Update putting the pieces together: upcoming IC Gaijin Cards, RFID hackability, next generation police walkie-talkie, and NPA access to TASPO information

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

Last May I put out an article in the Japan Times about the (now approved) IC Chips in revamped Gaijin Cards. How they would enable the police forces to remotely track foreigners in a crowd, and how data would be less secure from hackers.

Not unsurprisingly, I was told I was exaggerating. But it’s hard in this day to exaggerate the reach and rate of development of technological advances (who would have thought we would have this very medium to communicate through a little over ten years ago?). So here are some sources showing how 1) ID Chips and RFID technology is eminently hackable and remotely trackable, 2) how police already have IC scanning ability in their walkie-talkies, and 3) how the Japanese police in particular are using ID cards beyond their originally-intended purpose to track crime. I don’t think I was exaggerating at all.

New Immigration Law with IC Chip Gaijin Cards passes Diet

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

The new IC Chipped Gaijin Cards will be a reality. Gonna have to start looking on the bright side of things, like the fact that NJ will now have juuminhyou instead. Commentary and links from Anonymous:

“As I’m sure that you’ve heard, today was a not a good day for NJ rights. The immigration revision formally passed the upper house today, July 8, 2009. With the various changes…” Several news clippings in Japanese, feel free to add them in English:

Japan Times: JCLU’s Hatate opposes IC Chip Gaijin Cards

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

Japan Times: “What (the bills will) achieve is to tighten control of law-abiding foreigners, who have no need to be under tight control,” Hatate, director of the nongovernmental organization Japan Civil Liberties Union, told The Japan Times…

“The bills are very unbalanced because the government will not be able to control the intended target: undocumented foreigners,” Hatate said. “Instead they will greatly tighten the leash on properly registered foreigners, who do not need monitoring.

“To me, this is the government’s reinforcement of infrastructure to control foreigners. Fingerprinting at airports is to control entrants and the bills are to control residents. The government probably thinks it needs to do this because the number of foreigners will inevitably increase,” he said.

Japan Times IC Chip Gaijin Card Pt 3: View of Bureaucrats: Control of NJ at all costs

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

The Japan Times scoops again. After two articles exposing approaches of the LDP (their slavish obeisance to the policing MOJ, who fed them the law) and the DPJ (who took the LDP’s nonsense evidence about policing of foreigners in other countries at face value), Matsutani-san now gets the viewpoint of those bureaucrats who designed the new Gaijin Cards and NJ policing regime. And it ain’t pretty. Strikes me as pretty paranoid. Sounds even like they’d police everyone if everyone were in such a weak position in society as foreigners; more on that tomorrow. Meanwhile, it also seems clear that the original proposal has been watered down a bit thanks to public outrage, but there is still no consciousness within the bureaucratic mien of how these laws, once put in the hands of the police, can further encourage racial profiling and targeting (current laws with more lax policing than now already do that, and there are no real safeguards to protect human rights as ever).

Japan Times updates on new IC Chip Gaijin Card bill — in fact drafted by MOJ

Posted on June 27, 2009June 27, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

The Japan Times is following the story of the new deluxe Gaijin Cards, complete with IC Chip and more punitive policing of most foreigners. And it is now clear from the articles below that the bills were actually drafted by the Ministry of Justice. Meaning it’s all been created in favor of policing, not assimilating, NJ — and under the all-consuming need to keep track of potential “illegal foreign overstayers” by policing everyone (anyone else smell a kind of a witch hunt?).

Got a call from the reporter Mr Matsutani this evening. He notes that there will be a series of articles on this over the next few days (below are the two camps within the LDP and the DPJ, then on successive days an opponent from the left, and then an opponent from the extreme right). So keep reading the Japan Times — the only paper that cares to give you the straight poop, and do some investigative journalism on topics that matter to its NJ readers. Excerpts follow:

Next Diet protest of proposed IC Chip Gaijin Cards Thurs July 2, noon – 1PM, Diet Upper House

Posted on June 27, 2009June 27, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Assemble on July 2 (Thu), 12:00 – 13:00
We won’t accept the reforms to the Immigration Law or the Basic Resident
Registration Law!

LISTEN TO US!

Date/time: July 2 (Thu) 12:00 – 13:00
Place: Upper House Diet members office building
(A gate pass will be provided at the entrance.)
Organizer: NGO Executive Committee to say NO to the new residency
(zairyu) card system
Programme: – Comments by asylum seekers, foreign nationals
– Comments from diet members, etc.

Text of proposed amendments to new Immigration Law, including IC Chip Gaijin Cards

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

I asked the author of the recent Japan Times articles (here and here) on the passage of the new laws on IC Chip Gaijin Cards et al. to send me his source materials. He very kindly complied. Thanks very much!

These are fifteen pages of very thick and oddly-formatted pages of legal changes. It’s cumbersome wading through it. So rather than wait until I read everything before commenting, I might as well put these up so we can all read them at the same time.

Revisions to the Juumin Kihon Daichou Hou (which governs how people are registered with local governments, as in juuminhou), followed by the interestingly-titled “shutsu nyuu koku kanri oyobi nanmin nintei hou oyobi nihonkoku to no heiwa jouyaku ni motozuki kokuseki o ridatsu shita mono tou no shutsu nyuu koku kanri ni kansuru tokurei hou no ichibu o kaisei suru tou no houritsu an ni taisuru shuusei an” (draft of the revisions for one part of the draft of the laws governing administration of immigration, administration of recognized refugees, and the special law governing administration of immigration of people who have renounced their Japanese citizenship from countries with a peace treaty with Japan).

What a mouthful. I’m wondering what inspired the special-law conceit about having a peace treaty (does this weed out Russians and North Koreans?). Any ideas out there?

Japan Times: New IC Chip Gaijin Card passes Lower House, expected to pass Upper too

Posted on June 21, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

The Lower House passed bills Friday making it easier for the Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau to keep tabs on foreigners who have overstayed their visas as well as others residing legally in the country.

The Upper House is also expected to pass the bills, which have the support of both the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc and the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition party…

Japan Times: New Gaijin Cards bill looks set to pass Diet

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

The revised bills, expected to be passed Friday by the Lower House, will abolish the Alien Registration Act and revise the immigration control and resident registration laws with sweeping changes that put information on foreign residents completely in the hands of the central government.

According to the draft, authority for managing foreign residents will shift from municipalities to the Immigration Bureau, allowing it to consolidate all personal information collected from foreign residents, including type of visa and expiration date…

“We need these bills to be enacted. We need to know how many foreigners there are and where they live. So consolidating information into the Justice Ministry is necessary,” Hosokawa said.

The bills also have a provision to prevent the ministry from using that data improperly, a decision that was made to ward off criticism that “the minister” could abuse the zairyu card number to violate foreigners’ privacy. But no penalty for such abuse was listed.

The practice, dubbed data-matching, was outlawed by the Supreme Court in regard to its use on Japanese citizens.

The provision says “the justice minister” must limit the use of foreign residents’ personal information to the minimum required for managing such residents and that the information must be handled with care to protect the rights of individuals. But no penalties or methods for enforcing such compliance are listed in the bills.

Sit-in Protest re IC Chip Gaijin Cards: Diet Bldg Fri June 19 9AM-12PM, come anytime

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

SAY NO TO THE IMMIGRATION CONTROL BILLS
Friday, June 19
SIT-IN PROTEST @ Diet Members’ No. 2 Office Building of the Lower House

Lack of consultation with foreign residents.
Lack of discussion in the Lower House.

The bills are scheduled to have a vote on June 19 in the Lower House legal affairs committee.
NGOs call on people living in Japan, both citizens and foreign residents, to join together to
oppose discriminatory reforms to immigration law. Speak out NOW!

Date 09：00〜12：30 Friday, June 19 (no protest when raining)
* Just a 30-minute or one-hour protest is welcome.
At Diet Members’ No. 2 Office Building of the Lower House
The nearest station: ‘Kokkai Gijido Mae’ or ‘Nagata-cho’ station of Metro.

Sit-in Protest of New IC Chip Gaijin Cards, Every Tues morning, Diet Building, all welcome

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

SAY NO TO THE IMMIGRATION CONTROL BILLS
2009.6.19 Tuesday
SIT-IN PROTEST @ Diet Members’ No. 2 Office Building of the Lower House

The “NGO Committee against the Introduction of the ‘Zai-ryu’ Residence Card”
calls on people living in Japan, both citizens and foreign residents, to join together to
oppose discriminatory reforms to immigration law.
Speak out ＮＯＷ!

Date 09：30〜12：30 Tuesday, June 16 (no protest when raining)
* Just a 30 minutes or one hour protest is welcomed.
At Diet Members’ No. 2 Office Building of the Lower House
The nearest station: ‘Kokkai Gijido Mae’ or ‘Nagata-cho’ station of Metro.

Protest IC Chipped Gaijin Cards Tues June 2 anytime between 9AM-12:30PM, Diet Building, Tokyo

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

NUGW Nambu: A sit-in will be held in front of the Diet Building on
Tuesday, June 2, from 9:00-12:30 a.m., to protest the
changes to immigration law which are being pushed through
parliament with little debate, and no consultation with
those directly affected by the laws.

Place:
Shugiin Dai 2 Giinkaikan (Second Members Office Building of
the House of Representatives)
Kokkai gijido mae Station: (Marunouchi line, Chiyoda line)
We will have banners and posters prepared.
You can come for any length of time, between 9 and 12:30.

Brazilian MTV on May 24 Protests on proposed IC Chip Gaijin Cards

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

In my first attempt at embedding a video on Debito.org, here’s Brazilian MTV devoting seven minutes to the May 24 march against the proposed IC Chip Gaijin Cards. In Portuguese, Japanese, and English.

Japan Times on May 24 2009 new IC Chip Gaijin Card protest

Posted on May 25, 2009May 25, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Got a call from friends Aly and Yumi yesterday, right after they attended the protest against the proposed IC-Chipped Gaijin Cards, who told me the vibe was great and inspiring of future public action.

Here’s how it turned out in the Japan Times. If you see any more articles, please feel free to include them in the Comments section below with text and links:

Reminder: Protest against new IC Gaijin Cards May 24 Shinbashi Tokyo

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

STOP! PROPOSALS TO CRACK DOWN ON FOREIGN RESIDENTS!
Rally Against Reforms to the Immigration Law

The “NGO Committee against the Introduction of the ‘Zai-ryu’ Residence
Card” calls on people living in Japan, both citizens and foreign
residents, to join together to oppose discriminatory reforms to
immigration law.

Date: May 24 (Sun) 14:00-15:30 Assembly
16:00-17:00 Rally

Location: Koutsu Biru in Shimbashi (Minato-ku, Shimbashi 5-15-5)
(6 minutes walk from JR Shimbashi Station, Karasumori Exit)
For leaflet and map:
http://www.repacp.org/aacp/pdf/MultiLang/20090420LeafENv01.pdf

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.

Japan Times: I mentioned that embedded computer chip. The new Gaijin Card 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.

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?”

Charles McJilton on how visa overstayers too get Gaijin Cards

Posted on May 19, 2009May 19, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Charles McJilton: For most foreigners in Japan, receiving a visa to stay in Japan begins the road of registering at the local ward, applying for a gaijin card, opening a bank account, and eventually paying taxes. All of these things are milestones signifying that one is a bona fide member of society. But how does one survive if the do not have a visa? How do they go about legitimizing their existence, and is it possible?…

There is an unwritten rule among the foreigners I deal with and that is we do not ask about one’s visa status. There is no reason to ask. So, in 2002 I was having coffee with Miss X when she casually told me, “I have all my paperwork except my visa.” She then pulled out a folder filled with documents. And sure enough, one was a copy of her foreign registration at her local ward. And then she showed me her gaijin which had written in black 在留資格なし（no permission to stay）. She explained that each year she was required to “renew” her gaijin card.

Then she explained why she registered. As registered foreigner and single mother she was eligible for support from the government for specific things related to her son. For example, when she gave birth, the ward office picked a part of the hospital bill. When her son went to daycare while she was working the ward stepped in and provided some assistance. And when her son entered elementary school the ward subsidized his lunch meals. This would not have been possible had she not registered her son…

Get Japan Times tomorrow Tuesday May 19, next Zeit Gist article on the New IC “Gaijin Cards”.

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

My next article in the JT will be tomorrow, Tuesday May 19 , on the proposed legislation to make things more “convenient” and “protected” for NJ residents: the New Zairyuu Kaado with biometric data stored on IC Chips.

Convenient? Yeah, for the police, not NJ. I make the case that, if the legislation is passed, policing and punishments will only get stricter, and the chipped cards will act as “bugs” encouraging further police checkpoints and racial profiling.

Chunichi Shinbun May 11, 2009 on New IC Gaijin Card debate

Posted on May 12, 2009May 13, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Excellent article in yesterday’s Chunichi Shinbun on what’s the problem with the new proposed IC Gaijin Cards, and how the extra policing that NJ will have to endure will just make life worse for a lot of people. Again, the goal is only to police, not to actually help NJ assimilate and make a better life here.

In particular, read the contrarian arguments. Now this is how we proceed with a debate. We get people who know what they’re talking about to express the minority view (for where else is it going to be heard?). As opposed to last night’s TV Tackle, which basically had the status quo maintained with the same old commentators spouting much the same old party lines.

Asahi: domestic resistance to new IC Gaijin Cards

Posted on May 1, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Asahi: The review of the proposed new section of the laws controlling residency of foreigners in Japan under exit and entry laws for foreigners is currently taking place in the Legal Subcommittee of the Lower House. Although on one hand it is expected that the law will have the effect of reducing illegal residency in Japan, on the other hand criticism is being heard that this law “Can be seen as nothing more than making foreigners (residing in Japan) an object of surveillance”…

Negative reactions, mainly from human rights NPO groups that support foreigners are very strong. Numerous faults with the law, have been pointed out one after the other–The requirement that foreigners carry the residency card with them at all times is excessive, criminal penalties for not carrying it are too heavy, canceling residency privileges because of errors in reporting address or because of getting married without reporting it are too severe, the human rights of foreigners who are attempting to flee from domestic violence are not protected, refugees, whose necessarily must undergo a lengthy administrative process are not covered by this law and their status is left vague (and other problems).

Hatate Akira, head of the group “Freedom and human rights coalition” has attacked the very philosophical basis of the law saying that “This new level of surveillance (of foreigners) will lead to increased discrimination” In response to this, the Japan Democratic Party has proposed dropping from the law the requirement to carry this identity card and the imposition of criminal penalties for not doing so, as well as other modifications…

Japan Times: DPJ slams new Gaijin Cards and further tightening of NJ policing

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

Japan Times: A Democratic Party of Japan legal affairs panel has drafted proposals to soften the rules and punishments stipulated in government-sponsored bills to tighten immigration regulations on foreign residents, DPJ lawmaker Ritsuo Hosokawa said Thursday.

The panel called for eliminating eight provisions in the bills, including one that would oblige foreigners to always carry residency cards, Hosokawa told The Japan Times…

“The control (over foreign residents) is too tight” in the bills, said Hosokawa, who is the justice minister in the DPJ’s shadow Cabinet. Under the proposed system, resident registrations would be handled by the Justice Ministry, not the municipalities where people live.

New IC “Gaijin Cards”: Original Nyuukan proposal submitted to Diet is viewable here (8 pages)

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

As a Debito.org poll indicates, a third of all people surveyed as of today don’t have enough information to make an accurate decision about whether the new IC-Chipped Gaijin Cards are a good thing. Well, let’s fix that. What follows are scanned pages of the actual proposal before Dietmembers, submitted by Immigration, for how they should look and what they should do. All eight pages are scanned below (the last page suffered from being faxed, so I just append it FYI). Have a read, and you’ll know as much as our lawmakers know. Courtesy of the Japan Times.

Yomiuri on new “Zairyuu Cards” to replace “Gaijin Cards”

Posted on February 18, 2009September 11, 2019 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

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.

Fun and Games at Hokuyo Bank: Extra questions for the gaijin account holder

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

Had a little adventure today at Hokuyo Bank, Hokkaido’s biggest, where I found out that any foreign money transfers regardless of amount were to be asked questions about purpose. Even those well under (by a factor of 40) threshold amounts under domestic and international money laundering guidelines. Why? Because it’s at the bank’s discretion, and in application that means people with funny-sounding names keep getting targeted for suspicious questions. Ah well, it’s not only Hokuyo. Hokkaido Bank has a history of doing it too. But at least Dougin apologized for it and said they’ll do better. Hokuyo just asks for our understanding. Read all about my funny little excursion today into the world of the Columboes at Hokuyo…

Public Meeting: NGOs protest new Gaijin Card System Sat Jan 24 Tokyo

Posted on January 21, 2009 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Public gathering against the government’s new plan to introduce “Zairyu Kaado (resident card)” system

Date: Saturday, 24 January 2009
Time: 14:00 – 17:00
Venue: B1F, YMCA Asia Youth Center
2-5-5 Sarugaku-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101-0064, Japan
JR Suidobashi sta. 6min, Ochanomizu sta. 9min, Subway Jimbocho sta 7min
http://www.ymcajapan.org/ayc/jp/
Admission: 500 yen
Simultaneous translation service available (Japanese-English)

Organized by:
NGO Committee against the introduction of “Zairyu Kaado (resident card)” system

Britain’s “Gaijin Card” system comes online: UK Telegraph warns against potential foreign celebrity backlash

Posted on November 27, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Compare and contrast the introduction of fingerprinting (moreover Gaijin Cards) for foreigners in the UK. At least Britons are protesting it, and the media is giving them a voice. That’s more than can be said for Japan last year around November 20, when the media suppressed the opinion of NJ residents and NGOs:

Daily Telegraph: From today, anyone from outside the European Union who wants to live and work in the UK for more than six months will have to apply for a compulsory British ID card.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, wants 90 per cent of foreign residents in Britain to have identity cards by 2014.

To get an ID card, people will have their faces scanned and will have to give 10 fingerprints.

Campaigners fear that this will put off celebrities like American singer Madonna from setting up home here and so damage the cultural life of the nation.

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, a group including author Philip Pullman, musicians Neil Tennant and Brian Eno, campaigning QC Baroness Kennedy and comedians Mark Thomas and Lucy Porter, warn of the damage to Britain’s image abroad…

Thoughtful essay in the Yomiuri on the word “Gaijin” by Mike Guest

Posted on November 16, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Mike Guest: Why is it that even the less easily offended among us at certain times find the term “gaijin” (or even “gaikokujin”) awkward or irritating? I would like to offer a few linguistic answers to this question.

Words are never inherently rude or inappropriate in and of themselves but become marked as such through a failure to follow the norms of propriety. For example, it is perfectly acceptable to refer to Prof. Wilson as “Wilson” when simply discussing his theories with a colleague, or even when making a reference to him in a presentation where he is not present. But it would be very insulting to address him personally that way. Likewise, in the case of “gaijin” we should note if it is being used as a form of address or as a reference. One Japanese saying something like, “A lot of gaijin like this restaurant” to another can hardly be said to be pejorative (and in fact many non-Japanese too use “gaijin” in precisely this manner–as it can be a very useful classifier), whereas addressing a non-Japanese as “Gaijin” very much violates the norms of forms of address and therefore marks it as rude or hostile.

We should also consider register. In official and formal situations, Japanese speakers use “gaikokujin” rather than “gaijin” for the same reason that they refer to “a person” not as “hito” but as “kata” and generally avoid using “kare” and “kanojo” (he and she). These words are not inherently impolite or pejorative but they do not meet the standards of distance required by a formal register of language. Using “gaijin” in such a situation would therefore mark it negatively…

JapanZine parody of Japan Times, “Gaijin Activist Successful in Obtaining a Ban on Racial Slur”

Posted on November 6, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

JapanZine (Nagoya’s free magazine for the international community) recently did a parody of the Japan Times, calling it the “Gokiburi Gazette”. Front and center, an article about activist “Tepid Naruhodo”, who gets the word “gaijin” banned, only to have its replacement shortened to the same thing. It’s very funny. Seriously. As are the other articles and the masthead advertisements.

MX on “Gaijin” harassment in Tokyo elementary school

Posted on October 30, 2008October 30, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Here’s a letter from a father who felt the diversity-stripping effects of the word “gaijin” firsthand, when his Japanese daughter first entered a Tokyo grade school:

“My daughter XXXXXX is quite excited to be an ichi nen sei next year and was looking forward to [her first visit to grade school], but it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare.

“In one of the classes they were visiting, a boy pointed at XXXXXX and shouted 外人だ！外人がいる！ The teacher went on “teaching” as if nothing was happening, while the shouts grew louder and soon the entire class was pointing and staring at poor XXXXXX, who was in complete shock. Ultimately, my wife had no choice but to leave the classroom and try to console XXXXXX.

“I can’t say this came as a complete surprise, as XXXXXX does indeed look quite “European,” but it was depressing that the teacher saw no reason to intervene in some way to make the experience less mortifying for my daughter. If this had occurred on the street it would have been bad enough, but it is even more disheartening that it happened at a school, a place that should be at the forefront of efforts to curb stupid racial discrimination…”

Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE column on how “gaijin” concept destroys Japan’s rural communities

Posted on October 7, 2008October 28, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE/ZEIT GIST Column excerpt:
Allow me to conclude my trilogy of columns regarding the word “gaijin” this month by talking about the damage the concept does to Japanese society. That’s right — damage to Japanese society.

I previously mentioned the historical fact that “gaijin” once also applied to Japanese — to “outsiders” not from one’s neighborhood. But as Japan unified and built a nation-state, it made its “volk” all one “community,” for political and jingoistic reasons. Anyone considered to be Japanese became an “insider,” while the rest of the world became “outsiders,” neatly pigeonholed by that contentious term “gaijin.”

However, old habits die hard, and “outsiderdom” still applies to Japanese. Even if not specifically labeled “gaijin,” the effect is the same: If Japanese aren’t from “around here,” they don’t belong, and it’s destroying Japan’s rural communities.

Get Japan Times tomorrow Tues Oct 7: New JUST BE CAUSE Column on “Gaijin” Part 3

Posted on October 6, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Just a quick word to tell you about my next column, coming out tomorrow morning Tues Oct 7 (Weds in ruralities, which is appropriate to this essay). Topic: “Gaijin” Part 3, about how the strict “insider-outsider” paradigm in Japan also affects Japanese who move house, and find themselves isolated as “newcomers” to the point where it’s destroying Japan’s countryside.

UK now considering introducing Gaijin Cards

Posted on September 28, 2008October 7, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Here’s another brick in the wall, alas. The UK is also proposing the introduction of Gaijin Cards. Just when you thought you could point to other countries and say, “Look, they don’t do something like this, so let’s not do it here,” they go ahead and do it too. Sigh.

It’s not absolutely the same system at this point — not all foreigners have to get this card. Yet. But I like how the counterarguments to the scheme are similar to ones I’ve made in the past — about how guinea-pigging a segment of the population is the thin edge of the wedge to introducing the scheme for everyone. And no mention as yet in this article as to whether it’ll be a criminal offense, warranting arrest and interrogation after instant street spot checks, if you are not carrying the card on your person 24-7. Meanwhile, let’s wait and see what Japan does with its long-announced intention to Gaijin Chip all NJ with new improved RFID. In the club of developed countries, I don’t think Japan will be outdone in its policing of its foreigners.

The Japan Times Community Page on the JBC “Gaijin Debate”, part two.

Posted on September 24, 2008September 24, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

The JUST BE CAUSE Columns I wrote these past two months on the word “Gaijin” have inspired a lot of debate. Again, good. Thanks everybody. Here’s another salvo from The Community Page yesterday. I’ll have a Part Three on this issue out in The Japan Times on October 7, talking about how the strict “insider-outsider” system here (of which “Gaijin” is a subset of) also affects Japanese, and hurts Japanese society as a whole. Thanks for reading and commenting. And I love the illustration in the JT for this article…

Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE Column 7: Sequel to “Gaijin” as a racist word

Posted on September 2, 2008October 28, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Now for the more controversial claim: my linking “gaijin” with “n*gg*r”. Although I was not equating their histories, I was drawing attention to their common effect–stripping societies of diversity.

“N*gg*r”, for example, has deprived an entire continent of its diaspora. I love faces; I have gazed at many notable African-Americans and wondered about their origins. Is Michael Clarke Duncan a Nuban? Do Gary Coleman’s ancestors hail from the Ituri? How about the laser gaze of Samuel L. Jackson, the timeworn features of Morgan Freeman, the quizzical countenance of Whoopi Goldberg? Where did their ancestors come from? Chances are even they aren’t sure. That’s why Alex Haley had to go all the way to The Gambia to track down his Kunta Kinte roots.

The “non-n*gg*rs” are more fortunate. They got to keep closer ties to their past–even got hyphens: Italian-Americans, Cuban-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Japanese-Americans, etc. But Black people in the US just became “African-Americans”–a continent, not an ethnicity. Thanks to generations of being called “n*gg*r”.

“Gaijin” has the same effect, only more pronounced. Not only do we foreign-looking residents have no hope of hyphenation, we are relegated to a much bigger “continent” (i.e. anyone who doesn’t look Japanese–the vast majority of the world). Again, this kind of rhetoric, however unconscious or unintended, forever divides our public into “insider and outsider” with no twain.

Get Japan Times today Tues Sept 2–sequel to my JUST BE CAUSE Column on “Gaijin as racist word”

Posted on September 2, 2008September 2, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Hi Blog. Today (Tuesday, Wednesday in the provinces) sees my seventh Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE Column. I’ll devote another 700 words on some of the points raised in an avalanche of letters (according to the Japan Times, mostly critical) to explain more about my contentious “gaijin” and “n*gg*r” linkage.

Results of our fourth poll: Do you think the word “gaijin” should be avoided (in favor of other words, like, say, gaikokujin)?

Posted on September 1, 2008September 1, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

The result was still that most people (but not an absolute majority) thought the word “gaijin” should be avoided, due to unwelcome connotations. Perhaps par for the course for Debito.org types of readers.

It was an interesting poll to follow in real time. For the first few days, the first choice, “Yes”, had an absolute majority of over 50%. But as more voted, the “maybe, if derisive” and “no” responses whittled that down. I was surprised at how few chose “maybe, depends on listener”. Also interesting was how almost everyone had a clear opinion–almost nobody was neutral or unknowledgeable about the subject.

Japan Times readers respond to my “Once a ‘gaijin,’ always a ‘gaijin’?” JUST BE CAUSE Column

Posted on August 20, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

The Japan Times received a firestorm of letters regarding my last JUST BE CAUSE Column, and reprinted some of them in their most recent ZEIT GIST. On whether or not “Gaijin” is a racist word.

Asahi on new “Gaijin Cards” with greater policing powers over “NJ overstayers”

Posted on April 8, 2008April 8, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Asahi: “An advisory group to Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama has proposed changes to the alien registration card system to crack down on people overstaying their visas. The new registration card would make it easier for the authorities to keep track of foreign nationals staying in Japan.”

Yomiuri: GOJ revising NJ registry and Gaijin Card system: More policing powers, yet no clear NJ “resident” status

Posted on April 7, 2008June 6, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Yomiuri reports the change in the old “Gaijin Card” system, extending its validity for up to five years and somehow registering NJ with their J families. The bad news is that this measure, despite claims that it will make life “more convenient” for NJ living in Japan, is mainly a further policing measure. Registration will be centralized in the police forces (not the local municipalities any more), the replacement Cards will have more biometric data and tracking capability (RFID, anyone?), and the “zairyuu” (not “zaijuu”) cards, as labelled, are rhetorically old wine in new bottles. We still have to get beyond seeing NJ in Japan as “not really residents”, and all our protestations thus far clearly have not sunk yet in with policymakers at the national level.

Kyodo: MOJ says GOJ to scrap NJ registration system and Gaijin Cards

Posted on January 25, 2008April 23, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Kyodo: The government plans to scrap the registration system on foreign nationals living in Japan, Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama said Friday.

Steve King on Gaijin Carding experience: Racially-Profiling Japanese citizens too? Plus his protest letter to JNTO

Posted on December 17, 2007December 17, 2007 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Here’s a great little report from friend Steve King, on how he dealt with gaijin-carding police (and very well, too, to my mind). Great story, and questions asked properly and to the letter. Don’t make a racially-profiling J cop’s job easier. Make sure you let them know you know your rights. Interestingly enough, Steve’s cop indicated that he would be carding Japanese citizens too. This is actually illegal under Japanese Law for citizens unless there is probable cause, so it’s probably a lie. But if a representative of the almighty police in this country are becoming that insistent, I guess when it happens to me (and you just know it’s going to, again), it’s going be worked out down at the Cop Shop… Ulp. Anyway, Steve’s report, and protest letter to the JNTO follows.

Japan Times on Gaijin Carding in workplace, and downloadable wallet-size Gaijin Card laws from Erich Meatleg

Posted on November 15, 2007April 23, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Excerpt from Japan Times article re how laws have changed to enable all employers to run Gaijin Card Checks on their foreign staff, just like any cop on the corner. Except that the laws are a little more sophisticated than that–download wallet-sized color-coded versions of them for the next time you’re racially profiled.

Softbank and Shinsei Bank illegally require “Gaijin Cards”/passports for all NJ service

Posted on October 30, 2007May 31, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Hello Blog. Witness the further tightening of the dragnet around NJ residents. First, we got the justification for fingerprinting all NJ at the border as potential Osama Juniors and Typhoid Maries. Now once inside, the “Gaijin Card” (gaikokujin touroku shoumeisho), designed in 1952 as a tracking device for all the Zainichi who wouldn’t leave postwar …

Asahi: Hunger strike after rotten food in Immigration Gaijin Tank

Posted on October 19, 2007June 6, 2008 by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

You know things have gotta be pretty antipathetic when even inmates have bad food (and food in Japanese prison, from what I’ve read, is apparently sparse but not all that unhealthy). But then again, this is not a prison. It’s a Gaijin Tank–where NJ are held indefinitely and not subject to the same standards (such as exercise, baths, time outside their cells, and–most importantly–a definite time limit to their incarceration) that people who have been formally sentenced to a Japanese prison will have.

Back to the food. Remember where we are: This being Japan, a land of foodies, it’s famous for being a place where it’s hard to get a truly bad meal. People are really fussy, and it shows in the marketplace. No professional in their right mind in the Japanese meal services lets quality slip.

It might be the effect of a captive market, literally, meaning no competition and no incentive for quality control.

Or it might be antipathy. Either this Detention Center’s meal preparers are completely shameless people, or they just don’t like foreigners and feel no compulsion to serve them properly.

Anyway, pretty stunning. Stop faffing about and fire the cooks already, Immigration.