THE COMMUNITY
Mainichi Shinbun (Oct 1, 2002) on The Community's Protest of Nakano Police Anti-Crime Campaign



The above Mainichi article translated by Arudou Debito thus:
===================================================
VOLUNTEER GROUP:
"DISCOMFORT FROM DISCRIMINATION TOWARDS FOREIGNERS"
DEMANDS REMOVAL OF BANNERS ETC DISTRIBUTED BY NAKANO POLICE

Citing a dislike of the contents of banners cautioning about "bagsnatchings by bad foreigners" distributed by Nakano Police to the local financial area, members of an anti-discrimination volunteer group visited the Nakano Police HQ and several banks in the Nakano-ku area, demanding their collection and removal. On Sept 30, visited banks took down those banners, but the Nakano Police indicated that they would not be collecting them up, stating, "We had no intention of excluding (haijo) foreigners".

The bank visited was the Nakano Branch of the Chuo Mitsui Shintaku Bank, at Nakano-ku Nakano 5, which displayed a banner reading "Beware of frequently-occurring bad-foreigner bagsnatchings", and a poster, "Watch out for bad-foreigner group bagsnatchers targeting you on the way home from the bank". The Nakano Police distributed about 50 of said banners and 150 posters.

Julian Wheatley, a British member of volunteer group "The Community" who lives in Shinjuku-ku, protested with other members on Sept 29 and 30 at both the bank and the police station. Wheatley said, "I don't like the feeling that everyone's watching me whenever I walk into a bank" (ginkou de minna ni mirareru you ga ki ga shite fukai).

The Nakano Police section chief in charge of lifestyle safety, Mr Ihira, said, "It's not as though we're targeting all foreigners. When saying 'bad foreigners', we're just using language that anyone, kid to senior citizen, can understand. It's all in the name of crime prevention." (...roujin ya kodomo ni wakariyasui you ni, furyou gaikokujin to iu hyougen o tsukatta. Bouhan jou igi no aru koto.)

ENDS
===================================================

Let that last sentiment resonate.

Arudou Debito
One Community Coordinator

Return to "The Community" Page

Go to the "United For a Multicultural Japan" (UMJ) Page