{"id":16391,"date":"2021-01-18T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T08:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=16391"},"modified":"2021-01-18T11:30:55","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T19:30:55","slug":"debito-org-newsletter-january-18-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=16391","title":{"rendered":"DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER JANUARY 18, 2021"},"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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DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER JANUARY 18, 2021<\/strong>
\nTable of Contents:<\/strong><\/em>
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1) Japan Times: J Govt\u2019s pandemic border policy highlights their taking advantage of insecure legal status of foreign residents<\/strong>
\n2) \u201cTired Panda\u201d on how rural tax authorities specialize in targeting foreign taxpayers for audit. And Japan aims to be Asia\u2019s #1 financial hub? Hah.<\/strong>
\n3) \u201cEducating the Non-Japanese Underclass\u201d, my Shingetsu News Agency \u201cVisible Minorities\u201d Col 2, Sept 17, 2019, link to full text<\/strong><\/p>\n

… and finally…<\/em><\/strong>
\n4) My SNA Visible Minorities 17: NIKE JAPAN Advertisement on Japan\u2019s Visible Minorities does some good (Dec 21, 2020)<\/strong>
\n\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

By Debito Arudou, Ph.D. (debito@debito.org, www.debito.org, Twitter @arudoudebito)
\nDebito.org Newsletters are as always freely forwardable<\/p>\n

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1) Japan Times: J Govt\u2019s pandemic border policy highlights their taking advantage of insecure legal status of foreign residents<\/strong><\/p>\n

JT: Inequity between the treatment of Japanese and non-Japanese residents, including those with established residency status and decadeslong careers here, brought back to the surface long-standing frustrations over apparent struggles with multiculturalism in the nation, stirring debate on the status of foreign residents here and the extent of Japan\u2019s preparedness for an influx of foreign workers that had been anticipated before the pandemic struck.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As questions linger over the government\u2019s intentions behind the controversial rules, records and reports from behind the scenes of Japan\u2019s fight against the pandemic have begun to emerge.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They highlight the limits of the nation\u2019s immigration strategy, with decisions apparently made ad hoc amid chaos, and reveal the insecure status of foreign nationals in Japan and underlying discriminatory attitudes within society toward immigrants and expatriates\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=16361<\/a><\/p>\n

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2) \u201cTired Panda\u201d on how rural tax authorities specialize in targeting foreign taxpayers for audit. And Japan aims to be Asia\u2019s #1 financial hub? Hah.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the wake of treating Non-Japanese Residents like they\u2019re riddled with extra Covid contagion, here\u2019s yet another example of how Non-Japanese taxpayers are treated with extra suspicion \u2014 with bored tax auditors even in the most rural areas of Japan dedicated to ferreting out rank-and-file sneaky foreigners\u2019 assets and earnings socked away overseas. Courtesy of Debito.org Reader \u201cTired Panda\u201d, edited and reproduced here with permission.<\/p>\n

According to numerous sources, \u201cJapan has explicitly stated its goal is to make Tokyo the number one financial city in Asia\u2026 Japanese officials see an opportunity to lure the Asian headquarters of global financial firms to Tokyo as Hong Kong struggles under new scrutiny from Beijing.\u201d In a business climate like the one being described by \u201cTired Panda\u201d below, who wound up giving up Permanent Residency status after being zapped by local tax authorities, this seems unlikely to happen in Japan.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tired Panda: It started with my tax accountant in [Katainaka Prefecture], who I have used for several years, suddenly asking me to declare my worldly assets, including how many mountains I owned. Being unaware of any such requirement, I was stunned by this and resisted but my accountant said just roughly write it down and as long as it\u2019s under 5,000,000 you\u2019ll be OK. Just sign it.<\/em><\/p>\n

The tax department audited me a couple of years ago covering a period of 5 years. They have two young recruits whose full-time job is to concentrate on foreigners. They speak no English. They produced figures suggesting I had been evading taxes over this time and the amount of tax payable. They would not say what shares or investments were the source of the income and I had no way of disputing any figures. I\u2019m aware that tax losses can be carried over to offset gains but they would not recognize this for my foreign investments, saying something about a \u201cblue paper\u201d. I made a start on trying to track everything over the years, but gave up when it became evident that unless something was in the format they required, such as a statement from Monex Japan, they would not accept it. They also slapped a penalty on each of the year\u2019s taxes, compounding over the five year period. It became obvious that it was futile and I paid a substantial amount.<\/em><\/p>\n

I thought this was the end of that horrifically stressful saga and I would make sure to try and do everything required and account for everything down to the last cent. I decided to revoke my permanent residency as I can\u2019t see myself living indefinitely in this country which is forever tightening the tax noose in an effort to pay for the aging population. With the sponsorship of my company and using the new points system I changed to \u201cHighly Skilled Professional (i) (b)\u201d status\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=16373<\/a><\/p>\n

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3) \u201cEducating the Non-Japanese Underclass\u201d, my Shingetsu News Agency \u201cVisible Minorities\u201d Col 2, Sept 17, 2019, link to full text<\/strong><\/p>\n

SNA \u2014 In a shocking series of expos\u00e9s at the beginning of this month, the Mainichi Shinbun reported that minority children of workers in Japanese schools were being segregated from their Japanese peers, put in classes for the mentally disabled, and systematically denied an education.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For years now, according to Ministry of Education surveys, schools have subjected their non-native foreign minority students to IQ tests. The results were striking: Non-Japanese children were found to have \u201cdevelopmental disorders\u201d at more than double the rate of the general Japanese student population.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Striking, but not all that surprising\u2014since these tests assessed IQ via culturally-grounded questions, on things like Japanese shogunates and tanabata festivals. They also considered a lack of Japanese language skills an \u201cintellectual\u201d disability.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Let that sink in. Try claiming that your Japanese students are dim because they aren\u2019t proficient in English, and then watch how long you remain an educator.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But here\u2019s where the bad science turns evil\u2026<\/em><\/strong>
\nRead the full text now without paywall at https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=15744<\/a><\/p>\n

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

… and finally…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

4) My SNA Visible Minorities 17: NIKE JAPAN Advertisement on Japan\u2019s Visible Minorities does some good (Dec 21, 2020)<\/strong><\/p>\n

SNA \u2014 Nike\u2019s television advertisement depicting a multiethnic Japan stands out as a bright spot to close out the dreadful year of 2020. Entitled \u201cWe Will Continue Moving: Myself and the Future,\u201d the two-minute ad depicts a series of diverse Asian youths pensive about their lives in Japan.<\/em><\/strong>
\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=G02u6sN_sRc<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\n[\u2026] The takeaway message in a final montage of voices is the treatment they\u2019re getting is not something they should have to tolerate. They shouldn\u2019t have to wait for a world where they can live \u201cas is,\u201d without concealing themselves.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, before I say why this advertisement is important, let\u2019s acknowledge some caveats. One is that this is from Nike Japan, and like all corporations their motivation is to make money. It is a stunt to attract attention and sell products. Moreover, Nike taking a high road with social justice issues is a bit ironic, given their history of child labor and sweatshops. Above all, human rights and business do not always mix well, and businesspeople are essentially opportunists. So let\u2019s first not delude ourselves to think Nike is primarily motivated by altruism.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The other point worth mentioning is the attention that the ad got: 11 million views so far on YouTube. Naturally, internet trolls, xenophobes, and haters got triggered. Unfortunately, even responsible media (such as the AFP and BBC) gave them oxygen by reporting their overblown calls for a boycott, then fumbled the issue by getting soundbites from unqualified \u201cexperts\u201d with no real training in Japan\u2019s history of civil rights, social movements, or race relations issues. These rubes missed the mark by denouncing Nike Japan as a \u201cforeign brand,\u201d or dismissing these kids as \u201coutside voices.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is worse than just lazy journalist hackery. This fumble was a missed opportunity to highlight issues that have long been ignored in Japan\u2019s media\u2014the existence of a growing number of visible minorities. So let\u2019s make up for that in this column by acknowledging that Nike Japan\u2019s ad was a big step in the right direction\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rest of the article at http:\/\/shingetsunewsagency.com\/2020\/12\/21\/visible-minorities-nike-japan-does-some-good\/<\/a> (paywall, please subscribe)
\nCommentary site at https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=16338<\/a><\/p>\n

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That’s all for this month. Thanks for reading!<\/p>\n

DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER JANUARY 18, 2021 ENDS<\/strong><\/p>\n

======================
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Table of Contents:
\n1) Japan Times: J Govt\u2019s pandemic border policy highlights their taking advantage of insecure legal status of foreign residents
\n2) \u201cTired Panda\u201d on how rural tax authorities specialize in targeting foreign taxpayers for audit. And Japan aims to be Asia\u2019s #1 financial hub? Hah.
\n3) \u201cEducating the Non-Japanese Underclass\u201d, my Shingetsu News Agency \u201cVisible Minorities\u201d Col 2, Sept 17, 2019, link to full text
\n… and finally…
\n4) My SNA Visible Minorities 17: NIKE JAPAN Advertisement on Japan\u2019s Visible Minorities does some good (Dec 21, 2020)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16391","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=16391"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16392,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16391\/revisions\/16392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}