{"id":11633,"date":"2013-07-15T08:01:01","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T18:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11633"},"modified":"2013-07-15T08:15:38","modified_gmt":"2013-07-15T18:15:38","slug":"assessing-outgoing-mp-tsurunen-maruteis-tenure-in-the-diet-disappointing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11633","title":{"rendered":"Assessing outgoing MP Tsurunen Marutei’s tenure in the Diet: Disappointing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. \u00a0In keeping with the upcoming Upper House Election in Japan in less than one week (July 21), one member whose seat is up for renewal is Tsurunen Marutei<\/a>, the septagenarian Finland-born naturalized Japanese. He has spent a great proportion of his life in Japan running for elections in local positions (successfully), then nationally (not so successfully, but finally squeaking in on the last rung of Proportional Representation seats by “kuri-age<\/em>“, when the person who got in instead, \u014chashi Kyosen, gave up his seat in disgust with Japan’s political system). \u00a0Tsurunen then won his second six-year term in 2007. \u00a0This was significant, since it could be argued that Tsurunen now had a more secure mandate thanks to his works.<\/p>\n

However, next week Tsurunen looks likely to lose his Diet seat. \u00a0And in Debito.org’s opinion, so be it. \u00a0On the eve of this rather ignominious end to what should have been a noteworthy political career, let’s assess here what Tsurunen accomplished: \u00a0As far as Debito.org is concerned, very little. \u00a0 As I have written elsewhere:<\/p>\n

==========================<\/h3>\n

Normalization of the Gaijin’s permanent \u201cforeigner\u201d status: The self-proclaimed \u201cforeigner\u201d MP Tsurunen Marutei\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/b>Another naturalized citizen was also undermining Japan\u2019s naturalization regime. Tsurunen Marutei, Japan\u2019s first European-born Caucasian MP, assumed office in Japan\u2019s Upper House in 2002 promising to \u201cspeak up for the outsiders\u201d, \u201cpromote intercultural tolerance and laws banning discrimination in housing and employment\u201d while cultivating support from the Zainichi<\/i> Korean minority.[1]<\/a> However, after distancing himself from \u201cforeigner issues\u201d in a 2002 interview with the author and in a 2006 interview with Metropolis<\/i> magazine,[2]<\/a> he was conspicuously absent from a Diet meeting with United Nations Special Rapporteur Doudou Diene in 2006 regarding the latter\u2019s preliminary report on racial discrimination in Japan.[3]<\/a> Then, in an interview with the Japan Times conducted in English, Tsurunen was quoted as follows:<\/p>\n

We are foreigners and we can’t change the fact. But still Japanese accept us into this society as foreigners\u2026 I don’t need to try to be Japanese or assimilate too much. I want to be accepted as a foreigner and still contribute to this society. It’s no problem for me to be a foreigner \u2014 it’s a fact\u2026 I always say I am Finn-born Japanese.[4]<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There were many critiques of this statement with some questioning the legal validity of the statement \u201cJapanese foreigner\u201d from a national representative in the Diet sworn to uphold Japan\u2019s laws. As racialized concepts of \u201cJapaneseness\u201d were being established beyond legal parameters by xenophobic public officials (such as Ishihara Shintar\u014d<\/a>), Tsurunen, the most prominent Visible-Minority naturalized citizen of Japan, instead of protesting was normalizing and justifying the racialization of Japanese citizenship \u2013 by calling himself a \u201cforeigner\u201d, and thereby enforcing his Gaijin status upon himself.<\/p>\n

Tsurunen responded to the criticism: \u201cI wish to thank everyone for their comments. As people have pointed out, my use of the English word \u2018foreigner\u2019 was inappropriate. I was trying to express that I am not a \u2018Japan-born Japanese\u2019 and used \u2018foreigner,\u2019 but strictly speaking I should have said \u2018foreign-born person,\u2019 or, as I said in the article, \u2018Finn-born Japanese.\u2019 I regret using expressions that gave rise to misunderstandings, and would like to offer my apologies.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Notwithstanding this gaffe, Tsurunen, facing re-election in 2013, published this pamphlet (click on image to expand in browser):<\/p>\n

\"tsurunenmarutei2013pamphlet\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(<\/em>MP Tsurunen\u2019s 2013 support pamphlet with bio and basic policy stances.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Note the slogan on the right third of the pamphlet: \u201c\u2018Me\u2019 no iro kaete, ganbarimasu<\/i>.\u201d (I will change the color of my \u201ceyes\u201d [change my outlook] and do my best). Further rendering the kanji for \u201ceye\u201d in blue to match his eyes, Tsurunen is highlighting his physical attributes as a Visible Minority as part of his public appeal, and thus further \u201cothering\u201d himself in what may be a desperate act to maintain his Diet seat.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

[1]<\/a> \u201cYugawaramachi Journal: Japan’s New Insider Speaks Up for the Outsiders.\u201d New York Times<\/i>, March 8, 2002.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]<\/a> Interview, March 4, 2002, archived at www.debito.org\/tsuruneninterview.html<\/a>; \u201cForeign-born lawmaker puts Japan\u2019s acceptance of outsiders to the test.\u201d Metropolis Magazine, August 9, 2006.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[3]<\/a> On May 18, 2006, 2-3PM, at the Sh\u016bgi’in Dai-ichi Kaikan, Diene gave a preliminary presentation of his findings to MPs and the general public. I was present, as were several MPs, but Tsurunen was not. In cases where the MP is absent due to schedule conflicts, it is protocol to send a secretary to the event to leave the MP\u2019s business card (meishi<\/i>) as a show of support. Tsurunen\u2019s office sent no representative and left no card.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[4]<\/a> See<\/i> \u201cMind the gap, get over it: Japan hands.\u201d Japan Times<\/i>, December 28, 2010.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[5]<\/a> See <\/i>Arudou Debito, \u201cNaturalized Japanese: Foreigners no more<\/a>.\u201d Japan Times<\/i>, February 1, 2011.<\/p>\n

==========================<\/h3>\n

CONCLUSION<\/strong>: \u00a0As Tsurunen noted in his interview with Debito.org back in 2002, his only policy was to hitch himself to the DPJ. \u00a0Quote: \u00a0“[T]here will be cases, such as international problems, where we in the Upper House will have to put things to a vote. I will have to decide there and there pro or con. At that time, I think I will have to vote along party lines, even if it is at odds with my personal convictions. If asked by the media before or after why I did that, I will have to say that that’s how party politics work. After all, if I don’t follow party discipline, I will be expelled from the party. Then I won’t be able to do my job. I will maintain my ability to say my own opinion, but at important times I will be a party man. That’s how I stand<\/em>.”<\/strong> That’s not much of a stand.<\/p>\n

And now that the DPJ has gone down in flames, so will he; Tsurunen as the election looms clearly has little he can use to recommend himself for his job except the color of his eyes<\/em>. \u00a0This unremarkable politician, who once said he’d fight for the “outsiders”, in the end did little of that. In fact, it seems Tsurunen fought only for himself, wanting a Diet seat only as a matter of personal ambition and status — to be Japan’s first at something. \u00a0Even if it was to occupy what he seems to have made into a sinecure. \u00a0Same as any politician, people might argue. \u00a0But Tsurunen, with all the visibility and potential of Japan’s first foreign-born and Visible-Minority Japanese MP, squandered a prime opportunity to show what Visible Minorities in Japan can do.<\/p>\n

If anything, Tsurunen deserves to be remembered as a person who had no spine, conviction, clear moral compass (despite being a member of Japan’s religious community), or worst of all self-awareness of his minority background in Japan. \u00a0He was, for example, no Kayano Shigeru, Japan’s first and only Ainu MP. \u00a0And ultimately Tsurunen will be a footnote in history if he remembered at all — a man who called himself a “foreigner” yet refused to fight for the rights or issues that concerned or influenced them. \u00a0Mottai nai<\/em>. \u00a0Time to retire into obscurity. Arudou Debito<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In keeping with the upcoming Upper House Election in Japan in less than one week (July 21), one member whose seat is up for renewal is Tsurunen Marutei, the septagenarian Finland-born naturalized Japanese. He has spent a great proportion of his life in Japan running for elections in local positions (successfully), then nationally (not so successfully, but finally squeaking in on the last rung of Proportional Representation seats by “kuri-age”, when the person who got in instead, \u014chashi Kyosen, gave up his seat in disgust with Japan’s political system). Tsurunen then won his second six-year term in 2007. This was significant, since it could be argued that Tsurunen now had a more secure mandate thanks to his works.<\/p>\n

However, next week Tsurunen looks likely to lose his Diet seat. And in Debito.org’s opinion, so be it. On the eve of this rather ignominious end to what should have been a noteworthy political career, let’s assess here what Tsurunen accomplished: As far as Debito.org is concerned, very little….<\/p>\n

Now that the DPJ has gone down in flames, so will he; Tsurunen as the election looms clearly has little he can use to recommend himself for his job except the color of his eyes. This unremarkable politician, who once said he’d fight for the “outsiders”, in the end did little of that. In fact, it seems Tsurunen fought only for himself, wanting a Diet seat only as a matter of personal ambition and status — to be Japan’s first at something. Even if it was to occupy what he seems to have made into a sinecure. Same as any politician, people might argue. But Tsurunen, with all the visibility and potential of Japan’s first foreign-born and Visible-Minority Japanese MP, squandered a prime opportunity to show what Visible Minorities in Japan can do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,12,26,14,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-human-rights","category-immigration-assimilation","category-ironies-hypocrisies","category-japanese-politics","category-nj-legacies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}