{"id":13640,"date":"2015-11-13T10:30:17","date_gmt":"2015-11-13T20:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13640"},"modified":"2015-11-13T21:11:16","modified_gmt":"2015-11-14T07:11:16","slug":"update-standard-charted-hong-kong-marathon-japan-tour-japanese-only-registration-is-sanitized-to-include-nj-residents-but-japanese-citizenship-remains-requirement-on-actual-registration-pag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13640","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE: Standard Charted Hong Kong Marathon Japan tour “Japanese Only” registration is sanitized to include NJ residents, but “Japanese Citizenship” remains requirement on actual registration page"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\"Guidebookcover.jpg\"<\/a>\"japaneseonlyebookcovertext\"<\/a>\"Handbook<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\"<\/a>\"sourstrawberriesavatar\"<\/a>\"debitopodcastthumb\"<\/a>\"FodorsJapan2014cover\"<\/a>
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Hi Blog. \u00a0This is an update to the previous post<\/a>, but it deserves a separate blog entry for the deceitfulness. \u00a0Thanks to Debito.org Readers<\/a> contacting the organizers in Hong Kong, the 20th\u00a0Standard Charted Hong Kong Marathon made it clear to their Japan tour organizers (http:\/\/www.hkmarathon.jp<\/a>)\u00a0that restricting applications “exclusively for Japanese people<\/a>” is unacceptable, as the event is open to all nationalities:<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

Case Ref No. FEED-VRSUP2-20151112-0378054 (BaCh\/FiCh)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Alex<\/a>,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you for contacting the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) on 10 November 2015, letting us know the comments posted on Dr. Arudou Debito\u2019s website in regard to the registration requirements for the \u201c2016 Hong Kong Marathon tour package\u201d sold in Japan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After receiving your email, we have immediately communicated with the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association (HKAAA), who is the organiser of Standard Charted Hong Kong Marathon. According to HKAAA, all people who are residing in Japan, regardless of their nationalities, are allowed to join the mentioned tour. They have already advised the tour operator \u201cKinki Nippon Travel\u201d to amend relevant wordings on the registration site .\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once again, thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. Should we could be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to call me or send me an email.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Best Regards,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fion Cheng<\/strong>
\nSenior Executive, Visitor Services<\/strong>
\nHong Kong Tourism Board<\/strong><\/p>\n

Direct line: +852 2807 6108<\/strong>
\nDirect fax: +852 2807 6581<\/strong>
\nWebsite:\u00a0http:\/\/www.DiscoverHongKong.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

\"HongKongMarathonJapaneseOnly20151\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This has resulted in changes to the website wording, from<\/p>\n

“This tour is designed exclusively for Japanese people.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>
\nApplications from other nationalities are not acceptable. Applications from non-Japanese runners will be treated as \u201cinvalid\u201d and any deposit payment would not be refunded.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"HongKongMarathonJapaneseOnly20152\"<\/a><\/p>\n

to<\/p>\n

“This tour is designed exclusively for people residing in Japan.\u00a0<\/strong>
\nApplications from other countries are not acceptable. Applications from runners who are not residing in Japan will be treated as “invalid” and any deposit payment would not be refunded.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"HongKongMarathonResidentOnly1112152\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sounds better. \u00a0Gone is the assumption that foreign nationals living in Japan are not residents of Japan.<\/p>\n

However, if you actually go to the website registration page (http:\/\/www.hkmarathon.jp\/pre.html<\/a>), the requirement for applicants of Japanese citizenship (item six in the bullet points: \u79c1\u306f\u65e5\u672c\u56fd\u7c4d\u3092\u6709\u3057\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3059) is still there:<\/p>\n

\"HongKongMarathonJapaneseOnly111315\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(screen capture as of November 14, 2015 JST)<\/em><\/p>\n

So although the English has changed for the purposes of placating the English-reading world, the “secret code for domestic consumption only<\/a>” that is the Japanese written language is\u00a0maintaining the same “Japanese Only<\/a>”\u00a0rules. It is very hard to see this as a mere oversight.<\/p>\n

And as written, NJ resident applicants still face refusal and then a non-refund of their deposit payments. It’s gone from mere exclusionism to the potential for misleading applicants into corporate theft. How duplicitous and unprofessional of the Japan-side organizers. Imagine the internet uproar if a Japanese company made a mistake this big for its Japanese customers. \u00a0Again, its seems,\u00a0foreign customers in Japan don’t matter<\/a>. \u00a0Dr. ARUDOU, Debito<\/p>\n

UPDATE NOVEMBER 13, 2015:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Was tweeted this picture in regards to the Standard Chartered Bangkok Marathon registration desk for Japanese in Bangkok, Thailand. \u00a0Seems to be more systematic than just Japanese organizers within Japan. \u00a0More like the organization is excluding foreigners everywhere in the world, including in those nations where Japanese are foreigners themselves.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"HongKongMarathonJeseOnlyTwitPic111215\"<\/a><\/p>\n

More tweeted details from the same source were<\/em><\/strong>: “November 12, 2015 in Bangkok Thailand. Registration for the Standard Chartered BKK marathon. they also had their own ‘bib boards’ i.e. Names and bib numbers not with the rest of the marathon runners, but ‘separate'”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is an update to the previous post, but it deserves a separate blog entry for the deceitfulness. Thanks to Debito.org Readers contacting the organizers in Hong Kong, the 20th Standard Charted Hong Kong Marathon made it clear to their Japan tour organizers (http:\/\/www.hkmarathon.jp) that restricting applications “exclusively for Japanese people” is unacceptable, as “all people who are residing in Japan, regardless of their nationalities, are allowed to join the mentioned tour”.<\/p>\n

The Japan-side website then changed its wording to “This tour is designed exclusively for people residing in Japan. Applications from other countries are not acceptable. Applications from runners who are not residing in Japan will be treated as “invalid” and any deposit payment would not be refunded.” But if you actually go to the website registration page (http:\/\/www.hkmarathon.jp\/pre.html), the requirement for applicants of Japanese citizenship (item six in the bullet points: \u79c1\u306f\u65e5\u672c\u56fd\u7c4d\u3092\u6709\u3057\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3059) is still there (screen capture). <\/p>\n

So although the English has changed for the purposes of placating the English-reading world, in Japanese are the same “Japanese Only” rules. It is very hard to see this as a mere oversight. And as written, NJ resident applicants still face refusal and then a non-refund of their deposit payments. It’s gone from mere exclusionism to the potential for misleading applicants into corporate theft. How duplicitous and unprofessional of the Japan-side organizers. Imagine the internet uproar if a Japanese company made a mistake this big for its Japanese customers. Again, its seems, foreign customers in Japan don’t matter.<\/p>\n

UPDATE NOVEMBER 13, 2015: Was tweeted this picture in regards to the Standard Chartered Bangkok Marathon registration desk for Japanese in Bangkok, Thailand. Seems to be more systematic than just Japanese organizers within Japan. More like the organization is excluding foreigners everywhere in the world, including in those nations where Japanese are foreigners themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,54,43,36,34,50,5,26,13,11,17,55,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-embedded-racism","category-pinprick-protests","category-bad-business-practices","category-bad-social-science","category-exclusionism","category-gaiatsu","category-human-rights","category-ironies-hypocrisies","category-media","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-sport","category-tourism","category-8"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13640","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=13640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}