have to answer their questions and if they want to search you, they either need to arrest you, or come back with a warrant. Like I said, they will try to lie to you and say that they do have the right to search you, but just stay strong and continue filming, they will leave you alone once they realize you know the laws. Here‘s a good video about how to handle Japanese police and their racial profiling:

      https://youtu.be/bMPRdAAgTwc

      Also check out Debito‘s great article on this issue

      https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2020/01/20/issues/remain-calm-when-stopped-police-japan/

      Good luck to you and don‘t let this racist pricks intimidate you.

      Reply
  • It doesn’t really matter what the law is. Japanese police have stopped following the law, without repercussion. Japanese courts have also stopped following the law (paternity leave cases), without repercussion. And Japanese politicians have stopped following court decisions (Assisting is war overseas is illegal), without repercussion.

    Japan is just at heart a Confucian based authoritarian police state just like North Korea, South Korea, and China. All the same at heart.

    Reply
    • Jim Di Griz says:

      This. Power does as it pleases in Japan. I suspect that there is an expectation that it will do so, and therefore acceptance of abuse of power as normal by the citizenry.
      Sad.

      Reply
    • The 99 percent conviction rate in Japan means absolutely nothing because they’re not giving people their basic human rights. They’re more focused on getting results whatever the cost and simply don’t care. I think most judges in the Western world would look at the circumstances around the case and the available evidence and would wonder why the hell the case even went that far.

      Reply
  • Nobuyuki seems to be under the misapprehension that a lot of Japanese suffer from in that they seem to think that they personally have some power over NJ in Japan and that they can report them and get them expelled from the country somehow. I am still waiting for an explanation of how you are going to expel me, a PR.

    Reply
    • Jim Di Griz says:

      This. It’s actually a bizarre thing. There are plenty of nasty racists in countries all over the world with their websites, groups, rallies, demos, protests and demands, but I can’t recall reading about any other country where citizens of the majority group genuinely labor under the misapprehension that they have an individual right to expel individual foreigners- that the authorities would do so on the say-so of a regular member of the public.

      I think this bizarre belief predates the government’s anonymous snitch website, IIRC. I think it shows a staggering ignorance of how the world in general works (right wingers seem to be striving for a monopoly on ignorance) and an astonishing sense of entitlement on their part (again, right wingers seem to be seeking a monopoly on this too).

      It’s such an extremely infantile attitude, real playground logic, but then the Japanese in general seem to have a high tolerance for abuse of the law by authorities and a low understanding of individual rights and legal safeguards (and whose fault is that, LDP revisionists).

      So I can only assume that it’s a a function of a deliberate effort to disenfranchise ordinary Japanese from their own democracy and rule of law, to the benefit of the ‘erai hito’ who seek to live the life of fuedal daimyo behind the veil of a Japan pretending to me a modern developed society.

      Reply
      • Sad to see that there has been no change in the last thirty years, when I last heard of the old “I can expel any foreigner I dont like from Japan” myth. Someone mentally deranged actually tried that on me while my visa was processing but the koban cops just said to him “We dont deal with that.” And nothing came of it.
        I think its part of the Erai Hito feudal hierarchy. You may be at the bottom, but at least you are part of the Yamato master race and thus are superior to the gaijin, so you can lord it over them, at least.

        Reply
      • -where citizens of the majority group genuinely labor under the misapprehension that they have an individual right to expel individual foreigners

        I think its the negative side of “guestism” ie. youre welcome as a guest but we can kick you out too.
        The Govt snitch site came later, adding fuel to the fire or satisifying a public wishlist for a mechanism to actually try to expell that giajin in your neighborhood you dont like the look of!
        I think the whole “hoshounin” or guarantor aka gaijin minder pre and up to the 80s also added credence to this myth.
        I say myth, but the snitch site almost made it a reality.
        Another factor is the Little Hitlers who have started their own companies and think they can harrass the women or order the NJs around, because theyre the boss.
        Ditto the widespread idea that private companies dont need to follow labor laws as closely as government owned ones; the laws are made by the government for the government kind of thinking, private companies are private.
        So all in all there are all these factors culminating in this mindset.
        I recall the irate father of a friend’s GF incredulously calling up the president of the corporation which employed him to complain, which seems unreal but can happen in Japan. This dovetails with visa sponsorship by companies (tho he didnt need sponsorship) of NJs so are somehow guranteeing their behavior and stay in Japan.

        Reply
        • “I recall the irate father of a friend’s GF incredulously calling up the president of the corporation which employed him to complain”

          How did he get through to the president? And I wonder what he complained about? lol.

          Reply
          • Baudrillard says:

            just the fact that his daughter was dating a foreigner. It made things difficult. As is oft the case, on the rebound she moved to Australia or somewhere and married a non speaking, non Japan resident there. Way to go, dad.

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