UN NEWS: UN expert calls on Japan to boost action in combating human trafficking

Posted on July 23, 2009July 23, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

UPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito

UN NEWS 17 JULY 2009

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31500&Cr=human+trafficking&Cr1=

UN expert calls on Japan to boost action in combating human trafficking

17 July 2009 — Although Japan recognizes the seriousness of the problem of human trafficking within its borders, the East Asian nation must take more concrete action to fight the scourge, an independent United Nations human rights expert said today.

“Human trafficking affects every country of the world, and Japan is clearly affected as a destination country for many of those victims,” said Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, wrapping up a six-day visit to the country.

The majority of trafficking is for prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation in Japan, but she pointed out that trafficking for labour exploitation is also cause for great concern.

The country has adopted a National Plan of Action on trafficking. Further, Japan has granted victims special residence permits if they wish to stay in Japan and is also cooperating with sending countries, including Thailand, to support victims’ reintegration in their home countries.

But Japan must ratify relevant international treaties; adopt a clearer identification procedure to lessen cases of victims’ misidentification; and boost training and coordination of law enforcement officials, Ms. Ngozi Ezeilo said.

She also urged the country to take greater action at the regional level to combat trafficking and consider entering into bilateral agreements with source countries to address the problem on a long-term basis.

ENDS

Background information:

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United Nation Information Centre, Tokyo
UNIC

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(FOR USE OF INFORMATION MEDIA – NOT AN OFFICIAL RECORD)
Press Release 09-033-E
21 July 2009

Visit of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children to Japan

12-18 July 2009

Outline and Purpose of the visit:

The Special Rapporteur, Ms. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, will undertake a visit to Japan from 12-18 July 2009 to examine the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons, especially women and children in Japan. She will meet with governmental representatives, non-governmental organizations, and other members of civil society in Tokyo and Nagoya. The objective of the visit is to engage with these various actors and seek information on a variety of issues to address trafficking in persons, including legislation, statistical information, perceived root causes, as well as regional and international cooperation to combat human trafficking. She will also emphasize protection and assistance to victims of trafficking, including steps being taken by the government of Japan and partners towards rehabilitation, reintegration and redress violations suffered by victims.

Scope of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur:

The scope of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate covers all forms and manifestations of trafficking, including:

(1) Trafficking in children – children who are trafficked for sexual purposes, adoption, child labour (e.g. domestic work, babysitters/nannies, begging, criminal activities like selling drugs, etc.), and participation in armed conflict – mercenaries/child soldiers, sex slaves. The initial belief that only girl children were being trafficked for sexual purposes no longer holds true as the incidence of young boys being trafficked and sexually exploited through unsuspecting areas like sports is fast gaining ground;

(2) Trafficking in men for forced labour and other exploitation – not much attention has been paid to this form of trafficking but the reality is that it is also becoming rampant. Men and boys in particular are trafficked for labour exploitation in construction work, in agriculture, and also in fishing and mining;

(3) Trafficking in women and girls for forced marriage, forced prostitution, sexual exploitation and forced labour (including domestic work, working in factories and mines and other forms of labour) – understandably, much attention has been paid to sex trafficking and available data on trafficking in persons are mainly on this aspect. The Special Rapporteur will explore further trafficking of women for labour exploitation, especially in domestic work and other sectors;

(4) Trafficking in human beings for organs, human body parts and tissue – obtaining facts and figures on this form of trafficking is quite challenging, but it is becoming a growing trend with a ready market, and needs to be studied closely with a view to framing appropriate interventions;

(5) There are other forms that have been sporadically recorded, such as trafficking in persons for ritual purposes as well as trafficking of prisoners.[1]

Trafficking in Human Beings – brief overview at the international level.

The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in persons, especially women and children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, defines “trafficking in persons” as: “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;” Over 117 countries have signed the Protocol. Japan has signed but not ratified the Palermo Protocol (December 2002).

In carrying out her mandate, the Special Rapporteur also refers to the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking developed by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to provide practical, rights-based approach policy guidance on the prevention of trafficking and the protection of trafficked persons and with a view to facilitating the integration of a human rights perspective into national, regional, and international anti-trafficking laws, policies and interventions. At the global level, UN.GIFT (UN Global Initiative to Fight Trafficking) was launched in March 2007 by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) with a grant made on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. (Please see http://www.ungift.org/ungift/index.html) It is managed in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO); the International Organization for Migration (IOM); the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF); the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). UN.GIFT is based on the principle that this global problem requires a global, multi-stakeholder strategy that builds on national efforts throughout the world. Stakeholders must coordinate efforts already underway, increase knowledge and awareness, provide technical assistance; promote effective rights-based responses; build capacity of state and non-state stakeholders; foster partnerships for joint action; and above all, ensure that ever ybody takes responsibility for this fight. UN.GIFT works with all stakeholders – governments, business, academia, civil society and the media – to support each other’s work, create new partnerships and develop effective tools to fight human trafficking.

On 13 May 2009, the United Nations General Assembly held an Interactive Thematic Dialogue on “Taking Collective Action to End Human Trafficking,” at which the Special Rapporteur participated. (Please see:
http://www.un.org/ga/president/63/interactive/humantrafficking.shtml)

Biography of the Special Rapporteur

Ms. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, a Nigerian national, assumed her functions as Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children on 1 August 2008. Ms. Ezeilo is a human rights lawyer and professor at the University of Nigeria. She has also served in various governmental capacities, including as Honourable Commissioner for Ministry of Women Affairs & Social Development in Enugu State and as a Delegate to the National Political Reform Conference. She has consulted for various international organizations and is also involved in several NGOs, particularly working on women’s rights. She has published extensively on a variety of topics, including human rights, women’s rights, and Sharia law.

The Special Rapporteur’s annual report to the Human Rights Council (presented in March 2009) can be found at
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/trafficking/docs/HRC-10-16.pdf.

For more information on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on
trafficking in persons, especially women and children, please visit our
website: Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in
women and children.
(Please see:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/trafficking/standards.htm)

The Special Rapporteur will present a report of the visit at a forthcoming session of the Human Rights Council at the beginning of 2010.

For more information, please contact Valentina Milano
Phone: +41 79 444 6129, e-mail: vmilano@ohchr.org

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Media Unit
Rupert Colville, Spokesperson: + 41 22 917 9767
Xabier Celaya, Information Officer: + 41 22 917 9383

For inquiries and media requests: press-info@ohchr.org

* *** *
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[1] A/HRC/10/16, para. 16.

United Nations Information Centre, Tokyo
UNU HQs bldg. 8th floor
5-53-70, Jingumae
Shibuya-ku Tokyo, 151-0001
Japan
tel: 8-3-5467-4451
fax: 8-3-5467-4455
e-mail: unicmail@untokyo.jp

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（重複投稿すみません）7月12日（日）から17日（金）にかけて、人身売買に関する国連特別報告者が日本を公式訪問して、日本における状況を調査していましたが、昨日17日に東京都内で、日本での調査を振り返って記者会見を行いました。

下記は、NHKニュースのウェブサイトと、国連のウェブサイトの国連ニュースセンターでの報告です。

日本はたくさんの人身売買の被害者の目的地国になっており、性的搾取だけでなく、労働搾取（研修生・技能実習生制度）に関しても大きな懸念事項である、と述べています。

今回の調査では、日本政府関係者への聞き取りだけでなく、被害者当事者をはじめ、外国人研修生権利ネットワークやJNATIP（人身売買禁止ネットワーク）などのNGOセクターの支援者などが、情報提供を行ったり、意見交換を行っています。

おそらく、2010年初頭に開かれる会期の国連人権理事会で、正式な報告書が提出される見通しです。

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/k10014344811000.html#
7月17日 19時57分
海外から日本に来て強制的に働かされるなど、人身取引の日本での現状を調査した国連の担当者は、被害がいっそう深刻化しているとして懸念を示したうえで、日本政府に被害者の保護対策を強化するよう求めたことを明らかにしました。

人身取引をめぐる各国の状況を調査するため、国連から任命されたジョイ・ヌゴジ・エゼイロ氏は今月１２日から日本を訪れ、政府当局者やＮＧＯの関係者などと面会したりして調査を行ってきました。

エゼイロ氏は１７日、都内で開いた記者会見の中で、日本では周辺のアジアの国々から多くの人たちが連れてこられ、性的な仕事を強要されたり、きわめて安い賃金で重労働を強いられたりするなど、深刻な人身取引が起きていると指摘し、「日本は人身取引の多くの被害者たちがたどり着く国だ」と述べ、日本の現状に懸念を示しました。

さらに最近は技能実習といった政府の奨励する制度に基づいて来た人たちが強制的に安い賃金で働かされる事例が増えており、被害は水面下でいっそう深刻化していると指摘しました。

またエゼイロ氏は日本政府に対し、多言語で対応する保護施設をつくったり、人身取引を防ぐ法律の整備を急いだりして被害者の保護対策を強化するよう求めたことを明らかにしました。今回エゼイロ氏が行った調査は、来年の国連の人権理事会に報告されることになっています。

ENDS

On the cannibalistic NJ labor market in Japan: short essay

Posted on July 22, 2009July 22, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

UPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito

Hi Blog. Felt inspired this morning by the pretty unproductive (if not downright nasty) comments Roy received to his post yesterday regarding his allegations of unfair treatment at the hands of a Japanese subsidiary of a US legal firm.

ON THE CANNIBALISTIC NJ LABOR MARKET IN JAPAN

One tendency I’ve noticed in the NJ marketplace of ideas (the one inspired by the marketplace of labor everyone must experience; for without a job, you generally cannot even legally stay in Japan) is that people are not terribly helpful to one another. The responses to Roy’s post yesterday reconfirmed that.

He made the case that he received unfair, discriminatory treatment in the workplace as a NJ. However, respondents’ tone was often, “What did you expect?” They blamed it either on the state of the Japanese job market (where discrimination happens either to NJ in specific or across the board anyway), or blamed Roy himself — for being too trusting (as if it’s his fault for taking people at their word), or even for being too “combative” just because he was trying to pin people to their word.

Think about this dynamic, folks. This is counterproductive in a very serious way. In that, instead of trying to assist a person crying out for help, we’re assigning blame to him for being in that situation in the first place. Kinda like seeing somebody cross the street at a crosswalk, and getting hit by a car that promised to stop at crosswalks, then blaming him for being in the way of the car in the first place. He shouldn’t have left himself open for that. He shouldn’t have been a sucker to believe that a corporation would follow its own rules.

That’s the thing. Japan itself as a system doesn’t even have clear traffic rules. According to NHK about a month ago (I haven’t confirmed this for myself, so I haven’t written about this until now), Japan has not signed a single international labor treaty safeguarding the rights of workers. Laborers in this country are in a singular position in the developed-country labor market in that they have few rights (contracts defy what’s espoused in labor law and courts rule in the contractor’s favor regardless, labor arbitration councils make nonbinding rulings, even the right to equal salary despite gender is not backed up by punitive law). The only right they have is to unionize. And that requires cooperation amidst employees.

But instead of cooperation, we’re seeing (especially in the NJ labor market) the NJ refusing to help each other. They take the attitude of, “Well, it happened to me, I went through it. So should you.” or “It’s not your country anyway, so go home if you get a raw deal here.” or “It’s how the system works, it’s economics, politics, whatever.” Anything but preserving the dignity of the individual and saying, “That’s awful. I’ll spread the word that this place is to be avoided.”

Dignity is a hard concept to define (and most people find it too taxing to enforce, especially since they believe hard knocks is what toughened them up), but without it, humans revert to animalistic — even cannibalistic — tendencies very quickly. We eat our young. Yes, a hard knock or two will wizen people up from naivete. But too many hard knocks will just make them mean.

And this meanness permeates the NJ job market. “If something bad happened to you, it’s probably your fault. You were information poor and shouldn’t have been. You were culturally insensitive and brought it upon yourself. What did you expect? You shouldn’t have come to Japan in the first place.”

Why not try being more supportive and positive? I have tried to do my bit over the decades. The Blacklist of Japanese Universities. The Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants. Debito.org. Lessons I’ve learned to make sure people avoid the pitfalls I fell into, and make a better life here. Anyone can do that. Anyone should. Promote the dignity of the individual rather than the cannibalistic collective. Because whatever you put into the pool of communal experiences, be they supportively informative or negatively discouraging, will eventually come back to affect you and your life here in Japan with interest.

I suggest people go down the first path. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

Discrimination at Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC, report by Roy Choudhury

Posted on July 21, 2009July 27, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

DISCLAIMER
The following has been written by Roy Choudhury (roychoudhury14@yahoo.com).
No statement here necessarily reflects the views or standpoints of Debito.org or of the webmaster, Arudou Debito. Mr Choudhury assumes full responsibility for all contents, and any possible errors and inaccuracies within the essay are his own. For questions, enquiries, and responses, I encourage readers and concerned parties to contact the author directly, as per the contact details below. DISCLAIMER ENDS

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Updates (July 27, 2009):

I am willing to share all evidence I have with members of the press should they express interest in covering the story.

In addition, Mr. Louis Carlet of the Nambu Foreign Workers Caucus, a labor union, is willing to talk to the press on my behalf on key parts of my case that I have reported to him. The number for the NUFC is: 03-3434-0669.

July 25, 2009: Daniel Rea, editor of the Japan Times Herald, has investigated my story and covered it in a piece titled ‘More Troubles for Ernst and Young Japan’. He also found another ex-employee of EY-Japan with a disturbing story. You can read it at http://japantherald.blogspot.com/

Mr. Rea also says the following (taken from response no. 14 at the end):

“I received photocopies and a SD recording of Roy and EYJ conversations. Also the same from another empoloyee from India. Everything he alleged is 100% factual. Just wanted you to know Roy and another EYJ employee were treated extremely unfairly. EYJ violates their Code of International Conduct on a routine basis it seems.
-Dan”

*********************************
ESSAY BEGINS:

I’ve written up the following piece with the intention of drawing media interest to this matter. My goal is to hold the accounting firm Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC to account for its actions.
— Roy Choudhury (roychoudhury14@yahoo.com)

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Ernst & Young’s Shame: Racism institutionalizes itself in the
Japanese wing of the accounting giant
By Roy Choudhury
Exclusive to Debito.org July 21, 2009, freely forwardable

Accounting can do wonders, but just where in the free world do you find an audit firm whose Global Code of Conduct shuns discrimination, but whose lead partner confirms that non-Japanese nationals are barred from getting permanent contracts? And whose department head admits to taking “language differences” into account – even for a job that needs no Japanese? Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC (or EY-Japan), the country’s largest accounting firm, has got some explaining to do.

I worked for EY-Japan for two years (2006 – 2008) and have firsthand knowledge of how they treat people. As a US citizen, I can tell you I have never seen anything like it. They happen to be institutionally racist. And I can prove it.

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The evidence

Three partners told me of a rule that barred foreigners from getting permanent contracts at EY-Japan (two now deny it, but I have the other recalling it on tape). This is despite the fact that the firm promised to uphold the Ernst & Young code of conduct which has zero tolerance for any form of discrimination. The Code reads:

“We embrace multicultural experience and diversity as strengths of our global organization. As such, we respect one another and strive for an inclusive environment free from discrimination, intimidation and harassment.”

Yet when I challenged them on being institutionally racist, the head of the International Department denied the rule’s existence (on tape too), but admitted to taking “language differences” into account when hiring me (this is in the firm’s letter to me dated February 17, 2009).

But this was for a position that required no Japanese whatsoever (I was an English proofreader). And if they take language differences into account for jobs that need no Japanese, then when do they not do so? Probably only when the person applying is Japanese, right? That’s very racist.

Their attitude may have even led them to defy the law. Article 106 of Japan’s Labor Standards Law requires companies to make their rules of employment known to all employees, irrespective of nationality or language. But EY-Japan doesn’t always do this, partly because of language problems.

The firm has been in existence since 2000. It says it can conduct quality audits of English financial statements, and issue English audit reports. It has no shortage of resources. You’d think they would have fixed any problems with language differences by now, if they wanted to. Sadly, it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

On retirement benefits, for example, partners were insisting in English that I wasn’t entitled to them (you can read it in their letter to me) – even though they had been deducting pension contributions from my paychecks. The explanation left me thinking that they were taking me for a ride.

What they should have said was that I would be entitled to a state pension (nenkin), but I would not be getting severance benefits from the company (taishokukin). But I only figured out what they truly meant in June 2009 – 3 years after my start date with the Firm – after investing in a Japanese lawyer who kindly went over the contents of their letter.

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Foreign Employees

They may have no idea of what they’ve gotten themselves into. The Code tells them they can’t be discriminated against. So they toil away convinced their careers in the firm are performance-based – unaware of the truth.

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The Damage to Clients

If the firm officially views language differences as a risk factor when hiring (because, according to their letter, it might end up resulting in misunderstanding), it presumably also views multicultural work environments as dangerous to audit?

I’m not 100% sure on this (because they refuse to take any more questions from me), but they could view a client with an accounting team consisting of Americans and Japanese as dangerous because of the mere possibility that they might be having misunderstandings, right? And they could see a client committed to a policy of promoting multiculturalism, who doesn’t proactively employ safeguards to protect itself from language differences, as illogical, yes?

But that means billing the client more to compensate for the increased audit risk – purely because the client embraced diversity. That’s unheard of in modern day accounting. But it could be very real to EY-Japan.

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Groupwide anguish

This leaves the folk at 5 Times Square with egg on their faces. Their US counterpart doesn’t tolerate racism. They were one of the first firms to hire people on merit when the anti-racist movement was taking shape. Imagine the collective jaw drop on hearing that a fellow firm was employing a racy rule and language differences (the existence of which can often be determined by skin color in Japan) to target non-Japanese nationals, despite guaranteeing a discrimination-free work environment.

The crux is that partners with the wrong vision seized power in an accounting group committed to doing good. And rather than Ernst & Young standing for a higher ideal and taking the high road, and instead of them shaping the partners with their wisdom and goodness, these partners have succeeded in turning tables on the Group and are redefining Ernst & Young in their image.

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Part 2: An insight into their mindset

This part is dedicated to unveiling the darker side of the firm’s character through examples of unethical and extraordinary behavior. Their actions might have passed as OK if it were a regular company. But accounting is a respected profession, and the people in it are assumed to be impartial and bound by the truth. Loyalty must be to the Code, not to themselves.

With a slogan like doing the right thing, you’d have thought they were ethical and rational. In this they disappoint. Judge for yourself:

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A gagging attempt

They knew I was unhappy with how they treated me before I left EY-Japan (their letter indicates this). In July 2008, they tried to muzzle me and put me under fierce pressure to sign a confidentiality agreement that defined confidential information in part as “all the information made available to me from your firm” (I still have the document and can prove all of it).

In other words, I would never have been able to tell you what I’m telling you now if I had signed it.

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Unilateral changing of employment terms – one week before joining

In my second job interview held in April 2006, a partner offered me a job and promised me a specific salary and “all of the benefits of a full-time worker”. I took him at his word and assumed “all of the benefits” to mean all of the benefits. And because one of the standard benefits of full-time employees in Japan is lifelong job security, I believed he was offering me a permanent contract.

But just one week before my start – and seven weeks after the interview – EY-Japan inexplicably sent me an employment contract for only two years (the dates are confirmed in their letter to me).

That put me in a bind. I had a permanent contract with the company I was working for, but I had told them weeks in advance that I had found another job. I had terminated my job hunt with other companies too. They were changing my employment terms unilaterally. That left me with few options. I ended up signing the contract and worked for EY-Japan until August 2008.

(Note: As I did not tape record the interview, I cannot prove that I was promised “all of the benefits of a full-time worker”. You either believe me on this one or you don’t. But the matter is critically important because their response to it (covered in the next section) is extraordinary).

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A few fast ones

I officially challenged EY-Japan in December 2008 and wrote four letters to them. They eventually responded with a letter of their own on February 17, 2009. Some of the arguments they deploy in the letter are extraordinary because they are based on insistence, and on opinions.

For an accountant to twist the truth for personal gain means undermining everything the profession stands for. Arthur Anderson and Misuzu – if they were still around today – would testify to this. To call oneself an accountant while resorting to arguments not supported by the facts is oxymoronic. That’s the worst thing you could ever say to an accountant (it means you shouldn’t be in the profession).

So the question becomes: do you think EY-Japan is being oxymoronic? Are they misleading people with their arguments? Judge for yourself:

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a) They conclude they never represented offering me a permanent contract at interview in April 2006.

They state that the partner who hired me has no recollection of promising me “all of the benefits of a full-time worker”, and it’s illogical for the partner to ever say such a thing. Therefore, they conclude that no such promise was ever made.

But that partner is on tape saying he doesn’t remember. And their conclusion is based on the inability of the partner to confirm or deny promising me “all of the benefits of a full-time worker”. This reasoning is overzealous.

Moreover, a lead partner is on tape blowing a hole in the firm’s defense. He reveals that EY-Japan can never prove that it didn’t offer me a permanent contract in the 2006 interview, raising questions about the firm’s conclusion. Is the Head of the International Department, who prepared the February 2009 letter, using power to arrive at conclusions his colleagues don’t consent to? Is he being oxymoronic?

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b) They insist that it is inconsistent for me to state that I had no option but to sign the 2006 employment contract and join EY-Japan, since I did not express dissatisfaction with the employment terms when I signed the contract.

This is a very old line of argument, commonly employed by bullies. Want something that’s not yours? First, change the terms unilaterally. Next flex muscles to deter the opposition. Assume silence to mean satisfaction. And double tag the victim with anger and disbelief if he complains.

The problem is that the partners who handled my hiring are some of the hardest men around in accounting. They think there is nothing wrong with telling an employee that he is getting a two-year contract just one week before the start date – that’s more than six weeks after I had told my employer at the time, the one I had a permanent contract with, that I had found another job based on the results of the second interview. (The dates of the second interview and the letter of employment are clearly stated in their letter. I can prove this.)

In addition, EY-Japan admits it was proactively taking language differences into account (for a job that needed no Japanese), and they could also have rescinded the offer at any time if I had challenged them. They also defied the Code by having a rule about foreigners, and, therefore, made racism an integral part of the firm’s character. Isn’t this being oxymoronic?

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c) They refuse to respond to any further questions from me

So we will never know if the partner, who is on tape recalling that he twice told me of the Firm’s rule of barring non-Japanese nationals from getting permanent contracts, was telling the truth?

And since this recollection was made right in front of the Head of the International Department who denies the rule’s existence (this is on tape too), we will also never know why the Head refuses to reconcile this discrepancy?

They are intentionally leaving the matter in limbo when EY-Japan stands accused of racism and deceit. But why?

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A request to the reader

If the above convinces you that partners with the wrong agenda have seized the reigns of power in EY-Japan and are beginning to redefine the Group in their image, and if you think putting a stop to it would be a good idea, then pass the message along. Get others to talk about it. Let’s get the press involved if we can. Because someone must hold them to account.

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Part 3: Timeline of key events

My second interview at EY-Japan (or EYJ):
April 10, 2006

Start date at EYJ:
June 1, 2006

Last date of employment at EYJ (I left voluntarily):
August 22, 2008:

Formally challenged EYJ:
December 10, 2008

EYJ responds to my challenge in a letter given to me in a meeting which I taped openly:
February 17, 2009

Between February and June 2009, I investigated EYJ further, consulted several parties, did some soul-searching

Around late June / early July 2009, I finally decided to take all matters public. My goal is to hold them to account for their actions, and get things changed.

======================================

ENDS

A spate of Debito.org-related news links, on PR, visas with kids, NJ unemp insurance, and Roppongi drink spiking

Posted on July 16, 2009July 16, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

UPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito

Hi Blog. It’d probably take many days of blogging to get all these articles out individually, so let me just lump them together for your reference. Thanks to Anonymous and JK. Arudou Debito

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Guidelines revised to allow illegals with kids to stay longer
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20090711TDY02308.htm
The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jul. 11, 2009)

The Justice Ministry announced on Friday revised guidelines under which non-Japanese staying in the nation illegally with school-age children could be granted special residence permission to stay longer.

While the revision of guidelines regarding permits for people staying in Japan illegally has not officially eased residency requirements, it looks to reduce the estimated 130,000 people staying in Japan illegally by giving them an incentive to voluntarily contact the authorities.

The justice minister is authorized to issue special permits to non-Japanese who challenge deportation orders. The guidelines released in 2006 state that the permits are to be issued for humanitarian considerations.

But the guidelines’ standards have been criticized for being ambiguous and for discouraging foreigners from contacting the authorities out of concern they will be deported.

The revised guidelines state that people caring for seriously sick relatives or who have children enrolled in primary to high schools in Japan may be eligible for the permits if they voluntarily contact immigration offices.

They also stipulate that the children should have lived in Japan for at least 10 years in principle.

But the revised guidelines also say that stays may be denied to those who have entered Japan on fake passports.

Tomoyuki Yamaguchi, a representative of the APFS (Asian People’s Friendship Society), a Tokyo-based nonprofit organization supporting foreigners staying in Japan, said: “Many foreign families [staying illegally in Japan] live in Japan in hiding as they’re afraid of being discovered by the authorities. If they realize they have a better chance of obtaining these permits by reporting themselves voluntarily, more of them are likely to cooperate.”
(Jul. 11, 2009)

================================
New special residency permit guidelines established
(Mainichi Japan) July 10, 2009
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090710p2a00m0na004000c.html

New guidelines for special residency permits issued by the Minister of Justice to foreigners who have received deportation orders for illegal overstays have been established, the Ministry of Justice announced Friday.

Listed as having grounds for positive consideration include: those who are raising biological children in elementary, junior, or senior high school and who have lived in Japan for 10 years or more; those who have lived in Japan for 20 years and are firmly rooted in Japan; and those who turn themselves into authorities for illegally overstaying and have no records of other law violations.

Meanwhile, those who have illegally issued or received passports, or entered the country on fraudulent passports or visas are unlikely to be eligible for special residency permits. Even those who have lived in Japan for 20 years or more, will be considered for deportation if they have been convicted of illegally issuing or receiving passports.

While special residence permission is left to the justice minister’s discretion, guidelines for granting permission were established by the Ministry of Justice for the first time in October 2006. The latest revision took place because of a supplementary provision written by both ruling and opposition party legislators into the amended Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law that passed during the current Diet session to “increase the transparency of special residence permissions.”

In 2008, 8,522 foreigners were granted special residency permits, meaning that a little over 70 percent of all petitions for permission have been granted. In March 2009, Justice Minister Eisuke Mori granted special residence permission to a 14-year-old Saitama girl who was born and raised in Japan and whose parents had been deported to the Philippines for illegally entering Japan, given that she lives with her relatives.

在留特別許可：小、中、高生の親に配慮　法務省が新指針
毎日新聞　2009年7月10日　東京夕刊
http://mainichi.jp/select/seiji/archive/news/2009/07/10/20090710dde001010081000c.html
　不法滞在などで退去強制処分となった外国人の在留を法相が特別に認める在留特別許可について法務省は１０日、許可判断の参考とする新たなガイドラインを策定したと発表した。許可を積極的に考慮する事情として学校に通う子を持つ親や日本への定着性のほか、自ら入管に出頭した場合も盛り込み不法滞在者へ出頭を促した。

　許可する積極要素として、日本の小中高校に在学し、１０年以上の相当期間日本に在住する実子と同居▽滞在が２０年程度の長期間に及び定着性が認められる▽不法滞在を申告するため自ら入管に出頭－－などと列記。許可する方向で検討する例として「日本で生まれ１０年以上経過して小中学校に通う実子と同居し、自ら入管に出頭して他に法令違反がない」などを挙げた。

　一方、旅券の不正受交付や偽造旅券、在留資格偽装による入国は消極要素とした。２０年以上在住しても、旅券の不正受交付の刑を受けた場合は退去の方向で検討するとした。

　在留特別許可は法相の裁量によると定められているが、法務省は０６年１０月、ガイドラインを初めて策定。今国会で成立した改正出入国管理法の付則に、与野党の修正で「在留特別許可の透明性向上」などが盛り込まれたため見直しが決まった。

　０８年、在留特別許可を受けた外国人は８５２２人。申し立ての７割強が許可されている。法務省は見直しで不法滞在者の出頭が増えると見込んでいる。今年３月には森英介法相が不法入国で退去強制処分を受けた埼玉県のフィリピン人一家のうち、日本で生まれ育った中学生の長女を親類との同居を条件に許可した。【石川淳一】

在留特別許可

　出入国管理法は、不法滞在などで退去強制処分となった外国人に対しても、特別な事情があると法相が認めれば在留を特別に許可できると定めている。可否は法相の裁量に委ねられるが、日本人と結婚したケースが大半を占める。
================================

U.S. warns of drink-spiking in Tokyo
(Mainichi Japan) July 11, 2009
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090711p2g00m0dm007000c.html
TOKYO (AP) — The U.S. Embassy on Friday advised Americans to avoid drinking in a Tokyo nightlife district, warning that some customers have fallen unconscious and been robbed after their drinks were spiked.

It was the second such alert in four months about bars in the Roppongi district.

“The U.S. Embassy continues to receive reliable reports of U.S. citizens being drugged in Roppongi-area bars,” the embassy said in statement.

Tokyo is among the safest big cities in the world, but the embassy has reported a rise in incidents of American customers being rendered unconscious or extremely sleepy. Victims awake hours later to find credit cards missing or fraudulently charged for big amounts.

“These cases are very hard to investigate,” said Masahito Fujita, vice head of the Azabu police station overseeing Roppongi. “It’s difficult to know whether people were just drinking too much or if they were actually drugged.”

Canada, Australia and Britain have also warned their citizens to beware.

Canada says in a travel report on Japan that drinks should “never be left unattended.”

Roppongi became a nightspot for foreigners shortly after World War II when the U.S. military was posted nearby. It remains popular with tourists and Western expatriates drawn to its hundreds of bars, lounges and dance floors.

(Mainichi Japan) July 11, 2009
==============================

入管法改正案：「外国人監視強化だ」支援団体反発　便利だが罰則厳しく
毎日新聞　2009年6月27日　東京夕刊
http://mainichi.jp/select/wadai/news/20090627dde041010029000c.html
-recognition that immigration revision is possibly too strict
入管法改正案：「外国人監視強化だ」支援団体反発　便利だが罰則厳しく

　外国人登録制度に代わる「在留カード」による新たな在留管理制度を盛り込んだ入管法改正案が与野党３党による修正を経て衆院を通過、参院に送られた。改正案は不法滞在のあぶり出しを強める一方、外国人の利便性を向上させる「アメとムチ」の内容となっているが、支援団体などは「外国人監視を強める法律だ」と反発する。

　外国人登録者数は９０年に初めて１００万人を突破し、０７年には２１５万人に増加した。現行の在留管理では適正な把握が困難で、行政サービスも提供しにくくなるとの考えから、改正が提案された。

　新制度は、９０日以上日本に滞在する外国人に、入管が在留カードを発行。入管は市町村から居住地の情報提供を受け、留学先や雇用主からも報告を受ける。実態が情報と異なれば、不法と判別できる。従来は在留資格がなくても市町村の窓口で外国人登録証が発行されたが、改正後は不法滞在者に在留カードは発行されず、身分が証明できない。一方で利便性向上のため、在留期間の上限を３年から５年に延ばし、再入国許可も緩和する。

　新制度について、自由人権協会の旗手明理事は５月２３日の東京都内の集会で情報の一元管理を「情報を分析し危険な外国人を浮かび上がらせるシステム。不法残留の外国人は生きていく最低限の行政サービスも受けられない」と述べた。

　また「移住労働者と連帯する全国ネットワーク」の鳥井一平事務局長は５月８日の衆院法務委員会に参考人として出席し「適正な滞在者にも非常に厳しい罰則規定がある。非正規滞在の人たちも、働いて税金も払っている」と強調した。

　こうした声を受け、修正案の付帯決議で、在留資格取り消しの弾力的運用などが盛り込まれた。また、在日韓国・朝鮮人などの特別永住者に交付する「特別永住者証明書」についても、与野党の修正で常時携帯義務は削除された。【石川淳一】

=========================

外国人参政権推進を評価　韓国大統領、公明代表と会談
Nikkei.net June 28, 2009
http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/seiji/20090628AT3S2800B28062009.html
-promoting suffrage rights for PR
　韓国の李明博（イ・ミョンバク）大統領は28日午後、公明党の太田昭宏代表と都内で会談した。公明党がかねて推進してきた日本での永住外国人への地方参政権付与問題について、太田氏は「国民の理解も得ながら推進していきたい」と発言。大統領は「公明党には前向きに取り組んでもらっている」と高く評価した。
　両者は北朝鮮核問題の解決に向けた連携や日韓経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）の推進、気候変動問題での協力でも一致した。(00:15)

==========================
外国人労働者の労働保険　失業手当を受け取れない人も　／滋賀
毎日新聞　2009年6月30日　地方版
http://mainichi.jp/area/shiga/report/news/20090630ddlk25040607000c.html
-some foreigners not getting unemployment pay

外国人労働者の労働保険　失業手当を受け取れない人も　／滋賀

　◇ほとんどが制度未加入　義務付け無視、企業の食い物に
　日系ブラジル人など南米の外国人労働者が集中する県東部で、外国人労働者から相談を受けた個人加盟の労働組合が、相談者らが所属していた外国人中心の県内の派遣会社２７社の雇用条件を調べたところ、わずか１社しか労働者を労働保険（労災保険と雇用保険）に加入させていなかったことが分かった。労使双方で負担する労働保険は加入が法的に義務付けられているが、労組が各社に是正を申し入れたところ、いずれも「労働者が希望しなかった」などと弁明したという。徐々に景気回復の兆しも見え始めたが、いまだに失業手当すら受けとれない外国人もいる。【稲生陽】

　労組は非正規労働者のための「アルバイト・派遣・パート関西労働組合」（本部・大阪市）。不況が深刻化した昨年秋以降に県内の外国人労働者約１３０人から労働に関する相談を受け、相談者の雇用契約書を精査したり勤務先に問い合わせたりして雇用条件を調べたところ、県外に本社のある１社を除く全社が労働者を保険に加入させていなかった。「給料から保険料を天引きすると、外国人が集まらなくなる」として、日本人従業員のみ保険に加入させるケースも多かった。交渉すると、大半は雇用開始にさかのぼっての保険加入に応じたが、「保険料に回す資金がない」「健康保険や年金と一緒でないと入れず、労働者の負担も高額になる」などとして応じない社も数社あった。

　９１年に来日した日系ブラジル人男性（４５）は昨年９月、派遣先の同県近江八幡市内の工場で、倒れてきた約２００キロのコンクリート金型の下敷きになった。大けがをしたが、翌日、長浜市内の派遣会社から「もう会社にはいらない」と告げられ解雇された。今も胸や背中に痛みが残るが、労災保険未加入のため、病院は会社負担で一度受診したのみだ。失業保険はさかのぼって適用することが可能だったが、手続きが遅れたため受け取れず、現在は生活保護を申請中だ。「私にも日本人の血が流れているのに、日本は冷たい」と唇をかんだ。

　労働基準法は労災事故での療養中の解雇を禁じているが、同社の担当者は取材に対し、「解雇は男性の無断欠勤など別の理由からで、休業補償と解雇予告手当を兼ね４０万円を支払った」と説明。「外国人を専門に雇う派遣会社はどこも労働者を保険に加入させていない。違法と分かっていても、好況時なら、保険料を天引きすると労働者から不満が出る」と理解を求めた。

　同労組は「制度すら知らなかった外国人がほとんど。分からないのをいいことに企業の食い物にされてきた」と指摘する。「再び好景気になれば、また保険なしの雇用が息を吹き返す。同じことを繰り返してはいけない」と話している。
ENDS

Kyodo: Resident NJ numbers rise yet again in 2008, according to MOJ

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

UPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito

Registered foreign population in Japan hits record-high 2.21 million
Japan Today/Kyodo Saturday 11th July, 06:50 AM JST
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/registered-foreign-population-in-japan-hits-record-high-221-million

TOKYO —
The number of registered foreign residents in Japan hit a record high of 2,217,000 at the end of 2008, marking an increase of around 50% in the last decade, a report released by the Justice Ministry said Friday. The registered foreign population accounts for 1.74% of Japan’s total population, it said.

Chinese nationals accounted for the largest group of foreign residents at around 30%, or 655,000 people, followed by Koreans at 589,000, Brazilians at 313,000, Filipinos at 211,000 and Peruvians at 60,000. The number of permanent residents increased to 492,000, up 11.9%, and that of nonpermanent residents with skilled labor visas rose by 21.6%. Most foreign nationals resided in Tokyo, with 402,000 registered, followed by Aichi and Osaka prefectures.

ENDS
Source: Ministry of Justice home page
http://www.moj.go.jp/PRESS/090710-1/090710-1.html

COMMENT FROM DEBITO: Quite honestly, I’ve been in a funk these past few months, starting with the Nikkei Repatriation Bribe, adopted April 1 of this year. Given that I’ve come to the conclusion that the GOJ deliberately keeps on instituting a formal revolving-door labor policy towards NJ (keep them here temporarily, suck them dry of the best years of their working lives, take their taxes and pension monies, and then send them back as soon as they become inconvenient regardless of how much contribution they make), the study of Japan’s internationalization (and the looming demographic nightmare) has become a dismal science. I’ve got a pile of books I’m supposed to be reading, most of which come to the conclusion that Japan’s internationalization and multiculturalization is inevitable (an argument I too have made constantly this decade), and it’s now become winceworthy reading. Again, quite honestly, I’m just not sure the elites who govern Japan will allow people like us to save Japan from itself.

Then I see statistics like the above. NJ are still coming here, to stay, to live. More NJ Permanent Residents than ever before, and the numbers have only slowed from an average of 15% (2002-2006) to 12%.

I have a feeling that the numbers of registered NJ residents may actually drop for the first time in nearly five decades in 2009. But if even then, with all the GOJ’s disincentives towards immigration, numbers keep rising, then I’ll snap out of my funk and resume my arguments about the multicultural inevitability. It’s a shame that without tabulations in real time, we have to wait another year to find out.

Arudou Debito in Sapporo
ENDS

Osaka Nishi Yodogawa Police “Beware of Suspicious Foreigners” poster

Posted on July 2, 2009April 30, 2021 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

UPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito

Hi Blog. The NPA is once again ramping up its public calls for surveillance of “suspicious foreigners”.

The previous wave of this basically started with Tokyo Gov. Ishihara’s now infamous “Sangokujin Speech” in 2000, when he called on the Nerima Self Defense Forces to round up suspicious foreigners “committing heinous crimes” in the event of a natural disaster. He made no distinction how one would determine “suspicious”, however, or how people would not resort to racial profiling.

They never broke the mold. That wave continued through World Cup 2002 (although it mutated into “hooligans”) onto police nationwide (particularly the Kanto cops) putting up posters warning the public against “suspicious foreigners”, whatever that meant. After protests, some police amended their notices to focus on the crimes, not the nationalities, but still exceptions popped up from time to time in prefectures with beaches (such as Ibaraki), warning people to “protect our shores” (complete with visual invasion motif).

Now, according to Debito.org Reader JL, who found this notice up in his apartment, the Osaka Police are once again warning people about “suspicious foreigners”, for they might be illegal laborers or overstayers. Here’s the poster, dated June 2009. Osaka Fu Nishi Yodogawa Keisatsusho:
(click on image to see it larger and legible)

Again, how will people distinguish without suspecting anyone who looks foreigner as “suspicious”? Will our boys in blue ever learn some sophistication?

Probably not. It’s been nearly a decade since Ishihara’s speech. And fear campaigns are very helpful with budget approvals. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

Bernama.com on new proposed “points system” for NJ work visas

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. I’m not sure what to say at this point, since this “points system” may be a step in the right direction for an objective, clear system for determining who gets what visa and why. There’s been too much “discretion” left to the Immigration Bureau, especially when it comes to doling out statuses such as Permanent Residency. We’ll just have to see how the proposed system shapes up. Again, the GOJ is recognizing the need for migrant labor, just not in any way that seems to actually promote immigration. If done right, however, this system might be one of the first steps towards an actual Immigration Ministry with an actual immigration policy. Wait and see. Arudou Debito in Sapporo
/////////////////////////////////////////

June 22, 2009 12:29 PM
Japan To Introduce ‘Point System’ To Attract Foreigners
Bernama.com (Malaysian National News Agency), courtesy of Matt Dioguardi
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=419721

TOKYO, June 22 (Bernama)– The Japanese government plans to introduce a ”point system” to give preferential treatment such as residency permit extensions to foreigners with advanced expertise, Kyodo news reported quoting government sources as saying on Sunday.

The government plans to evaluate foreigners by awarding points for their qualifications, working careers, research achievements and other qualities and to give preferential treatment when their points exceed a certain level, the sources said.

The new system will form part of a reform of the residency permit system amid intensified international competition for engineers and other experts with advanced expertise.

A Justice Ministry panel will discuss the plan soon to begin mapping out the new system.

The government is expected to study simplifying procedures for residency permits and reentry, extending the maximum duration of residency permits from three years at present and shortening the period of residency required before securing the right to permanent residency from 10 years in principle.

The ministry will decide on the jobs to be included under the new system in consultation with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and other ministries and agencies.

A government panel compiled a report last month that included a study on the introduction of the new system.

Similar point systems have been introduced in Britain and Canada. In Britain, the system is applied to scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers and teachers, who can obtain the right of permanent residence in five years if they are recognised as experts with advanced expertise.

— BERNAMA (Malaysia)
ENDS

Kyodo: 34 NJ “Trainees” died FY 2008, 16 from suspected overwork, up from 13 FY 2007

Posted on June 23, 2009June 23, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Here’s a sad statistic that should be roundly reported. NJ “Trainees” possibly dying from hundreds of hours of underpaid overwork. Different from J “karoushi” in that “Trainees” can’t switch jobs without losing their visas and being booted out of Japan.

Apparently this is a record number. Why didn’t we hear about this earlier, like, last year, when the same thing was happening? Has to be a matter of degree before it makes news? Courtesy of AW. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

————————————-
34 foreign trainees in Japan died in FY 2008 of suspected overwork
Japan Today.com/Kyodo News
Tuesday 23rd June, 05:23 AM JST
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/34-foreign-trainees-in-japan-died-in-fy-2008-of-suspected-overwork
TOKYO —

Thirty-four foreign trainees died in Japan in fiscal 2008 through March this year, up 13 from the previous year to hit a record high, a survey by a government-linked body promoting a training program showed Monday.

The leading causes of their deaths were brain and heart diseases, which claimed the lives of 16, while five were killed in accidents at work and four in traffic accidents. Supporters of foreign trainees said they suspect those who died from brain and heart disorders actually died from overwork. As of late 2007, about 177,000 foreigners have been staying in Japan under the government’s industrial training and technical internship program.

Shoichi Ibusuki, a lawyer supporting foreign trainees and interns, pointed out that many trainees have been forced to work long hours for lower wages and said he suspects they had died from overwork.

Ibusuki and other supporters submitted a written inquiry to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry on Monday, asking it to investigate the causes of the trainees’ deaths and to state how the ministry will deal with the issue.

A labor ministry official said it is not clear why those trainees had developed brain and heart diseases, but expressed willingness to examine their working hours and living conditions.

Following the submission of the inquiry, three Chinese trainees complained about their working conditions at a press conference held in Tokyo.

Ding Jianhui, 35, who came to Japan in September 2006 on the training program, said he had to work overtime for 100 to 130 hours a month at his job selling scrap metal and only received 110,000 yen per month after tax.

‘‘I lived in a container that was not equipped with a bathroom and was treated as cheap labor. My back is still numb,’’ said Ding, who claims he was suddenly dismissed from work late last year.

Jiang Xiangyi, 34, said although he had been told he would be engaging in a carpentry job before he came to Japan, his actual work was dismantling and removing asbestos, which can cause lung cancer.

Jiang said he sometimes worked 26 days a month but was only paid 60,000 yen after tax. ‘‘The type of work was different from what I heard and I didn’t know about the danger of asbestos. I was cheated,’’ he said.
ENDS

Follow-up: NOVA’s Saruhashi admits wrongdoing in court

Posted on June 10, 2009June 10, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Second in a series of follow-ups. Former Eikaiwa boss Saruhashi finally admits he done wrong. But neglects to mention how all the unpaid teachers left in the lurch will still be left in the lurch. This was once the largest employer of NJ in Japan? Saru mo ki kara ochiru, as they say. But this is a mighty fall by a money skimmer with a money spinner. And a shady company from start to finish anyway, setting the business model for other eikaiwas out to screw over both their students and their teachers. Throw the book at this guy, and make him cough up what he owes to his teachers. So that others don’t do the same and think it’s “just regular business practice”. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

=============================

The Japan Times, Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Nova chief admits skimming funds

By ERIC JOHNSTON

Staff writer

OSAKA — The former president of Nova Corp. admitted Monday he siphoned off employment benefit funds just before the language school giant went bankrupt in 2007 but pleaded not guilty to embezzlement, claiming he used the funds for employees.

Nozomu Sahashi, 57, who once headed one of Japan’s largest and most popular English conversation school chains, is charged with funneling nearly ¥320 million from employment benefit funds in July 2007 by transferring the money to a bank account belonging to an affiliate, which has not been named.

“I apologize to the students and employees for all of the trouble I caused, but it was not my intention to do wrong,” Sahashi told the Osaka District Court at the opening of his trial. “I don’t think I can judge whether what I did constitutes embezzlement or not.”

Oh yeah? Rest of the article at:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090602a1.html

ENDS

Next screening of documentary SOUR STRAWBERRIES Sun June 14, Tokyo Univ Komaba Campus

Posted on June 9, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. In case you missed a chance to see documentary SOUR STRAWBERRIES, here’s your next chance. Drop by Tokyo University Komaba Campus this coming Sunday afternoon and take in a screening. It’s part of a Linguapax Asia Symposium this year. Details and schedule as follows. More on the documentary here. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

===============================

http://www.linguapax-asia.org/

2009 Linguapax Asia Symposium
Theme: Human Trafficking
June 14, 9:00 – 16:30
University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus, Bldg. 18,
4th Floor, Communication Room No 3
——————————————————————————————————————–
With an estimated 900,000 victims annually, human trafficking is perhaps the major human rights issue of the 21st century. The 2009 Working Session of Linguapax Asia will discuss the connection of language with human trafficking and will explore the following:

• How can language define the socio-political contexts of human trafficking?
• How has human trafficking (both labor and sexual) been described historically (e.g. biblical sources and slave narratives)?
• How have literary works described human trafficking?
• How has human trafficking been portrayed by visual media?
• How can the language of human experience explore human trafficking and the sex industry?
——————————————————————————————————————–
Program
9:00 Registration, Coffee

9:30 Opening of Session, Frances Fister Stoga, Director, and Jelisava Sethna, Vice-Director, Linguapax Asia

Morning Session. Chair: Jelisava Sethna

9:35 Daniel H. Garrett, US Embassy, An Introduction to TIP (Trafficking in Persons): Scale, Types, and Definitions

9:55 Olaudah Equiano: A reading from his narrative*

10:00 Patricia Aliperti & Jason Aliperti, The Role of Education to Prevent the Trafficking in Children for Forced and Bonded Labor in India
Q&A
—————————
10:35 – 11:00 Coffee
————————–

11:00 Harriet Jacobs: A reading from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl*

11:05 Stewart Dorward, Shumei High School, Slavery in the Bible

11:25 Frederick Douglass: A reading from his narrative*

11:30 Bill Gater, Rikkyo University, Proletarian Literature and Takiji Kobayashi’s Kanikosen”: Renewal of Interest in Times of Finacial Crisis

11:50 Charles Cabell, Toyo University, “Troubled Waters” Within the History of Edo/Meiji Prostitution
Q&A

12:20 Peace Boat
—————————-
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch
—————————-
Afternoon Session. Chair: Frances Fister Stoga

14:00 Marek Ignacy Kaminski, Swedish Writers’ Union, The Language of Human Experience: Human Trafficking and Diplomacy

14:30 Uncle Tom’s Cabin – A reading*

14:40 Debito Arudou, Hokkaido Information University, Documentary film: Sour Strawberries: Japan’s Hidden Guest Workers (2008, Tilman König and Daniel Kremers)
Q&A
—————————
15:50 – 16:30 Coffee
—————————
16:30 WAM: The activities of Women’s Active Museum on War and Peace

16:45 Closing of Session

* Readings by Ann Jenkins, Tokyo International Players

ENDS

Tokyo Trip June 2-5 overview, plus report on NJ nurses and caregiver program talks at DIJ

Posted on June 5, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

TOKYO TRIP JUNE 2-5 2009 TRIP OVERVIEW

Hi Blog. Thought I’d tie up loose ends by writing a bit about the past few days.

I just got back from Tokyo, where I had a very relaxing time for a change. Came down to attend an academic conference sponsored by the German Institute for Japanese Studies, on Japan’s demographic crisis, and attended a number of interesting lectures (interesting in the sense for what some didn’t say, as I wrote about in yesterday’s blog entry). It was also relaxing because I saw a lot of friends (and made new ones), and didn’t have to give any speeches.

Well, I tell a lie. I gave one shortly after landing in Tokyo on the morning of June 2. There was a sit-in demonstration against the new proposed IC Chip Gaijin Cards (as there will be every Tuesday morning, contact Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan (Ijuuren)’s (http://www.jca.apc.org/migrant-net/) Takaya-san at fmwj AT jca DOT apc DOT org for more information). Since they said anyone could attend any time between 9:30AM and 12:30 PM, I made it by 12:15. I was handed a mike. Anything I’d like to say to Japan’s Dietmembers, whose offices were in front of us with their windows open?

Sure did. I gave five minutes in slow Japanese (fast doesn’t work on megaphones well) about Japan’s future depending on immigration, how increasing the policing is counterproductive, how Japanese wouldn’t tolerate the same measures being foisted upon them, how cards will only increase the likelihood for Japanese of color such as myself getting racially profiled for not being remotely checkable, and the like. It was fun and good practice. And a bit scary as I hadn’t anything prepared (and people had recording devices and even a camera ready).

Never mind. Speaking is not obligatory, so readers, choose a Tuesday soon to attend. The Diet has extended it’s deliberation period for this session by nearly two months, and rumor has it that the IC Chip Gaijin Card bill just might pass the Lower House (which means that even if it doesn’t pass the Upper, it will probably become law with the Lower House overruling). Do what you can about this, people.

==============================

Afterwards came the German Institute of Japanese Studies Symposium presentations over the course of three days. I mentioned the gist of most of them yesterday: Speeches on the demographics of nations are pretty standardized: Show the audience what you know in the intro with graphs of population movements, aging over time, and bar charts of births and deaths (that population pyramid that looks like a nematode is so burned into memory it appears in my nightmares). Then some original research, about health care, about dealing with geriatrics, about the options before us (putting more women and elderly to work, raising the pension qualifying and retirement age, a bit about robotics, and even less about immigration or even migration), etc.

The best presentations were about the depopulation of the Japanese countryside and public policy to try to bring people back, with case studies of three towns and how their methods didn’t seem too effectual (and Mr Takahashi in yesterday’s blog entry worries about overcrowding??). I confirmed during the Q&A that they still haven’t come up with the idea of the Welcome Wagon, to make newcomers (of any nationality) feel welcome for moving out to the countryside (how to overcome the “gaijin” syndrome’s application to Japanese too, since any outsider has to wait ten years or so before they have a voice in rural communities…)

The other ones were by a Dr Vogt and a Dr Kingma who talked about migration trends in general. International migration has produced 195 million migrants. They now number as a proportion of population 1 in 10 in industrialized countries, and 1 in 35 of the world labor force. There are now 195 million migrants, 50% of them now women. When it comes to the proposed import of nurses and caregivers from Indonesia and the Philippines, as per bilateral agreements with Japan under “Economic Partnership Agreements”, the goal is, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, of 1.5 million NJ caregivers in Japan by 2040. But the program has gotten off to an inauspicious start.

Only in its second year, the EPAs have had goals of only 1000 total NJ health care workers imported. They would be trained in Japanese for six months (at the hiring company’s expense, of around 600,000 yen, then work the remaining four and a half years in the health sector getting their skills and standards up to speed. The course is harsh, as it is a “tenure system”, as in “up or out”. If they don’t pass the same caregiver and nurse tests that Japanese natives pass within five years, they lose their visas and get sent back home. This test, by the way, has a 50% fail rate for native Japanese. And salaries are not all that great for anyone working the severe hours required in this business sector (which may account for why there is a shortage of nurses and caregivers in Japan in the first place).

The number of applicants reflect the harshness of the program. In 2008, only 300 NJ applied for the 1000 available slots. And not all employers stepped up to the plate as planned to hire them. Dr Vogt showed us a segment from NHK contrasting an Indonesian health care worker (who was not interviewed) with a laid-off Japanese salaryman (who, interviewed, said he was grateful to get the work), with the point that we really don’t need NJ to take the place of Japanese when domestic labor can fill the demand.

Great. Yet another bloody mess of a GOJ program.

============================

Back to the personal stuff. The evenings were just as special, meeting old friends such as Isabelle, Hippie Chris and Naoko, Dave G, and making new ones such as Joseph T, Alfie, Dave P, Dave S, Honor, and others in passing who stopped by to share some thoughts on what’s bugging them either about what’s going on or what I’ve written recently. Particularly pleasant was an event at the Pink Cow in Shibuya (where owner Tracy has the nicest greetings), where Ken Worsley and Garrett DiOrio gave an open-mic live “Seijigiri” political commentary for their organization, Trans-Pacific Radio (http://www.transpacificradio.com). TPR has some great podcasts on current events, business, and even baseball trends. Well worth subscribing to, especially since their content is not only informed, their banter is very college-roommate style, where they bounce ideas off each other with verve and humor. And it was even better live with a good Pink Cow meal. Look for their podcast this weekend. I break the ice with a question about Aso’s economic stimulus packages….

This was probably the most relaxing trip to Tokyo ever. And I’ll be there next Sunday (June 14) for a speech and a movie showing of SOUR STRAWBERRIES at Tokyo University all over again. Details to follow. Mark your calendars for now.

Arudou Debito back in Sapporo

ENDS

Asahi on future of Japanese pension plans: oldies below poverty line

Posted on June 2, 2009June 2, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Here is the proposed future for those of us paying into our nation’s pension plan. Read and weep. Considering Japan’s unofficial poverty line is about 200,000 yen a month, people who retire are forecast to become just that: impoverished. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

=====================================
New pension data, same grim outlook
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN 2009/5/26, courtesy of TC
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200905260070.html

The average household that starts receiving public pension benefits this fiscal year will see the payment level drop to about 40 percent of average working household incomes in 20 years, the welfare ministry said.

For households consisting of a man living alone or a working couple, the amount of benefits from the kosei-nenkin pension program for company employees is already below 50 percent of the average income when they first receive payments, the ministry’s estimates show.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s model household comprises a company employee on an average income who has subscribed to the pension program for 40 years, and a wife of the same age who has been a homemaker since marriage.

In February, the ministry concluded that a model household would be able to secure pension benefits of at least 50.1 percent of the average income of working households in the first year of payments.

The ministry’s latest estimates include changes in annual benefits over 20 years.

If the average household begins receiving benefits in fiscal 2009 when the couple reach the age of 65, the payments will be 223,000 yen a month, or 62.3 percent of the average income of working households.

When the couple become 85 years old, the pension amount will be 199,000 yen in terms of current values, or 43.2 percent of the average working household income.

The ministry’s estimates in 2004 showed that a model household would start receiving pension benefits equivalent to 57.5 percent of the average income.

When the couple reach 85 years old, the ratio would be 41.8 percent, according to the 2004 estimates.

Therefore, the latest estimates represent a nearly 5-percentage-point rise in the first-year benefits of the model household.

However, the rise was mainly led by the current decline in household income.

After households begin to receive their benefits, the ratio changes each year depending on price movements.

The ministry’s latest estimates are based on the assumption that consumer prices will rise by 1 percent annually while average household income will increase by 2.5 percent.

The expected decline in the ratio of benefits over the years is also a result of 2004 legal revisions intended to curb pension benefits to prevent the rapidly aging society from draining welfare coffers.

A household of a couple who both worked full time receives first-time pension benefits of 279,000 yen in fiscal 2009, or 48.3 percent of the average income of working couples, according to the latest estimates.

For a household of a man who has remained single since he joined the pension program, the corresponding figures will be 157,000 yen, or 43.9 percent.(IHT/Asahi: May 26,2009)

ENDS

Asahi: More NJ “trainees”, “interns” face dismissal

Posted on May 30, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Next article in this series this week, on the failed policy on “Trainees”, who according to the Asahi pay Unemployment Insurance yet don’t qualify, moreover don’t even qualify for the Nikkei Repatriation Bribe because they have the wrong blood… Debito

==================================

More foreign trainees, interns face dismissal

BY YUSAKU YAMANE AND HIROYUKI KOMURO

IHT/Asahi: May 20,2009, Courtesy of Dave Spector

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200905200046.html

Once in high demand among small-business owners as an inexpensive labor force, foreign trainees and technical interns are feeling the chill amid the current economic downturn.

They increasingly face risks of dismissal midway through a three-year program ostensibly aimed at training workers from developing countries.

During the five months until February, more than 1,500 trainees and interns returned to their countries without spending the full three years here.

Most are believed to have left their positions involuntarily and have subsequently been unable to find new work. One such case even ended up in court.

These difficulties highlight the program’s lack of a sufficient safety net. Interns are required to pay for unemployment insurance, but they often find it hard to receive benefits.

As of 2007, nearly 200,000 people were here under the Industrial Training and Technical Internship Program, set up by the government in 1993 as a way to contribute internationally.

But the recent rash of dismissals, on top of other problems, has embittered many.

Two technical interns from China, who were fired by a scrap metal exporter in Tokyo last year, on May 1 filed a suit under the Labor Trial Law against their former employer. They alleged that the employer forced them to work under harsh conditions.

“We could never return home as it is,” said Ding Jianhui and Lin Weihong, telling of their hardships and their sudden dismissal late last year.

The two men, both 35, worked as welders in China but applied to the program to learn advanced Japanese welding techniques.

They arrived in Tokyo in September 2006 to find their job was to disassemble home appliances day after day. Their “home” was a container on Tokyo Bay that concurrently served as their work place.

They were also forced to operate a power shovel without a license, having been told that “you’ll have go back to China if you don’t do it,” according to the two men.

“I knew I’d been taken in, but I had to put up with it because I’d borrowed 40,000 yuan (about 570,000 yen) from friends and relatives to come to Japan,” Ding said.

In the first year of the three-year program, participants are treated as trainees, and in the second and third years, they work as interns, a position subject to labor law protections.

In their first year, Ding and Lin were paid a “training allowance” of only 70,000 yen a month even though they were required to work on weekends.

In the second year, their base pay was raised to 130,000 yen, but suddenly the workload plummeted last fall.

They were fired at the year-end, without the prospect of another job.

Learning they were to be sent back to China, the men fled, staying with acquaintances and at shelters for the homeless.

With the help of a labor union that supports interns like them, they asked the company to give them their jobs back. But the firm refused.

In a suit filed with the Tokyo District Court, Ding and Lin are demanding that the company rescind their dismissals and pay 9.8 million yen in unpaid wages and damages.

Trainees and interns usually work on a one-year contract, renewable for three years. But most come to Japan on the premise they will work for three years.

They were initially a coveted labor force for smaller businesses and farmers facing a shortage of workers. But the global recession turned things around.

According to the Justice Ministry, 114 cut short their stay and returned to their home countries in October. The number rose to 495 in February.

Many borrowed money to get to Japan. Returning midway could leave them with debts they are unable to repay.

Shoichi Ibusuki, a lawyer well-versed on the issue, said, “It amounts to an abuse of the right of dismissal to unilaterally fire them midway without reasonable grounds.”

According to Zhen Kai, who gives advice to foreign trainees and interns at the Gifu Ippan Rodo Kumiai, a Gifu-based labor union for workers at small businesses, an increasing number of interns are refusing to be let go before the end of their three-year stints.

They remain at corporate dormitories without pay while negotiating with their employers to have their dismissals reversed.

“The situation is grave,” Zhen said.

Canceling a worker’s training or internship in the middle is allowed only when a business goes bankrupt or is in serious trouble.

Because of visa restrictions, interns technically work under an arrangement with organizations, such as local chambers of commerce and industry, that accept them for member companies.

This means that if fired at the midpoint in their training, they are not eligible to work for ordinary companies or receive new job information at Hello Work public job placement centers.

While a Justice Ministry guideline urges groups and businesses to find new jobs for their dismissed interns, in practice help is rare.

The Japan International Training Cooperation Organization (JITCO) is a group that offers support for the program. But it received only 20 requests for help in finding new internship positions between November and March.

Most of those forced to return home apparently did not receive unemployment benefits even though they had paid premiums for six months or longer and were eligible for coverage.

Kiyoteru Hasegawa, chairman of the Nihon Rodo Hyogikai, a labor group that supports foreign trainees and interns, said Japan’s safety net is too unkind to such interns.

For foreign interns to receive unemployment benefits, a Hello Work center must officially recognize that they are actively looking for a job–even though the center can provide no job information to them.

“In fact, no interpreters are on hand at many Hello Work centers, and it takes time for benefit payments to start,” Hasegawa said.

“In reality, they have no choice but to leave without receiving benefits even though they paid into the program.”

The program is under review at the current Diet session. Lawmakers hope to better protect trainees, who are not currently regarded as “workers” subject to labor laws.

But a change, if any, would not give relief to those who have already lost their jobs.

Yasushi Iguchi, a professor of labor economics at Kwansei Gakuin University, said such dismissals would not just disappoint interns but hurt their countries’ trust in Japan as well.

“The government should help them find new positions and produce a guideline for compensation so interns would not have to just give up silently,” he said.(IHT/Asahi: May 20,2009)

ENDS

Mainichi: Foreign researchers, tech experts may get preferential immigration treatment

Posted on May 29, 2009May 29, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Next people on the assembly line for the revolving door of NJ employment in Japan? Oh wait, they’re baiting the hook with PR. Kind of. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

=================================

Foreign researchers, tech experts may get preferential immigration treatment

(Mainichi Japan) May 15, 2009

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090515p2a00m0na005000c.html

Courtesy of Jeff K

A government committee has released a draft report recommending that a skill- and experience-based point system be established to ease acquisition of residency and permanent residency for foreign researchers and technical experts.

The high-grade worker acceptance promotion committee report calls for points to be awarded to Japan-bound candidates for experience and good academic and research records in potential high-growth fields such as information communications, energy and biotechnology, as well as for Japanese language ability.

Should a candidate receive a set number of points, he or she would qualify for Japanese residency, benefit from simplified residency status renewal procedures, receive extended periods of stay, and be given preferential treatment when applying for permanent residency.

=================================

外国人労働者：在留資格取得など、有能な人材をポイントで優遇－－政府報告書原案

毎日新聞　2009年5月15日　東京朝刊

http://mainichi.jp/life/money/archive/news/2009/05/15/20090515ddm008020036000c.html

優秀な外国人研究者や技術者の人材誘致促進の方策を検討する政府の「高度人材受入推進会議」は１４日、作業部会を開き、報告書の原案をまとめた。高度な技能や資格を持った人材に、能力に応じてポイントを付与し、在留資格や永住権取得などで優遇する「ポイント制」の導入を提言した。政府は関係省庁で、具体的な制度の検討を進める方針だ。

報告書では、高成長が見込まれる情報通信やエネルギー、バイオテクノロジーなどの分野で学歴や資格、研究実績、日本語能力などに応じたポイント制の導入を提言。一定以上のポイントを獲得した人材に対して、在留資格の取得や、資格更新の手続きを簡素化したり、在留期間の延長、優先的な永住権付与などの優遇措置を与えることが有効だとしている。【上田宏明】

ENDS

Asahi: Foreign nursing trainees face unfair hurdles

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Here’s a good article (with excellent commentary from the place I first read it, at Mutantfrog; link here) on the hurdles even people that qualify as “skilled labor”. Japan doesn’t want unskilled (tanjun roudousha), yet imported over a million factory workers over the past two decades (and is now even bribing them to go home). Now here it is making it more difficult for people who have a skill to qualify to stay.

What does the GOJ want? Easy. Revolving-door cheap foreign labor, which won’t stay and get expensive or start demanding its own rights. Unfortunately, that’s not how immigration works, even though with its aging society, immigration is what Japan needs. We’ve said this umpteen times before, but lemme just repeat it for the noobs, sorry. What the GOJ wants and what it needs are working against each other. Its unforgiving and inflexible policies such as these that are hurting Japan’s future. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

===================================

POINT OF VIEW/ Atsushi Takahara: Foreign nursing trainees face unfair hurdles

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN 2009/5/13

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200905130079.html

Courtesy of Mutantfrog, with excellent commentary

At hospitals and nursing homes for the elderly across the nation, 208 Indonesians have commenced work. They are trainees who came to Japan hoping to become nurses and certified care workers under the economic partnership agreement (EPA) signed between Japan and Indonesia. Having finished a six-month Japanese-language study program, they started working in January and February. All of them are qualified to work as nurses in their home country and many of them have a lot of nursing experience. But most of those I met expressed anxiety and frustration.

This is because of the system that requires them to pass Japanese state exams within specified periods. If they fail, they must return to their home country. Would-be nurses have three chances to sit for the exams in three years of their stay. Conditions are tougher for aspiring care workers. Since foreign trainees are required to have actual working experience in Japan for at least three years before they can take the exam, they only have a single chance to pass in four years.

The language barrier weighs heavily on them. In particular, learning kanji characters is very difficult. For example, they must struggle with such technical terms as jokuso (bedsores) and senkotsubu (sacral region) that are difficult to read and understand, even for the average Japanese. Holding a Japanese-Indonesian dictionary, one trainee lamented: “I feel as though my head is about to burst.”

Hospitals and nursing homes that accepted the trainees hoping they can serve as a new source of labor are also supporting them on a trial-and-error basis. Some of the facilities have the trainees write diaries in Japanese and correct them while others encourage them to speak in Japanese about what they did and saw during the day at the end of their shift. One hospital required the trainees to study hard for two hours every day using mock state exams and kanji tests. It reminded me of a cram school.

All the Japanese government did to help was to provide them with six-month Japanese-language training. After that, it practically left almost everything, including the contents of on-the-job training and preparations for state exams, to the hospitals and nursing homes that accepted them. Accepting facilities are disappointed by the wide gap between their expectations and the reality of using trainees to cover a labor shortage.

Under the comprehensive EPA, Japan accepts the trainees from Indonesia in exchange for the economic benefits, including abolition or reduction of tariffs on its exports of cars and electronic equipment. The government stands by the traditional policy of refusing to accept unskilled foreign laborers. Therefore, the government’s stance is that the acceptance of nursing trainees this time is a form of personnel exchange and is not meant as a measure to address a labor shortage. The government’s cold attitude seems to be a reflection of such a position.

In Indonesia, showing anger in public is considered disgraceful. When I studied in Indonesia, I came in contact with such Indonesian national traits. I had the impression that while Indonesians tend to be kind and amicable, even when they are inwardly unhappy, many of them keep their discontent bottled up.

Having sent young members of their workforce to Japan, the people of Indonesia are closely watching whether they can adequately reap the benefits of their investment. If the trainees go home feeling angry with Japan’s “cold policy” and such a reputation spreads, it could cause a deterioration in Indonesian public sentiment toward Japan.

The United States and countries in Europe and the Middle East are adopting policies to complement their shortage of labor in nursing and nursing care with workers from Asian countries. They are providing such incentives as granting them permanent resident status in a bid to secure competent personnel.

An operator of a facility I met during a reporting assignment told me: “Unless Japan accepts foreign workers, the nation’s welfare system is destined to eventually fail.” The fact is that Japan is lagging far behind other countries in this regard.

The first thing Japan should do to encourage highly motivated, competent trainees to stay on is to lower the hurdles that stand in their way and make their stay more comfortable.

Specifically, I urge the government to extend the period of stay and give them more chances to pass the required exams that would allow them to qualify as nurses and care workers. It should also embark on providing more detailed care and take advantage of the opportunity as a test case to advance harmonious coexistence with foreign workers.

* * *

The author is a staff writer at the News Center of The Asahi Shimbun Fukuoka Office.(IHT/Asahi: May 13,2009)

ENDS

NYT: Japanese Fans Mobilize to Keep Valentine as Their Manager

Posted on May 23, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

For the sports fans out there (I’m indifferent about baseball except if it’s the Fighters), here’s the NYT on how the fans are battling the management to keep their NJ baseball manager. Comments? Debito

====================================
The New York Times
May 21, 2009
Japanese Fans Mobilize to Try to Keep Valentine as Their Manager
By DAVID WALDSTEIN

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/sports/baseball/21valentine.html?hpw=&pagewanted=all

CHIBA, Japan — After nine innings of sustained chanting and singing, about 150 of the most loyal fans remained behind in silence with their banners raised over their heads, the Japanese characters on the 70-foot signs shouting out in protest from the right-field bleachers.

“We would rather fight with Bobby, who says we’re the world’s best fans,” one sign read, “than with a front office who calls us worthless.”

“Bobby stands behind us. We stand behind Bobby,” read another.

It was the third consecutive game that the fans had staged this unusual protest, all part of a campaign to force the Chiba Lotte Marines to reverse course and keep Bobby Valentine, a baseball lifer from America, as their manager beyond the current season.

For six weeks, the fans of the Marines have been engaged in a battle with the front office over the fate of Valentine, who was told over the winter that his contract would not be renewed for financial reasons, despite his success with the team.

With over 50,000 signatures on a petition to keep Valentine, this is a struggle, the fans believe, that goes to the heart of Japanese baseball. They see Valentine as a positive influence who is leading the team and the sport toward a more viable future by promoting more access to players and more fan-friendly marketing concepts.

At the same time, they view the current front office, led by the team president, Ryuzo Setoyama, as more interested in the old status quo, when, they contend, fans were treated less as coveted customers and more as people expected to attend games out of a sense of duty. Although the team insists that Valentine simply makes too much money to be retained in 2010, the fans believe other factors may be in play.

“This problem is more than Japanese baseball itself; it’s about the Japanese society,” Kazuhiro Yasuzumi, a 39-year-old Marines fan and leader of the protest, said through an interpreter. He said that people with power and influence in Japan did not necessarily appreciate someone like Valentine, who has never been bashful about offering his opinion.

Valentine is indeed paid a lot of money: $3.9 million per season. When, and if, he goes, he will take with him some significant accomplishments, starting with the championship he won in 2005, the Marines’ first in 31 years. It was after that feat that he became the only foreigner to win the prestigious Shoriki Award for contributions to Japanese baseball.

During his six seasons in Chiba (Valentine also managed here for one season in 1995 before returning to the United States to manage the Mets), membership in the team’s fan club has grown by 600 percent to 140,000 card-carrying members and team revenues have increased by 400 percent. The street where he lives in Chiba has been renamed Valentine’s Way.

Still, Setoyama announced over the winter that the team could no longer afford Valentine and that he would not be retained after the 2009 season, angering some fans and mobilizing others.

In 1995, when Valentine was fired after one season, fans attempted to generate a petition on his behalf, but the effort was too late. This time they vowed to be better organized.

So, when Valentine returned to Japan in January to begin to prepare for the season, the protests began. Two hundred fans greeted him at the airport when he arrived. On opening day in early April, Marines fans unfurled a 200-foot banner that read, “Marines Is My Life,” but then quickly rolled it up to reveal more than a dozen flags, pennants and banners proclaiming support for Valentine.

Some of the banners displayed Valentine’s likeness or the No. 2 he wears on his jersey. Some read, “Bobby 2010”; others stated, “Respect Bobby,” in English.

Valentine said the protest left him in tears. He was not the only one affected.

“I got chills,” said Hiram Bocachica, a former major leaguer now with the Lions. “You don’t expect that for a manager.”

The fans also took their protest beyond the stands, going directly to the acting team owner, Akio Shigemitsu, in the stadium parking lot after one game and asking him to reconsider. Then came a front-office meeting. The minutes of that meeting were leaked to the Japanese press and portrayed Setoyama, the team president, speaking derisively about the team’s fans and discussing the possibility of moving the team out of Chiba.

In response, the team held a news conference in which Shigemitsu declared his support for Valentine through the end of the season and denied the team might be moved. Setoyama disputed the comments attributed to him in the news media reports; he did not respond to a request by The New York Times for an interview.

Meanwhile, Lotte, the team’s multinational parent company, is conducting an internal review of the circumstances surrounding Valentine and the club. And as it does, the protests continue. At every home game fans are greeted by supporters of Valentine asking for more petition signatures. The banners supporting him are unfurled every time a Marine batter reaches base. There are even rumblings of a silent protest in the right-field stands, where the loudest cheering section is traditionally situated.

“It’s an ugly battle taking place, but I think it’s only a blip on the screen,” said Jim Small, Major League Baseball’s top executive in Asia, when asked about the Valentine controversy. “For the most part, I think the trend is toward the new way of thinking, and that started with the Marines.”

And more particularly with Valentine, who took such steps as opening the windows of his office to give out autographs to surprised patrons and having some of the protective netting around the field removed so players could sign for fans. Normally loquacious, he has tried to keep a distance from the protests. But he did salute the fans for their support, and what he termed the magic show, when the banners supporting him appear “out of nowhere.”

Valentine also knows there is talk that he will be back managing in the major leagues before long but says any speculation about next year is insulting to those who have taken up his cause.

“I always talk about passion and commitment, but they have one-upped me,” he said of those fans. “They have committed themselves to the team, and whether it’s 1-1 in the 12th or 19-1 in the ninth, they always have incredible passion for the team. It’s inspiring. It’s a great life lesson for anybody.”

ENDS

Japan Times May 20, 2009: “IC you: Bugging the Alien” article on new Gaijin Cards

Posted on May 20, 2009May 20, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Here’s the JT version of my article yesterday, with links to sources. Enjoy! Debito in Sapporo

JAPAN TIMES: May 19, 2009

THE ZEIT GIST

IC you: bugging the alien

New gaijin cards could allow police to remotely track foreigners

By DEBITO ARUDOU

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20090519zg.html

When the Japanese government first issued alien registration cards (aka gaijin cards) in 1952, it had one basic aim in mind: to track “foreigners” (at that time, mostly Korean and Taiwanese stripped of Japanese colonial citizenship) who decided to stay in postwar Japan.

Gaijin cards put foreigners in their place: Registry is from age 16, so from a young age they were psychologically alienated from the rest of Japanese society. So what if they were born and acculturated here over many generations? Still foreigners, full stop.

Even today, when emigrant non-Japanese far outnumber the native-born, the government tends to see them all less as residents, more as something untrustworthy to police and control. Noncitizens are not properly listed on residency registries. Moreover, only foreigners must carry personal information (name and address, personal particulars, duration of visa status, photo, and — for a time — fingerprints) at all times. Gaijin cards must also be available for public inspection under threat of arrest, one year in jail and ¥200,000 in fines.

However, the Diet is considering a bill abolishing those gaijin cards.

Sounds great at first: Under the proposed revisions, non-Japanese would be registered properly with residency certificates (juuminhyou). Maximum visa durations would increase from three years to five. ID cards would be revamped. Drafters claim this will “protect” (hogo) foreigners, making their access to social services more “convenient.”

However, read the fine print. The government is in fact creating a system to police foreigners more tightly than ever.

Years ago, this column (“The IC You Card,” Nov. 22, 2005) examined this policy in its larval stage. Its express aims have always been to target non-Japanese in the name of forestalling crime, terrorism, infectious diseases and the scourge of illegal aliens. Foreigners, again, are trouble.

But now the policy has gone pupal. You might consider helping chloroform the bug before it hatches. Here’s why:

The “new gaijin cards,” or zairyuu kaado (ZRK), are fundamentally unchanged: The usual suspects of biometric data (name, address, date of birth, visa status, name and address of workplace, photograph etc. — i.e. everything on the cover of your card) will be stored digitally on an embedded computer chip. Still extant is the 24/7 carrying requirement, backed by the same severe criminal punishments.

What has changed is that punishments will now be even swifter and stricter. If you change any status recorded on your chip and don’t report it to the authorities within 14 calendar days, you face a new ¥200,000 fine. If you don’t comply within three months, you risk losing your visa entirely.

Reasonable parameters? Not after you consider some scenarios:

• Graduate high school and enroll in college? Congratulations. Now tell the government or else.

• Change your job or residence? Report it, even if your visa (say, permanent residency or spouse visa) allows you to work without restrictions anywhere.

• Get a divorce, or your spouse dies? Condolences. Dry your eyes, declare the death or marital mess right away, and give up your spouse visa.

• Suffering from domestic violence, so you flee to a shelter? Cue the violins: A Japanese husband can now rat on his battered foreign wife, say she’s no longer at his address, and have her deported if she doesn’t return to his clutches.

Foreigners are in a weaker position than ever.

Now add on another, Orwellian layer: bureaucratic central control (ichigen kanri). Alien registration is currently delegated to your local ward office. Under the new system, the Ministry of Justice will handle everything. You must visit your friendly Immigration Bureau (there are only 65 regional offices — not even two per prefecture) to stand in line, report your changes and be issued with your card.

Try to get there within what works out to be a maximum of 10 weekdays, especially if you live in a remote area of Japan (like, say, Hokkaido or an Okinawan island). Then try to explain away a lost workday in this corporate culture.

Now consider refugees. They don’t even get an ID card anymore. They won’t be able to open a bank account, register to attend schools, enter hospital, or qualify for social insurance anymore. No matter; our country accepts fewer than a few dozen refugees every year; they shouldn’t have come here anyway, thinking they could impose upon our peaceful, developed country.

That’s still not the worst of it. I mentioned that embedded computer chip. The ZRK is a “smart card.” Most places worldwide issue smart cards for innocuous things like transportation and direct debit, and you have to swipe the card on a terminal to activate it. Carrying one is, at least, optional.

Not in Japan. Although the 2005 proposal suggested foreign “swiping stations” in public buildings, the technology already exists to read IC cards remotely. With Japan’s love of cutting-edge gadgets, data processing will probably not stop at the swipe. The authorities will be able to remotely scan crowds for foreigners.

In other words, the IC chip is a transponder — a bug.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contactless_smart_card#Identification

http://www.dameware.com/support/kb/article.aspx?ID=300080

Now imagine these scenarios: Not only can police scan and detect illegal aliens, but they can also uncover aliens of any stripe. It also means that anyone with access to IC chip scanners (they’re going cheap online) could possibly swipe your information. Happy to have your biometric information in the hands of thieves?

Moreover, this system will further encourage racial profiling. If police see somebody who looks alien yet doesn’t show up on their scanner (such as your naturalized author, or Japan’s thousands of international children), they will more likely target you for questioning — as in: “Hey, you! Stop! Why aren’t you detectable?”

I called the Immigration Bureau last week to talk about these issues. Their resident experts on ZRK security said that data would be protected by PIN numbers. The bureau could not, however, answer questions about how police would enforce their next-generation gaijin card checkpoints. Those police are a different agency, they said, and there are no concrete guidelines yet.

Come again? Pass the law, and then we’ll decide law enforcement procedures? This blind faith is precisely what leads to human rights abuses.

One question lingers: Why would the government scrap the current alien policing system? For nearly six decades, it effectively kept foreigners officially invisible as residents, yet open to interrogation and arrest due to a wallet-size card. What’s broke?

Local government. It’s too sympathetic to the needs of its non-Japanese residents.

Remember Noriko Calderon, whose recently deported parents came to Japan on false passports? Did you ever wonder how she could attend Japanese schools and receive social services while her parents were on expired visas?

Because local governments currently issue the gaijin cards. At their own discretion, they can even issue ID to visa overstayers. Rendered as zairyu shikaku nashi (no status of residence), the card can be used to access social services. They can live relatively normal lives, as long as they avoid police gaijin-card checkpoints.

Why are local governments so sweet? With high concentrations of non-Japanese residents, many see foreigners as human beings needing assistance. After all, they keep local factories humming, pay taxes and add life to local infrastructure. Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture and Yokkaichi, in Mie, have long petitioned the national government for improvements, such as facilitating foreign access to public services and education, and easing registry and visa applications.

After years of deaf ears, the central government took action. Under the rhetoric of “smoking out illegal aliens,” Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2005 pledged to “make Japan the world’s safest country again” by halving the number of visa overstayers by 2010.

Never mind that the overall trend in Japan is toward devolving power to the provinces (chiho bunken); Japan now wants to rein in local governments because they poke holes in their dike. It’s still a shame the proposed plugs make life impossible for refugees, and harder for any law-abiding non-Japanese resident with a busy life.

Still, did you expect the leopard to change its spots? Put immigration policy in the hands of the police and they will do just that — police, under a far-removed centralized regime trained to see people as potential criminals.

This is counterproductive. As we’ve said in this column many times before, an aging Japan needs immigration. These new gaijin cards will make already perpetually targeted foreigners (and foreign-looking Japanese) even less comfortable, less integrated members of society.

Why stop at bugging the gaijin? Why not just sew gold stars on their lapels and be done with it?

Fortunately, a policy this egregious has fomented its own protest, even within a general public that usually cares little about the livelihoods of foreigners. Major newspapers are covering the issue, for a change. The opposition Democratic Party of Japan wants the bill watered down, vowing to block it until after the next general election.

The coalition group NGO Committee against Resident Alien Card System (www.repacp.org/aacp) has as its banner “Less policing, more genuine immigration policy that promotes multiethnic co-existence.”

On Sunday afternoon, there will be a demonstration in Tokyo against the new gaijin cards. Do attend if so inclined.

=================

A public assembly against the new IC-chip gaijin cards will take place Sunday, May 24, 2-5 p.m. at the Koutsu Building, Shimbashi 5-15-5, Tokyo. For further information,see www.repacp.org/aacp/pdf/MultiLang/20090420LeafENv01.pdf or contact Amnesty International Japan via www.amnesty.or.jp or by mail at ksonoko@amnesty.or.jp. Send comments to community@japantimes.co.jp
ENDS

Tokyo Shinbun: GOJ to amend Nikkei Repatriation Bribe exile to Mar 2012

Posted on May 11, 2009May 11, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Good news, in a sense, I guess. The Tokyo Shinbun yesterday reports below that the 300,000 yen Repatriation Bribe for Nikkei (with consequent bar on reentry on the same special “Long-Term Resident” (teijuusha) status) is to be amended, to shorten the length of exile to the end of March 2012. After that, Nikkei are welcome to reapply for the same status of residence and come back to work in Japan.

This is, according to the article due to complaints by Nikkei and the Brazilian Government to the GOJ. I bet it’s also due to all the negative press the GOJ got for this tidy little rip-off of Nikkei pensions. Anyone know whether Japan has a pension treaty with the Nikkei-origin countries so their work contributions overseas will be counted as part of their Japanese pension for the duration of their exile, or in case they don’t get their visa renewed to come back from exile? I’d be happily surprised if there was. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

=====================================
支援金受給の帰国日系人　入国禁止１２年まで　政府方針

東京新聞　2009年5月10日朝刊

Courtesy of Silvio

http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/politics/news/CK2009051002000076.html

政府は九日、不況で失業中の日系人が支援金を受給して帰国した場合、定住者としての再入国を二〇一二年三月までは認めない方針を固めた。再入国の制限を「当分の間」としていたが、日系人らが「事実上の追放」などと反発していることを考慮し、期限を明示することにした。週明けに正式決定する。

政府は、日本国内の雇用情勢の悪化を受け、今年三月までに失業した日系ブラジル人らに帰国を促しており、離職者本人に原則三十万円、扶養家族一人につき二十万円をそれぞれ支給する支援事業を四月にスタートさせた。同時に、支援金目的での一時帰国などを防ぐため、受給の条件に日系三世までに与えられる「定住者」在留資格による再入国を当分認めないとした。

問題はブラジル国内でも報道され、同国政府も在日大使館などを通じ、日本側に善処を申し入れていた。

ends

Revamped article on the Nikkei Repatriation Bribe

Posted on May 8, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. A few weeks ago I was invited to retool my recent Japan Times article on the Nikkei Repatriation Bribe for an academic website. After doing so (and integrating a point I had neglected about the bribe being one way to save on pension monies), they decided that I had enough outlets (what with this blog and the JT) and thought it wasn’t quite original enough. Ah well. I like how it turned out anyway, so I’ll post it here as the outlet. Thanks for reading it. Debito in Sapporo

======================================

THE NIKKEI REPATRIATION BRIBE: WHY IT’S A RAW DEAL FOR NJ

By Arudou Debito. Debito.org May 8, 2009

One cannot read the news without hearing how bad the world economy has become, and Japan is no exception. Daily headlines proclaim what was once considered inconceivable in a land of lifetime employment: tens of thousands of people fired from Japan’s world-class factories. The Economist in April referred to Japan’s “two lost decades”, suggesting that modest economic gains over the past five years will be completely wiped out, according to OECD forecasts for 2009.

Cutbacks have bitten especially deeply into the labor market for non-Japanese workers. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry reports that in the two months up to January 2009, more than 9,000 foreigners asked “Hello Work” unemployment agencies for assistance — eleven times the figure for the same period a year earlier. The Mainichi Shinbun reported (April 7, 2009) that 1,007 foreign “trainees”, working in Japanese factories, were made redundant between October 2008 and January 2009 alone.

In the same report [1], the labor ministry asserts that non-Japanese are unfamiliar with Japan’s language and corporate culture, concluding that (despite years of factory work) they are “extremely unre-employable” (saishuushoku ga kiwamete muzukashii).[2] So select regions are offering information centers, language training, and some degree of job placement. Under an emergency measure drawn up by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in March, the Japanese government began from April 1 offering workers of Japanese descent (nikkei) working here on “long-term resident” visas — a repatriation package. Applicants get 300,000 yen, plus 200,000 yen for each family dependent, if they return to their own country. If they take up the offer before their unemployment benefit runs out, they get 100,000 yen added to each sum for each month outstanding.

This sounds good. After all, why keep people here who cannot find a job? But read the small print of the proposal: The retraining measures only target 5,000 people, a tiny fraction of the 420,000-plus nikkei already in Japan. Of course, the offer extends to none of the 102,018 “trainees” (mostly Chinese) that Japan’s factories received in 2007 alone. Hundreds of thousands of people are on their own.

From this, it is clear the government is engaging in damage control by physically removing a small number of people from Japan’s unemployment rosters – the nikkei – and doing a dramatic U-turn in imported-labor policies. A twenty-year-old visa regime, based on economic and political contradictions, official and unofficial cross-purposes, unregulated corrupt programs, and a mindset of treating people as mere work units, is coming to a close. This is an enormous policy miscalculation by the Japanese government thanks to a blind spot of using racially based paradigms to create a new domestic workforce.

First, let’s return to the “repatriation offer” and consider its implications. Although the sum of 300,000 yen may appear magnanimous, it comes with two built-in ironies. One is the sense that history is repeating itself. These nikkei beneficiaries are the descendents of beneficiaries of an earlier scheme by the Japanese government to export its unemployed. A century ago, Japan sent farmers to Brazil, America, Canada, Peru and other South American countries. Over the past two decades, however, Japan has brought nikkei back under yet another scheme to utilize their cheap labor. This time, however, if the nikkei take the ticket back “home,” they can’t return — at least not under the same preferential work visa. The welcome mat has been retracted.

The other irony is the clear policy failure. Close to half a million nikkei are living in Japan, some for up to twenty years, paying taxes, social security, and nenkin retirement pensions. They have worked long hours at low wages to keep Japan’s factories competitive in the world economy. Although the nikkei have doubled Japan’s foreign population since 1990, minimal seniority and entrenchment has taken a heavy toll on these long-termers; books have been written on how few foreigners, including the Nikkei, have been assimilated.[3] Now that markets have soured, foreigners are the first to be laid off, and their unassimilated status, even in the eyes of the labor ministry, has made many of them unmarketable.

Put bluntly, the policy is: train one percent (5,000) to stay; bribe the rest to go and become some other country’s problem. In fact, the government stands to save a great deal of money by paying the nikkei a pittance in plane fares and repatriation fees, while keeping their many years of pension contributions (usually about 15% of monthly salary). By using this economic sleight-of hand, offering desperate people short-term cash if they foresake their long-term investments, this anti-assimilation policy becomes profitable for the government, while beggaring foreigners’ retirements.

Now consider another layer: This scheme only applies to nikkei, not to other non-Japanese workers such as the large number of Chinese “trainees” also here at Japan’s invitation. How has a government policy for a developed country disintegrated into something so ludicrous, where even officially sanctioned exclusionism has a hierarchy?

The background, in brief, is this: Japan faced a huge blue-collar labor shortage in the late 1980s, and realized with the rise in the value of the yen and high minimum wages, that its exports were being priced out of world markets.

Japan’s solution, like that of many other developed countries, was to import cheaper foreign labor. Of course, other countries with a significant influx of migrant labor, also had problems with equitable working conditions and assimilation.[4] However, as a new documentary, Sour Strawberries: Japan’s hidden “guest workers” vividly portrays, what made Japan’s policy fundamentally different was a view of foreign labor through a racial prism. Policymaking elites, worried about debasing Japan’s allegedly homogeneous society with foreigners who might stay, maintained an official stance of “no immigration” and “no import of unskilled labor”.

However, that was tatemae — a façade. Urged by business lobbies such as Nippon Keidanren, Japan created a visa regime from 1990 to import foreign laborers (mostly Chinese) as “trainees”, ostensibly to learn a skill, but basically to put them in factories and farms doing unskilled “dirty, difficult, and dangerous” labor eschewed by Japanese. The trainees were paid less than half the minimum wage (as they were not legally workers under Japanese labor law) and received no social welfare.

Although some trainees were reportedly working 10, 15 and in one case even 22-hour days, six to seven days a week including holidays, they received wages so paltry they beggared belief — in some cases 40,000 yen a month. A Chinese “trainee” interviewed in Sour Strawberries said he wound up earning the same here as he would in China. Others received even less, being charged by employers for rent, utilities, and food on top of that.

Abuses proliferated. Trainees found their passports confiscated and pay withheld, were denied basic human rights such as freedom of association or religious practice, were harassed and beaten, and were even fired without compensation if they were injured on the job. One employer hired thugs to force his Chinese staff to board a plane home. But trainees couldn’t just give up and go back. Due to visa restrictions, requiring significant deposits before coming to Japan (to put a damper on emigration), Chinese took out travel loans of between 700,000 to one million yen. If they returned before their visas were up, they would be in default, sued by their banks or brokers and ruined. Thus they were locked into abusive jobs they couldn’t complain about or quit without losing their visa and livelihoods overseas.

As Zentoitsu Worker’s Union leader Torii Ippei said in the documentary, this government-sponsored but largely unregulated program made so many employers turn bad, that places without worker abuses were “very rare”. The Yomiuri Shinbun (April 11, 2009) reported a recent Justice Ministry finding of “irregularities” at 452 companies and organizations involving trainees in 2008 alone, including hundreds of cases of unpaid overtime and illegal wages. Cases have been remanded to public prosecutors resulting in the occasional court victory, such as the 2008 landmark decision against the Tochigi strawberry farm that became the sobriquet for the documentary, have resulted in hefty (by Japanese standards) punitive judgments.

But these “trainees” were not the only ones getting exploited. 1990 was also the year the “long term resident” visa was introduced for the nikkei. Unlike the trainees, they were given significantly higher wages, labor law protections and unlimited employment opportunities — supposedly to allow them to “explore their heritage” — while being worked, in many cases 10 to 15 hours a day, six days a week.

Why this most-favored visa status for the nikkei? The reason was racially based. As LDP and Keidanren representatives testified in Sour Strawberries, policymakers figured that nikkei would present fewer assimilation problems. After all, they have Japanese blood, ergo the prerequisite cultural understanding of Japan’s unique culture and garbage-sorting procedures. It was deemed unnecessary to create any integration policy. However, as neighborhood problems arose, visible in the “No Foreigner” shop signs around nikkei areas and the Ana Bortz vs. Seibido Jewelry Store (1998-9) lawsuit, the atmosphere was counterproductive and demoralizing for an enthusiastic workforce.[5] A nikkei interviewed in the documentary described how overseas she felt like a Japanese, yet in Japan she ultimately felt like a foreigner.

Under these visa regimes, Japan invited over a million non-Japanese to come to Japan to work — and work they did, many in virtual indentured servitude. Yet instead of being praised for their contributions, they became scapegoats. Neighborhoods not only turned against them, but also police campaigns offered years of opprobrium for alleged rises in crime and overstaying (even though foreign crime rates were actually lower than domestic, and the number of visa overstayers dropped every year since 1993). Non-Japanese workers were also bashed for not learning the language (when they actually had little time to study, let alone attend Japanese classes offered by a mere handful of merciful local governments) — all disincentives for settling in Japan.

This is what happens when people are brought into a country by official government policy, yet for unofficial purposes at odds with official pledges. Japan has no immigration policy. It then becomes awkward for the government to make official pronouncements on how the new workforce is contributing to the economy, or why it should be allowed to stay. So the workforce remains in societal limbo. Then when things go wrong — in this case a tectonic macroeconomic shift — and the policy fails, it is the foreigners, not the government, who bear the brunt.

And fail the policy did on April Fools’ Day 2009, when the government confirmed that nikkei didn’t actually belong in Japan by offering them golden parachutes. Of course, race was again a factor, as the repatriation package was unavailable to wrong-blooded “trainees,” who must return on their own dime (perhaps, in some cases, with fines added on for overstaying) to face financial ruin.

What to do instead? In my view, the Japanese government must take responsibility. Having invited foreigners over here, it is necessary to treat them like human beings. Give them the same labor rights and job training that you would give every worker in Japan, and free nationwide Japanese lessons to bring them up to speed. Reward them for their investment in our society and their taxes paid. Do what can be done to make them more comfortable and settled. Above all, stop bashing them: Let Japanese society know why foreigners are here and what they have contributed to the country.

Don’t treat foreigners like toxic waste, sending them overseas for somebody else to deal with, and don’t detoxify our society under the same racially-based paradigms that got us into this situation in the first place. You brought this upon yourselves through a labor policy that ignored immigration and assimilation. Deal with it in Japan, by helping non-Japanese residents of whatever background make Japan their home.

This is not a radical proposal. Given the low-birthrate of Japan’s aging society, experts have been urging you to do this for a decade now. This labor downturn won’t last forever, and when things pick up again you will have a younger, more acculturated, more acclimatized, even grateful workforce to help pick up the pieces. Just sending people back, where they will tell others about their dreadful years in Japan being exploited and excluded, is on so many levels the wrong thing to do.

NOTES:
[1] Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Labour report at http://www.mhlw.go.jp/houdou/2009/03/dl/h0331-10a.pdf
[2] Original Japanese reads in the above report 「日本語能力の不足や我が国の雇用慣行の不案内に加え、職務経験も十分ではないため、いったん離職した場合には、再就職が極めて厳しい状況にあります。]
[3] See Takeyuki Tsuda, Strangers in the Ethnic Homeland.[add source information]
[4] For examples of issues of migrant labor and assimilation in Spain, South Korea, and Italy as well as Japan, see Takeyuki Tsuda, ed. Local Citizenship in Recent Countries of Immigration: Japan in Comparative Perspective. Other examples, such as the Turks in West Germany, Poles in the British Isles, Algerians and Moroccans in France, and Africans throughout Western Europe, have warranted significant media attention over the decades, but the labor mobility created by EU passports have arguably made the counterarguments against migration less “homogeneous-society” and “racially-based” in origin than in the Japanese example. [recheck and revise last sentence]
[5] For a description of the Ana Bortz and other cases of Nikkei exclusionism, see https://www.debito.org/bortzdiscrimreport.html

Arudou Debito, Associate Professor at Hokkaido Information University, is a columnist for The Japan Times and the manager of the debito.org daily blog. The co-author of Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants to Japan, and author of Japanese Only: The Otaru Hot Springs Case and Racial Discrimination in Japan (Akashi Shoten, Inc.), Arudou is organizing nationwide showings of Sour Strawberries around Japan late August-early September; contact him at debito@debito.org to arrange a screening. You can purchase a copy of the documentary by visiting http://www.cinemabstruso.de/strawberries/main.html

A briefer version of this article was published in The Japan Times on April 7, 2009

BBC on what’s happening to returning Nikkei Brazilians

Posted on May 8, 2009May 8, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Some more follow-up from the overseas media on what’s happening to imported Nikkei who take the GOJ bribe back to their countries of origin. Worth a look, although not much unexpected information there.

Meanwhile, I’ll have a revamped and more thorough article online later on today on The Bribe based upon my previous Japan Times article, for the record. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

From Brazil to Japan and back again

May 1, 2009 Courtesy Sean B.

By Roland Buerk, BBC correspondent, Tokyo, Japan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8025089.stm

The NYK Clara, escorted by a tug, slipped into Yokohama port, Tokyo bay carrying the BBC Box.

For our container, which we have been following around the world since last September, it is the end of a long journey from Brazil – across the Atlantic, round the Cape of Good Hope and then on across the Indian Ocean.

Inside is a cargo of foodstuffs, ingredients that had been ordered by one of Japan’s biggest food manufacturing companies.

Not enough food is grown in mountainous Japan to supply its large population’s needs, so imports like this are vital.

Returning migrants

It is not just goods that have made the journey from Brazil to Japan.

They called us to come back to Japan and put us in factory lines the day after

Carlos Zaha, radio broadcaster

In the last 20 years, migrant workers have been coming here too, to fill vacancies in factories.

But they are not faring well in the global downturn.

So many Brazilians live in Hamamatsu in central Japan that Carlos Zaha has set up a radio station broadcasting pop songs in Portuguese.

He looks Japanese because by blood he is.

Like many others, his ancestors left Japan a century ago, escaping rural poverty for a better life in Brazil.

Exports halved

Mr Zaha’s family history is of being blown around the world by the winds of economic change.

“In the 1990s they called us because they needed people to work in factories,” he says. “They called us to come back to Japan and put us in factory lines the day after.”

But visit the local advice centre in Hamamatsu, and there is evidence enough that times have changed.

Now they don’t have a job for us, they’re saying ‘we’ll give you a little money, but don’t come back. Bye bye’

Wellington Shibuya

Japan’s exports have nearly halved when compared with last year.

Companies making cars and electronic gadgets once needed Brazilian workers to fill vacancies.

In recent months they have instead been slashing production as fast as they can.

Sent home

The advice centre used to get 200 inquiries a month. Now they have 1,000, many from Brazilian workers who have been laid off.

Wellington Shibuya is one of them. He not only prays in a local church. After losing his home, this is also where he sleeps.

Now he is taking an offer from Japan’s Government of 300,000 yen, around 3,000 dollars, to go back to Brazil.

But the Government help comes with a catch. He won’t be allowed back into Japan on the same easy terms to seek work.

Effectively it is a one way ticket.

“They told us ‘come, come, welcome to Japan’,” he says in halting Japanese. “‘We’ll give you a job, a place to live. Welcome, welcome.’ Now they don’t have a job for us, they’re saying ‘we’ll give you a little money, but don’t come back. Bye bye’.”

Supporters of the scheme say the Government had to do something to help people in need far from home.

There is also an offer of courses in Japanese to help Brazilians become more employable outside the factories.

Changing lives

Critics say Japan can scarcely afford to lose people. For a great industrialized nation it has remarkably few immigrants.

There are strict immigration laws because many people value a homogenous society.

But the low birth rate means the population is in long term decline.

“The work force is shrinking, the society is aging,” says Taro Kono, a member of the House of Representatives for the governing Liberal Democratic Party.

“So the pension, our medical fees [mean] we have to do something about it. The best way is to have immigration in this country. A lot of people are reacting very emotionally, so the politicians are a bit afraid to do the straight talk.”

Back in Yokohama port a giant crane lifted our BBC box off the ship before placing it on a truck to be driven away.

It is looking a little battered now and the scarlet paint is a bit faded after all that time at sea.

It is not just the flow of goods that is being affected by the global downturn.

People’s lives are being changed too.

ENDS

Thoughts on May Day 2009 in Odori Park, Sapporo

Posted on May 3, 2009May 3, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. A little post for the holidays:

I was cycling on my way to work on May 1 and going through Odori Park, where the 80th Annual Hokkaido May Day labor union rallies were taking place. They’re fun affairs (you get the pretentious lefties spouting off about protecting human rights, but then with no sense of irony whatsoever refuse to give me a flyer as I’m walking past…), and it’s always interesting to see who’s speaking.

I had just missed Hokkaido Governor Takahashi Harumi’s speech (but I saw her in the speaker gallery — she’s a tiny little person!), but Sapporo Mayor Ueda Fumio gave a short and well-tailored speech designed for the workers: about how Hokkaido’s in the job market toilet and we have to keep it from getting worse; and we’d better make sure that no more companies go bankrupt (I raised an eyebrow at that; that doesn’t sound all that populist anymore).

But then came the rabbit out of the hat. DPJ leader Ozawa Ichiro (yes, THAT Ozawa) gave a ten-minuter about how the LDP was about to lose power and how the DPJ and associated allies were going to kick butt in the next unavoidable election. I snickered a bit, about how the worm had turned (given Ozawa’s history as a LDP kingpin dealing within the smoke-filled rooms of Kanemaru and PM Takeshita), and renewed my distrust of him. He’ll say anything to get into power, which might indeed be the job description of any politician, but I still felt after he left the podium that he lacked any personal convictions except getting his own back on the LDP.

But he was soon overshadowed two speakers later. After the vice-prez of Shamintou gave the proper address about unemployed workers, the Japanese Constitution, and various other leftie issues that I agreed with to the core but noticed how smoothly they were served up, out came the person that should be banished from any public event with crucifixes: Suzuki Muneo. Yes, another former LDP kingpin, now twice-convicted for corruption (and in office only because his case is on appeal in the Supreme Court, and because Hokkaido people can be pretty stupid), up at the podium protesting his innocence yet again. Yes, no kidding, in between the pat statements that Hokkaido is underrepresented and kept poor by the mainland (I agree, but I wouldn’t want Muneo to be the representer), he talked about how the police are going after people like Ozawa and himself unfairly because the latter are challenging the ruling class. And how he looked forward to being part of the new ruling DPJ even if his one-person party has only elected him (played that one for laughs; it worked). The shikai who came on after that noted how suddenly May Day had taken on a different tone. No wonder. The politicians had hijacked it for their own purposes, not for the promotion of worker rights.

Anyway, back to Muneo. He had clearly hitched his wagon to the left. At about 150 decibels, he was the most attention-getting speaker of the day (I admit he’s an incredible speaker; even if you don’t trust him, you’ll be boxed about the ears by his high-volume convictions). He walked off with more applause than anyone (Ozawa got some desultory claps; he’s a by-the-numbers speaker because he believes in very little fervently; Muneo, a performance artist like Iggy Pop, would cut his chest on stage if he got your support — he certainly shredded his vocal cords) and probably garnered a few more votes from desperate Dosanko. Sigh.

I resumed my trek to work after that. As always, I’m fascinated by Japanese politics, because I like to see what appeals. Very little of it is as well-thought-out or as inspiring as a single Obama speech. That’s one reason that Obama’s speeches are best-sellers in Japan. The Japanese electorate is thirsting for someone to show some impressive leadership. All the left got today in Sapporo, however, were Ichiro and Muneo. And they are hardly leftists.

Arudou Debito in Sapporo

Economist.com blog piles on re Nikkei Repatriation Bribe

Posted on April 24, 2009April 24, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Here’s a brief from The Economist, also questioning the wisdom of the Nikkei Repatriation Bribe, as similar influential media in yesterday’s blog entry did. Courtesy of Norik. Feel free to comment there as here. (Not sure if I’ll have access to my blog during the weekend, so please be patient with comments, sorry.) Arudou Debito in Sapporo

====================================

April 23, 2009
And don’t come back
Posted by: Economist.com | NEW YORK
Categories: Immigration
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2009/04/and_dont_come_back.cfm

PROTECTIONISM is rearing its ugly head again, in unusual ways. Japan is offering money to unemployed low-skill immigrants if they leave the country and do not return. Well, they can come back as tourists, but they give up the right to live and work in Japan again (unless they transform into high-skill professionals).

Low-skilled workers are an odd target for Japan. The country has so few immigrants to begin with; they make up less than 2% of the population. (Most immigrant labourers are ethnic Japanese coming from Latin America.) Given the demographic pressures facing Japan, the government should be begging immigrants to come. Perhaps they have plans to counteract this policy with a programme to encourage Japanese women to have more babies.

Japan’s policy results from a perception that the stock of jobs is fixed, so if you remove the foreign population more jobs go to natives. But low-skill immigrants often do jobs natives will not. Some argue that without immigrants these undesirable jobs would pay more and then natives would take them. But that simply encourages employers to outsource these jobs to another country (which means the wages are spent elsewhere). When it comes to jobs that can physically not be sent abroad, it raises the costs of production which can mean fewer high-skill, well-paid jobs.

Low-skill foreigners also provide cheap services to natives, such as childcare and care for the elderly (something Japan needs). This frees up family members to pursue other work that pays more than what a low-skill immigrant demands, but less than the market wage if only natives did the job.

The Czech Republic and Spain have also bribed foreigners to leave, but at least they will let them come back. Japan is pursuing this policy because its concerned about rising unemployment, but presumably it will need immigrants when the economy improves. Jiro Kawasaki, a former health minister and senior lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party explains:

“Naturally, we don’t want those same people back in Japan after a couple of months,” Mr. Kawasaki said. “Japanese taxpayers would ask, ‘What kind of ridiculous policy is this?’”

It’s a good question.

ENDS

TIME Mag, Asahi, NY Times: “Japan to Immigrants: Thanks, but go home”

Posted on April 23, 2009April 23, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Three articles that echo much of the sentiment I expressed in my April 7, 2009 Japan Times article on the Nikkei repatriation bribe. First TIME Magazine, then a blurb (that’s all) from the Asahi on how returned Nikkei are faring overseas, and than finally the New York Times with some good quotes from the architect of this policy, the LDP’s Kawasaki Jiro (who amazingly calls US immigration policy “a failure”, and uses it to justify kicking out Japan’s immigrants). Arudou Debito in Sapporo

PS: Here’s a political comic based upon the NY Times photo accompanying the article below. Courtesy of creator RDV:

http://politicomix.blogspot.com/2009/04/foreigners-fuck-off.html

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

TIME Magazine, Monday, Apr. 20, 2009
Japan to Immigrants: Thanks, But You Can Go Home Now
By Coco Masters / Tokyo, Courtesy Matt Dioguardi and KG
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1892469,00.html

When union leader Francisco Freitas has something to say, Japan’s Brazilian community listens. The 49-year old director of the Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers called up the Brazilian Embassy in Tokyo April 14, fuming over a form being passed out at employment offices in Hamamatsu City, southwest of Tokyo. Double-sided and printed on large sheets of paper, the form enables unemployed workers of Japanese descent — and their family members — to secure government money for tickets home. It sounded like a good deal to the Brazilians for whom it was intended. The fine print in Portuguese, however, revealed a catch that soured the deal: it’s a one-way ticket with an agreement not to return.

Japan’s offer to minority communities in need has spawned the ire of those whom it intends to help. It is one thing to be laid off in an economic crisis. It is quite another to be unemployed and to feel unwanted by the country where you’ve settled. That’s how Freitas and other Brazilians feel since the Japanese government started the program to pay $3,000 to each jobless foreigner of Japanese descent (called Nikkei) and $2,000 to each family member to return to their country of origin. The money isn’t the problem, the Brazilians say; it’s the fact that they will not be allowed to return until economic and employment conditions improve — whenever that may be. “When Nikkei go back and can’t return, for us that’s discrimination,” says Freitas, who has lived in Japan with his family for 12 years.

With Japan’s unemployment rate on the rise — it reached a three-year high of 4.4% in February — the government is frantic to find solutions to stanch the flow of job losses and to help the unemployed. The virtual collapse of Japan’s export-driven economy, in which exports have nearly halved compared to the first two months of last year, has forced manufacturers to cut production. Temporary and contract workers at automotive and electronics companies have been hit especially hard. Hamamatsu has 18,000 Brazilian residents, about 5% of the total in Japan, and is home to the nation’s largest Brazilian community. After immigration laws relaxed in 1990, making it easier for foreigners to live and work in Japan, Brazilians have grown to be the country’s third largest minority, after Koreans and Chinese. But as jobs grow scarce and money runs out, some Nikkei ironically now face the same tough decision their Japanese relatives did 100 years ago, when they migrated to Brazil.

Japan can scarcely afford to lose part of its labor force, or close itself off further to foreigners. Japan, with its aging population that is projected to shrink by one-third over the next 50 years, needs all the workers it can get. The U.N. has projected that the nation will need 17 million immigrants by 2050 to maintain a productive economy. But immigration laws remain strict, and foreign-born workers make up only 1.7% of the total population. Brazilians feel particularly hard done by. “The reaction from the Brazilian community is very hot,” says a Brazilian Embassy official. The embassy has asked Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to “ease the conditions” of reentry for Brazilians who accept the money. (Paradoxically, the Japanese government had recently stepped up efforts to help Brazilian residents, with programs such as Japanese-language training and job-counseling.) This particular solution to unemployment, however, is perceived as a misguided gift. “Maybe there were good intentions, but the offer was presented in the worst way possible,” says the Brazilian official. The program applies to Brazilians who have long-term Nikkei visas, but restricts their right — and that of their family members — to reentry until jobs are available in Japan. The terms are vague and will probably stay that way. Tatsushi Nagasawa, a Japanese health ministry official says it’s not possible to know when those who accept the money will be allowed back into Japan, though the conditions for reentry for highly skilled positions might be relaxed.

The Brazilian community plainly needs some help. The Brazilian embassy normally pays for between 10 and 15 repatriations each year, but in the last few months it has already paid for about 40. Since last September, Carlos Zaha has seen many in his Hamamatsu community lose their jobs. In December, he helped start Brasil Fureai, or “Contact Brazil,” an association to help unemployed Brazilian residents find jobs. He’s thankful to the Japanese government for the offer of assisted repatriation, but says the decision will be a rough one for workers. “I don’t think [the government] thought this through well,” Zaha says. “If someone is over 50 years old and is already thinking of returning to Brazil then it might work. But there are many people in their 20s and 30s, and after two or three years they’re going to want to come back to Japan — and they won’t be able to.”

Lenine Freitas, 23, the son of the union leader, lost his job at Asmo, a small motor manufacturer, one month ago, but says he plans to stay in Japan and work. Freitas says that there would be no problem if the Japanese government set a term of, say, three years, after which Brazilians who took the money could return. But after nine years working at Suzuki Motor Corp., he thinks that the government should continue to take responsibility for foreigners in Japan. “They have to help people to continue working in Japan,” he says. “If Brazilians go home, what will they do there?”

And if Nikkei Brazilians, Peruvians and others who have lost their jobs go home, what will Japan do? Last week, Prime Minister Taro Aso unveiled a long-term growth strategy to create millions of jobs and add $1.2 trillion to GDP by 2020. But the discussion of immigration reform is notoriously absent in Japan, and reaching a sensible policy for foreign workers has hardly got under way. Encouraging those foreigners who would actually like to stay in Japan to leave seems a funny place to start.

ENDS

=========================================

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200904170104.html

Returnees to Brazil finding it tough

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2009/4/17, courtesy of KG
SAO PAULO–Many Brazilians of Japanese ancestry returning here from recession-struck Japan are struggling to find work, according to Grupo Nikkei, an NGO set up to support the job-seekers.

The group said the number of returnees seeking help had more than doubled from 70 a month last year to 150 a month this year.

Some returnees who performed unskilled labor in Japan have found it difficult to return to old jobs that require specific expertise, according to Leda Shimabukuro, 57, who heads the group. Some youths also lack Portuguese literacy skills, Shimabukuro said.(IHT/Asahi: April 17,2009)

ENDS (yes, that’s all the space this merits in the Asahi)

==========================================

New York Times April 23, 2009

Japan Pays Foreign Workers to Go Home

By HIROKO TABUCHI, courtesy of Alechan

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/business/global/23immigrant.html?_r=1&ref=business

HAMAMATSU, Japan — Rita Yamaoka, a mother of three who immigrated from Brazil, recently lost her factory job here. Now, Japan has made her an offer she may not be able to refuse.

The government will pay thousands of dollars to fly Mrs. Yamaoka; her husband, who is a Brazilian citizen of Japanese descent; and their family back to Brazil. But in exchange, Mrs. Yamaoka and her husband must agree never to seek to work in Japan again.

“I feel immense stress. I’ve been crying very often,” Mrs. Yamaoka, 38, said after a meeting where local officials detailed the offer in this industrial town in central Japan.

“I tell my husband that we should take the money and go back,” she said, her eyes teary. “We can’t afford to stay here much longer.”

Japan’s offer, extended to hundreds of thousands of blue-collar Latin American immigrants, is part of a new drive to encourage them to leave this recession-racked country. So far, at least 100 workers and their families have agreed to leave, Japanese officials said.

But critics denounce the program as shortsighted, inhumane and a threat to what little progress Japan has made in opening its economy to foreign workers.

“It’s a disgrace. It’s cold-hearted,” said Hidenori Sakanaka, director of the Japan Immigration Policy Institute, an independent research organization.

“And Japan is kicking itself in the foot,” he added. “We might be in a recession now, but it’s clear it doesn’t have a future without workers from overseas.”

The program is limited to the country’s Latin American guest workers, whose Japanese parents and grandparents emigrated to Brazil and neighboring countries a century ago to work on coffee plantations.

In 1990, Japan — facing a growing industrial labor shortage — started issuing thousands of special work visas to descendants of these emigrants. An estimated 366,000 Brazilians and Peruvians now live in Japan.

The guest workers quickly became the largest group of foreign blue-collar workers in an otherwise immigration-averse country, filling the so-called three-K jobs (kitsui, kitanai, kiken — hard, dirty and dangerous).

But the nation’s manufacturing sector has slumped as demand for Japanese goods evaporated, pushing unemployment to a three-year high of 4.4 percent. Japan’s exports plunged 45.6 percent in March from a year earlier, and industrial production is at its lowest level in 25 years.

New data from the Japanese trade ministry suggested manufacturing output could rise in March and April, as manufacturers start to ease production cuts. But the numbers could have more to do with inventories falling so low that they need to be replenished than with any increase in demand.

While Japan waits for that to happen, it has been keen to help foreign workers leave, which could ease pressure on domestic labor markets and the unemployment rolls.

“There won’t be good employment opportunities for a while, so that’s why we’re suggesting that the Nikkei Brazilians go home,” said Jiro Kawasaki, a former health minister and senior lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

“Nikkei” visas are special visas granted because of Japanese ancestry or association.

Mr. Kawasaki led the ruling party task force that devised the repatriation plan, part of a wider emergency strategy to combat rising unemployment.

Under the emergency program, introduced this month, the country’s Brazilian and other Latin American guest workers are offered $3,000 toward air fare, plus $2,000 for each dependent — attractive lump sums for many immigrants here. Workers who leave have been told they can pocket any amount left over.

But those who travel home on Japan’s dime will not be allowed to reapply for a work visa. Stripped of that status, most would find it all but impossible to return. They could come back on three-month tourist visas. Or, if they became doctors or bankers or held certain other positions, and had a company sponsor, they could apply for professional visas.

Spain, with a unemployment rate of 15.5 percent, has adopted a similar program, but immigrants are allowed to reclaim their residency and work visas after three years.

Japan is under pressure to allow returns. Officials have said they will consider such a modification, but have not committed to it.

“Naturally, we don’t want those same people back in Japan after a couple of months,” Mr. Kawasaki said. “Japanese taxpayers would ask, ‘What kind of ridiculous policy is this?’ ”

The plan came as a shock to many, especially after the government introduced a number of measures in recent months to help jobless foreigners, including free Japanese-language courses, vocational training and job counseling. Guest workers are eligible for limited cash unemployment benefits, provided they have paid monthly premiums.

“It’s baffling,” said Angelo Ishi, an associate professor in sociology at Musashi University in Tokyo. “The Japanese government has previously made it clear that they welcome Japanese-Brazilians, but this is an insult to the community.”

It could also hurt Japan in the long run. The aging country faces an impending labor shortage. The population has been falling since 2005, and its working-age population could fall by a third by 2050. Though manufacturers have been laying off workers, sectors like farming and care for the elderly still face shortages.

But Mr. Kawasaki said the economic slump was a good opportunity to overhaul Japan’s immigration policy as a whole.

“We should stop letting unskilled laborers into Japan. We should make sure that even the three-K jobs are paid well, and that they are filled by Japanese,” he said. “I do not think that Japan should ever become a multi-ethnic society.”

He said the United States had been “a failure on the immigration front,” and cited extreme income inequalities between rich Americans and poor immigrants.

At the packed town hall meeting in Hamamatsu, immigrants voiced disbelief that they would be barred from returning. Angry members of the audience converged on officials. Others walked out of the meeting room.

“Are you saying even our children will not be able to come back?” one man shouted.

“That is correct, they will not be able to come back,” a local labor official, Masahiro Watai, answered calmly.

Claudio Nishimori, 30, said he was considering returning to Brazil because his shifts at a electronics parts factory were recently reduced. But he felt anxious about going back to a country he had left so long ago.

“I’ve lived in Japan for 13 years. I’m not sure what job I can find when I return to Brazil,” he said. But his wife has been unemployed since being laid off last year and he can no longer afford to support his family.

Mrs. Yamaoka and her husband, Sergio, who settled here three years ago at the height of the export boom, are undecided. But they have both lost jobs at auto factories. Others have made up their minds to leave. About 1,000 of Hamamatsu’s Brazilian inhabitants left the city before the aid was even announced. The city’s Brazilian elementary school closed last month.

“They put up with us as long as they needed the labor,” said Wellington Shibuya, who came six years ago and lost his job at a stove factory in October. “But now that the economy is bad, they throw us a bit of cash and say goodbye.”

He recently applied for the government repatriation aid and is set to leave in June.

“We worked hard; we tried to fit in. Yet they’re so quick to kick us out,” he said. “I’m happy to leave a country like this.”

ENDS

Filmmaker requests interviewees for documentary on NJ visa overstayers

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Filmmaker Adrian Francis has this request. Arudou Debito

=================================

Hello Debito.org readers. I am an Australian documentary filmmaker living in Tokyo. I am currently researching a documentary about illegal workers in Japan. Their plight has been in the spotlight in recent months due to the Calderon family case, and more generally, against a background debate about the role of immigration in present and future Japan. Like the Calderons, many illegal workers in Japan are important contributors to this country, but are not acknowledged as such by the police, a sensationalist media, or official government policy. My aim is to make a film that can give illegal workers themselves some kind of voice in a public discussion about their role.

At this stage I’m thinking purely in terms of research. I understand that this is a highly sensitive topic, and for the people themsleves it could potentially involve deportation or incarceration. If you, or someone you know is in this situation, I would very much like to hear about your/their experiences. I would be happy to communicate in any form that is most comfortable – email, phone, or in person.

For your reference, here is a link to a trailer and synopsis of a short documentary I made last year in Australia:

http://www.featherfilms.com.au/lessons-from-the-night/

I can be contacted on wabi_sabi_09 AT yahoo.com

Any help would be most appreciated.

Adrian Francis

ends

Mainichi: Kofu Laundry taken to cleaners over abuses of Chinese “trainees”

Posted on April 11, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Mainichi reports yet another case of “Trainee” labor abuses, and this time the public prosecutor looks to do something about it. Plus a brief Yomiuri article on how deep the abuses are going, alas with only a brief citation of figures, nothing about the whos, wheres, and what’s to be done about it. Like siccing the public prosecutor on them. Debito in Sapporo

====================================

Dry-cleaning company boss reported to prosecutors over treatment of Chinese trainees

Mainichi Shinbun April 9, 2009, courtesy of Jeff K.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090409p2a00m0na004000c.html

KOFU — The Kofu Labor Standards Inspection Office has sent documents to public prosecutors accusing a dry-cleaning company president of violating labor and wage laws by making Chinese trainees work for pay below the minimum wage.

The office sent documents to the Kofu District Public Prosecutors Office accusing 60-year-old Masafumi Uchida, the president of a dry-cleaning company in Yamanashi Prefecture, of violating the Minimum Wage Law and Labor Standards Law.

The labor standards inspection office had been conducting an investigation after the Mainichi Shimbun reported on the treatment of the workers on Aug. 27 last year.

Uchida was reported to prosecutors over the alleged failure to pay about 11.15 million yen to six female trainees from China aged in their 20s and 30s, during the period between February 2007 and July 2008.

The office also reported a 37-year-old certified social insurance labor consultant from Chuo, Yamanashi Prefecture, to public prosecutors accusing him of assisting in the violation of both laws by providing assistance to Uchida and other related parties.

(Mainichi Japan) April 9, 2009

ENDS

Japanese version with sparser details:

=================================

労基法違反：中国実習生に最低賃金未満　容疑で山梨の会社を書類送検

毎日新聞　2009年4月9日　東京朝刊

http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/news/20090409ddm041040120000c.html

　中国人実習生を最低賃金未満の給与で働かせていたとして甲府労働基準監督署は８日、山梨県昭和町のクリーニング会社「テクノクリーン」と内田正文社長（６０）を最低賃金法と労働基準法違反容疑で甲府地検に書類送検した。毎日新聞が０８年８月２７日付で報じ、同署が調べていた。

　容疑は０７年２月～０８年７月、雇用していた２０～３０代中国人女性実習生６人に対し、総額約１１１５万円を支払わなかったとしている。同県中央市の社会保険労務士の男性（３７）も社長らに協力したとして、両法違反のほう助容疑で送検した。【中西啓介】

=================================

Foreign trainee abuse found at 452 entities

The Yomiuri Shimbun April 11, 2009, courtesy of Wilbert Q.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20090411TDY02308.htm

The Justice Ministry says it has found irregularities at a 452 companies and organizations that hosted foreign trainees last year.

The job-training system for foreign trainees from developing countries was introduced to help them acquire technical expertise and skills from Japanese organizations, but it has often been misused by unscrupulous companies and organizations as a means to get unskilled workers from developing countries who will work for extremely low wages.

Officials of the ministry said it had confirmed that the companies and organizations violated labor laws, such as by paying lower-than-minimum wages to foreign trainees. Of the total, 169 cases of entities making trainees work unpaid overtime were found and 155 cases concerned other labor law violations such as payment of illegally low wages.

(Apr. 11, 2009)

ENDS

See I told you so #2: Oct-Jan 1000 “Trainees” repatriated, returning to debts.

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Here come the stats. The “Trainees” (mostly Chinese working non-laborers in Japanese farms and factories), which I discussed in part in my most recent Japan Times article, are being sent home in large numbers, to face debts. Oh well, so what, as I’ve said — they’re not Nikkei. They don’t get any assistance. Just the promise of a “review”of the “trainee visa system” by May 2009, something people have been clamoring for since at least November 2006! Yet it only took a month or so for the GOJ to come up with and inaugurate something to help the Nikkei, after all (see above JT article). But again, too bad: wrong blood.

I think we’ll see a drop in the number of registered NJ for the first time in more than four decades this year. Maybe that’ll be See I Told You So #3. I hope I’m wrong this time, however. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

PS: Love how the Mainichi classifies this as “National News” in English, but “Overseas News” (kaigai) in Japanese. I guess the hundreds of thousands of “Trainees” saving our industries are not a domestic problem for Japanese readers.

============================

National News

1,000 foreign trainees forced to return home as firms feel pinch

(Mainichi Japan) April 7, 2009, Courtesy Matt D and Jeff K

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20090407p2a00m0na014000c.html

More than 1,000 foreign trainees involved in government programs were forced to return home as sponsor companies have been suffering from the deteriorating economy, a government survey has revealed.

According to the survey held by the Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau, a total of 1,007 foreign trainees left Japan between October last year and January before their contract period ended. Of that figure, 921 people were laid off due to their employers’ deteriorating business conditions, and 86 were dismissed after their host companies went bankrupt.

The figures have increased every month, quadrupling to 489 in January from 114 in October last year.

The trainees’ three-year contracts can be terminated if both parties agree, however, most of foreigners were forced to leave, according to the survey.

“Most of the trainees took out a loan of about 700,000 yen to 1 million yen to come to Japan,” said a representative of Advocacy Network for Foreign Trainees in Tokyo’s Taito Ward. “If they return home before their contract period ends, they will be left in debt. The government should take some countermeasures.”

The central government is now reviewing the trainee program, including the guarantee of the trainees’ status, which is not covered by the current Labor Standards Law. A revision is expected to be made in May.

Japan received a total of 102,018 foreign trainees in 2007, according to the Immigration Bureau.

ENDS

=============================

海外

外国人研修生：１０００人超が途中帰国　経営悪化や倒産で

http://mainichi.jp/select/world/news/20090407k0000m040125000c.html

　国の外国人研修・技能実習制度を利用して来日したが、受け入れ企業の倒産や事業縮小で途中帰国した外国人が昨年１０月～今年１月で１０００人を超えたことが、法務省入国管理局の初めての調査で分かった。原則３年認められている期間中の打ち切りは、受け入れ側と研修・実習生側が合意すれば認められるが、実際には企業側の都合で行われるケースが大半といい、市民団体は「実質的な派遣切り」と訴えている。

　東京や大阪など８カ所の入国管理局が、途中帰国した理由を不況の影響に絞って集計した。総数は１００７人で、内訳は研修生２２２人、企業と雇用関係を結ぶ実習生が７８５人。月別では、昨年１０月１１４人▽１１月１５４人▽１２月２５０人▽今年１月４８９人。

　理由は受け入れ企業の事業縮小や経営悪化が９２１人、企業の倒産が８６人だった。

　入国管理局によると、０７年に企業が受け入れた研修生は１０万２０１８人。制度変更では、労働基準法の適用外になっている研修生の身分保障などが検討されている。

　「外国人研修生権利ネットワーク」（東京都台東区）の高原一郎さん（５７）は「実習生らの多くは来日するため７０万～１００万円程度の借金をしており、途中で帰ると借金しか残らない。国は何らかの対策を打つべきだ」と指摘している。【松井聡】

毎日新聞　2009年4月7日　2時30分

ENDS

Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE: Apr 7 2009: ‘Golden parachutes’ for Nikkei only mark failure of race-based policy

Posted on April 7, 2009November 28, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. This month’s JUST BE CAUSE column was a challenge because of the news cycle. I had originally written this month’s JBC about three weeks ago, before I went on the SOUR STRAWBERRIES movie tour. Here I was thinking I was Mr. Prepared and all that. However, I arrived back in Sapporo on April 1 to hear news of this special GOJ bribe for Nikkei, and realized that story took precedence. But my first draft of the JBC column was due April 2, so within 24 hours I pounded out something of hopefully passable quality. It was, and the next three days were spent refining the original 1150-word draft into the 1550-worder you see below. Not too dusty. I feel fortunate to be a columnist with time to think, as opposed to a reporter with a much stricter set of news deadlines… Arudou Debito in Sapporo

JUST BE CAUSE
‘Golden parachutes’ mark failure of race-based policy
By DEBITO ARUDOU

Japan Times, April 7, 2009
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20090407ad.html

Japan’s employment situation has gotten pretty dire, especially for non-Japanese workers. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry reports that between last November and January, more than 9,000 foreigners asked the Hello Work unemployment agency for assistance — 11 times the figure for the same period a year earlier.

The ministry also claims that non-Japanese don’t know Japan’s language and corporate culture, concluding that they’re largely unemployable. So select regions are offering information centers, language training, and some degree of job placement. Good.

But read the small print: Not only does this plan only target 5,000 people, but the government is also trying to physically remove the only people they can from unemployment rosters — the foreigners.

Under an emergency measure drawn up by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party only last month, from April 1 the Japanese government is offering nikkei — i.e. workers of Japanese descent on “long-term resident” visas — a repatriation bribe. Applicants get ¥300,000, plus ¥200,000 for each family dependent, if they “return to their own country,” and bonuses if they go back sooner (see www.mhlw.go.jp/houdou/2009/03/dl/h0331-10a.pdf ).

History is repeating itself, in a sense. These nikkei beneficiaries are the descendants of beneficiaries of another of Japan’s schemes to export its unemployed. A century ago, Japan sent farmers to Brazil, America, Canada, Peru and other South American countries. Over the past two decades, however, Japan has brought nikkei back under yet another wheeze to utilize their cheap labor. This time, however, if they take the ticket back “home,” they can’t return — at least not under the same preferential work visa.

Let this scheme sink in for a minute. We now have close to half a million nikkei living here, some of whom have been here up to 20 years, paying in their taxes and social security. They worked long hours at low wages to keep our factories competitive in the world economy. Although these policies have doubled Japan’s foreign population since 1990, few foreigners have been assimilated. Now that markets have soured, foreigners are the first to be laid off, and their unassimilated status has made them unmarketable in the government’s eyes. So now policy has become, “Train 1 percent (5,000) to stay, bribe the rest to be gone and become some other country’s problem.”

Sound a bit odd? Now consider this: This scheme only applies to nikkei, not to other non-Japanese workers also here at Japan’s invitation. Thus it’s the ultimate failure of a “returnee visa” regime founded upon racist paradigms.

How did this all come to pass? Time for a little background.

Japan had a huge labor shortage in its blue-collar industries in the late 1980s, and realized, with the rise in the value of the yen and high minimum wages, that Japan’s exports were being priced out of world markets.

Japan’s solution (like that of other developed countries) was to import cheaper foreign labor. However, as a new documentary entitled “Sour Strawberries: Japan’s Hidden ‘Guest Workers’ ” ( www.cinemabstruso.de/strawberries/main.html ) reveals, Japan’s policy was fundamentally different. Elites worried about debasing Japan’s supposedly “homogeneous” society with foreigners who might stay, so the official stance remained “No immigration” and “No import of unskilled labor.”

But that was all tatemae — a facade. Urged by business lobbies such as the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), Japan created a visa regime from 1990 to import foreign laborers (mostly Chinese) as “trainees,” ostensibly to learn a skill, but basically to put them in factories and farms doing unskilled “dirty, difficult, and dangerous” labor eschewed by Japanese. More importantly, trainees were getting paid less than half minimum wage (as they were not legally “workers” under labor law) and receiving no social welfare.

Even the offer of competitive wages was tatemae. Although some trainees were reportedly working 10 to 15 hours a day (one media outlet mentioned 22-hour days!), six to seven days a week including holidays, they found themselves receiving sums so paltry they beggared belief — think ¥40,000 a month! A Chinese trainee interviewed in “Sour Strawberries” said he wound up earning the same as he would in China. Others received even less, being charged by employers for rent, utilities and food on top of that.

Abuses proliferated. Trainees were harassed and beaten, found their passports confiscated and pay withheld, and were even fired without compensation if they were injured on the job. One employer hired thugs to force his Chinese staff to board a plane home. But trainees couldn’t just give up and go back. Many had received travel loans to come here, and if they returned early they would be in default, sued by their banks and ruined. Thus they were locked into abusive jobs they could neither complain about nor quit without losing their visa and livelihoods overseas.

As labor union leader Ippei Torii explains in “Sour Strawberries,” this government-sponsored but largely unregulated trainee program made so many employers turn bad that places without worker abuses were “very rare.”

But trainees weren’t the only ones getting exploited. 1990 was also the year the long-term resident visa was introduced for the nikkei. However, unlike the trainees, they were given labor law protections and unlimited employment opportunities — supposedly to allow them to “explore their heritage” (while being worked 10 to 15 hours a day, six days a week).

Why this “most-favored visa status” for the nikkei? Elites, in their ever-unchallenged wisdom, figured nikkei would present fewer assimilation problems. After all, they have Japanese blood, ergo the prerequisite understanding of Japan’s unique culture and garbage-sorting procedures. So, as LDP and Keidanren policymakers testified in “Sour Strawberries,” it was deemed unnecessary to create any integration policy, or even to make them feel like they “belong” in Japan. It was completely counterproductive and demoralizing for an enthusiastic workforce. A nikkei interviewed in the film mentioned how overseas she felt like a Japanese, yet in Japan she ultimately felt like a foreigner.

So over the past 20 years Japan has invited over a million non-Japanese to come here and work. And work they did, many in virtual indentured servitude. Yet instead of being praised for all their contributions, they became scapegoats. They engendered official opprobrium for alleged rises in crime and overstaying (even though per-capita crime rates were higher among Japanese than foreigners, and the number of visa overstayers has dropped every year since 1993). They were also bashed for not learning the language (when they actually had little time to study, let alone attend Japanese classes offered by a handful of merciful local governments) — nothing but disincentives toward settling in Japan.

The policy was doomed to failure. And fail it did on April Fool’s Day, when the government confirmed that nikkei didn’t actually belong here, and offered them golden parachutes. Of course, it was a race-based benefit, unavailable to wrong-blooded trainees, who have to make it home on their own dime (perhaps with some fines added on for overstaying) to face financial ruin.

It’s epiphany time. Japan’s policymakers haven’t evolved beyond an early Industrial-Revolution mind set, which sees people (well, foreigners, anyway) as mere work units. Come here, work your ass off, then go “home” when we have no more use for you; it’s the way we’ve dealt many times before with foreigners, and the way we’ll probably deal with those Indonesian and Filipino care workers we’re scheming to come take care of our elderly. Someday, potential immigrants will realize that our government is just using people, but the way things are going we eventually won’t be rich enough for them to overlook that.

What should be done instead? Japan must take responsibility. You invited foreigners over here, now treat them like human beings. Give all of them the same labor rights and job training that you’d give every worker in Japan, and free nationwide Japanese lessons to bring them up to speed. Reward them for their investment in our society and their taxes paid. Do what you can to make them more comfortable and settled. And stop bashing them: Let Japanese society know why foreigners are here and what good they’ve done for our country. You owe them that much for the best part of their lives they’ve given you.

Don’t treat foreigners like toxic waste, sending them overseas for somebody else to deal with, and don’t detoxify our society under the same race-based paradigms that got us into this situation in the first place. You brought this upon yourselves through a labor policy that ignored immigration and assimilation. Now deal with it here, in Japan, by helping non-Japanese residents of whatever background make Japan their home.

That’s not a radical proposal. Given our low-birthrate, aging-society demographics, experts have been urging you to do this for a decade now. This labor downturn won’t last forever, and when things pick up again you’ll have a younger, more acculturated, more acclimatized, even grateful workforce to help pick up the pieces. Just sending people back, where they will tell others about their dreadful years in Japan being exploited and excluded, is on so many levels the wrong thing to do.

Debito Arudou is organizing nationwide screenings of “Sour Strawberries” in late August and early September; contact him at debito@debito.org to arrange a screening. Just Be Cause appears on the first Community Page of the month. Send comments and story ideas to community@japantimes.co.jp

ENDS

Review of documentary Sour Strawberries by an attendee, next showing Sapporo Apr 23

Posted on April 5, 2009April 5, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. A review from Japan Visitor Blog on documentary SOUR STRAWBERRIES.

http://japanvisitor.blogspot.com/2009/04/arudou-debito-and-sour-strawberries.html

Excerpt:

“…I attended a meeting in Tokyo at the end of last month, part of a 10-day tour of the Kanto and Kansai regions by Arudou Debito, where he promoted the documentary Sour Strawberries – Japan’s hidden guest workers.

Sour Strawberries is a 60-minute film shot in Tokyo in March 2008 by a German-Japanese film crew that focuses on the issue of discrimination in Japan, mainly as it affects foreign workers from other Asian countries.

Numerous interviews in the film reveal the blatancy of discrimination in Japan, with foreign workers treated very much like slaves, most notably the workers who inspired the film’s title: strawberry pickers from China who worked days of at least 12 hours, 365 days a year, and whose passports were taken from them by their employer.

Union activism in defense of victims of discrimination in Japan is also liberally documented, the most startling example being the story told by a Japanese union activist, Torii Ippei of the Zentôitsu Workers Union, who, in response to his efforts in one case involving foreign workers, was doused in gasoline and set alight by the infuriated employer….”

Go check out the site. There’s even an awful picture of me. The things I do to show off “Japanese Only” T-shirts…

If you’d like a showing in your area like the one mentioned above, be in touch with me at debito@debito.org. Planning another nationwide tour between late August and early September.

Next showing:

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

THURS APRIL 23, 2009. 7PM

Sapporo L-Plaza for Hokkaido International Business Association (HIBA)

Sapporo Chuo-ku Kita 8 Nishi 3

http://www.danjyo.sl-plaza.jp/information/index.html

(just off JR Sapporo Station’s North Exit (kitaguchi), follow the underground exits to the very end).

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Arudou Debito in Sapporo

Mainichi: Lawson hiring more NJ, offering Vietnamese scholarships

Posted on April 3, 2009April 3, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. On the heels of yesterday’s post, depicting Japan’s latest wheeze to cover up it’s failed Nikkei import labor policy, here’s a bit of good news: Somebody trying to do their bit to help keep unemployed NJs’ heads above water. Lawson convenience stores.

I smiled until I saw how small the numbers being employed full time were, despite the “quadrupling” claimed in the first paragraph. But every little bit helps. So does Lawson’s offer for scholarships for Vietnamese exchange students (see Japanese below).

Many times when I go into convenience stores in the Tokyo area, I’m surprised how many Chinese staff I see. Anyway, patronize Lawson if they’re trying to do good by the stricken NJ community. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

=================================

Lawson boosts number of foreign fulltime employees

(Mainichi Japan) April 2, 2009, courtesy of Jeff K.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090402p2a00m0na003000c.html

Japanese convenience store chain Lawson almost quadrupled the number of fulltime foreign employees it hired this spring as it searches for a new growth path amid stagnant consumption and fierce competition in the industry.

“Let’s create innovative ideas by fusing diverse views and different cultures,” said Takeshi Niinami, the president of Lawson, Inc. The company started hiring foreigners as regular employees last spring.

Compared to last year’s 10 new foreign employees, the convenience store giant hired 39 new workers, who studied in Japan, among a total of 122 regular employees this spring, made up of 28 Chinese, four South Koreans, three Taiwanese, two Vietnamese and one each from Indonesia and Bangladesh.

According to the company, like their Japanese counterparts, the foreign employees will work at directly-managed stores across Japan for about three years.

ENDS

==================================

ローソン新入社員：３割超はアジアの外国人…多彩な価値観

毎日新聞　2009年4月1日

http://mainichi.jp/select/biz/news/20090402k0000m040057000c.html

　大手コンビニエンスストア、ローソンに１日入社した１２２人の新入社員のうち、日本に留学した中国などアジア出身の外国人が３割超の３９人を占めた。消費低迷と競争激化で国内市場が頭打ちとなる中、異なった価値観を持つ人材をそろえ、新たな成長の糸口をつかむのが狙いだ。

　３９人の出身地は中国２８、韓国４、台湾３、ベトナム２、インドネシア、バングラデシュの各１人。初の外国人採用となった昨春の１０人から、一気に３倍以上に増えた。

　新浪剛史社長は東京都内で行った入社式で「多様な考え、異なる文化を持った新入社員が交ざり合い、わくわくするような新しい発想を生み出していこう」と激励した。

　同社によると入社後は外国人社員も日本人と同様、３年前後、全国の直営店で接客業務をこなす。０８年の新入社員では、おせち料理の予約数で日本人以上の好成績を上げた人材もいたという。

ENDS

============================

ローソン、ベトナムの留学生向け奨学金制度を設立

平成２１年３月２５日　毎日オンライン

http://mainichi.jp/select/biz/release/01/news/20090325p0400a021017000c.html

　ローソン（東京品川区：代表取締役社長ＣＥＯ　新浪剛史）は、２００９年４月より、日本に留学を希望するベトナムの学生のための奨学金制度を設立し、人材育成に民間レベルで貢献いたします。

　一期生２名が３月に来日し、４月より日本の学校に入学いたします。

　ローソンは商品の原材料調達の縁を発端に、ベトナムとの関係を築いてまいりました。

　ベトナムの学生は勤勉で、多くの学生が日本への留学を希望していると知り、今回の制度を設立致しました。この制度がベトナムの発展に寄与し、日本との友好がさらに深まることを期待しています。

＜年間募集人員＞

　２００９年度を初年度とし、毎年新たに２５名を募集致します。

　特待生：５名

　一般生：２０名

　（４月入学の２名を含み、今年度合計２５名となります。）

◎給付内容

▼対象者

　日本の大学に留学を希望するベトナムの２５才以下の男女

▼給付期間

　日本に在留し学校で学んでいる期間（最大６年：一年毎に更新面談）

▼給付金額

　特待生（２０才以下）：年間１２０万円　住宅補助月３万円

　一般生（２５才以下）：年間３０万円　住宅補助なし

◎選考フロー

▼１０月入学

　４月ベトナム国内にて説明会　→　５月・７月に選考　→　合否通知

▼４月入学

　１０月ベトナム国内にて説明会　→　１１月・１２月に選考　→　合否発表

　（募集に関する説明会をハノイ市とホーチミン市にて実施）

◎その他

　奨学金の返済は不要です。但し、中途退学および成績不良の場合は返済義務が発生します。

■問い合わせ先■ローソン[2651.T]

※発表日　２００９年３月２４日

以　上

2009年3月25日 ends

GOJ bribes Nikkei NJ with Golden Parachutes: Go home and don’t come back

Posted on April 2, 2009April 3, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Here’s the ultimate betrayal: Hey Gaijin, er, Nikkei! Here’s a pile of money. Leave and don’t come back. So what if it only applies to people with Japanese blood (not, for example, Chinese). And so what if we’ve invited you over here for up to two decades, taken your taxes and most of your lives over here as work units, and fired you first when the economy went sour. Just go home. You’re now a burden on Us Japanese. You don’t belong here, regardless of how much you’ve invested in our society and saved our factories from being priced out of the market. You don’t deserve our welfare, job training, or other social benefits that are entitled to real residents and contributors to this country.

Why did I have the feeling this was coming? Arudou Debito back in Sapporo

=========================

(Article courtesy of lots of people, thanks!)

Original Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare proposal in Japanese, courtesy of Silvio:

http://www.mhlw.go.jp/houdou/2009/03/dl/h0331-10a.pdf

====================

Japan gives cash to jobless foreigners to go home

(Mainichi Japan and Japan Today) April 1, 2009

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090401p2g00m0dm008000c.html

and

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/govt-to-pay-travel-costs-of-returning-workers-with-japanese-ancestry

TOKYO (AP) — Japan began offering money Wednesday for unemployed foreigners of Japanese ancestry to go home, mostly to Brazil and Peru, to stave off what officials said posed a serious unemployment problem.

Thousands of foreigners of Japanese ancestry, who had been hired on temporary or referral contracts, have lost their jobs recently, mostly at manufacturers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and its affiliates, which are struggling to cope with a global downturn.

The number of foreigners seeking government help to find jobs has climbed in recent months to 11 times the previous year at more than 9,000 people, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

“The program is to respond to a growing social problem,” said ministry official Hiroshi Yamashita.

Japan has tight immigration laws, and generally allows only skilled foreign workers to enter the country. The new program applies only to Brazilians and Peruvians of Japanese ancestry who have gotten special visas to do assembly line and other manufacturing labor. It does not apply to other foreigners in Japan, Yamashita said.

The government will give 300,000 yen ($3,000) to an unemployed foreigner of Japanese ancestry who wishes to leave the country, and 200,000 ($2,000) each to family members, the ministry said. But they must forgo returning to Japan. The budget for the aid is still undecided, it said.

The visa program for South Americans of Japanese ancestry was introduced partly in response to a labor shortage in Japan, where the population is shrinking and aging. But the need for such workers has dwindled in recent months after the global financial crisis hit last year. The jobless rate has risen to 4.4 percent, a three-year high.

Tokyo has already allocated 1.08 billion yen ($10.9 million) for training, including Japanese language lessons, for 5,000 foreign workers of Japanese ancestry.

Major companies traditionally offer lifetime employment to their rank and file, and so workers hired on temporary contracts have been the first to lose their jobs in this recession.

(Mainichi Japan) April 1, 2009

ENDS

==============================

Japan government gives cash for jobless foreigners of Japanese ancestry to go home

Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
Yahoo Finance Wednesday April 1, 2009, 10:34 am EDT

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Japan-gives-cash-to-jobless-apf-14808952.html

TOKYO (AP) — Japan is offering $3,000 for a plane ticket home to some foreigners who have lost their jobs, a sign of just how bad the economic slump has gotten.

The program, which began Wednesday, applies only to several hundred thousand South Americans of Japanese descent on special visas for factory work. The government’s motivation appears to be three-fold: help the workers get home, ease pressure on the domestic labor market and potentially get thousands of people off the unemployment rolls.

“The program is to respond to a growing social problem,” said Hiroshi Yamashita, an official at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, referring to joblessness, which has climbed to a three-year high of 4.4 percent.

But there may not be too many takers for the 300,000 yen ($3,000) handout, plus 200,000 yen ($2,000) for each family member. The money comes with strings attached: The workers cannot return to Japan on the same kind of visa.

Given Japan’s strict immigration laws, that means most won’t be able to come back to work in Japan, where wages are higher than in Latin America.

“It is not necessarily a totally welcome deal,” said Iwao Nishiyama, of the Association of Nikkei & Japanese Abroad, a government-backed organization that connects people of Japanese ancestry.

The government’s offer — as well as the backdrop of history that has given birth to a vibrant community of South Americans of Japanese ancestry here — highlight this nation’s complex views on foreigners and cultural identity.

Many Japanese consider their culture homogenous, even though there are sizeable minorities of Koreans and Chinese, as well as Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Japan.

In the early 1990s, Tokyo relaxed its relatively tight immigration laws to allow special entry permits for foreigners of Japanese ancestry in South America to make up for a labor shortage at this nation’s then-booming factories.

They took the so-called “three-K” jobs, standing for “kitsui, kitanai, kiken” — meaning “hard, dirty, dangerous” — jobs Japanese had previously shunned.

Before their arrival, many such jobs had gone to Iranians and Chinese. But the government saw their influx — much of it illegal — as a problem and was eager to find a labor pool it felt would more easily adapt to Japanese society, said Nishiyama of Japanese Abroad association.

So by virtue of their background, these foreigners of Japanese descent — called “Nikkei” in Japanese — were offered special visa status.

“They may speak some Japanese, and have a Japanese way of thinking,” Nishiyama said. “They have Japanese blood, and they work hard.”

The workers are mainly descendants of Japanese who began emigrating to Latin America around the turn of the last century.

Brazil has the biggest population of ethnic Japanese outside Japan, numbering about 1.5 million. Last year marked the 100th year of Japanese immigration to Brazil. Initially many ventured to toil in coffee plantations and other farms.

Brazilians are the most numerous of such foreigners in Japan, totaling about 310,000 overall in 2007, the latest tally available. Peruvians are next at 59,000. Those from other South American nations were fewer at 6,500 Bolivians, 3,800 Argentineans and 2,800 Colombians.

Nearly all work manufacturing jobs, many through job referral agencies. Major companies, like Toyota Motor Corp., have relied on contract employees to keep a flexible plant work force.

Foreign workers in Japan are entitled to the basic unemployment and other benefits that Japanese workers get. Though rates vary, Japan provides about 7,000 yen ($71) a day in unemployment — which would equal about $2,100 per month.

Still, Nikkei are sometimes victims of discrimination in Japan, as they are culturally different and aren’t always fluent in Japanese. As a result, many have had a hard time blending into Japanese society.

Now, as the economy worsens, many find themselves out of jobs.

The government doesn’t track the number of jobless foreigners, but the number of foreigners showing up at government-run centers for job referral has climbed in recent months to 11 times the previous year at more than 9,000 people, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Overall, the government estimates that some 192,000 temporary workers who had jobs in October, including Japanese, are expected to be jobless by June. Experts fear such numbers are growing.

In addition to the handout offer the government is also helping Nikkei find jobs in Japan.

“These are like two sides of the same effort to assist people of Japanese ancestry,” said Yamashita of the labor ministry.

Tokyo has already allocated 1.08 billion yen ($10.9 million) for training, including Japanese language lessons, for 5,000 foreign workers.

Fausto Kishinami, 32, manager at a Brazilian restaurant in Oizumimachi, a city with a large Japanese-Brazilian population, said none of his friends are applying for the government money because of the no-return condition.

“I don’t think people should take that money,” he said, adding that he hasn’t gone home in eight years, and is focused on his work in Japan.

Some 20 percent to 30 percent of the South American foreigners of Japanese ancestry are estimated to have already returned home, said Nishiyama. They have paid their own way back and may return, once a recovery brings fresh opportunities, he said.

ENDS

Audience reactions to documentary SOUR STRAWBERRIES roadshow March 21-April 1

Posted on March 28, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. I was asked a few days ago in the Comments Section to give you an update on how the documentary SOUR STRAWBERRIES Spring Tour was going. I’m in Okayama at the moment, fresh out of two screenings (one more to go, in Kumamoto), and a couple of hours in an internet cafe getting mentally prepared for an evening of partying, so here you go. A quick summary:

First, the executive summary at the very top. The response to this movie, about Japan’s hidden NJ migrant workers, has been remarkable. I have never sold so many DVDs and books ever on a tour (we sold out so fast — you can buy your own copies by clicking on the avatars above — that I had to have my stocks replenished twice on the road by post). Sixty DVDs and 40 books sold later, I think it’s prudent to plan yet another tour. I’ll be working down at Nagoya University the second week of September, so that takes care of the airfare costs to and from Hokkaido. For places that missed me this time, how about planning something late August/early September? If you’d like to schedule an event, please contact me at debito@debito.org.

Now for some tour highlights (directors Koenig and Kremers, please feel free to comment or answer questions if you’re reading this):

The first showing was at Second Harvest Japan, a very nice public service provided by Charles McJilton and company to provide homeless people with food that supermarkets decide not to sell. A capacity crowd (eating, you guessed it, leftover strawberries beyond the supermarket sell-by date) asked poignant questions about why the film covered the Trainees and Nikkei workers so well but didn’t mention those being human trafficked on “Entertainer” visas. I didn’t have the answer (I’m a promoter, Jim, not a producer or a director), but Patricia Aliperti, a scholar of human trafficking in Japan who serendipitously happened to be in attendance, gave us a firsthand account of how Japan was listed as a Tier-Two Human Trafficker by the US State Dept in 2004, promised to abolish its state-sponsored sexual slavery, reduced the number of NJ visa-ed women in the water trades on this visa by about 75%, then neglected to abolish the visa status completely. Seems to me within character.

One attendee of the first screening offered her thoughts here. http://hinoai.livejournal.com/716510.html

Other screnings were equally well-attended, with Amnesty International at Ben’s Cafe Takadanobaba pulling in at least 50 viewers and the Blarney Stone in Osaka pulling in close to the same. Smaller screenings in Tsukuba and Shiga had interested commentary from viewers asking about how the directors came to choose this subject, and why it took itinerant Germans to finally produce a movie of outstanding quality about this issue. The Nagoya University Labor Union screening was so full of Nikkei (as was the Okayama screening) that we decided the lingua franca for the Q&A would be Japanese language, and everyone, however haltingly for some, put their thoughts into Japanese.

Further sundry thoughts: Two Nikkei participants in the Okayama screening had lost their jobs at the end of January, were on unemployment, and were thinking they would probably have to return to Brazil when the dole money ran out in three months. I made sure they got a free copy of the DVD and of the HANDBOOK to show around, if that would help. Participants were nearly unanimous in both the power and necessity of labor unions to inform and enforce labor rights. The audience’s outrage was palpable over the GOJ’s negligence at inviting all these people here, neglecting the schooling of both them (the Okayama Nikkei, for example, worked 11 hours a day, six days a week, and had no time to study Japanese) and their children, and telling them to go home now that they “weren’t necessary”. After all their time spent here paying taxes, living here for years if not decades, and saving Japanese industry from being priced out of the market.

Rumor has it the GOJ has advised Hello Work to consider three Japanese for every non-Japanese applicant. It’s unconfirmed, but if true, that means nationality once again has become a job qualification, one should think in violation of Labor Standards Law.

Moreover, 2HJ’s Charles also told us that visa overstayers in Japan are actually being issued with Gaijin Cards from local governments (yes, stating that they are overstaying). That’s why they’re centralizing the Gaijin Card system behind the new Zairyuu Cards, to remove the local government’s discretion in these matters (so much for chihou bunken, then!). I’ll have more information later on in the blog after some confirmations.

In sum, SOUR STRAWBERRIES may be a testiment to the last days of Japan’s internationalized industrial prowess, as people are being turfed out because no matter how many years and how much contribution, they don’t belong. Have to wait and see. But to me it’s clear the GOJ is still not getting beyond seeing NJ as work units as opposed to workers and people. Especially in these times of economic hardship. I’m seeing it for myself as the movie tours.

Call me out for another movie tour by the end of the summer. I might by then be able to get FROM THE SHADOWS movie about child abductions after divorce as well. Arudou Debito in Okayama

Ekonomisuto March 10 2009 re worsening job and living conditions for Nikkei Brazilians et al.

Posted on March 16, 2009March 16, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Shuukan Ekonomisuto Weekly (from Mainichi Shinbun presses) dated March 10, 2009 had yet another great article on how things are going for Nikkei NJ et al.

Highlights: Numbers of Nikkei Brazilians are dropping (small numbers in the area surveyed) as economic conditions are so bad they can’t find work. Those who can go back are the lucky ones, in the sense that some with families can’t afford the multiple plane tickets home, let alone their rents. Local NGOs are helping out, and even the Hamamatsu City Government is offering them cheap public housing, and employing them on a temporary basis. Good. Lots of fieldwork and individual stories are included to illustrate people’s plights.

The pundits are out in force offering some reasonable assessments. Labor union leader Torii Ippei wonders if the recent proposals to reform the Trainee Visa system and loosen things up vis-a-vis Gaijin Cards and registration aren’t just a way to police NJ better, and make sure that NJ labor stays temp, on a 3-year revolving door. Former Immigration Bureau bigwig Sakanaka Hidenori says that immigration is the only answer to the demographic realities of low birthrate and population drop. The LDP proposed a bill in February calling for the NJ population to become 10% of the total pop (in other words, 10 million people) within fifty years, as a taminzoku kyousei kokka (a nation where multicultures coexist). A university prof named Tanno mentions the “specialness” (tokushu) of nihongo, and asks if the GOJ has made up its mind about getting people fluent in the language. Another prof at Kansai Gakuin says that the EU has come to terms with immigration and labor mobility, and if Japan doesn’t it will be the places that aren’t Tokyo or major industrial areas suffering the most. The biggest question is posed once again by the Ekonomisuto article: Is Japan going to be a roudou kaikoku or sakoku? It depends on the national government, of course, is the conclusion I glean.

And of course we have the raw numbers: From 1991 to the end of 2007, the number of NJ total have increased from around 1,220,000 to 2,150,000. Of those, Brazilians have gone from 120,000 to 320,000, Chinese from 170,000 to 610,000, Filipinos/pinas from 60,000 to 200,000. Not included in the article is this prognostication (mine), but could the total number of registered NJ actually DROP for the first time in more than four decades in 2009? We’ll have to wait quite some time to see, but the Ekonomisuto article doesn’t paint a rosy picture. Here are the four main pages of the tokushuu. Enjoy. Go to your local library and see the other four pages of EU immigration trends and the lessons for Japan. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

ekonomisuto031009001

ekonomisuto031009002

ekonomisuto031009003

ekonomisuto031009004

ENDS

SOUR STRAWBERRIES「知られざる日本の外国人労働者」ドキュメンタリー全国ロードショー（プレスリリース）

Posted on March 14, 2009March 17, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

========= プレス　リリース =============

DEBITO.ORG 号外 2009年３月１３日発行　（転送歓迎）

／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／
「サワー・ストロベリーズ〜知られざる日本の外国人労働者〜」
ドキュメンタリー全国ロードショー
／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／／

３月２１日〜３１日（東京・筑波・名古屋・彦根・大阪・岡山・熊本ないし４月札幌）
ご出席・ご取材大歓迎

　2008年３月に東京で撮影された、日独合作のドキュメンタリー映画（６０分）。日本で自らの人権のために戦う外国人労働者たちが、その体験を語っている。日本で暮らす外国人労働者や移民たちを様々な角度から捉え、異なる国籍・階級を持つ人びとの運命を３部構成で照らしだす。
　また、政治・経済界の専門家や関係者たちにインタビューをおこない、移民問題の実情も紹介している。
インタビュー出演者：
●　ガブリエル・フォーグト（ドイツ・日本研究所）
●　河野太郎（自民党・衆議院議員・元法務副大臣）
●　井上洋（日本経団連産業本部産業基盤グループ長）
●　マルテイ・ツルネン（民主党・欧米出身の日本国籍取得者では初の参議院議員）
●　有道　出人（意識高揚家、著者、英字新聞ジャパンタイムズのコラムニスト）ほか
写真、プロモーションはこちらです：
https://www.debito.org/SOURSTRAWBERRIESpromo.pdf
映画の予告編（和英・３分）
http://www.vimeo.com/2276295
　ロードショーの上映前後、司会有道　出人は各場所でディスカッション（和英）を指揮します。映画は和英音声・字幕。
（もっと詳しくは上映日程の後）

========= ========= ========= =========

上映日程（行き方はリンク先をご参考に）

========= 関東地方 =========

秋葉原: Sat March 21, 5PM Second Harvest Japan Offices
http://www.2hj.org
スポンサー：　Second Harvest Japan

筑波: Sun March 22, 夕方上映（市議会議員ヒース氏の打ち合わせ中）
スポンサー：　筑波市議会議員　Jon Heese (http://aishiterutsukuba.jp/)

東京新橋: Mon March 23, 7PM at NUGW 本部
http://nambufwc.org
スポンサー：　National Union of General Workers

高田馬場: Tues March 24, 7:30 PM at Ben’s Cafe
http://www.benscafe.com
スポンサー：　Amnesty International AITEN
http://www.amnesty.or.jp/
http://groups.google.com/group/aiten

========= 中部地方と関西地方 =========

名古屋: Weds March 25, 6PM 名古屋大学
18：00〜　映画の上映「サワー・ストロベリーズ〜知られざる日本の外国人労働者〜」_19：00〜　有道先生を司会として質疑応答・懇談_20：00　終了予定◎ 会場 ◎　名古屋大学職員組合事務局会議室。名古屋大学内工学部二号館北館３３２号室 TEL　０５２−７８９−４９１３（内線　４９１３）地下鉄名城線「名古屋大学」駅下車３番出口よりすぐ。キャンパスマップ30番の建物です。→　
http://www.nagoya-u.ac.jp/camp/map_higashiyama/
スポンサー：　名古屋大学職員組合

彦根: Thurs March 26, 1PM to 3PM, 滋賀大学
(連絡先： Dr Robert Aspinall at aspinall_robert AT hotmail DOT com)

大阪: Thurs March 26, 7:30PM The Blarney Stone, Osaka
http://www.the-blarney-stone.com
スポンサー： Osaka Amnesty International, Osaka JALT, Democrats Abroad Japan, EWA Osaka

========= 中国地方と九州 =========

岡山: Sat March 28, 日本語講演 (1:30PM) then English (3:30PM),
岡山市表町三丁目14番1-201号(アークスクエア表町2階).
http://www.city.okayama.okayama.jp/shimin/danjo/center/
スポンサー： Okayama JALT.

熊本: Tues March 31, 2PM, 熊本学園大学　第１４ビル, 1411 （１階）
スポンサー：熊本学園大学

========= 北海道 =========

札幌：April 2009, 北海道国際ビジネス協会 (HIBA)（取り合わせ中、日程は後日発表）

=============================================

　皆様にご連絡：監督らにプロダクション費用を若干相殺するために、各上映はカンパの形態で５００円をお願いいたします。それに、この映画を教材にしたければ、現場でDVD５０枚を発売しております。１５００円（税込み）
　監督　Tilman Koenig氏と　Daniel Kremers氏は当日欠席ですが、直売・上映・放送ライセンシングなど、直接ご連絡の場合、 email koenigtilman@googlemail.com　と　daniel.kremers@gmx.de　（日本語可）
司会有道　出人（あるどう　でびと）はdebito@debito.org　まで、携帯：090-2812-4015
　上記の場所以外の上映は大歓迎。ご連絡下さい。

See you in late March! 宜しくお願い致します。
Arudou Debito in Sapporo

もっと詳しく
=============================================
「サワー・ストロベリーズ〜知られざる日本の外国人労働者〜」の主旨

　第１部ではペルー人女性とボリビア人男性を例に、日系人が置かれている特別な状況を取り上げる。日系人には1990年以降、無期限で日本に滞在し働くことが許可されている。しかし彼らの多くは、日本人が就きたがらない職業に非正規雇用として従事しており、日本社会での立場も「ゲスト」のままだ。

　第２部。撮影チームは有道出人の案内で、新宿へとやって来る。日本のあちこちで近年増えているのが、外国人の遊技場やプールなどへの入場を拒む看板。有道は「Japanese Only」と書かれた看板をめぐって、ある性風俗店のマネージャーに疑問を投げかける。

　第３部では、労働組合の活動に携わる鳥井一平が登場する。鳥井が書記長を務める全統一労働組合には2000人を超える外国人が加入しており、その多くはオーバーステイだ。鳥井は、交渉相手に瀕死の火傷を負わされた事件や、ときには警察や組織的な犯罪にも立ち向かう全統一の活動を語る。

　鳥井の紹介で撮影チームは、研修先から逃げ出した３人の中国人研修生と知り合う。彼らに話を聞くうちに、かつての雇用主が彼らを「国外追放」しようとした事実が明るみに出る。全統一メンバーは、成田空港でこの模様を撮影していた。本作品の終わりでは、この映像が効果的に使用されている。

企画・脚本・編集：ティルマン・ケーニヒ、ダニエル・クレーマース
撮影：ティルマン・ケーニヒ、松村真吾、アレクサンダー・ノール
録音：松村真吾、アレクサンダー・ノール
コーディネーター：松村真吾
音楽：坂本弘道
広告デザイン：ガブリエレ・ラーダ、フィリップ・ヴァインリヒ
字幕：鈴木智（日本語）　フランク・アンドレス、余晴（中国語）
ドイツ語・日本語・英語（日本語字幕）／60分

PRESS RELEASE ENDS

Documentary SOUR STRAWBERRIES, on Japan’s NJ labor, screening schedule Mar 21-31 Tokyo Nagoya Osaka Okayama Kumamoto

Posted on March 13, 2009March 17, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

========= PRESS RELEASE =============

DEBITO.ORG SPECIAL EDITION MARCH 13, 2009
INFORMATION ABOUT NATIONWIDE SCREENINGS
OF “SOUR STRAWBERRIES” MARCH 21 TO MARCH 31

A documentary by Daniel Kremers and Tilman Koenig, Leipzig, Germany
on “Japan’s Hidden Workers” and human rights

Hi all. An hourlong documentary, on how NJ workers are being treated as part of Japan’s labor force, will be shown nationwide, from Tsukuba to Kumamoto, with stops in Tokyo, Nagoya, Shiga, Osaka, and Okayama.

========= WHAT THE MOVIE IS ABOUT =========

The documentary “Sour Strawberries – Japan’s hidden guest workers” was shot in March 2008 by a German-Japanese film crew in Tokyo. The movie shows migrants fighting for their rights as workers and citizens. The persons concerned are always at the centre of interest. While describing their situation, they are the protagonists of the movie. Contains interviews with NJ workers on their treatment, with input from people like migration expert Dr Gabriele Vogt, Dietmember Kouno Taro, Keidanren policymaker Inoue Hiroshi, labor rights leader Torii Ippei, Dietmember Tsurunen Marutei, and activist Arudou Debito, who gives us an animated tour of “Japanese Only” signs in Kabukicho.

More information and stills from the movie at
https://www.debito.org/SOURSTRAWBERRIESpromo.pdf
A three-minute promo of the movie at
http://www.vimeo.com/2276295

May I add that I have seen the movie, and it is excellent.
========= ========= ========= =========

In lieu of the directors, Arudou Debito will host the movie screenings at each of the venues below and lead discussions in English and Japanese. (The movie is subtitled in both English and Japanese simultaneously.) Screening schedule as follows (with information on how to get there from adjacent links):

========= TOKYO AND KANTO AREA =========

AKIHABARA: Sat March 21, 5PM Second Harvest Japan Offices
http://www.2hj.org
Sponsored by distributor of food to the homeless Second Harvest Japan

TSUKUBA: Sun March 22, evening screening
(venue still being arranged, please contact Debito at debito@debito.org if you are interested in attending)
Sponsored by City Assemblyman Jon Heese (http://aishiterutsukuba.jp/)

SHINBASHI: Mon March 23, 7PM at NUGW Main Office
http://nambufwc.org
Sponsored by the National Union of General Workers

TAKADANOBABA: Tues March 24, 7:30 PM at Ben’s Cafe
http://www.benscafe.com
Sponsored by Amnesty International AITEN group

========= CHUBU AND KANSAI AREA =========

NAGOYA: Weds March 25, 6PM Nagoya University Kougakubu Building 2 North Building Room 332
Number 30 on the map at http://www.nagoya-u.ac.jp/camp/map_higashiyama

HIKONE: Thurs March 26, 1PM to 3PM, Shiga University
(please contact Dr Robert Aspinall at aspinall_robert AT hotmail DOT com for venue)

OSAKA: Thurs March 26, 7:30PM The Blarney Stone, Osaka
http://www.the-blarney-stone.com
Sponsored by Osaka Amnesty International, EWA Osaka, Democrats Abroad Japan, and Osaka JALT.

========= FARTHER SOUTH =========

OKAYAMA: Sat March 28, Japanese screening (1:30PM) then English (3:30PM),
Sankaku A Bldg 2F, Omotecho, Okayama. Sponsored by Okayama JALT.
http://jalt.org/events/okayama-chapter/09-03-28

KUMAMOTO: Tues March 31, 2PM, Kumamoto Gakuen Daigaku, Bldg 14, Rm 1411 on the first floor.

========= HOKKAIDO =========

April 2009, Sapporo SOUR STRAWBERRIES screening for the Hokkaido International Business Association (HIBA) (BEING FINALIZED)

=============================================

Please note that all screenings will have a voluntary contribution of 500 yen per person. (The directors went to great time and expense to create this documentary; let’s do what we can to compensate them.)

Fifty copies of the movie will also be on sale at the venue for 1500 yen each. If you would like to contact the directors directly, email daniel.kremers@gmx.de and koenigtilman@googlemail.com.

See you in late March!
Arudou Debito in Sapporo
PRESS RELEASE ENDS

Fun Facts #13: National minimum wage map

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Have you ever wondered what the minimum wage is in Japan? Well, guess what, it depends. On the prefecture. On the industry. On the industry within the prefecture too.

Now, before you throw up your arms in anguish and wonder how we’ll ever get an accurate measure, along comes the GOJ with a clickable minimum wage map by prefecture and industry. You can have a look and see where people on the bottom rung of the ladder are earning the least and most. Found this while researching the PhD. To quote Spock, “Fascinating.”

MHLW sponsored minimum wage prefectural map at http://www.saiteichingin.com/linkMap.html

Here’s a partial screen capture of it. It’s very well organized. They’ve made it real easy even in terms of language. See, when the GOJ really wants you to have the information, they do a pretty good job of it.

saiteichinginmap

http://www.saiteichingin.com/linkMap.html

If you want to see more about their definitions and science, click here:
http://www.saiteichingin.com/about.html

Of course, when I say “on the bottom rung of the ladder”, I mean citizens. There are however, tens of thousands of people (i.e. NJ “Trainees”) who don’t qualify for the labor-law protections of a minimum wage. They get saddled with debts and some make around 300 yen an hour, less than half the minimum minimum wage for Japanese. See more here, here, and here.

FYI. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

NJ company “J Hewitt” advertises “Japanese Only” jobs in the Japan Times!

Posted on March 10, 2009March 28, 2021 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. In what came as a shock to me, alert reader Rob sent me scans of yesterday’s (March 9, 2009) Japan Times Classified Ads, with three sections advertising for “Japanese Only” applicants! See scans:

japaneseonlyjapantimesjobad2009309

Sounds a bit like a forklift operator. But Japanese Only?

japaneseonlyjapantimesjobad20093092

“Must be bilingual”. So then why Japanese Only?

japaneseonlyjapantimesjobad20093093

Selling soap and ear piercing products. Okay, again, why Japanese Only?

Nice company, this J. Hewitt KK (http://www.jhewitt.co.jp/). Seems to be run by a NJ named Jon Knight. Feel free to drop the company a line to say how you feel at info@jhewitt.co.jp

Rob also sent a message of complaint to the Japan Times. (You can too. Classified Ads Dept at jtad@japantimes.co.jp, and all other departments at https://form.japantimes.co.jp/info/contact_us.html).

For by their own guidelines:

japaneseonlyjapantimesjobad20093094

Advertising jobs that discriminate by nationality may not be “offensive” to some, but they certainly may easily be construed to be illegal. They violate Japan’s Labor Standards Law Article 3: “An employer shall not engage in discriminatory treatment with respect to wages, working hours or other working conditions by reason of the nationality, creed or social status of any worker.” That’s before we even get to the Japanese Constitution Article 14…

I shouldn’t have to be barking about this. I expected more from the Japan Times when it comes to promoting equality in the workplace. Shame on them, and especially on their client.

JT, screen your advertisements and stop abetting discrimination.

Arudou Debito in Sapporo

NUGW labor union “March in March” Sunday March 8, 3:30 Shibuya

Posted on February 28, 2009March 3, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Forwarding: Debito

NUGW “MARCH IN MARCH” SUNDAY MARCH 8, 2009, TOKYO SHIBUYA, ALL WELCOME. ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING TOMORROW, SUNDAY MARCH 1, 2PM.

POSTERS OF THE EVENT IN ENGLISH AND JAPANESE IN PDF FORMAT HERE. (ENGLISH) (JAPANESE)

Sisters and Brothers, Please forward this email to all your friends and family. So that I can track the progress of this email, please put me on the list when you forward it.

If you are reading this email it means you are welcome to join us at the Fifth Annual Tokyo March in March for job security and equality. Come to Miyashita Park in Shibuya, an 8-minute walk from Hachiko behind the tracks on the way to Harajuku at 3:30pm on Sunday, March 8, 2009. March departs at 5pm.

Each year we hold the March in March to appeal to the thousands of people in Shibuya on a Sunday afternoon with a message of strength and solidarity. We demand that employers and the government cooperate to ensure job security and an equal society for all workers in a Japan that is increasingly multiethnic. Dance, music, performances from areas around the world, colors, costumes, and huge placards make March in March a protest parade you will never forget. This year we are going national, with March in Marches slated to take place in other cities around Japan as well.

Bring your friends, family, coworkers. March in March would make a memorable first date. Or a second one.

Make a difference and have fun at the same time. That is the March in March.

For questions, please contact me at nugw.carlet@ezweb.ne.jp See you there!

In Solidarity,

Louis Carlet

NUGW Tokyo Nambu

=========================

UPDATE

We need help preparing for the March in March! Come to the Shimbashi office this Sunday March 1, starting at 2pm, to lend a hand.

Specifically, we need people to
1) make posters (make your own picket sign!)
2) help build the huge mushirobata signs that we carry each year
3) pick up flyers and take them to various spots in Tokyo
(e.g. your favourite English bookstore, or neighbourhood
pub.)

If you cannot come in, but would like us to send some
flyers for you to distribute, please send us your land
address.

And, of course, come to the March in March, Sunday, March 8, 2009.
Where: Miyashita Park in Shibuya, an 8-minute walk from
Hachiko beside the JR tracks on the way to Harajuku.
When: From 3:30 on. March departs at 5pm.

This is the 5th annual March in March, a parade for job
security and equality for all. Featuring performances of
Peruvian music, capoeira, and huge multi-lingual banners,
the march winds through the crowded streets of Shibuya,
passing in front of the station, and is watched by
thousands of passers-by. Be a part of it! Photos from last
year can be seen on the following websites:

http://www.mkimpo.com/diary/2008/march_in_march_08-03-09.html

March in March 2009

For questions, please contact Louis Carlet at
nugw.carlet@ezweb.ne.jp See you there!

In Solidarity,

Catherine Campbell
NUGW Tokyo Nambu

ENDS

==================================

UPDATE TWO

Only four poster-painting days left til the March in March!

Sunday, March 8, 4:00 pm in Miyashita Koen, near Shibuya Station.

We’re expecting capoeira performers, Peruvian musicians,
the NOVA bunny, maybe some samba dancers, along with
hundreds of workers from around the world and Japan:
eikaiwa teachers, factory workers, salarymen, temp staff,
freeters, university professors, parents, children, and
labour organizers, united behind the banner “Job Security
and Equality for All.”

Come by the Nambu office in Shimbashi on Saturday evening
to make a poster about your workplace, or just to lend a
hand with the preparations.

For more information, and photos from last year, see the
following sites:

Grupo Bantus Capoeira Japão

http://nambufwc.org/
http://www.mkimpo.com/diary/2008/march_in_march_08-03-09.html

MINISTRY NEGOTIATIONS

The following day, Monday, March 9, Nambu and other unions
will be negotiating with the ministries of education,
labour, and justice, on issues related to foreign
workers’ rights.

Time: 10:00 – 17:00
Place: Sangiin Daigiin Kaikan (House of Representatives
Hall)
(Kokkaigijidomae Station, Exit 1, turn right, cross the
street, and walk past the Shugiinkaikan 1 and 2)

10:00〜11:30 General policy
11:30〜13:00 Lunch break
13:00〜15:00 Language schools, dispatch, subcontracting
　　
15:00〜17:00 Intern system

See you all there,

Catherine Campbell
NUGW Tokyo Nambu
ENDS

Fun Facts #11: Ekonomisuto estimates 35% of Japan’s population will be over 65 by 2050

Posted on February 23, 2009February 23, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Today’s entry is part of an occasional series called “Fun Facts”, where I come across a statistic so unzipping of reality that it bears memorizing. True “Fun Facts” are fun both in their predictive power and in describing how things got to where they are today. See what I mean by looking at previous Fun Facts on this blog.

The facts I will talk about today are about the future. While researching stuff on Debito.org, I realized that one source I quote often in my powerpoint presentations has never been blogged: An Ekonomisuto Japan article, dated January 15, 2008, with an amazing estimate.

UPDATE: Some corrections made, courtesy James Annan. Incorrect text crossed out.

The yellow bar (left-hand scale) indicates the population of people aged 65-74 in given years. The orange bar (same scale) indicates population of people aged 75 and up. The dotted line (right-hand scale) indicates percentage of population those people aged 65-74 would take up in those given years. The red line same for people aged 75 and up ([including the 65-74 age bracket]).

[Thus] The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare estimates that well more than half of the J population (57.2%, as in 21.5% +35.7%) well over a third of the Japanese population (35.7%) will be over 65 years of age by 2050, and the majority of those oldies will be well beyond a working age. Can you imagine over a third of a population above 75 65 years of age? Who works and who pays taxes, when most this many people are retired on pensions or should be? That’s if trends stay as they are, mind. That’s why the GOJ has changed its tune to increasing the NJ population. We’re talking a demographic juggernaut that may ultimately wipe out this country’s productivity and accumulated wealth.

Although this is more estimate than “fun fact”, it is still the MHLW’s estimate, and as such worthy of consideration. But if you want more fun, consider these numbers about NJ working visas from the same Ekonomisuto article of last January. Their source: MOJ Immigration Bureau, as of the end of 2006.

Topping the list of people who can work in the top left-hand column are the “Specialist in Humanities/International Services” (i.e. language teachers). Then we have “Engineers” (as in System Engineers) , “Entertainers” (as in, in many cases, human trafficking), “Skilled Laborers” (contract workers in factories, but not Trainees), and on down. The numbers are for numbers of individuals.

The right-hand column is for people who cannot work, topped by “Exchange Students”, “Dependents”, “Trainees” (who do work but aren’t counted as “laborers”, as they are not covered by labor laws) on down. Below that are the six-digit numbers for people who can work without restrictions: The Zainichis (Special Permanent Residents), the Regular Permanent Residents (immigrants, fast gaining), the Long-Term Residents (as in the Nikkei Brazilians etc.), Spouses of Japanese Nationals etc.

What I don’t get is that the media reports that “The number of people entering Japan to become trainees had been increasing since the foreign trainee system started in 1993, topping 100,000 in 2007.” So, well, where are they in the numbers above? I only see 70,519. Anyway, companies are slashing their Researcher and Trainee numbers, so I think we might even see a fall in the number of NJ residents in Japan for the first time in four decades

Illegal overstayers are estimated at 170,839, but their numbers keep dropping.

Who’s here from what country is in the pie chart, sourced from Immigration. The numbers (2006) are indeed now historical, as the Chinese surpassed the Koreans to become the number one ethnic minority in Japan for the first time in 2007. Third are Brazilians, then The Philippines, Peru, the US, and then a whopping number of “others”.

NOTE: the top numbers (visas) and the bottom numbers (pie chart) don’t add up to each other (they’re not counting some of the more obscure visa statuses, like Diplomat). I’m not sure what the American military on their bases in Japan are counted as.

There are some estimates and Fun Facts. A bit historical, but they give some idea of scale. Have fun. Arudou Debito in Sapporo.

Free Legal Consultation for NJ workers March 1, Sapporo

Posted on February 22, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Here’s a PSA from my lawyer. Upcoming free legal assistance in Hokkaido at the beginning of next month. Not everyone can attend this, I know. But FYI. Debito in Sapporo

==Free Legal Consultation for NJ Workers==

The legal service network for non-Japanese, a group of experienced lawyers dedicated to supporting non-Japanese residents, will provide free legal consultation to NJ working and living in Hokkaido on labor issues such as wrongful termination, unpaid wages, discrimination, harassment, and injury in the workplace. If you would like to seek legal advice about what course of action to take, please feel free to give us a call or come in for a consultation.

Date: March 1st, 2009 (Sun) 10:00-15:00

How to Request a Consultation

– Consultation by Telephone
Please call 011- 272-8871 (The number is valid only for the day of consultation.)

– Consultation by Face to Face Meeting
Please come to the following place on the day. Reservations are not necessary.

Sapporo Bengoshi Bldg. 5F
Kita 1 Nishi 10, Chuo-ku, Sapporo
(3 min. on foot from Exit 4, Nishi 11-chome Subway Station)

Languages: Japanese, English and Chinese are available.
(For other languages, please be accompanied someone who can speak Japanese or English.)

Fees: Consultation is free of charge.
(If you choose to retain a lawyer, ensuring fees will be discussed at the time of retainment. For those who cannot afford a lawyer for financial reasons, Legal Aid is available.)

Contact:
The legal service network for foreigners
c/o Hokkaido Godo Law Offices
Odori Nishi12, Chuou-ku, Sapporo
TEL 011-204-9535 FAX 011-204-9545

———————————————-

外国人のための労働相談会
〜北海道で働く外国人の労働者の皆さんへ〜

あなたは、理由のない解雇、給料・残業代の未払い、職場での差別や嫌がらせなどで悩んでいませんか？

私たち、外国人法律支援ネットワークの弁護士が、雇用・労働に関する皆さんからの相談をお受けし、適切なアドバイスをさせていただきます。お気軽にお電話またはご来場ください。

● 日時　2009年3月1日（日）10時〜15時

【電話相談】　当日、時間内に下記番号にお電話をください。

011-272-8871 (当日のみの専用電話です)

【面接相談】　当日、下記の場所までお越しください（予約不要）。

札幌弁護士会館　５F（札幌市中央区北１条西１０丁目）
（地下鉄西１１丁目駅下車地下鉄東西線「西11丁目駅」下車4番出口から北へ200m）

● 対応可能言語　　日本語・英語・中国語
他の言語の場合は、大変申し訳ございませんが、日本語の通訳をご同伴ください。

● 相談料　　無料
但し、具体的に事件処理を行う場合は別途費用が必要です。なお、法律扶助制度がありますので、お金がないから弁護士に依頼できないということはありません。

主催：外国人法律支援ネットワーク

お問い合わせ：
外国人法律支援ネットワーク（担当：芝池・加藤）
札幌市中央区大通西12丁目　北海道合同法律事務所内
TEL 011-204-9535FAX 011-204-9545
ENDS

Yomiuri on new “Zairyuu Cards” to replace “Gaijin Cards”

Posted on February 18, 2009September 11, 2019 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. The new policing system for NJ is slowly materializing. In what looks to be a privy leak to the Yomiuri (scooping almost all the other newspapers according to a Google News search; distracted by a drunk Nakagawa and Hillary’s visit?), yesterday’s news had the GOJ proposal for new improved “Gaijin Cards”.

Yomiuri says it’s to “sniff out illegals” and to somehow increase the “convenience” for foreigners (according to the Yomiuri podcast the same day). It’s still to centralize all registration and policing powers within the Justice Ministry, and anyone not a Special Permanent Resident (the Zainichis, which is fine, but Regular Permanent Residents who have no visa issues with workplace etc.) must report minute updates whenever there’s a lifestyle change, on pain of criminal prosecution. Doesn’t sound all that “convenient” to me. I’m also not sure how this will be more effective than the present system in “sniffing out illegals” unless it’s an IC Card able to track people remotely. But that’s not discussed in the article.

I last reported on this on Debito.org nearly a year ago, where I noted among other things that the very rhetoric of the card is “stay” (zairyuu), rather than “residency” (zaijuu). For all the alleged improvements, the gaijin are still only temporary.

One bit of good news included as a bonus in the article is that NJ Trainees are going to be included for protection in the Labor Laws. Good. Finally. Read on. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

=========================

Govt to issue new ID cards to sniff out illegals

The Yomiuri Shimbun Feb 17, 2009 Courtesy of Ben, Jeff and MJ.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20090217TDY01304.htm

The government intends to strengthen its efforts to prevent foreigners from staying here illegally by unifying administrative systems for foreign residents in the nation, according to a draft bill to revise the immigration law obtained by The Yomiuri Shimbun on Monday.

The draft legislation to revise the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law states that the justice minister will issue new residence cards to aliens staying in Japan for mid- to long-term periods of time.

The current alien registration certificates issued by municipal governments will be abolished, and foreigners will instead use the new cards as identification.

The draft bill also includes provisions to imprison or deport people who forge the envisaged cards.

The government plans to submit the bill during the current Diet session, according to sources.

The new residence cards will carry the foreigner’s name, date of birth, gender, nationality, address, status of residence and period of stay. The cards will be issued to aliens staying in Japan legally.

The cards will enable authorities to detect illegal stayers by checking whether they possess the cards.

The draft bill will require foreign residents to report to the Immigration Bureau any changes such as to their place of employment, school or address. Under the current law, foreign residents are required to report such changes only to municipal governments. However, this system has bogged down attempts by the Immigration Bureau to keep a comprehensive track of foreign residents.

The revised law also will allow the bureau to investigate, on a voluntary basis, institutions and other bodies that are responsible for helping foreigners enter the country.

So-called special permanent residents–Koreans living in Japan–will not be required to acquire the envisaged residence cards. Instead, new identification certificates will be issued to them.

To reduce the time and paperwork involved in renewal procedures, the draft bill calls for extending the period of stay to five years for aliens who are currently allowed to stay in Japan for up to three years.

The draft legislation also includes a provision to create a new status of residence for aliens coming to Japan on the government’s foreign trainee system. It stipulates that the Minimum Wages Law and other labor-related laws will be applied to such foreign trainees.

The foreign trainee system is aimed at transferring Japan’s technical expertise to other countries. Under the system, foreign trainees participate in workshops and training programs at companies for up to three years.

However, the system has been criticized because some companies take advantage of these trainees by making them work excessively long hours for low pay. For the first year of their stay, the foreign trainees are not officially recognized as laborers, and therefore they fall outside the reach of labor-related laws.

Meanwhile, the status of residence for international students will no longer be divided into “college students,” who attend a college or advanced vocational school, and “pre-college students,” who attend a high school or Japanese language school. Under the envisaged new system, the two categories will be integrated to allow foreign students to skip procedures to change their status of residence when they go on to higher education.

(Feb. 17, 2009)

================================

Here’s the corresponding Yomiuri article in Japanese, with a lot less detail:

外国人に「在留カード」…偽造行為に罰則、国が一元管理へ

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/news/20090216-OYT1T01221.htm
　政府が今国会に提出する出入国管理・難民認定法改正案の概要が１６日、明らかになった。

中長期に日本に滞在する外国人に対し、身分証となる「在留カード」を法相が発行し、在留管理を国に一元化する。これに伴い、市区町村が発行している外国人登録証明書は廃止する。カードの偽造行為には懲役刑や強制退去処分の罰則規定を設ける。

カードには氏名や生年月日、性別、国籍、住所、在留資格、在留期間を記載。勤務先や住所などに変更があった場合は、入国管理局に届け出ることを義務づける。

「特別永住者」と呼ばれる在日韓国・朝鮮人は在留カードの対象から外し、新たな身分証明書を発行する。原則３年が上限の外国人の在留期間を５年に延長することも盛り込んだ。

（2009年2月17日03時22分読売新聞）

Japan Times Zeit Gist on Berlitz’s lawsuit against unions for “strike damage”

Posted on February 17, 2009February 17, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Here’s a landmark case, dismissed by activists as a “frivolous claim”, which will affect unions profoundly in future if the right to strike (a right, as the article notes, which is guaranteed by the Japanese Constitution Article 28 under organization and collective bargaining) is not held sacrosanct by a Japanese court.

Language school Berlitz, shortly after a request was filed with the authorities for an investigation of its employment practices, sued Begunto labor union for damages due to strikes. Although the article stops short of saying the epiphany-inducing words “union busting activities”, Berlitz below seems to playing for time in court, not even offering their reasons for their lawsuit by the appointed court date.

Keep an eye on this case, readers. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

Next Labor Commission Begunto hearing date Feb 20 in Tokyo. Directions from the union:

Berlitz Labor Commission Hearing Number 2 Friday, Feb. 20, at 1:30pm at Tokyo Labor Commission

Take Oedo Line to Tochomae Station, exit A3, up two sets of escalators, pass passport office, up stairs, take elevator bank H up to 34th floor and find “roh” (labor) room for Life Communications (company name).

Let’s show the commission how much support our Berlitz sisters and brothers continue to have in their fight for the right to strike. Their strike began in Dec. 2007 for a 4.6% base-pay hike and a one-month bonus. The strike escalated in autumn of 2008 and management rather than yield to the demand decided to cheat — threatening strikers and suing all the executives for 110 million yen each. Come on out and support Begunto (Berlitz General Union Tokyo).

Van hailing: Members of the Berlitz General Union Tokyo (Begunto) and the National Union of General Workers (NUGW) Tokyo Nambu make their voices heard atop a sound truck outside the Berlitz school in Yurakucho, Tokyo. COURTESY OF BEGUNTO

THE ZEIT GIST

Berlitz launches legal blitz against striking instructors

By JAMES McCROSTIE

The Japan Times: Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20090217zg.html
It has been 14 months since members of the Berlitz General Union Tokyo (Begunto) first downed chalk and launched rotating strikes against the language school Berlitz Japan.

The strike has grown into the longest and largest sustained strike by language teachers in Japan. While about 500 Nova teachers struck during that firm’s collapse in 2007, the action only lasted a day.

The dispute entered a new phase on Dec. 3 when, after nearly a year of strike action by union members, Berlitz Japan served notice they were suing the five teachers who serve as volunteer Begunto executives, as well as two officials of the National Union of General Workers (NUGW) Tokyo Nambu: President Yujiro Hiraga and Louis Carlet, the deputy general secretary and case officer for Begunto. The suit also names NUGW Tokyo Nambu and its Begunto branch as defendants.

Claiming the strike is illegal and that the union is trying to damage the company, Berlitz Japan is suing for ¥110 million in damages from each defendant.

“I first heard officially about the suit when a subpoena was delivered to my door in early December,” recalls Catherine Campbell, Begunto Vice President. “It was a shock to see myself and the others named individually as defendants.”

“The amount of money is so large that it didn’t seem real to me,” says Campbell. “It’s obvious that no English teacher has ¥110 million lying around, so I find it hard to believe that financial compensation is the real objective of their suit. The real objective is to intimidate and weaken the union.”

For Carlet, the suit also came as a surprise. “We were shocked because we make every effort to follow all Japan’s laws. We also felt frustrated that rather than concede the union’s strength and make meaningful concessions, Berlitz Japan has decided to spend a lot of money to sue us based on a frivolous claim that the strike is illegal.”

The company’s resort to the courts is unusual, explains Takashi Araki, a law professor at the University of Tokyo. “It’s not often that Japanese employers sue striking workers for illegal actions. An employer must bear the burden to prove the illegality of the strike, the amount of damages and causal relationship between the illegal strike and the damages. It’s not easy.”

On precedents for this kind of action, Timothy Langley, an American lawyer working in Tokyo, called the suits “very unusual,” adding, “but once again, it’s a tactic.” Langley predicted that like the vast majority of civil court cases in Japan, the Berlitz dispute would be settled out of court through negotiation.

The Begunto strike began on Dec. 13, 2007. Seeking the first across-the-board pay raise for Berlitz Japan teachers in 16 years, the union had a list of nine demands, including a 4.6-percent raise for all employees (teachers and staff), a one-time bonus equal to a month’s pay, and enrollment in Japan’s health insurance and pension system.

Inequalities between old and new teachers influenced the decision to strike. According to Begunto’s Web site, the number of lessons taught has increased from 30 per week for teachers hired in the early 1990s to 40 lessons a week for teachers hired after 2005, with no corresponding increase in the ¥250,000-a-month starting salary.

“The strike was an inevitable result of the new contracts introduced in 2005,” says Campbell. “Berlitz has had a history of slowly reducing conditions for new hires every once in a while, and up until now the changes have been small enough and incremental enough not to inspire a major backlash. This time they simply went too far, and created a pool of new hires working alongside teachers on older contracts who had obviously better conditions; teachers old and new felt the unfairness of this.”

The financial health of Benesse Corp., Berlitz Japan’s parent company, also influenced the timing of the strike. In their annual report for the financial year ending March 31, 2008, Benesse recorded their highest-ever earnings. Operating income grew 11.4 percent and Berlitz International Inc. achieved its best result since being bought by Benesse. Operating income for Benesse’s language company division rose 36 percent from the year before to ¥6.35 billion, in part due to higher revenues and profits at Berlitz International, which benefited from “an increase in the number of lessons taken worldwide, particularly in Japan and Germany,” according to the report.

Since the start of the strike, more than 100 English, Spanish, and French teachers have participated in spot strikes of almost 3,500 lessons. Carlet explained how the strikes work: “Nambu and Begunto notify management who will strike and from what time to what time. Sometimes they last only one lesson, other times several lessons.” During the strike, 32 of 46 Kanto-area schools have had teachers walk out.

In addition to the traditional Japanese labor-dispute staples, such as sound trucks and leaflet hand-outs, Berlitz’s striking teachers have also been taking advantage of what every hip industrial action requires nowadays: a Web site and YouTube videos.

“Internet technology has given us a chance to go almost head to head with the company, which has far greater financial and public relations resources to construct a positive self-image,” says Carlet. “We have used our site — www.berlitzuniontokyo.org — for general information and YouTube for visuals on our public appeals for support for the strike.”

Early in the strike the union made several concessions, reducing their list of demands down to two: a 4.6 percent base-pay raise for all teachers and staff and a bonus equal to one month’s salary. “If management makes a serious concession we will consider moving on our side even further than we have already,” says Carlet.

Management offered a raise of less than 1 percent at the end of September. Union members rejected that offer and, according to Carlet, “The union escalated their actions in October, including more strikes.” Begunto members also stepped up the number of leafleting sessions outside Berlitz schools and demonstrated in front of Berlitz’s Aoyama headquarters. “We also asked Benesse, Berlitz Japan’s parent company, to meet for talks. Berlitz began sending protests and threats of litigation soon after that.”

When reached by phone, Berlitz Japan representatives declined to comment on either the lawsuit or the strike.

The first court date for Berlitz Japan’s lawsuit on Jan. 26 proved anticlimactic. The more than 30 union members and supporters — as well as a contingent of Berlitz Japan managers — who came to the hearing at the Tokyo District Court didn’t have the chance to hear any legal arguments of substance.

The lawyers for Berlitz Japan failed to submit their written arguments for why the strike was illegal. They informed the judge that it would take until March to prepare because of the time required to translate documents between English and Japanese. Ken Yoshida, one of the lawyers for the teachers, expressed surprise that a language school would offer such an excuse for the delay.

Problems also arose because Berlitz Japan had failed to properly serve three of the defendants with notice of the lawsuit. The 20-minute hearing ended with the second court date scheduled for April 20. Addressing union members and supporters after the hearing, Yoshida said that the Berlitz lawyers were “obviously stalling” and wanted a protracted court fight.

The burden of proof for the case lies with Berlitz Japan, says professor Araki. “Since Japan’s Constitution and Labor Union Act guarantee the workers’ right to go on strike, employers cannot claim damages caused by legal strikes. Thus, generally speaking, it is an employer who must prove the illegality of the strike.”

However, unions must follow rules when striking. According to Hideyuki Morito, an attorney and Professor of Law at Sophia University, “There are four checkpoints as to propriety of the strike.” The striking union must be a qualified union under the Labor Union Act and the strike must be related to working conditions. The means of the strike must also be legal, so striking union members can’t occupy offices or interfere with operations. “In short, all they can do is not work ,” says Morito. Finally, unions must “try to bargain collectively with the employer before deciding to go on a strike and give a notice in advance when they will strike.”

Tadashi Hanami, professor emeritus at Sophia University, outlined what the company must prove to win. “The outcome of the court judgment depends almost entirely on whether the company can provide enough evidence to convince the judge that some of the union activities were maliciously carried out in order to intentionally cause undue damage, by disturbing normal running of day-by-day school business, thus exceeded the scope of legally protected bona fide collective actions as a kind of harassment.”

Begunto and NUGW Nambu launched their own legal challenge to Berlitz Japan, filing an unfair labor practices suit for violations of Trade Union Law on Nov. 17. The suit asked the Tokyo Labor Commission to investigate unfair labor practices by the company.

Union representatives argue that memos posted at all Berlitz Japan language schools in November that declared the strike illegal and letters sent to union members telling them to end the strike are illegal interference. “Since nothing about our strike was the slightest bit illegal, the memos and warning letters themselves are illegal interference in the strike,” says Carlet.

The unions’ suit also asks the Labor Commission to investigate Berlitz Japan’s refusal to meet the union’s pay demands and failure to provide any data on the company’s finances to the union. According to Carlet, “Management has a responsibility to explain to the union why it can’t meet our financial demands. It makes no such effort.”

As the company and the unions gear up for what could be a drawn-out fight, Campbell describes a surreal existence as the sued teachers wait for the lawsuits to wind through the legal system. “Now it just feels strange to be going to work as usual, teaching Berlitz lessons, while at the same time being accused of deliberately damaging the company.”

The next stage in the legal battle will be an open hearing at the Tokyo Labor Commission on Feb. 20 at 1:30 p.m.

Send comments on this issue and story ideas to community@japantimes.co.jp
The Japan Times: Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009
ENDS

============================

Berlitz Labor Commission Hearing Number 2 Friday, Feb. 20, at 1:30pm at Tokyo Labor Commission

Take Oedo Line to Tochomae Station, exit A3, up two sets of escalators, pass passport office, up stairs, take elevator bank H up to 34th floor and find “roh” (labor) room for Life Communications (company name).

Let’s show the commission how much support our Berlitz sisters and brothers continue to have in their fight for the right to strike. Their strike began in Dec. 2007 for a 4.6% base-pay hike and a one-month bonus. The strike escalated in autumn of 2008 and management rather than yield to the demand decided to cheat — threatening strikers and suing all the executives for 110 million yen each. Come on out and support Begunto (Berlitz General Union Tokyo).

Japanese stewardesses sue Turkish Airlines for discrim employment conditions

Posted on February 9, 2009February 9, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Here’s something that didn’t make the English-language news anywhere, as far as Google searches show. Japanese stewardesses are suing Turkish Airlines for unfair treatment and arbitrary termination of contract. They were also, according to some news reports I saw on Google and TV, angry at other working conditions they felt were substandard, such as lack of changing rooms. I even saw the headline “discrimination by nationality”. So they formed a union to negotiate with the airline, and then found themselves fired.

Fine. But this is definite Shoe on the Other Foot stuff, especially given the conditions that NJ frequently face in the Japanese workplace. Let’s hope this spirit of media understanding rubs off for NJ who might want to sue Japanese companies for the same sort of thing. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

(Text of article below follows, quickly translated by Arudou Debito)

===================================

Dispatch stewardesses sue Turkish Airlines, demand acknowledgment of their status within the company

Sankei Shinbun January 29, 2009

PHOTO CAPTION: “We want to be directly employed.” So charged Funada Akiko (R), member of the Turkish Airlines Union at a press conference at the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare.

On January 29, 13 Japanese women contract workers under dispatch company “TEI” (Tokyo), who were working as flight attendants for Turkish Airlines, filed suit at Tokyo District Court. “We were effectively working under the same conditions as if we were directly employed by the airline,” they said, and demanded recognition of this status in their contracts from both companies.

The litigants were members of the “Turkish Airlines Union”, led by Funada Akiko (34).

According to the lawsuit filed, the women were dispatched from TEI. Nevertheless, they were treated as if they were workers under a contract with Turkish Airlines. They were given essential training as flight attendants from Turkish Airlines, and had employment time slots as per Turkish Airlines flight plans. Each fulfilled their duties as a Japanese flight attendant, supervised by the airline.

At the press conference after filing suit, Ms Funada claimed that TEI would issue a notice dated February 28 that Japanese flight attendant contracts would be terminated. “The contract period would last until June. We are furious at how one-sided this termination of contract was. We want to be employed directly as Japanese flight attendants.”

She continued, “There was an invisible division between us and the Turkish flight attendants, in terms of differential treatment and salary. We want to highlight this as a social problem, so that there won’t be any more second- and third-class treatment of staff in the airline industry.”

In September 2008, the 13 Japanese flight attendants formed a union of supporters. They filed for group negotiations with Turkish Airlines to demand direct employment. However, the airlines still apparently refuses to meet.

A 33-year-old woman who attended the press conference spoke strongly, “If there are no Japanese flight attendants in the airplane, what happens if there’s an emergency? How will Japanese passengers be attended to?”

The Japan branch of Turkish Airlines said in a statement, “We haven’t seen the legal brief yet, so we cannot comment at this time.” TEI: “We haven’t received the brief, so we will reserve official comments for now.” ENDS

==============================

派遣乗務員、地位確認求め提訴　トルコ航空など相手取り

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/trial/090129/trl0901292005011-n1.htm

2009.1.29 20:01

「直接雇用してもらいたい」。会見で訴えるトルコ航空ユニオンの船田明子さん（右）らメンバー＝２９日、厚労省

　派遣・請負会社「ＴＥＩ」（東京）の契約社員で、派遣先のトルコ航空の客室乗務員として働く日本人女性１３人は２９日、「実質的には航空会社から直接雇用の状態で働いていた」などとして、２社に対し雇用契約上の地位確認などを求め、東京地裁に提訴した。

　提訴したのは、「トルコ航空ユニオン」委員長の船田明子さん（３４）ら。

　訴状などによると、女性はＴＥＩから派遣されているにもかかわらず、トルコ航空が設けた契約に基づいて労務管理が行われていた。トルコ航空によって乗務に必要な教育訓練も実施され、飛行機の割り振りといった勤務時間も調整して決定。トルコ航空の指揮監督下で、日本人乗務員は各業務をこなしてきたとしている。

　提訴後の会見で、船田さんは、ＴＥＩから、契約する日本人客室乗務員全員に、２月２８日付での解約予告通知書が届いたことを明らかにした上で、「契約期間は６月まであった。一方的な契約解除には憤りを感じる。日本人客室乗務員を直接雇用してもらいたい」と主張。「トルコ人の客室乗務員と、（給与面など待遇に差があるといった）目に見えない分断線があった。第２、第３の人員整理が航空業界で行われないよう、社会問題化してもらいたい」と訴えた。

　昨年９月、日本人客室乗員員の有志１３人がユニオンを結成。トルコ航空に直接雇用などを求める団体交渉を申し入れていた。しかし、会社側は拒否し続けているという。

　会見に出席した別の女性（３３）は、「機内から日本人の客室乗務員がいなくなれば、緊急事態の発生時に日本人の客に不安を与えかねない。客室の安全とサービスが落ちかねない」と語気を強めた。

　トルコ航空日本支社は、「訴状も見ておらず、コメントできない」とし、ＴＥＩは「訴状が届いておらず、正式なコメントは控えたい」と話している。

ENDS More at:

http://news.google.co.jp/news?hl=ja&tab=wn&ned=jp&nolr=1&q=トルコ航空&btnG=検索

Japan Times/Kyodo: Decrease in NJ “Trainees”

Posted on February 5, 2009February 5, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. With layoffs numbering these in the tens of thousands in Japanese companies, germane to Debito.org is how this is affecting NJ in Japan. Here are some stats regarding backdoor imported labor in Japan. (The headline of “rare” is a bit exaggerated, but indeed indicative of a trend.)

A reliable source estimated to me that 40% of all Brazilian workers will leave Japan in short order. While not usually “Trainees” (they are “Returnees” on less-restrictive “teijuusha” visas), that’s still a hell of a way to go (that means over 100,000 people), and it may lead to the first drop in NJ in Japan in more than four decades. No stats on that yet, but when we see them, we’ll post them.

One more thing: I saw in the Diet debates yesterday that JCP leader Shii noted how in the ten years since 1997, profits in total for companies had significantly gone up while total wages paid out to workers had gone down (don’t have exact figures; didn’t have a pencil handy). So now that times have gone sour, I wonder just how many of these layoffs are a convenient means to continue to keep corporate profits stable? The overarching need to prove a business’s health through profits (and the pressure to one-up oneself by posting record profits in the past) gives all the wrong incentives, from a labor standpoint. But that’s speculation on my part; we’ll leave it to those who know more about the subject to comment. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

———————————————

Foreign trainees at Japan firms growing rare

Japan Times/Kyodo News

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090202a3.html

The economic crisis is taking a toll on foreign trainees in Japan.

Preliminary data compiled by the Japan International Training Cooperation Organization show that the number of companies’ applications for permitting foreigners into Japan as trainees or technical interns last October fell 18.8 percent from a year earlier to 4,753.

The figure for November stood at 4,692, down 25.5 percent from a year before. The organization, jointly founded by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and four other ministries, said Japanese firms are becoming reluctant to accept new foreign trainees in the face of the deteriorating economy.

The organization said an increasing number of foreign trainees have been seeking advice, saying they may be forced to return to their countries before their terms expire.

Although many foreign trainees are hired at low wages, the recent data suggest that companies, particularly small ones, are now in bad shape and aren’t even hiring these low-wage workers, officials with the organization said.

By country, the number of new trainees from China fell 27.6 percent in November. Trainees from Indonesia were down 26.0 percent and those from the Philippines were down 41.0 percent.

The number of people entering Japan to become trainees had been increasing since the foreign trainee system started in 1993, topping 100,000 in 2007.

The Japan Times: Monday, Feb. 2, 2009

Question on Welfare Assistance (seikatsu hogo) and privacy rights

Posted on January 27, 2009January 31, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Got a question from TtoT at The Community today that deserves answering. In these days of mass layoffs and people on unemployment insurance, apparently the welfare offices are able to call up relatives and check to see if applicants really are financially as badly off as they say. As the poster points out below, there are privacy issues involved. Anyone know more about this? If so, comments section. Thanks. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

===================================

I’ll state from the outset that I am in strange waters on this one,
but an acquaintance from years back that remembers our old group and
the help we offered rang me up a few hours ago and asked me an
interesting question. It has had me poking around the Net and
thinking very hard. Now I turn to y’all.

She and her husband have applied for seikatsuhogo, or welfare
assistance. I knew nothing about this, so I went to the Ministry of
Health, Labour, and Welfare website and found this
http://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/seikatsuhogo/seikatuhogo.html

Okay, so far so good. But here’s why she called me. It seems that
one of the requirements for receiving this welfare is that the local
government will call relatives and ask about their ability to help
this lady’s family. This seems to be a big problem. Her husband now
seems to be shamed into not applying for help.

But the reason she called me was because she is wondering about a
government agency calling a *relative* and essentially providing
private information, which is that this family is in serious
financial trouble and asking for help from the government.

I just don’t have a clue here, but something does feel odd here.
There must be some sort of regulations related to government workers
passing along information to outsiders. I mean those outside the
immdediate family. The first thing that comes to mind is how they
define *relative*. And why I put it in special marks in the previous
paragraph.

Do any of you know anything about this? Do any of you know where I
can find the regulations pertaining to government responsibility in
maintaining private information? Oddly enough, I can’t find a
government document outlining their regulations, but I assume that’s
just because of my poor Japanese.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
ENDS

Wash Post on GOJ efforts to get Brazilian workers to stay

Posted on January 26, 2009January 26, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Long article last week about an apparent turning point in GOJ policy to try to train NJ workers to stay. Good. The only cloud I can find in this silver lining is why so much concentration on Brazilian workers? There are Peruvians, Chinese, Filipinas/Filipinos and other nationalities here that deserve some assistance too.

Did the reporter just stick to his contacts in the Brazilian communities, or is the program only directed towards the blood-tie Nikkei because they’re “Japanese” in policymaker eyes (not a stretch; that was the reason why Keidanren pushed for establishing their special “returnee visa” status)? If the latter, then we have Nikkei Peruvians that needed to be covered in this article too. Sorry, nice try, but this report feels incomplete. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

=======================

Japan Works Hard to Help Immigrants Find Jobs
Population-Loss Fears Prompt New Stance
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 23, 2009; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/22/AR2009012204150.html

UEDA, Japan — The last thing that aging Japan can afford to lose is young people. Yet as the global economic crisis flattens demand for Japanese cars and electronic goods, thousands of youthful, foreign-born factory workers are getting fired, pulling their children out of school and flying back to where they came from.

Paulino and Lidiane Onuma have sold their car and bought plane tickets for Sao Paulo, Brazil. They are going back next month with their two young daughters, both of whom were born here in this factory town. His job making heavy machinery for automobile plants ends next week. She lost her job making box lunches with black beans and spicy rice for the city’s Brazilian-born workers, most of whom have also been dismissed and are deciding whether to leave Japan.

“We have no desire to go home,” said Paulino Onuma, 29, who has lived here for 12 years and earned about $50,000 a year, far more than he says he could make in Brazil. “We are only going back because of the situation.”

That situation — the extreme exposure of immigrant families to job loss and their sudden abandonment of Japan — has alarmed the government in Tokyo and pushed it to create programs that would make it easier for jobless immigrants to remain here in a country that has traditionally been wary of foreigners, especially those without work.

“Our goal is to get them to stay,” said Masahiko Ozeki, who is in charge of an interdepartmental office that was established this month in the cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso. “As a government, we have not done anything like this before.”

Japanese-language courses, vocational training programs and job counseling are being put together, Ozeki said, so immigrants can find work throughout the Japanese economy. There is a shortage of workers here, especially in health care and other services for the elderly.

So far, government funding for these emerging programs is limited — slightly more than $2 million, far less than will be needed to assist the tens of thousands of foreign workers who are losing jobs and thinking about giving up on Japan. But Ozeki said the prime minister will soon ask parliament for considerably more money — exactly how much is still being figured out — as part of a major economic stimulus package to be voted on early this year.

The government’s effort to keep jobless foreigners from leaving the country is “revolutionary,” according to Hidenori Sakanaka, former head of the Tokyo Immigration Bureau and now director of the Japan Immigration Policy Institute, a research group in Tokyo.

“Japan has a long history of rejecting foreign residents who try to settle here,” he said. “Normally, the response of the government would have been to encourage these jobless people to just go home. I wouldn’t say that Japan as a country has shifted its gears to being an immigrant country, but when we look back on the history of this country, we may see that this was a turning point.”

Sakanaka said the government’s decision will send a much-needed signal to prospective immigrants around the world that, if they choose to come to Japan to work, they will be treated with consideration, even in hard economic times.

There is a growing sense among Japanese politicians and business leaders that large-scale immigration may be the only way to head off a demographic calamity that seems likely to cripple the world’s second-largest economy.

No country has ever had fewer children or more elderly as a percentage of its total population. The number of children has fallen for 27 consecutive years. A record 22 percent of the population is older than 65, compared with about 12 percent in the United States. If those trends continue, in 50 years, the population of 127 million will have shrunk by a third; in a century, by two-thirds.

Japan will have two retirees for every three workers by 2060, a burden that could bankrupt pension and health-care systems.

Demographers have been noisily fretting about those numbers for years, but only in the past year have they grabbed the attention of important parts of this country’s power structure.

A group of 80 politicians in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said last summer that Japan needs to welcome 10 million immigrants over the next 50 years. It said the goal of government policy should not be just to “get” immigrants, but to “nurture” them and their families with language and vocational training, and to encourage them to become naturalized citizens of Japan.

The country’s largest business federation, the traditionally conservative Nippon Keidanren, said in the fall that “we cannot wait any longer to aggressively welcome necessary personnel.” It pointed to U.N. calculations that Japan will need 17 million foreigners by 2050 to maintain the population it had in 2005.

Among highly developed countries, Japan has always ranked near the bottom in the percentage of foreign-born residents. Just 1.7 percent are foreign-born here, compared with about 12 percent in the United States.

The Japanese public remains deeply suspicious of immigrants. In an interview last year, then-Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda suggested that the prospect of large-scale immigration was politically toxic.

“There are people who say that if we accept more immigrants, crime will increase,” Fukuda said. “Any sudden increase in immigrants causing social chaos [and] social unrest is a result that we must avoid by all means.”

Here in Ueda, a city of about 125,000 people in the Nagano region, a recent survey found that residents worried that the city’s 5,000 immigrants were responsible for crime and noise pollution.

“The feeling of the city is that if foreigners have lost their jobs, then they should leave the country,” said Kooji Horinouti, a Brazilian immigrant of Japanese descent who works for the Bank of Brazil here and heads a local immigrant group.

It is not just the residents of Ueda. The Japanese government, until this month, had done little to train foreign-born workers in the country’s language or to introduce them to life outside the factory towns where most of them work, according to Sakanaka, the immigration expert.

By contrast, the German government in recent years has offered up to 900 hours of subsidized language training to immigrants, along with other programs designed to integrate them into German society.

Japan had moved much, much more slowly.

It changed its highly restrictive immigration laws in 1990 to make it relatively easy for foreigners of Japanese descent to live here and work. The change generated the greatest response from Brazil, which has the world’s largest population of immigrant Japanese and their descendants.

About 500,000 Brazilian workers and their families — who have Japanese forebears but often speak only Portuguese — have moved to Japan in the past two decades.

They have lived, however, in relatively isolated communities, clustered near factories. Because the government hired few Portuguese-speaking teachers for nearby public schools, many Brazilians enrolled their children in private Portuguese-language schools. With the mass firings of Brazilian workers in recent months, many of those schools have closed.

Paulino and Lidiane Onuma sent their 6-year-old daughter, Juliana, to the Novo Damasco school here in Ueda, where she has not learned to speak Japanese.

Her parents, too, speak and read little Japanese, although they moved to Japan as teenagers. There has been no government-sponsored program to teach them the language or how to negotiate life outside their jobs.

“Japan is finally realizing that it does not have a system for receiving and instructing non-Japanese speakers,” said Sakanaka, the immigration policy expert. “It is late, of course, but still, it is important that the government has come to see this is a problem.”

Had they known there would be language and job-training programs in Ueda, the Onuma family might not have sold their car and bought those tickets for Sao Paulo.

“If those programs existed now,” Lidiane Onuma said, “I might have made a different choice.”

Special correspondent Akiko Yamamoto contributed to this report.

ENDS

Kyodo: Brazilian workers protest layoffs at J companies

Posted on January 22, 2009January 22, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. I’m glad the media is picking this up. People who have been here for decades are being laid off. And instead of getting the representation that shuntou regularly entitles regular Japanese workers, they’re resorting to the only thing they have left (save repatriation): Taking it to the streets.

A reliable source told me yesterday that he expects “around 40%” of Brazilian workers to return to Brazil. They shouldn’t have to: They’ve paid their dues, they’ve paid their taxes, and some will be robbed of their pensions. They (among other workers) have saved Japanese industries, keeping input costs internationally competitive. Yet they’re among the first to go. A phenomenon not unique to Japan, but their perpetual temp status (and apparent non-inclusion in “real” unemployment stats, according to some media) is something decryable. Glad they themselves are decrying it and the media is listening. Kyodo article follows, with more on Japan Probe. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

===============================

Brazilian workers protest layoffs

Kyodo/Japan Today Monday 19th January, 06:56 AM JST, Courtesy of AW

http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/brazilian-workers-protest-layoffs

TOKYO —Some 200 Brazilian workers on Sunday protested over layoffs by Japanese companies, which are forcing many of them to leave the country despite their community having been integrated in Japan for more than two decades. The demonstrators, who included mothers with their children, marched through the center of the Ginza shopping district, calling for the government’s support for stable employment.

The crowd, many holding Brazilian flags, demanded “employment for 320,000” Brazilians in Japan. “We are Brazilians!” they shouted in unison. “Companies must stop using us like disposable labor.” Since 1990, Japan has given special working visas to hundreds of thousands of Brazilians of Japanese descent, many of whom have taken up temporary positions as manual laborers in factories.

Amid the global economic downturn, however, many are being laid off and being forced to return to Brazil. They are often overshadowed by the 85,000 Japanese contract workers also said to be losing their jobs by March.

“No matter how hard we worked in Japan, we are being cut off because we are contract laborers,” said Midori Tateishi, 38, who came to Japan nearly 20 years ago. “Many of us are totally at a loss with children and a housing loan.”

Wire reports

ENDS

Documentary SOUR STRAWBERRIES Japan Roadshow Feb and March 2009. Contact Debito for a screening.

Posted on January 18, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hello All. Something to announce while there’s still two months’ lead time:

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
DOCUMENTARY “SOUR STRAWBERRIES”
“JAPAN’S HIDDEN GUEST WORKERS”
NATIONWIDE ROADSHOW FEBRUARY AND MARCH 2009
MAR 20-31 DEBITO ON TOUR, STOP BY YOUR AREA AND SCREEN?
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I’m planning my annual round-robin tour for the end of March. I’m booking some dates for an important documentary on Japan’s labor markets and what kind of working conditions NJ are enduring under the current “Trainee”, “Researcher”, etc. visa regime.

It’s an hourlong film that came out in Germany in late 2008 by Daniel Kremers and Tilman Koenig of Leipzig. More information from the directors below, but a trailer for the movie may be seen in Japanese, English, and German at
http://www.vimeo.com/2276295

Promo in English with stills from the film at
https://www.debito.org/SOURSTRAWBERRIESpromo.pdf

There’s a scene where I’m taking a business operator in Kabukichou to task for his “Japanese Only” sign. I’m told it’s the funniest scene in the movie. You can see an excerpt and a still from it at the above links.

So far, I will be screening and speaking on the film at the following dates:
==============================================
MON MARCH 23 NUGW SHINBASHI TOKYO
TUES MARCH 24 AMNESTY INT’L AITEN TAKADANOBABA TOKYO
THURS MARCH 26 SHIGA UNIVERSITY
==============================================
If you’d like me to screen in your neighborhood between March 20 and 31, please contact me at debito@debito.org

Director Daniel Kremers will also be touring the movie in February and March, so if you wish to contact him for a screening please see the contact details below. Thanks for considering. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

///////////////////////////////////////////////////
FROM DIRECTOR DANIEL KREMERS:
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is Daniel from the documentary “Sour Strawberries – Japan’s hidden ‘guest workers'”. I am coming to Japan in March to present and promote our movie.
Mr. Arudou Debito was so kind to offer his help, and offer to show the movie[between March 20 and 31].

Unfortunately I cannot attend these screenings. So I would be really happy if someone could recommend some other places to show the movie before, so I could attend and answer questions from the audience. I will be in Japan from February 27th to March 20th. I would like to show the movie in as many places as possible to reach a more heterogenous audience. Please note that I am not free from the 9th to 13th of March, but anything before and after that is fine.

Attached to this email you will find an information sheet with pictures and an English synopsis.
https://www.debito.org/SOURSTRAWBERRIESpromo.pdf
With best regards and thanks to you all,

Daniel Kremers
http://www.myspace.com/saureerdbeeren
daniel.kremers AT gmx.de
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
ENDS

Kyodo: Special unemployment office being studied for NJ workers with PR

Posted on January 14, 2009January 14, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Here’s some very mixed news. The GOJ will study how to offer help unemployed NJ to make sure inter alia their kids stay in school. Thanks, but then it limits the scope to Permanent Residents. Probably a lot more of the NJ getting fired are factory workers here on visas (Trainee, Researcher, etc) that give the employer the means to pay them poorly and fire them at will already. So why not help them too? Oh, they and their kids don’t count the same, I guess. Considering how hard and arbitrary it can be to get PR in the first place, this is hardly fair. Expand the study group to help anyone with a valid visa. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

===============================

Gov’t to set up office to support foreign residents who lose jobs

Japan Today/Kyodo News Friday 09th January, 03:01 PM JST

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/govt-to-set-up-office-to-support-foreign-residents-who-lose-jobs

TOKYO —

The Japanese government will establish an office to study measures to support foreign nationals with permanent residency status who lose their jobs amid the recession, Yuko Obuchi, state minister on Japan’s declining child population, said Friday. ‘‘We would like to expedite studying measures needed based on reports from people concerned on their actual difficulties and needs,’’ she said at a press conference.

Last month, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Japan will provide support to foreign nationals with permanent residency who have lost their jobs and are suffering economic hardship amid the deteriorating economy. ‘‘Japanese people are facing difficulties under current employment conditions, and foreigners must be facing more difficulties,’’ Kawamura said, adding that the government will set up a team to tackle the issue. The measures are expected to include one to help them find jobs and another to help foreign children attend schools, Kawamura said.

ENDS

Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE Jan 6 2009 reviewing 2008’s human rights advances

Posted on January 8, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Morning Blog. Here’s my latest Japan Times column, which came out last Tuesday. Links to sources provided. Debito

JUST BE CAUSE
2008: THE YEAR IN HUMAN RIGHTS
By Arudou Debito, Article 11 for JBC Column
Published January 6, 2009 Draft Seven as submitted to editor.
Published version at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20090106ad.html

As we start 2009, let’s recharge the batteries by reviewing last year’s good news. Here is my list of top human rights advancements for 2008, in ascending order:

6) The U Hoden Lawsuit Victory (Dec. 21, 2007, but close enough): The plaintiff is a Chinese-born professor at Japan Women’s University, who sued for damages on behalf of his Japanese grade-school daughter. Abused by classmates for her Chinese roots, she suffered at school and was medically diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Professor U took the parents of the bullies to court and won.

WHY THIS MATTERS: In an era when elementary schools are seeing the byproduct of Japan’s frequent international marriages, this ruling sets a positive precedent both for insensitive local Boards of Education and parents who want to protect their kids.
https://www.debito.org/?p=874

5) Strawberry Fields Forever (Feb. 11): Fifteen Chinese Trainees sued strawberry farms in Tochigi Prefecture for unpaid wages, unfair dismissal, and an attempted repatriation by force. Thanks to Zentoitsu Workers Union, they were awarded 2 million yen each in back pay and overtime, a formal apology, and reinstatement in their jobs.

WHY THIS MATTERS: This is another good precedent treating NJ laborers (who as Trainees aren’t covered by labor laws) the same as Japanese workers. It is also the namesake of German documentary “Sour Strawberries” (www.vimeo.com/2276295), premiering in Japan in March.
https://www.debito.org/?p=1018 and https://www.debito.org/?p=1221

4) The increasing international awareness of Japan as a haven for international child abductions. It’s one of Japan’s worst-kept secrets, but not for much longer: Japan’s laws governing access for both parents to children after divorce are weak to non-existent. Consequently, in the case of international breakups, one parent (usually the foreigner) loses his or her kids. As this newspaper has reported, even overseas court decisions awarding custody to the NJ parent are ignored by Japanese courts. All the Japanese parent has to do is abduct their child to Japan and they’re scot-free. Fortunately, international media this year (America’s ABC News, UK’s Guardian, and Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald) have joined Canada’s media and government in exposing this situation.

WHY THIS MATTERS: Our government has finally acknowledged this as a problem for domestic marriages too, and made overtures to sign the Hague Convention on Child Abduction (for what that’s worth) by 2010. More in upcoming documentary “From The Shadows” (www.fromtheshadowsmovie.com).
https://www.debito.org/?p=1660
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080826zg.html

https://www.debito.org/?s=child+abduction

3) Opening the 12,000 yen “financial stimulus” to all registered NJ (Dec. 20). The “teigaku kyufukin” first started out as a clear bribe to voters to yoroshiku the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Then complaints were raised about the other taxpayers who aren’t citizens, so Permanent Residents and NJ married to Japanese became eligible. Finally, just before Christmas, all registered NJ were included.

WHY THIS MATTERS: Even if this “stimulus” is ineffective, it’s a wall-smasher: Japan’s public policy is usually worded as applying to “kokumin”, or citizens only. It’s the first time a government cash-back program (a 1999 coupon scheme only included Permanent Residents) has included all non-citizen taxpayers, and recognized their importance to the Japanese economy.
https://www.debito.org/?p=2104
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20081113a1.html

2) Revision of Japan’s Nationality Law. If a Japanese father impregnated a NJ out of wedlock, the father had to recognize paternity before birth or the child would not get Japanese nationality. The Supreme Court ruled this unconstitutional on June 4, noting how lack of citizenship causes “discriminatory treatment”.

WHY THIS MATTERS: Tens of thousands of international children have lost their legal right to Japanese citizenship (or even, depending on the mother’s nationality, become stateless!) just because a man was too shy to own up to his seed, or didn’t acknowledge paternity in time. This ruling led to a change in the laws last December.
https://www.debito.org/?p=1715
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/11/21/japan-revision-of-the-nationality-law/
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090101a1.html

1) The government officially declaring the Ainu an indigenous people (June 6).

WHY THIS MATTERS: Because it not only affects the Ainu. This finally shows how wrong the official pronouncements that “Japan is a monocultural monoethnic society” have been. It also voids knock-on arguments that enforce ideological conformity for the “insiders” and exclusionism for the foreigners. On Sept. 28, it even became a political issue, forcing an unprecedented cabinet resignation of Nariaki Nakayama for mouthing off about “ethnic homogeneity” (among other things). Even blue-blood PM Aso had better think twice before contradicting the Diet’s consensus on this issue.

Let’s see what 2009 brings. Proposals to watch: a) the possible abolition of Gaijin Cards, b) the registration of NJ residents with their Japanese families, and c) dual nationality. Stay tuned to www.debito.org, and Happy New Year, everyone!
735 WORDS

Debito Arudou is coauthor of the “Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants.” Just Be Cause appears on the first Community Page of the month. Send comments to community@japantimes.co.jp

Economist on Japanese immigration and conservatism giving way

Posted on January 7, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

mytest

Hi Blog. Here’s a roundup from The Economist on how conservatives just don’t have the answers regarding Japan’s future anymore (with their wan and waning hope that immigration can somehow be avoided). Good also that this article is coming from The Economist, as it has over the past eighteen months done mediocre stuff on Japan’s future demographics without mentioning immigration at all. And when it later mentioned NJ labor in follow-up writings, it merely inserted one token sentence reflecting the Japan conservatives’ viewpoint. It seems even the conservatism within my favorite newsmagazine is also giving ground. Bravo. Arudou Debito

======================================

Japanese immigration

Don’t bring me your huddled masses

Dec 30th 2008 | NISHI-KOIZUMI
From The Economist print edition, courtesy of AM

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12867328

Not what the conservatives want, yet some people are beginning to imagine a more mixed Japan

INFLAMMATORY remarks by Japan’s speak-from-the-hip conservative politicians—among them the prime minister for now, Taro Aso—embroil them in endless controversy with neighbours over Japan’s wartime past. In their defence, conservatives often say that what really concerns them is the future, in which they want Japan to punch its weight in the world. The question is, what weight? Japan’s population, currently 127m and falling, is set to shrink by a third over the next 50 years. The working-age population is falling at a faster rate; the huge baby-boom generation born between 1947 and 1949, the shock troops of Japan’s economic miracle, are now retiring, leaving fewer workers to support a growing proportion of elderly.

Conservatives have few answers. They call for incentives to keep women at home to breed (though poor career prospects for mothers are a big factor behind a precipitous fall in the fertility rate). Robot workers offer more hope to some: two-fifths of all the world’s industrial robots are in Japan. They have the advantage of being neither foreign nor delinquent, words which in Japan trip together off the tongue. Yet robots can do only so much.

The answer is self-evident, but conservatives rarely debate it. Their notion of a strong Japan—ie, a populous, vibrant country—is feasible only with many more immigrants than the current 2.2m, or just 1.7% of the population. (This includes 400,000 second- or third-generation Koreans who have chosen to keep Korean nationality but who are Japanese in nearly every respect.) The number of immigrants has grown by half in the past decade, but the proportion is still well below any other big rich country. Further, immigrants enter only as short-term residents; permanent residency is normally granted only after ten years of best behaviour.

Politicians and the media invoke the certainty of social instability should the number of foreigners rise. The justice ministry attributes high rates of serious crime to foreigners—though, when pressed, admits these are committed by illegal immigrants rather than legal ones. Newspaper editorials often give warning of the difficulties of assimilation.

For the first time, however, an 80-strong group of economically liberal politicians in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by Hidenao Nakagawa, a former LDP secretary-general, is promoting a bold immigration policy. It calls for the number of foreigners to rise to 10m over the next half century, and for many of these immigrants to become naturalised Japanese. It wants the number of foreign students in Japan, currently 132,000, to rise to 1m. And it calls for whole families to be admitted, not just foreign workers as often at present.

The plan’s author, Hidenori Sakanaka, a former Tokyo immigration chief and now head of the Japan Immigration Policy Institute, envisages a multicultural Japan in which, he says, reverence for the imperial family is an option rather than a defining trait of Japaneseness. It’s a fine proposal, but not very likely to fly in the current political climate, especially at a time when the opposition Democratic Party of Japan is fretting about the impact of immigration on pay for Japanese workers.

Still, a declining workforce is changing once-fixed views. Small- and medium-sized companies were the first, during the late 1980s, to call for more immigrant workers as a way to remain competitive. The country recruited Brazilians and Peruvians of Japanese descent to work in the industrial clusters around Tokyo and Nagoya in Aichi prefecture that serve the country’s giant carmakers and electronics firms.

Now the Keidanren, the association of big, dyed-in-the-wool manufacturers, is shifting its position. This autumn it called for a more active immigration policy to bring in highly skilled foreign workers, whose present number the Keidanren puts at a mere 180,000.

It also called for a revamp of Japan’s three-year training programmes, a big source of foreign workers. These are supposed to involve a year’s training and then two years’ on-the-job experience. In practice, they provide cheap labour (mainly from Asia) for the garment industry, farming and fish-processing. Workers, says Tsuyoshi Hirabayashi of the justice ministry, are often abused by employers demanding long hours and paying much less than the legal minimum wage. Meanwhile, foreigners coming to the end of the scheme often leave the country to return illegally. Mr Sakanaka calls for the training programme to be abolished.

Japanese conservatives, and many others, point to the South Americans of Japanese descent as a failed experiment. Even with Japanese names, they say, the incomers still stand out. Yet in Nishi-Koizumi in Gunma prefecture, just north of Tokyo, a town dominated by a Sanyo electronics plant, the picture is different. In the family-owned factory of Kazuya Sakamoto, which for decades has supplied parts to Sanyo, three-fifths of the 300 workers are foreigners, mainly Japanese-Brazilians.

The town is certainly down at heel by comparison with the nearby capital, though it has a mildly exotic flavour in other respects, including five tattoo parlours on the main street. Yet without foreigners, says Mr Sakamoto, it is very hard to imagine there would be a town—or his family company—at all. His father was the first to recruit foreigners, and the town changed the hospitals and the local schools to suit: there are special classes in Portuguese to bring overseas children up to speed in some subjects. The result, says Mr Sakamoto, is that foreign workers send word home about the opportunities, and other good workers follow. In future, he thinks, the country should be much more welcoming to young people from around Asia.

What this new impetus for change will achieve in the near term is another matter. Not only is policymaking absent and reformism on the defensive but the global slump is hitting Japanese industry particularly hard, and foreign workers foremost. In November industrial output fell by a record 8.1% compared to the previous month, and unemployment rose to 3.9%.

Mr Sakamoto says he has stopped recruiting for now, but plans no redundancies. Yet sackings of Brazilians have begun at the Toyota and Sony plants in Aichi prefecture. Some workers, says a Brazilian pastor there, have been thrown out of their flats too, with no money to return home. In Hamamatsu city, south of Tokyo, demand for foreign workers is shrinking so fast that a Brazilian school which had 180 students in 2002 closed down at the end of December; its numbers had fallen to 30. Much is made of Japan’s lifetime-employment system, but that hardly applies to foreigners.

ENDS

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