{"id":473,"date":"2007-07-01T20:09:59","date_gmt":"2007-07-01T11:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=473"},"modified":"2009-02-09T17:08:44","modified_gmt":"2009-02-09T08:08:44","slug":"beware-of-foreigners-car-leaflets-in-ikuno-ku-osaka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=473","title":{"rendered":"“Beware of foreigners” leaflets in Ikuno-ku, Osaka"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Blog. This has come up on The Community Mailing List<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Jon writes:
\n============================
\nA friend of mine found this on a car in Ikunoku and said there were plenty of them around. Anyone in Osaka want to help me do something about this?<\/em>
\nhttp:\/\/img294.imageshack.us\/my.php?image=img2007jun26ih4.jpg<\/a>
\n\"ikutakukeisatsuJune07.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(NB: For those who find the flyer hard to read:
\nHELP US STOP ILLEGAL LABOR AND FOREIGN OVERSTAYERS!
\n(Images of Illegal overstayers, long-nosed fraudulent grooms, passport forgers, and illegal workers: All including blondies, of course.)
\nTHESE DAYS WHERE FOREIGN CRIME IS RISING FAST [Even though, according to the Mainichi Feb 07, it’s dropping<\/a>. So is, according to Immigration, foreign overstaying.<\/a>]
\nCHECK THE STATUS OF RESIDENCE AND PERIOD OF STAY ON THEIR PASSPORTS, TO ENSURE YOU EMPLOY A FOREIGNER PROPERLY!!
\nTHERE WILL BE PENALITIES FOR EMPLOYERS WHO EMPLOY FOREIGNERS NOT PERMITTED TO WORK, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO ACT AS INTERMEDIARIES.
\nWE ASK YOU TO COOPERATE IN ORDER TO GIVE US A SAFE AND LIVABLE TOWN ENVIRONMENT WITHIN IKUNO-KU.
\nIKUNO SANGYOU ROUDOUSHA KOKUSAIKA TAISAKU RENRAKU KYOUGIKAI
\nOSAKA FU IKUNO POLICE STATION, CONTACT 06-6712-1234)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I found at http:\/\/www.ikuno.or.jp\/1_1.htm<\/a> that this flyer is being distributed by the Ikuno Sangyoukai.<\/em>
\n\u540d\u79f0 \u793e\u56e3\u6cd5\u4eba \u751f\u91ce\u7523\u696d\u4f1a
\n\u4f1a\u9577\t \u4e09\u5b85 \u4e00\u5609
\n\u6240\u5728\u5730 \u3012544-0004 \u5927\u962a\u5e02\u751f\u91ce\u533a\u5dfd\u53171\u4e01\u76ee21\u756a23\u53f7
\n\u96fb\u8a71\u756a\u53f7 06-6757-2551
\nFAX\u756a\u53f7 06-6754-2186
\n============================<\/p>\n

Declan adds:
\n============================
\nFor what it is worth, practically every chamber of commerce in the
\ncountry had meetings this month with regards to foreign employees.<\/em><\/p>\n

My chamber held a meeting June 8th
\nhttp:\/\/www.okazakicci.or.jp\/goma\/68foreigner.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

I didn’t attend because I was overseas at the time, but as far as I know
\nthere were no harebrained schemes for leafletting cars on the streets.<\/p>\n

I don’t see any point in counter leaflets. Perhaps a better approach
\nmight just be to write a letter to the sangyoukai asking for them to
\nrefrain from littering, and to suggest that instead of distributing
\nleaflets, that they ensure that all of the companies in their membership
\nare in fact checking the bona fides of any foreigners in their employment,
\nand that the hotels\/accommodation sector of their membership
\naren’t demanding passport copies from Japan residents etc. Something
\nconciliatory and practical is usually the best way to start a dialogue.
\n============================<\/p>\n

Dave suggests:
\n============================
\nThe clear first step in doing anything about this is to call the number
\non the leaflet and get some information.<\/em><\/p>\n

The main information to get is to find out who exactly within the
\nchamber of commerce is the project leader for this, who is their public
\nrepresentative, and that sort of thing.<\/p>\n

Then, if possible, initiate a meeting or a phone call where the matter
\ncan be formally discussed. Find out why they are doing this now, what
\ntheir concerns are, how this all came about.<\/p>\n

During that meeting or phone call, see if you can point out where
\nthey’ve given into fears and departed from facts, and see how much they
\ncan be swayed.<\/p>\n

At all steps, record the conversations.<\/p>\n

Whether or not anything further can or should be done will be very clear
\nonce all those kinds of facts are in.<\/p>\n

You’d be surprised at how far some dialogue can go. A lot of the people
\nbehind these things aren’t deliberately rejecting facts about foreign
\ncrime, they’re just blissfully ignorant. A polite discussion with a
\nforeigner who has his facts straight can make a big impression.<\/p>\n

The ideal candidate for this task is someone who can communicate well in
\nJapanese and can be in Osaka to really talk to these people.
\n============================<\/p>\n

Readers of Debito.org who would like to try their hand at a little activism are encouraged to investigate this further. Tell us how things go in the Comments section of this Blog? Debito in Sapporo<\/p>\n

ANDREW SMALLACOMBE AT THE COMMUNITY ADDS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

============================
\nI know this will probably sound obvious, butsome of my concerns
\nregarding the leaflets are:<\/em><\/p>\n

– They are directed at employers. Passport forgery and bogus
\nmarriages, while illegal, are not something a potential employer can
\nor should police. Any revised posters should not mention the other
\ntwo offenses at all. They should merely remind employers that hiring
\nforeign workers with inappropriate visa status is illegal and to
\ncheck this status.<\/strong><\/p>\n

– The caricatures are racist and would be more appropriate in World
\nWar II propeganda. It also implies that all foreign nationals are
\nphysically distinguishable from the Japanese poplulation, and
\nfurthermore hints that those with illegal status are readily
\nidentifiable. Lose them in any reprints.<\/p>\n

-Again, as the leaflets are aimed at employers, statements
\nof “rapidly rising foreigner crime” are irrelevant, not to mention
\nhighly questionable. Lose them.<\/p>\n

Essentially, if it is necessary to alert businesses to the fact that
\nhiring foreign workers without the correct visa status is a criminal
\nact, fine. Just don’t try to use perceptions of crime by foreign
\nnationals as justification.
\n============================
\nENDS<\/p>\n

UPDATE JULY 6: THERE HAS BEEN MOVEMENT ON THIS ISSUE, SEE COMMENTS SECTION FOR UPDATES…<\/strong><\/p>\n

JULY 8: FOOD FOR THOUGHT, SENT TO ME BY M.D.:
\n\"perspective.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

DEBITO.ORG IN NO WAY SUPPORTS THE IMAGES BEING DISPLAYED ABOVE, BUT FEELS IT IS A USEFUL EXERCISE TO PUT THE SHOE ON THE OTHER FOOT. DO YOU THINK THE GOJ WOULD SIT IDLY BY IF THESE IMAGES WERE BEING PUT OUT BY POLICE FORCES IN OTHER COUNTRIES?<\/p>\n

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

Ikuno-ku Osaka police\/related agencies have posted on cars leaflets warning people about the evils that foreigners get up to (including long-nosers fraudulently marrying our women…). Some ideas on what to do about it from The Community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,5,10,16,11,48,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anti-discrimination-templates","category-human-rights","category-japanese-policeforeign-crime","category-labor-issues","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-shoe-on-the-other-foot-dept","category-8"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473","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=473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}