{"id":1707,"date":"2008-06-02T15:39:20","date_gmt":"2008-06-02T06:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=1707"},"modified":"2008-07-23T19:05:44","modified_gmt":"2008-07-23T10:05:44","slug":"japan-times-4th-just-be-cause-column-on-good-grass-roots-out-tues-june-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=1707","title":{"rendered":"Japan Times 4th JUST BE CAUSE column on “Good Grass Roots” June 3 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Handbook<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"Foreign<\/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>\"JAPANESE<\/a><\/p>\n

GOOD NEWS FROM GRASS ROOTS<\/span><\/div>\n
JUST BE CAUSE COLUMN 4<\/span><\/div>\n
By Arudou Debito<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Japan Times June 3, 2008<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Draft ten with links to sources.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n

Courtesy http:\/\/search.japantimes.co.jp\/cgi-bin\/fl20080603ad.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Reader Rodney in Vancouver recently emailed:\u00a0 “I’ve often found\u00a0your articles informative and useful, but they tend to take a tone of\u00a0complaint.\u00a0 Please tell us about some face-to-face, grassroots\u00a0efforts that have helped make Japanese more considerate and respectful\u00a0of those who are different.”<\/p>\n

Thanks.\u00a0 Yes, my essays sound like “complaints” because I focus on ongoing issues that need redress<\/a>.\u00a0 That doesn’t mean I don’t see the good news too<\/a>.\u00a0 Here are 700 words to prove that (apologies for leaving out anyone’s favorite topic):<\/p>\n

First up, the labor unions (i.e. the ones that let non-Japanese join, even help run).\u00a0 Their annual Marches in March<\/a>, for example, have made it clear to the media (and nasty employers like NOVA<\/a>)\u00a0that non-Japanese workers are living in and working for Japan–and that\u00a0they are ready to stand up for themselves, in both collective\u00a0bargaining and public demonstrations.<\/p>\n

These groups have gained the ear of the media and national Diet members, pointing out the legal ambiguity of Trainee Visas<\/a>, and systematic abuses of imported labor such as virtual slavery<\/a> and even child labor<\/a>. For example, Lower House member (and former Prime Ministerial candidate) Taro Kono in 2006 called the entire work visa regime “a swindle”<\/a>, and opened ministerial debate on revising it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the same vein, local NGOs are helping NJ workers learn Japanese\u00a0<\/a>and find their way around Japan’s social safety net.\u00a0 Local\u00a0governments with high NJ populations have likewise begun multilingual\u00a0services; Shizuoka Prefecture even\u00a0abolished their practice of denying Kokumin Hoken health insurance to\u00a0NJ (on the grounds that NJ weren’t “kokumin”, or citizens)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These governments are holding regular meetings, issuing formal petitions (such as the Hamamatsu and Yokkaichi Sengens<\/a>) to the national government, recommending they improve NJ education, social insurance, and registration procedures.<\/p>\n

Still more NGOs and concerned citizens are petitioning the United Nations.\u00a0 Special\u00a0Rapporteur Doudou Diene has thrice visited Japan on their invitation,\u00a0reporting that racial discrimination here is “deep and profound” and\u00a0demanding Japan pass laws against it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although the government largely ignored Diene’s reports, United Nations representatives did not.\u00a0 The Human Rights Council frequently referenced them when questioning Japan’s commitment to human rights last May<\/a>.\u00a0 That’s how big these issues can get.<\/p>\n

More successes from the grassroots:\u00a0 Separated\/divorced NJ parents with no custody (or even access) to their Japanese children have drawn attention<\/a> to Japan’s unwillingness to abide by international standards against child abduction.\u00a0 After international media coverage<\/a> and pressure, Japan announced last month it would finally sign the Hague Convention on Child Abductions by 2010<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Decades of civil disobedience by “Zainichi” Korean Permanent Residents led to the abolition of all NJ fingerprinting in 1999<\/a>.\u00a0 Although claims of “terrorism and crime” led to Japan reinstating NJ fingerprinting at points of entry into the country in November<\/a>, the Zainichis were granted an exception.<\/p>\n

Last year, a viciously racist magazine on foreign crime entitled “Gaijin Hanzai”<\/a> found its way into convenience stores nationwide (Zeit Gist March 20, 2007<\/a>). \u00a0Internet mail campaigns and direct negotiation with store managers\u00a0occasioned its withdrawal from the market–even helped bankrupt the\u00a0publisher.<\/p>\n

And of course, there is the perennial campaign against “Japanese Only” establishments<\/a>, which often exclude any customer who doesn’t “look Japanese”.\u00a0 Following Brazilian Ana Bortz’s 1999 court victory against a Hamamatsu jewelry store<\/a>, I was one plaintiff in another successful lawsuit (2001-2005) against a public bath.\u00a0 The Otaru Onsens Case<\/a> has become, according to law schools, a landmark lawsuit in Postwar Japan.<\/p>\n

It’s a long story, but here’s the “face-to-face” for Rodney:\u00a0 Only\u00a0one Otaru bathhouse got sued because we went to each one (and a number\u00a0of others around the country) for long chats.\u00a0 One owner even\u00a0became my friend, and, heartsick at what he was doing, took his “no\u00a0foreigner” signs down.\u00a0 As did many other places when persuaded\u00a0politely by us. (More in my book Japanese Only<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

These are the butterflies flapping up a storm, sweeping down barrier\u00a0after barrier.\u00a0 Things are indeed getting better in many ways for\u00a0NJ residents.<\/p>\n

And that’s partly because we have shed our “cultural relativism” and\u00a0“guestism”, pushing more for our due in a society that needs us.<\/p>\n

People are listening.\u00a0 Some steps forward, some back.\u00a0 But we\u00a0shall proceed and succeed, as the above examples demonstrate.<\/p>\n

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

\"HANDBOOKcover.jpg\"<\/a>Arudou Debito is co-author of Handbook For Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants to Japan<\/a>. A version of this essay with links to these issues at www.debito.org\/japantimes060308.html<\/span>
<\/p>\n

720 words<\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GOOD NEWS FROM GRASS ROOTS
\nJUST BE CAUSE COLUMN 4
\nBy Arudou Debito, Japan Times June 3, 2008
\nReader Rodney in Vancouver recently emailed: “I’ve often found your articles informative and useful, but they tend to take a tone of complaint. Please tell us about some face-to-face, grassroots efforts that have helped make Japanese more considerate and respectful of those who are different.”<\/p>\n

Thanks. Yes, my essays sound like “complaints” because I focus on ongoing issues that need redress. That doesn’t mean I don’t see the good news too. Here are 700 words to prove that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,18,35,5,16,2,11,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anti-discrimination-templates","category-academia","category-good-news","category-human-rights","category-labor-issues","category-otaru-onsen-lawsuit","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-united-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1707","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=1707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1707\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}