Ivan Hall, author of seminal work CARTELS OF THE MIND (Norton 1997), described the systematic ways Japanese “intellectual cartels” in influential sectors of thought transfer (including the mass media, academic, and legal community) shut out foreign influences as a matter of course. He gave a marvellous speech in JALT Kitakyushu on November 3, 2006. It is my pleasure to premiere the full text on debito.org.
Surprise bit of pop culture: Incorporated into a video game and then cut, here is a scene where our hero gunman faces a door with a “JAPANESE ONLY” sign. Believe it or not, that is a copy and paste from the Otaru Yunohana Onsen sign!
‘[Murray] Wood’s is just one of the 31 active cases of child custody and family distress that the Canadian Embassy is currently dealing with in Japan, a sharp increase from the 21 active cases a year earlier…. No Japanese court has ever caused a child abducted to Japan by a Japanese parent to be returned to the child’s habitual residence outside Japan. Part of the problem is that Japan is not a signatory to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which works to ensure the prompt return of abducted children to their country of habitual residence. “Japan continues to be a haven for international child abduction”..’
Pretty good article rounding up what we’ve been saying so far about the issues of Japanese immigration, particularly that of guest workers-cum-immigrants from South America reaching double-digit percentages of the population of some Japanese towns. Courtesy of Steve at The Community.
The article says few things which readers of this and other mailing lists don’t already know. But I’m glad to see this issue receiving wider attention overseas. Quite often it takes “gaiatsu” (overseas pressure) from exposure before the GOJ is ever shamed into doing something about its own social problems. For what do the policymaking elites care about these people? They care more about how it tarnishes Japan’s reputation overseas.
I visited Sapporo’s very friendly Immigration Bureau (Nyuukoku Kanrikyoku) yesterday to find out more about the Questionnaire (shitumonsho) for people marrying Japanese and applying for the appropriate visa. I talked to the Inspection Division (shinsa bumon) for about an hour regarding the requirements for certain types of visas based upon conjugal status. A fascinating discussion ensued about how Japan is trying to suss out fake international marriages.
Some comments from me re the 2-Channel issue will be appearing Sat 8AM 1/20 on NTV’s “Wake Up Plus”, and also in Sunday Mainichi’s issue on sale Tues 1/23.
NEWS FLASH 1/19(土)の読売テレビ（NTV)の「ウェクアッププラス」（午前８時から放送）とサンデー毎日（1/23)をご覧下さい。２ちゃんねるの件についてコメントが報道されます。
I have the feeling that Japan may be approaching checkmate on getting its permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Using the appointment of Ban Ki Moon as the new UN Secretary General as an opportunity to put some wind behind their sails, the GOJ has gotten their ducks lined up: the major world powers (sans China) are falling for Japan’s arguments of quid pro quo.
東京スポーツ新聞２００７年１月１７日より。Dave Spectorさまに感謝。（イメージが読みにくければどうぞクリックして下さい。）有道 出人
Announcing the first debito.org Dejima Award for overt xenophobia: Chris Flynn reports that Setaka Town Assembly in Fukuoka Prefecture approved a university only if it would not bring in foreign students–as a crime-prevention measure.
１）１月１６日 ２３：０５より、NTV「ニュースゼロ」で
2ちゃんねるについて有道 出人とのインタビューが放送
２）夕刊フジによって「２ちゃんねるのXデー」の噂によって
違う裁判の原告の有道 出人はヘートメイルの標的となり
サイトのdebito.orgがやられた
３）ちなみに、毎日新聞の２ちゃんねるについての元旦特集記事
The operator of a school in Odawara where dozens of children who have dropped out of other schools are enrolled in has filed a criminal complaint with law enforcers over 2-Channel messages slandering the school.
２ちゃんねる：書き込み者を名誉棄損で告訴 神奈川の学校 http://www.mainichi-msn.co.jp/shakai/jiken/news/20070116k0000m040145000c.html インターネット掲示板「２ちゃんねる」の書き込みで中傷されたとして、神奈川県小田原市で不登校の子供が通う学校を運営する学校法人「湘南ライナス学園」（吉崎真里学園長）が、書き込んだ人物を被疑者不詳のまま名誉棄損などで県警小田原署に刑事告訴していたことが分かった。 告訴状は、０５年１２月〜０６年１０月、不特定多数が「学園長は精神異常者」「ライナスでは学力が低下する」などの中傷やうその書き込みをし、同学園の信用や吉崎学園長の名誉を損なった−−としている。同学園によると、中傷の書き込みは２０００件以上に上り、退学者や入学予定者の辞退が相次いだという。同署は４日に告訴状を受理し、書き込み人物の特定を進めている。同学園は、２ちゃんねる運営者の西村博之氏に書き込みの削除を求めたが、削除されていない。吉崎学園長は「不登校など事情のある子供の居場所としてようやく設立された学園なのに、根拠のないことを書き込まれ運営に支障が出ている」という。 同学園は、構造改革教育特区認定校に指定されたことを受け、０５年４月に不登校やＬＤ（学習障害）などの児童生徒向けに小・中・高一貫校として開校した。計４３人が通っている。【堀智行】 英文を読む 毎日新聞 2007年1月16日 3時00分
日本最大の掲示板「２ちゃんねる」（２ｃｈ）の管理人、西村博之氏（３０）に対し、第三者破産が申し立てられていたことが１６日、分かった。１２日に東京都内の男性会社員（３５）が西村氏の全財産仮差し押さえを申し立てたことから「２ｃｈ閉鎖」の憶測が広がる中、西村氏の包囲網は確実に狭まりつつあるようだ。
debito.org website got zapped today by cyberspace elements in apparent retaliation for internet BBS 2-Channel being taken offline after a lawsuit. Even though I had nothing to do with it (I support 2-Channel’s existence; it should just honor court decisions) and 2-Channel DIDN’T go down after all.
NEWS FLASH I got interviewed earlier tonight with Nippon TV (Ch 5 in Sapporo, Ch 4 in Tokyo). Details as follows: ///////////////////////////////////////////// 2-CHANNEL INTERNET BBS LIBEL ISSUE INTERVIEW WITH ARUDOU DEBITO, PLAINTIFF “NEWS ZERO” NEWS PROGRAM STARTS FROM 11:05 PM TONIGHT, JANUARY 16, 2007 ///////////////////////////////////////////// I’d send you a link for background on the issue …
Assuming that this is true: Gracious old rural inns, traditionally, have been places where Japanese go to relax in natural surroundings while soaking away their aches and pains in mineral hot springs. But, reports Shukan Jitsuwa (10/13), inns’ clientele of late seem to have other ideas. “The idea of 24-hour bathing was to let you get up early, and soak in the tub while watching the rising sun burn off the morning mist,” continues the kami. “Or, you could go late there at night and gaze at the starry sky. It made things all the more relaxing. But when you’ve got to worry about families bathing within hearing range of these noisy young couples, it’s really vexing.”…
A little humorous diversion. Mainichi’s Waiwai Page (a guilty pleasure–it really captures one facet of Japan’s fascinating media) has a story on how a Double model dealt with one of those nasty random NPA Gaijin Card Checkpoints: her personalities! Now, why didn’t I ever think of that?
ネット界激震！！ 賠償命令を無視し続けてきた日本最大の掲示板「２ちゃんねる」（２Ｃｈ）の管理人、西村博之氏（３０）の全財産が仮差し押さえされることが１２日、分かった。債権者が東京地裁に申し立てたもので、対象となるのは西村氏の銀行口座、軽自動車、パソコン、さらにネット上の住所にあたる２Ｃｈのドメイン「２ｃｈ．ｎｅｔ」にまで及ぶ見込み。執行されれば掲示板の機能が一時停止するのは必至だ。
1) IMMIGRATION BUREAU VIOLATES PRIVACY OF MARRIAGE,
IN QUESTIONING J SPOUSES FOR LONGER-TERM VISAS
2) ECONOMIST ON THE BASIC EDUCATION LAW’S REFORM
3) BUSINESS CONSORTIUM INTRODUCING IC CHIP SHOPPING DEVICES
4) MORE LABOR ABUSES OF FOREIGN “TRAINEES” COMING TO LIGHT
and finally…
DEBITO’S EXPANDED ITINERARY: UPDATED SCHEDULE WITH OPEN DAYS
GOING THROUGH TOKYO, KANSAI, AND KYUSHU, NEED ME TO SPEAK?
Want a visa of any duration longer than three months, and just happen to be married? Well the Immigration Bureau has instituted a new questionnaire, which asks you breathtakingly personal questions, such as what language you use at home, who came to your wedding, how much rent you pay, how and where and when you met (include photos, love letters, international phone bills), and how you learned Japanese. Why? Because they are Immigration and they can do whatever they damn well please to foreigners and their unfortunate Japanese spouses.
Launching a series on what I see as a very serious issue (training people to be “patriotic” at the early stages of education, with “love of country” tests already happening in Kyushu and Saitama grade schools), here is an introductory article from The Economist (London) on Japan’s reform of its Basic Education Law (Kyouiku Kihon Hou).
I don’t quite share its analytical framework or its rosy conclusions, but it’s a decent primer on the issue. Further links to this issue on debito.org included after the article. Further links to this issue on debito.org included after the article.
Below that follow two more Japan Times articles showing the most recent policy push in its genesis, back in 2002 and 2003.
I’m sure I’ll be saying this many times in the course of analysis and argument from now on, but what of the international community and mixed-roots children getting their education in Japan? Will they have to make a choice about their national identity (one, not both?), or just be excluded altogether?
ブログの皆様、２００６年１２月２３日付の週刊誌「サンデー毎日」は非常に大事な記事を載せました。このようなことは私たちは数年も指示しております。（２０００年４月より本格的に始まりました。私の単行本「ジャパニーズ・オンリー」（明石書店出版）第三章をご参考に。）参考サイトはこちらです： http://www.debito.org/NPAracialprofiling.html#nihongo http://www.debito.org/ishiharahikokusaika.html http://www.debito.org/hiyorimishugi.html http://www.debito.org/futouhanzaitaisaku.html http://www.debito.org/TheCommunity/nakanohittakuri.html#nihongo http://www.debito.org/immigrationsnitchsite.html#nihongo http://www.debito.org/japantimes101805j.html http://www.debito.org/crimestats.html では、記事（２ページ分）以降の通りです。久保さまに大感謝！有道 出人。 この記事の英訳は
Launched by the government in 1993, the training and internship programs allow young foreigners to undergo language and other training for one year and to serve as interns at companies in Japan
for up to two years… In 2005 alone, as many as 80,000 young people came to Japan on the
programs. However, those in the programs are left unprotected by labor law. During the first year of training, monthly pay is limited to 60,000 yen — below the legally set minimum wage. Although monthly pay rises to around 120,000 yen over the internship period, employers often deduct management and other fees to cut net pay by tens of thousands of yen.
Japan Times on how the foreign community, particularly the composition of its ethnicities, is changing. An interesting case study of one Chinese’s immigration to Japan.
The Register IT site reports theTokyo Ubiquitous Network Project has announced plans to blanket Tokyo Ginza with 10,000 RFID tags and other wireless technologies to provide shopper-assistance and location-based services. The trial will utilize a handheld device rented by visitors equipped with IC tracking technology. This is optional. Future applications for nonoptional IC Gaijin Cards?
1) DEBITO’S WINTER SCHEDULE–ANYONE WANT ME TO SPEAK SOMEWHERE?
2) US EMBASSY: RANDOM GAIJIN CHECKPOINTS NOW OFFICIAL TOKYO NPA POLICY
3) MAINICHI: FOREIGN CRIME FEARMONGERING AS OFFICIAL GOVT POLICY
4) ASAHI DULLS ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF “GAIJIN IC CARD” ARTICLE
5) FUTURE PM?: LDP KINGPIN MACHIMURA SPEAKS AT MY UNIVERSITY
6) KYODO: GIFU FIRMS EMPLOY FOREIGN CHILDREN “AT PARENTS’ REQUEST”
7) YOMIURI: IMMIG’S “GAIJIN TANKS” VIOLATE U.N. DETENTION GUIDELINES
8) ASIA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY ADDED TO UNIVERSITY BLACKLIST
9) JAPAN IRONICALLY KVETCHES ABOUT FOREIGN CRIME EXTRADITION PROBLEMS
10) ECONOMIST: ALBERTO FUJIMORI UPDATE
11) GREG CLARK IRONICALLY KVETCHES ABOUT IDEOLOGICAL BULLY PULPITING
12) 2 CHANNEL: MAINICHI DOES GANTAN TOKUSHUU
13) “JAPANESE ONLY” SIGN ON OKAZAKI INTERNET CAFE
and finally… I AM NOW OFFICIALLY “ARUDOU DEBITO
Have just updated the Blacklist of Japanese Universities, a website which warns the public about limited employment opportunities in Japanese academia. New entry is Ritsumeikan’s flagship Asia Pacific University in Beppu, Oita, Kyushu.
２ｃｈを裁判で訴える人も少なくない。北海道情報大助教授、有道出人（あるどうでびと）さん（４１）は米国出身。人種差別撤廃を訴え、北海道小樽市の入浴施設が外国人の入浴を拒否していた問題では、施設や市に損害賠償を求める裁判の原告になった。ところが、２ｃｈで「白人至上主義者」と中傷が続く。管理人のひろゆき氏（３０）＝本名・西村博之＝に削除を求めたが放置され、０５年６月、札幌地裁岩見沢支部に提訴。同支部は昨年１月、名誉棄損を認め、賠償金１１０万円の支払いと削除、発信者情報の開示を命じた。しかし、判決の通りにはなっていない。
ネット君臨：第１部・失われていくもの／１：ネット上の掲示板に匿名で個人への中傷が書き込まれる問題を、管理する側はどう考えているのか。最大の掲示板２ちゃんねる（２ｃｈ）の管理人、ひろゆき氏（３０）は毎日新聞の取材に「ネットの仕組みだから仕方がない」と答え、規制は難しいとする認識を示した。大学時代にネットの発展を体験し、ＩＴ（情報技術）の旗手を輩出する「ナナロク世代」の一人は掲示板を東京の歌舞伎町に例え、「きれいじゃない情報もあるから面白い」と語った。
Nikkan Gendai reports that Japan’s lack of extradition treaties is causing problems when foreigners commit crimes in Japan and flee scot free overseas. Then it concludes, “at least it’s a good thing that Japan is not a place where foreign criminals typically flee in order to escape arrest for crimes they committed elsewhere”. Quite. It’s only the Japanese crooks that can flee here and get away with it.
Hi Blog. Bit of a surprise to find this Letter to the Editor regarding old Gregory Clark and his ranting ways. Especially since I’ve been such a target of them in the past (as the letter alludes). I promise I had nothing to do whatsoever with this letter. Still, glad somebody out there is ready …
１）12/24放送イジメ特集TBS番組：人種・民族による川崎いじめ事件も
２）読売：大村入管センターで常勤医不在２年に、確保のメド立たず
３）朝日：外国人にＩＣカード 登録情報の一元管理へ政府原案（和英訳幾分異なる）
４）朝日：「外人の日本語は片言の方が」 久米さん１０年後の謝罪
５）甲府市「碧眼金髪外人」英会話学校公募の件：掲示した山梨国際交流協会より返答
６）最後に、岡崎市のインタネット・カフェで「外国人お断り」、すぐに撤回
1) INTERVIEW WITH J-SELECT MAGAZINE
2) BECOMING A LAWYER IN JAPAN: THE BIFURCATED J BAR EXAM
3) JOEL DECHANT AND HIS GUIDED TOURS OF BEPPU
4) TEN THINGS WHICH CHANGED MY LIFE IN 2006
and finally… DEBITO.ORG A DECADE ON…
The US Embassy has been advised that Japanese police and immigration officials are currently conducting random identification inspections in several different areas of Tokyo to ensure that all visitors to Japan possess the appropriate immigration documents. Most inspections occur at or near Tokyo metro stations, and the police are both uniformed and in plain clothes.
Asia Pacific University, a subsidiary of Ritsumeikan, in Oita, Kyushu, has announced on its home page its victory in the courts, regarding an injunction on the preservation of status launched by former full-time Japanese language lecturers. Nice bit of gloating. Sounds like a lovely place to work.
Japan Times/Kyodo reports that two temporary job-placement agencies in Gifu Prefecture hired 12 children of Brazilian immigrants of Japanese origin to work in factories in violation of labor laws. The discovery highlights a serious problem: An increasing number of immigrants in Japan are sending their kids to work, rather than school, due to language problems and economic hardship.
Three internet mailing lists under the aegis of Issho Kikaku, administered by Tony Laszlo (the basis of the star character in the bestselling “MY DARLING IS A FOREIGNER” manga series), have winked out of existence and/or public view. This report talks about the possible reasons, the effects, and the hypocrisies involved with this event.
12/24放送イジメ特集TBS番組では、「いじめ発生の背景は何か」、「きちんと対策を講じたのか」などの疑問が寄せられ、原告とのインタビューを取材し、学校は加害者側の家庭教育への見直しが強く求められる中、川崎いじめ事件（人種・民族による差別）も取り組まれます。
Daily Yomiuri reports: Two state-run immigration “Gaijin Tanks” (where overstayers await deportation) failed to have a full-time doctor on staff despite ministerial requirements. Maintaining adequate medical and health services at detention facilities of any kind is stipulated in the U.N. Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment.
Asahi: “Atonement, it seems, can never come too late. Newscaster Hiroshi Kume has apologized for a disparaging remark he made 10 years ago about foreigners speaking Japanese. The comment offended a number of foreign residents in Japan, prompting some people to formally complain to TV Asahi Corp. that aired the remark.”
Hi Blog. SITYS. See I told you so. As far back as 2000 (when this whole thing started, really–Check out Chapter Three of my book JAPANESE ONLY), I was saying that foreign crime was being artificially generated by policymakers in order to justify more budgetary outlay. Well, here’s an article on it from the Mainichi …
Funny translation of an Asahi article. The English version is entitled “IC cards planned to track ‘Nikkeijin'”. The Japanese version is entitled “Gaikokujin ni IC kaado–touroku jouhou no ichigen kanri he seifu gen’an” (“IC Cards for Foreigners–a proposal before the Diet to unify all registered data for administrative purposes”). Sounds quite different, no? What’s going on? Why this downplaying?
朝日； 外国人労働者らの居住地などを正確に把握するため、外国人登録情報を法務省入国管理局が一元管理する新制度の政府原案が１９日、分かった。入管が氏名や国籍などを電子データとしてＩＣに登録した「在留カード」を発行、外国人を雇う企業や市町村の情報も法務省が集約する。政府は、外国人労働者の受け入れ拡大に備えた体制整備の一環としている。
朝日新聞： キャスターの久米宏氏が、テレビでの発言をめぐる在日外国人からの１０年も前の抗議に対して今月１日、謝罪していたことがわかった。謝罪したのは、出演していたテレビ朝日「ニュースステーション」での「外人の日本語は片言の方がいいよね」との発言。久米氏は「今頃何をとお思いでしょうが、心からおわびします」としている。有道出人は当時から、自身のホームページ（ＨＰ）にことの経緯を詳しく掲載していたため、謝罪きっかけとなった。
Links to articles of interest from Mark Smith of the Children’s Rights Network of Japan, charting the media’s growing awareness of Japan’s safe haven for child abductions after international divorces.
MY RECOLLECTIONS OF A SPEECH BY FORMER MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND EDUCATION, LOWER HOUSE DIETMEMBER MACHIMURA NOBUTAKA. Given at Hokkaido Information University, December 18, 2006: A wonderful study of elite Japanese society in action.
Hi Blog. This is not exactly Japan-related, but the International Herald Tribune reports on the numbers and reasons (in this case, usually tax-related) why Americans abroad are giving up their US citizenship. I of course have a personal interest in this article, as I have too have given up my American passport. You can see …
ブロクの皆様こんばんは。有道 出人です。１１月末、甲府市にあるER English School 英会話学校「碧眼金髪外人を求ム」公募の件ですが、掲示した(財）山梨県国際交流協会と甲府地方法務局人権擁護課に抗議文を郵送しました。文は http://www.debito.org/?p=93 先日、山梨国際交流協会より返答をいただきました。ありがとうございました。スキャンしたファイルは以降です。 宜しくお願い致します。有道 出人 ENDS
Alberto Fujimori, former Peruvian dictator, is now in Chile facing extradition to Peru, says Economist newsmagazine in passing. I outline who Fujimori is and why you should care.