Toyama tackles ‘gray’ businesses \/ Mostly immigrant-owned
\nestablishments disregarding urban zoning laws<\/p>\n
The Yomiuri Shimbun (Sep. 13, 2006)
\nCourtesy http:\/\/www.yomiuri.co.jp\/dy\/national\/20060913TDY02001.htm
\nAn Imizu, Toyama Prefecture, car dealership that is actually licensed
\nas a restaurant<\/p>\n
The Toyama prefectural government has instructed two businesses
\ntargeting foreign residents to improve their business practices after
\ndiscovering they had disregarded the city planning law, The Yomiuri
\nShimbun has learned.<\/p>\n
The prefectural government intends to issue similar instructions for
\nseven other businesses in the near future. If the conditions of the
\ninstructions are not met, the businesses will be ordered to cease
\noperations. If the orders are again ignored, the prefectural
\ngovernment will file criminal complaints against them.<\/p>\n
The Construction and Transport Ministry is demanding the prefecture
\nalso investigate the about 170 such businesses in the area that are
\nbelieved to be on the edge of the law as part of a clampdown on
\nbusinesses encroaching on the countryside.<\/p>\n
The businesses, often run by foreign residents, including Pakistanis,
\nare largely made up of used-car dealerships, of which there are
\nhundreds in the prefecture, largely in the area around Fushiki Toyama
\nPort.<\/p>\n
The nine businesses for which the guidance has been issued or
\nscheduled comprise five used-car dealerships, a mosque, a real estate
\noffice targeting foreigners, a money exchange business and a
\nused-appliance store. The operators of the locations include Japanese,
\nBangladeshis and Pakistanis, among others.<\/p>\n
The prefectural government has been investigating the matter since
\nApril on the belief that the disorderly development may be in
\nviolation of the rules of urbanization control areas. The urbanization
\ncontrol area designation effectively acts as a green belt, in which
\nwooded areas and farmland are protected from urban sprawl. The scheme
\nsays only businesses enhancing the life of residents–such as
\nconvenience stores–are permitted in residential zones.<\/p>\n
Six of the locations in question were originally intended to be used
\nfor convenience stores or gas stations, but are instead being used for
\nother purposes without having undergone the necessary procedures.
\nThree of the locations have been discovered to have received
\ndevelopment permission for businesses other than the restaurants and
\nother services that actually exist at those locations.<\/p>\n
The prefectural government is currently undergoing the guidance
\nprocedures for these suspect businesses.<\/p>\n
The about 170 businesses that fall into a gray area operate out of
\ntemporary structures, such as prefabricated buildings and shipping
\ncontainers. The government is currently pursuing inspections of the
\nfacilities to determine if the structures fall under the definition of
\n“architectural structure” as regulated by the city planning law.<\/p>\n
A large number of the temporary structures have been outfitted with
\nelectricity and phone lines, and have staff guarding them during
\nnighttime hours.<\/p>\n
“If these buildings are being used continuously, they should be
\ntreated as ‘architectural structures,'” the ministry said. “We hope
\nthe prefectural government makes a decision that is in line with the
\nreality of the situation.”<\/p>\n
The first such used-car dealership was opened in 1991 by a Pakistani.
\nDealerships then spread into the countryside, where it was easy to
\nsecure a space near the harbor to display the cars. There was an
\nexplosion of dealerships beginning in 1995, as trade on the Sea of
\nJapan increased.<\/p>\n
The majority of the businesses are run by nationalities that have
\naccess to an international network of car dealers, including
\nBangladeshi and Pakistani immigrants.<\/p>\n
There are currently about 260 dealerships lining National Highway
\nRoute 8 in Toyama, Imizu and Takaoka. The buyers are mainly Russians.<\/p>\n
In the neighboring areas, there are a large number of robberies,
\nburglaries and traffic violations committed by foreigners.<\/p>\n
To deal with this problem, the prefectural police established a
\nspecial unit in October and have been cracking down on visa
\noverstayers and people violating the antique trade law and Road
\nTraffic Law. The business improvement instructions, however, mark the
\nfirst time the businesses themselves have been targeted.<\/p>\n
===<\/p>\n
Port attracts entrepreneurs<\/p>\n
The export car business is a profitable one. Every year, 45 billion
\nyen to 50 billion yen worth of used cars are shipped to Russia from
\nFushiki Toyama Port–the combined name of Fushiki Port, Toyama Port
\nand Toyama New Port.<\/p>\n
Many of the dealerships have taken over fields in the areas around the
\nports, and more than half of the dealers are Pakistanis who received
\nvisas after marrying a Japanese. The area along Route 8 has been
\ndubbed by locals as Pakistan Village, because of its many signs
\nwritten in Russian and Urdu, one of Pakistan’s official languages.<\/p>\n
One of the buildings is a convenience store that has been converted
\ninto a mosque. The prefecture issued instructions to business
\noperators who had not undergone the necessary procedures to change the
\nbuilding’s use, but the manager said, “For followers of Islam, a
\nMosque is absolutely necessary.”<\/p>\n
However, a man whose house is near one of the dealerships said, “I
\nfeel stressed every time I come home.”<\/p>\n
Hiroshi Yamada, a lawyer specializing in civil cases involving
\nPakistani immigrants said, “The government should recognize these
\nbusinesses and search for a way for all of us to live and prosper
\ntogether.”
\n(Sep. 13, 2006)<\/p>\n
—————————
\nComment from person who sent debito.org this link: <\/p>\n
What makes my ears go up is when I read the blanket statement:
\n“In the neighboring areas, there are a large number of robberies,
\nburglaries and traffic violations committed by foreigners.” Some
\nstatistics showing foreign vs non-foreign would have been nice…<\/p>\n
ends<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Toyama tackles ‘gray’ businesses \/ Mostly immigrant-owned establishments disregarding urban zoning laws The Yomiuri Shimbun (Sep. 13, 2006) Courtesy http:\/\/www.yomiuri.co.jp\/dy\/national\/20060913TDY02001.htm An Imizu, Toyama Prefecture, car dealership that is actually licensed as a restaurant The Toyama prefectural government has instructed two businesses targeting foreign residents to improve their business practices after discovering they had disregarded the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,10,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-immigration-assimilation","category-japanese-policeforeign-crime","category-problematic-foreign-treatment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29","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=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}