{"id":17085,"date":"2022-06-20T01:00:51","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T08:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17085"},"modified":"2022-06-20T11:01:15","modified_gmt":"2022-06-20T18:01:15","slug":"debito-org-newsletter-june-20-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17085","title":{"rendered":"DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER JUNE 20, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

Books, eBooks, and more from Debito Arudou, Ph.D. (click on icon):
\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>
\nUPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito
\nDEBITO.ORG PODCASTS on iTunes, subscribe free
\n“LIKE” US on Facebook at http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/debitoorg<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embeddedrcsmJapan<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/handbookimmigrants<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JapaneseOnlyTheBook<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BookInAppropriate<\/a>
\nIf you like what you read and discuss on Debito.org, please consider helping us stop hackers and defray maintenance costs with a little donation via my webhoster:
\n\"Donate<\/a>
\nAll donations go towards website costs only. Thanks for your support!<\/i><\/p>\n

DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER JUNE 20, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

Table of Contents:<\/em><\/strong>
\n\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

MURDER DECRIMINALIZED<\/strong>
\n1) Asahi: \u201cProsecutors drop case over death of detained Sri Lankan woman\u201d, predictably ending Criminal Case brought by the family of Wishma Sandamali, and keeping Japan\u2019s deadly \u201cGaijin Tanks\u201d unaccountable<\/strong>
\n2) Japan Today expose: How the media failed Japan\u2019s most vulnerable immigrants (Feb 22, 2022)<\/strong><\/p>\n

OTHER UNFAIRNESS<\/strong>
\n3) MRI on rude and slipshod treatment from Shizuoka hospitals and health care practitioners<\/strong>
\n4) Kyodo: Japan-born American files suit against Japan\u2019s dual nationality ban<\/strong><\/p>\n

FULL TEXT OF OLDER SNA COLUMNS ARCHIVED<\/strong>
\n5) SNA VM9: \u201cPandemic Releases Antibodies toward Non-Japanese\u201d, April 20, 2020 (full text)<\/strong>
\n6) Debito\u2019s SNA VM8: \u201cNo Free Pass for Japan\u2019s Shirking Responsibility\u201d, Mar 16, 2020 (full text<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

… and finally …<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

7) My SNA Visible Minorities col 34: \u201cHenry Scott-Stokes, Sell-Out to Gaijin Handlers, dies.\u201d May 23, 2022, with ruminations on why foreign journalism in Japan has historically been so astray.<\/strong>
\n\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

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

MURDER DECRIMINALIZED<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) Asahi: \u201cProsecutors drop case over death of detained Sri Lankan woman\u201d, predictably ending Criminal Case brought by the family of Wishma Sandamali, and keeping Japan\u2019s deadly \u201cGaijin Tanks\u201d unaccountable<\/strong><\/p>\n

Asahi: Public prosecutors will drop their case against senior officials from the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau over the death of a Sri Lankan woman at an immigration detention facility, according to sources. Wishma Sandamali, 33, died in March 2021 at a facility run by the bureau, in a case that sparked widespread outcry over her mistreatment.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Nagoya District Public Prosecutors Office launched an investigation into whether the senior officials in charge at the time had committed murder or negligence as a guardian resulting in death, responding to criminal complaints against them from Wishma\u2019s family and others. Sources said the prosecutors office concluded it cannot establish criminal liability in this case following discussions with another prosecution office that is higher in rank.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: We\u2019ve talked about the Sandamali Case here on Debito.org before, as we have the many other cases of death and destruction in Japan\u2019s cruel Detention Centers. One of the reasons they remain so cruel is that they face no accountability, as seen here. And prosecutors declining to prosecute those who kill foreigners have been discussed at length in my book Embedded Racism, Chapter 6, \u201cA \u2018Chinaman\u2019s Chance\u2019 in Japanese Court\u201d (with 2022 updates of more cases, including Sandamali\u2019s, in the Second Edition).<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17077<\/a><\/p>\n

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

2) Japan Today expose: How the media failed Japan\u2019s most vulnerable immigrants (Feb 22, 2022)<\/strong><\/p>\n

JT: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a strange institution. It\u2019s responsible for the way Japan is perceived abroad, and it decides who receives the opportunity to immigrate. But its jurisdiction over the lives of immigrants largely vanishes when they reach Japan. It\u2019s also the most influential agency that does not play a meaningful role in developing the government\u2019s legislative agenda. Senior MoFA officials can only watch in dismay as less prestigious agencies, including some of Japan\u2019s most corrupt, devise legislation that erodes the rights of immigrants and damages Japan\u2019s international reputation.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A proposed overhaul of Japan\u2019s detention system, scuttled in 2021 after the death of detainee Wishma Rathnayake and a resulting wave of protests, was especially unpopular with Japanese diplomats. The Kishida administration has revived it anyway, with parliamentary debate anticipated this summer. Until recently, MoFA relied on the press to guard against legislative aggression toward immigrants, quietly passing sensitive information to reporters who covered the Ministry of Justice, which enforces immigration law.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to MoFA officials who acted as my sources during the 10 years I covered immigration, their current reluctance to cooperate with journalists is related to the sense, among the agency\u2019s staff, that the media has become \u201cmuch louder, but much less effective\u201d on issues of immigration.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The officials I spoke with traced this problem to 2019, when a detainee starved to death at a detention center in Nagasaki, following a four-week hunger strike, named Gerald \u201cSunny\u201d Okafor\u2026 Meanwhile, the press has helped to turn Okafor\u2019s death into a non-story, by disseminating state propaganda that diminishes the death\u2019s significance, then responding to that propaganda with opinion essays instead of investigations.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17013<\/a><\/p>\n

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

OTHER UNFAIRNESS<\/strong>
\n3) MRI on rude and slipshod treatment from Shizuoka hospitals and health care practitioners<\/strong><\/p>\n

MRI<\/strong>: I have been working and living in Shizuoka City for [close to a decade] now. I have not had any serious illnesses other than a mild case of chronic gastritis but in recent years, I know it has become more serious due to my symptoms becoming more severe regardless of the Takecab that I take daily for it. Due to this health issue becoming more serious, I have been needing to visit various clinics and I have been experiencing what I call indirect refusal.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, I know that in the past, many foreigners were refused medical care due to not having kokumin kenkou hoken but even though I have a valid card, the doctor will always ignore me while I am trying to explain my symptoms and reason for my visit. Both the doctors and staff of various clinics here in Shizuoka City have almost systematically acted cold, uncaring, unresponsive and even downright rude to me.<\/em><\/p>\n

After this happened the first couple times, I thought it was just that one particular nurse or doctor that was the problem, but after numerous experiences just like this at a number of other clinics, I realized that this is a big problem that needs to be brought to light.<\/em><\/p>\n

Every time I am waiting in the lobby of a clinic or hospital here in Japan, I have a constant feeling that I am wasting my time and money. I almost always leave a clinic kicking myself because the doctor did indeed do everything they could to avoid helping me\u2026<\/em> [Specific names of institutions and their treatment follow.]<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17067<\/a><\/p>\n

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

4) Kyodo: Japan-born American files suit against Japan\u2019s dual nationality ban<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kyodo: A Japanese-born American said Thursday she has filed a lawsuit with a Japanese court claiming that the country\u2019s nationality law, which bans its citizens from also holding a foreign nationality, violates the Constitution.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yuri Kondo, 75, who currently lives in Fukuoka in southwestern Japan and filed the lawsuit at the Fukuoka District Court, said at a press conference with her legal team that acquiring U.S. citizenship should not have automatically stripped her of her Japanese one. Kondo, who was born in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, moved to the United States in 1971 to attend graduate school and began practicing law in Arizona in 1997.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After becoming a U.S. citizen in 2004, she attempted to renew her Japanese passport in 2017 but her application was rejected. She is currently in Japan on her U.S. passport. Kondo claims that Article 11 of the nationality law, which stipulates that Japanese citizens automatically lose their nationality upon gaining a foreign nationality, violates the right to pursue happiness and equality as guaranteed by the Constitution.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: Let\u2019s go through just how arbitrary, complicated, and racialized Japan\u2019s Nationality Law is\u2026<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17062<\/a><\/p>\n

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

FULL TEXT OF OLDER SNA COLUMNS ARCHIVED<\/strong>
\n5) SNA VM9: \u201cPandemic Releases Antibodies toward Non-Japanese\u201d, April 20, 2020 (full text)<\/strong><\/p>\n

SNA (April 2020) — Pandemics can bring out the best in people. Newton came up with theories on calculus, optics, and gravity while in quarantine. Shakespeare wrote some of his best plays, and Edvard Munch created iconic paintings in isolation. Even today, we\u2019re seeing heroes in the health care industry, volunteers sewing and distributing basic personal protective equipment, neighbors checking up on each other, and leaders stepping up their organizational skills. When the daily normal becomes a struggle between life and death, we see what people are really made of.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In Japan, we\u2019re seeing much of the \u201ckeep calm and carry on\u201d mettle found in a society girded for frequent natural disasters. But that grit hasn\u2019t trickled upward to Japan\u2019s political elite, which has ruled largely without accountability for generations, and at times like these appears particularly out of touch. More concerned about the economics of cancelling the Tokyo Olympics than about the safety of the general public, Japan\u2019s policymakers haven\u2019t conducted adequate Covid-19 testing, exercised timely or sufficient social distancing, or even tallied accurate infection statistics.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As happened in prior outbreaks, such as SARS and AIDS, leaders have deflected blame onto foreigners. First China, then outsiders in general, starting with the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship (which, despite a third of its passengers being Japanese citizens, was even excluded from Japan\u2019s coronavirus patient tallies). But treating outsiders like contagion has consequences: Society develops antibodies, and Japan\u2019s already-normalized discrimination intensifies. Consider the case of Mio Sugita, a Liberal Democratic Party Lower House Diet Member from Tottori\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Read the full text archived at https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=16031<\/a><\/p>\n

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

6) Debito\u2019s SNA VM8: \u201cNo Free Pass for Japan\u2019s Shirking Responsibility\u201d, Mar 16, 2020 (full text)<\/strong><\/p>\n

SNA (March 2020) \u2014 There\u2019s an oft-used expression in Japanese: sekinin tenka. Best translated as \u201cpassing the buck,\u201d it\u2019s a reflex of dodging blame for one\u2019s own actions by transferring responsibility to others. For too long, Japan has done so on the world stage with impunity\u2014even when it affects the world adversely.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with, since it\u2019s timely, the 3.11 Fukushima nuclear meltdown that took place nine years ago this month. While the earthquake and tsunami are not Japan\u2019s fault, situating a nuclear power plant so perilously close to the coastline is; as is the perpetually-botched response of containment and leakage (even the willful dumping) of irradiated water into the Pacific Ocean.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Contrast that with the attention and criticism (and even a TV series) Russia got for Chernobyl, where the situation has finally been contained in a sarcophagus. In Japan, officials instead blamed world standards of safe radiation levels for being alarmist (adjusting them upwards for domestic political purposes) and declared Fukushima produce safe for consumption.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even more timely is how sekinin tenka influenced Japan\u2019s Covid-19 response\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Full text archived at https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=15978<\/a><\/p>\n

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

… and finally …<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

7) My SNA Visible Minorities col 34: \u201cHenry Scott-Stokes, Sell-Out to Gaijin Handlers, dies.\u201d May 23, 2022, with ruminations on why foreign journalism in Japan has historically been so astray.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SNA: Henry Johnstone Morland Scott-Stokes, patrician among Japan\u2019s foreign correspondents since 1964, recently died in Tokyo at the age of 83, but not before he did untold damage by performing as a foreign handmaid to Japan\u2019s fascists.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A man described as \u201ctweedy\u201d and \u201centertaining and congenial,\u201d Briton Scott-Stokes was nonetheless a man of privilege, lucky enough to land in Japan as Tokyo bureau chief of the Financial Times only three years after graduating from Oxford.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Becoming bureau chief of a major newspaper at the wizened old age of 26 might seem odd today, but back then foreign journalism in Japan had lower standards, and the field was infused with neocolonial attitudes towards the \u201cnatives.\u201d Fluency in your assigned country\u2019s language was not required.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nor was Japanese required at the other \u201cBig Three\u201d English-language newspapers in Japan, as Scott-Stokes later became bureau chief of The Times of London and the New York Times through the 1970s and early 1980s. For a man described as \u201csomeone who really understood Japan,\u201d he spent his entire 58 years in Japan as a functional illiterate, unable to fluently read, write, or speak Japanese\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Most hacks in his station moved on to other countries or settled into a quiet life in Japan, living a harmless twilight existence as cottage consultants in their cups. Scott-Stokes didn\u2019t. He didn\u2019t just continue to rely on his privileged access to Japan\u2019s elite for his income; he decided to embrace their fascist tendencies\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Entire article (which stoked much controversy) at
\nhttps:\/\/shingetsunewsagency.com\/2022\/05\/23\/visible-minorities-henry-scott-stokes-sell-out-to-gaijin-handlers\/<\/a>
\nAnchor site for commentary at
\nhttps:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17038<\/a><\/p>\n

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

That’s all for this month. Thanks for reading!
\nDEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER JUNE 20, 2022 ENDS<\/strong><\/p>\n

======================
\nDo you like what you read on Debito.org? \u00a0Want to help keep the archive active and support Debito.org’s activities? \u00a0Please consider donating a little something. \u00a0More details here<\/a>. Or if you prefer something less complicated, just click on an advertisement below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Table of Contents:
\nMURDER DECRIMINALIZED
\n1) Asahi: \u201cProsecutors drop case over death of detained Sri Lankan woman\u201d, predictably ending Criminal Case brought by the family of Wishma Sandamali, and keeping Japan\u2019s deadly \u201cGaijin Tanks\u201d unaccountable
\n2) Japan Today expose: How the media failed Japan\u2019s most vulnerable immigrants (Feb 22, 2022)<\/p>\n

OTHER UNFAIRNESS
\n3) MRI on rude and slipshod treatment from Shizuoka hospitals and health care practitioners
\n4) Kyodo: Japan-born American files suit against Japan\u2019s dual nationality ban<\/p>\n

FULL TEXT OF OLDER SNA COLUMNS ARCHIVED
\n5) SNA VM9: \u201cPandemic Releases Antibodies toward Non-Japanese\u201d, April 20, 2020 (full text)
\n6) Debito\u2019s SNA VM8: \u201cNo Free Pass for Japan\u2019s Shirking Responsibility\u201d, Mar 16, 2020 (full text)<\/p>\n

… and finally …
\n7) My SNA Visible Minorities col 34: \u201cHenry Scott-Stokes, Sell-Out to Gaijin Handlers, dies.\u201d May 23, 2022, with ruminations on why foreign journalism in Japan has historically been so astray.<\/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-17085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17085","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=17085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17086,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17085\/revisions\/17086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}