{"id":17416,"date":"2024-05-16T00:20:26","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T07:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17416"},"modified":"2024-05-16T00:22:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T07:22:03","slug":"my-sna-visible-minorities-col-55-from-dancing-monkey-to-symbol-of-hope-interview-with-ibaraki-prefectural-assemblyman-jon-heese-may-2-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17416","title":{"rendered":"My SNA Visible Minorities col 55: “From Dancing Monkey to Symbol of Hope”: Interview with Ibaraki Prefectural Assemblyman and naturalized Canadian-Japanese Jon Heese (May 2, 2024)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. \u00a0Here’s my latest SNA column, where Jon Heese and I have yet another candid chat (previous ones here,<\/a> here<\/a>, and here<\/a>) about politics in Japan — he as a politician, me as a columnist with a PoliSci background and a more adversarial relationship to power. Enjoy. I did. Debito Arudou, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Visible Minorities: From Dancing Monkey to Symbol of Hope<\/strong>
\nShingetsu News Agency, May 02, 2024, by Debito Arudou<\/strong>
\nhttps:\/\/shingetsunewsagency.com\/2024\/05\/02\/visible-minorities-from-dancing-monkey-to-symbol-of-hope\/<\/a><\/p>\n

BIO<\/strong>:\u00a0 Jon Heese is becoming an old hand in Japanese politics, having served 13 years at various levels of government. He is presently one of five councilors representing Tsukuba (60 km NE of Tokyo) in the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly\u2014similar to a state or provincial legislature. After winning four terms at the city level, Mr. Heese leveled up in December, 2022. He is the first foreign-born politician to ever serve at the regional level.\u00a0 He sat down for an interview with Debito Arudou for his Visible Minorities column in April 2024.<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Hi Jon.\u00a0 Thanks for agreeing to yet another interview with me.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 It\u2019s the least I can do for my favorite rabble rouser.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Let me open with an argument:\u00a0 I make the case in one of my recent columns (https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17392<\/a>) that we don\u2019t see enough former Non-Japanese running for office because the Japanese government doesn\u2019t want them to.\u00a0 With no immigration policy, the GOJ doesn\u2019t just encourage NJ to become voters and citizens, they make it hard to graduate up to Permanent Residency and citizenship.\u00a0 Would you agree with that assessment?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 No immigration policy? Do you mean \u201cno policy to import labor willy-nilly \u00e0 la every western country?\u201d The question is already loaded. As for policy to prevent naturalization, thereby enfranchisement, I do not see any active policies intending to keep NJ from getting citizenship. Overall I see their immigration policies as an attempt to ensure that only contributing foreigners are allowed to stay beyond the 90 day tourist visa by obtaining a longer visa. Many countries try to keep out deadbeats. Japan is no different. By deadbeats, I mean people who are only coming to take advantage of our rather generous social services.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Hang on.\u00a0 Point of order.\u00a0 We\u2019re still falling back on those boilerplate arguments we see in the chauvinistic media that some foreigners are freeloaders.\u00a0 Not so.\u00a0 Every person in Japan one way or another pays some form of tax, and we\u2019ve had study after study showing that migrants and immigrants on balance contribute more to every society than they take out.\u00a0 So let\u2019s not resort to reflexive foreigner bashing \u201c\u00e0 la every Western Country\u201d.\u00a0 Now back to your point about naturalization.<\/s><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>: Immigrants are by their nature successful. The poorest and sickest cannot afford the cost of the trip, whether to pay for flights, boats, or other forms of transportation. Migrants demonstrate their motivation just by reaching our borders. Unsurprisingly they work hard to continue in their successful ways or leave for greener pastures. My \u201c\u00e0 la every Western Country\u201d comment is a reference to how much stricter Japan is to whom they give visas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 And that\u2019s kinda the point I\u2019m making in my opening argument.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 To continue, it\u2019s been my observation that the highest bar for naturalization is Japan\u2019s demand that new citizens give up their previous citizenship. Though I disagree with the government\u2019s ban on dual citizenship, I believe the government, as representatives of the people, have the right to make the rules. Are their rules shortsighted? In my opinion, yes. Will they change those rules at some point? I believe they will. However, given that it\u2019s actually easier to get citizenship than permanent residency, it\u2019s not the government keeping people from voting, it\u2019s the foreigners themselves that are keeping themselves from voting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Okay, spoken like a true Japanese politician.\u00a0 Blame the foreigner for the rules that are set by the politicians and bureaucrats.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 Would you have the foreigners setting their own rules\u2026?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 I think they should have some input into the process. \u00a0They know better what\u2019s best for them. \u00a0Especially if they\u2019ve leveled-up out of being foreign.\u00a0 To circle back to my opening point, the government is trying not to let them level up.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 It is my understanding that only a few countries out there that allow non-citizens to vote. And those countries that do permit participation limit foreigners to local elections. I understand Japan\u2019s logic but disagree with their fears of potential consequences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Granted, I also make the case that NJ have to take it upon themselves to stop being \u201cguests\u201d and enfranchise themselves.\u00a0 You\u2019ve advanced a similar argument (even to me when I considered running for office), only much more softly.\u00a0 Have you encountered much \u201cguestism\u201d<\/b>?\u00a0 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 I\u2019m not entirely sure what you mean by \u201cguestism,\u201d but I will assume you mean foreigners who see themselves as guests in spite of their very heavy investments in land and life in Japan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Yes, basically.\u00a0 What of it then?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 I see guestism all the time. I have also seen quite an uptick in people taking citizenship. Back when you and I naturalized we were still outliers. That is no longer the case. I estimate that the experiences of those who have become Japanese has influenced the thinking of lifers. When I arrived in Japan in \u201891 it was years before I ever met a naturalized person. You may be the first one I ever talked to. Former Upper House Diet Member Tsurunen Marutei<\/a> would likely have been the first I ever heard of. You can\u2019t be what you can\u2019t see. As more of us appeared, and, with the ability to share our experiences via social media, that we never had any issues getting through immigration, never felt pushback from our surrounding communities, indeed, life was really no different from pre to post naturalization, others took the plunge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Yes, but that was then and this is now.\u00a0 I say there is a lot more pushback now.\u00a0 It\u2019s harder to get Permanent Residency because you need a 3-year visa to get it, and there are plenty of incentives\u2014and examples\u2014of people being stuck on perpetual one-year visas<\/a>.\u00a0 Then COVID really flipped the script, where even those who had graduated up to Permanent Residents suddenly realized that they were no better than any short-term visa holder.\u00a0 They were, in the end, just garden-variety foreigners who couldn\u2019t come back if they left.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 I would argue it\u2019s much easier than when I first came in \u201991 to get PR. My first experiences with PR lifers, they needed to have worked 10 (continuous) years or be married to a local to get their PR in 5 years. These days they are offering the same to desired workers after 3 years. Other workers only need 5 years. No Japanese family necessary. I would also point out it\u2019s now easier to get citizenship. Back in our day we needed to have a Japanese spouse to get citizenship. No longer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Just a quick interruption, sorry.\u00a0 That last bit is not actually true.\u00a0 I know of a number of single people who managed to naturalize despite being dedicated bachelors or unsavory characters.\u00a0 Delfo Zorzi<\/a> or Nicola Zappetti<\/a>, for example.\u00a0 And again, back to PR:\u00a0 Yes, the years are less on paper, but reaching the 3-year visa threshold is harder<\/a>.\u00a0 I will agree with you, however, that naturalization is easier than PR nowadays.\u00a0 As long as you are willing to burn bridges with your country of origin, of course, and that\u2019s no small thing.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 I was told specifically back then I needed to be married. However, the Japanese bureaucracy does, on occasion, make exceptions. When I make the case these days to lifers, I point to what happened during the COVID pandemic. When the first travel bans were enacted there were no restrictions on the Japanese themselves. Japanese all had the right to come back. Yes, it was shameful, but the mewlings of you and I were not going to influence the Immigration officials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 But again, the rules are not set by the foreigners, so I think mewling is warranted here.\u00a0 It was a border control policy grounded in racism, not immunological science.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 No counterargument on my part. As the memory of the pandemic fades I will fall back to my initial argument of, \u201cYou have too much invested here for you to have no right to return.\u201d In principle I ask lifers if they honestly believe they\u2019re going back to their \u201chomeland.\u201d If not, then why are they holding on to some privilege they\u2019ll likely never use? In addition, even if they give up their previous citizenship, it\u2019s been my understanding that reacquiring their previous citizenship is pretty easy and straightforward.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 Maybe in Canada, but I doubt other countries are so forgiving.\u00a0 I\u2019ve found that United States officials even view giving up US citizenship as an act of betrayal.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 I think Canada would be more a world model than the US. Much of Canadian immigration policy would be influenced by the British Commonwealth. Last I saw there were more than 50 countries in the Commonwealth. In any case, I ask what is really being risked by taking citizenship? <\/span>Importantly, why are they risking their working life\u2019s investment for a \u201cmaybe someday\u201d idea? <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Okay, so to summarize, it\u2019s clear that you\u2019re very much on the side of the philosophy of \u201cshit or get off the pot\u201d when it comes to living in Japan as a Japanese citizen, even finding naturalization preferable to just taking out PR.\u00a0 Again, COVID made that choice much clearer.\u00a0 So how hard have you pushed people to naturalize and get elected?\u00a0 What arguments have you made to them to do so?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 I would generally recommend PR before naturalization for people from developed countries. Immigrants from less developed societies likely have nothing to go back to so giving up their citizenship is not an issue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Regarding my efforts to get others to run, there is one poor woman I\u2019ve been hounding to run for city council for a decade already. By now it\u2019s just a personal joke between us. She\u2019ll never run but it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if she naturalizes. I don\u2019t understand why she hasn\u2019t already. Different strokes, I guess.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Definitely.\u00a0 I too came this close to running for Sapporo City Council back in the day.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 Yes you did. And your decision gave me a lot to ponder on. What I have come to realize is people run for their own reasons. The candidates best suited to run don\u2019t need a dumbass like me to push them. At best I can show them the ropes. Towards that end I\u2019ve written a few blog posts, one with instructions on how to run an election, and another outlining what I actually did as a city councilor. I think I shared those sites already. If not, I\u2019ll pass them along.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Here they are :<\/b> <\/b>https:\/\/www.turning-japanese.info\/2017\/11\/hashiru.html?q=running<\/span><\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

There is a link to the second post in the first.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 This year I\u2019ve started a new project to log all my work activities at the prefecture, including travel times. You may have seen some of them on LinkedIn. As well as activities I try to liven my posts up with personal observations regarding the political system. People think politicians are the government. How na\u00efve! I<\/span>\u2019m doing my best to show how much work and what the work involves. My job is not at all what people think it is.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Well, spill the tea, Marie.\u00a0 What exactly is your job?\u00a0 Sell it to us, since you even hound people to run.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 Rather than just explaining my job, it will be useful to explain government. Understand that even after 15 years my views are still a work in progress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 As they should be.\u00a0 Politics is complicated.\u00a0 Any official who thinks they have all the answers is self-delusional.\u00a0 Please go on.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 The government is actually a symbiosis of elected and unelected officials. I\u2019ll start with the unelected officials, commonly known as civil servants. Their role is to maintain the machine as well as come up with solutions to problems society encounters on our common journey. Maintenance looks automatic but small adjustments still need to be made.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 So you clearly fall into the camp of government exists in order to solve problems.\u00a0 For the record, I agree, but remember I came of age during Reagan and Friedman\u2019s \u201csmall government\u201d era, where \u201cgovernment is not the solution to the problem; government IS the problem.\u201d\u00a0 And I\u2019ve spent a lifetime realizing that good public policy is possible.\u00a0 Japan convinced me of that.\u00a0 Pity Japan, for its part, is too timid sometimes to solve problems because people fear taking responsibility for making mistakes or causing unintended consequences.\u00a0 Instead they should better prepare the public in advance for what the potentially positive or negative consequences of a policy might be.\u00a0 [Sighs]\u00a0 Yeah, maybe I should have run for office after all\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>: Ha! I believe you should have. Serving would have been an eye-opening experience for you. As for public problems, a considerable amount of effort is made creating, distributing, and analyzing questionnaires. Walk-ins also make requests at the various service counters, keeping the civil service well informed of the needs and wants of the people. It is from these questionnaires that new policy is born.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 So you see policymaking in Japan as more bottom-up rather than top-down.\u00a0 I think most observers of Japan might think the opposite.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 Yes, like everywhere the media poorly portrays how the sausage is really made. Generally the populace believe that civil servants are managed by the elected officials, thus the power lies with the politicians. I believe it\u2019s the other way around. If you\u2019ve ever had the pleasure to watch the BBC programs, \u201cYes, Minister<\/i>,\u201d and \u201cYes, Prime Minister<\/i>,\u201d their depiction of how government actually works is much closer to the truth than the media leads us to believe. If you haven\u2019t watched it, it is MUST WATCH TV for anyone who wants to understand government. In my opinion it is the groups of unassuming civil servants who wield the greatest amount of collective power. Just as the CEO is the one who gets all the credit, it is more than likely the secretary that runs the ship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Then policymaking in Japan actually is top-down, yes?\u00a0 Then why so many questionnaires?\u00a0 Are we actually seeing an example of successful Marxist \u201cDemocratic Centralism,\u201d where input is collected from below and channeled upwards, but once the decision is made from the top, people below must follow it since they have given their input?\u00a0 Okay, sorry, I\u2019ll stuff my PoliSci textbook back in my mouth and let you continue.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 As I said, it\u2019s a symbiosis. My role, as elected representative of the people, is to act as the immune system. My duties in council are generally to shoot down any brick balloons some aspiring group of civil servants might try to float past the house. That bills seldom get shot down is due to a deep understanding by the civil service of what the people want.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Okay, let me underscore this.\u00a0 As a politician, you see yourself as actually protecting the people from the bureaucrats?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 Absolutely!!!!! One only needs to look at failing countries to see how terrible things can get when the bureaucracy or politicians capture the public purse. If the balance is off, look out!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

My secondary job is to act as a mouthpiece for the people. I bring ideas and problems to the civil service they may not yet have been exposed to. However, I am also a teacher, in a sense. I find that I spend about 30% of conversations with citizens explaining how the system works. In addition, I listen to people\u2019s issues and try to solve them by pointing them in the right direction, whether that\u2019s toward the entry point of the government service they are looking for, or the company which will be able to handle their situation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 I doubt most people see politicians in Japan, or anywhere for that manner, so positively.\u00a0 Do you think most of your elected compadres have a similar view of themselves being a dedicated public servant?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 That is a very good question I\u2019ll need to ask. I\u2019m sure the topic will provide some interesting fodder. Ask me again in 6 months and I\u2019ll spill what I learned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

How I personally approach the public relations part of the job is to engage as many people as I can on any given day. I try to be approachable. I can\u2019t possibly know what people\u2019s needs are beyond Maslow\u2019s basics. And I\u2019ll never know if they don\u2019t tell me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 Huh.\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s a bit strange to me.\u00a0 In my dealings with Japanese politicians in the past, especially when I was trying to get legislation passed to outlaw racial discrimination and get \u201cJapanese Only\u201d signs down, I rarely saw them giving much more than a popcorn fart about listening to the people.\u00a0 Perhaps it was the complexity of the issue.\u00a0 Perhaps it was because people who look like me probably can\u2019t vote so who cares?\u00a0 But for the most part, if there wasn\u2019t an election at hand, I found Japanese politicians at best noncommittal, at worst actively avoiding any chance to listen to folks like you say you do.\u00a0 Are you an outlier?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Heese<\/strong>:\u00a0 Of course I\u2019m an outlier. To be blunt, I take the approach of being constantly in election mode. I don\u2019t have an election machine I can just fire up nor can I assume I\u2019ll get reelected simply because I\u2019m an incumbent. I\u2019ve seen too many cases of incumbents getting their walking papers to believe it can\u2019t happen to me. In my case every vote is won at the individual level so I am required to be out and about.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I am, by nature, very curious. I am always happy to listen to what people do. In \u201cThe Tipping Point,<\/i>\u201d Malcolm Gladwell mentions three kinds of people: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen. I do my best to be a bit of all three but I know I am best suited to be a Connector. I don\u2019t know enough about any given topic to be a Maven and my ideas aren\u2019t well developed enough to be a Salesman. Hence, I spend a lot of time just trying to get to know people and introducing them to others who can help them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 I plead guilty to being a Maven.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I can\u2019t speak to your experiences with other politicians except to say that NJ needs are seldom a high priority, not because their needs aren\u2019t important, but because there\u2019s unlikely to be traction within the surrounding community. Your concerns regarding \u201cJapanese Only\u201d signage won\u2019t be showing up in questionnaires either.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

On the other hand, here in Tsukuba, where foreigners are plentiful and a vital part of the community, such a sign would only last a day or two before the Mayor\u2019s office would come down like a ton of bricks on any business foolish enough to post one. On a few occasions I\u2019ve been informed, for example, of a policy that a local gym, a chain, has implemented requiring members to be able to communicate in Japanese. Their argument is safety in case of an injury. Pure BS. The problem is invariably a new manager from outside Tsukuba thinks they can run their shop like they do in Butthole-shi. Have staff who speak English ya moron! Or train them in basic English. Easy enough in highly educated Tsukuba. I\u2019ve spoken to the mayor about the issue and he was very attentive, requesting I pass on unresolved instances.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

So, to summarize my job, I shoot down bad ideas, promote good ones, and introduce people to others with solutions to their problems. To be blunt, I love my job, but I also recognize that not everyone can do it. One needs a tough skin to withstand the slings and arrows of outrageous allegations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SNA:\u00a0 I\u2019ll say.\u00a0 Again, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d have the patience to put up with what I see you putting up with, just from the standpoint of shrugging off your how you\u2019re treated occasionally as an outsider or an anomaly in the halls of power.\u00a0 But that\u2019s perhaps a topic for a future interview.\u00a0 That\u2019s really all the time we have for today.\u00a0 I want to thank you for agreeing to another interview with me, Jon.\u00a0 I look forward to slinging some arrows at you again next time.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

======================
\nHeese<\/strong>:\u00a0 We all have our roles to play. At times I\u2019m the dancing monkey. On other occasions I am the symbol of hope for newbies straight off the boat. I do my best to play my part well. Thanks for keeping me on my toes. I look forward to our next conversation. ENDS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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

BIO:\u00a0 Jon Heese is becoming an old hand in Japanese politics, having served 13 years at various levels of government. He is presently one of five councilors representing Tsukuba (60 km NE of Tokyo) in the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly\u2014similar to a state or provincial legislature. After winning four terms at the city level, Mr. Heese leveled up in December, 2022. He is the first foreign-born politician to ever serve at the regional level.\u00a0 He sat down for an interview with Debito Arudou for his Visible Minorities column in April 2024.<\/p>\n

SNA:\u00a0 Let me open with an argument:\u00a0 I make the case in one of my recent columns that we don\u2019t see enough former Non-Japanese running for office because the Japanese government doesn\u2019t want them to.\u00a0 With no immigration policy, the GOJ doesn\u2019t just encourage NJ to become voters and citizens, they make it hard to graduate up to Permanent Residency and citizenship.\u00a0 Would you agree with that assessment?<\/p>\n

Heese:\u00a0 No immigration policy? Do you mean \u201cno policy to import labor willy-nilly \u00e0 la every western country?\u201d The question is already loaded. As for policy to prevent naturalization, thereby enfranchisement, I do not see any active policies intending to keep NJ from getting citizenship. Overall I see their immigration policies as an attempt to ensure that only contributing foreigners are allowed to stay beyond the 90 day tourist visa by obtaining a longer visa. Many countries try to keep out deadbeats. Japan is no different. By deadbeats, I mean people who are only coming to take advantage of our rather generous social services.<\/p>\n

SNA:\u00a0 Hang on.\u00a0 Point of order.\u00a0 We\u2019re still falling back on those boilerplate arguments we see in the chauvinistic media that some foreigners are freeloaders.\u00a0 Not so… [And the conversation gets warmer from there…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,54,18,44,34,52,5,12,73,4,10,14,16,56,60,46,11,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-embedded-racism","category-pinprick-protests","category-academia","category-discussions","category-exclusionism","category-hate-speech","category-human-rights","category-immigration-assimilation","category-japans-blame-game","category-japanese-government","category-japanese-policeforeign-crime","category-japanese-politics","category-labor-issues","category-nj-legacies","category-nj-voices-ignored","category-practical-advice","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-unsustainable-japanese-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17416","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=17416"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17418,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17416\/revisions\/17418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}