{"id":9958,"date":"2012-02-17T03:37:49","date_gmt":"2012-02-16T18:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=9958"},"modified":"2012-02-17T03:54:09","modified_gmt":"2012-02-16T18:54:09","slug":"jeff-smith-on-yahoo-japan-auctioneer-denying-foreign-bidders-and-what-he-did-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=9958","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Smith on Yahoo Japan auctioneer denying foreign bidders, and what he did about it"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_8577\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8577\" style=\"width: 149px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/inappropriatecoverthumb150x226.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8577\" title=\"inappropriatecoverthumb150x226\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/inappropriatecoverthumb150x226.jpg\" alt=\"IN APPROPRIATE, A novel of culture, kidnapping, and revenge in modern Japan, By ARUDOU Debito\" width=\"149\" height=\"226\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8577\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New novel IN APPROPRIATE by ARUDOU Debito<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/handbook.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1298\" title=\"HANDBOOKsemifinalcover.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/HANDBOOKsemifinalcover.jpg\" alt=\"Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants to Japan\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/tshirts.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1701\" title=\"joshirtblack2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/joshirtblack2-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\\&quot; width=\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/japaneseonly.html#japanese\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1700\" title=\"jobookcover\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/jobookcover-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\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\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/japaneseonly.html#english\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1699\" title=\"japaneseonlyecover\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/japaneseonlyecover-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"JAPANESE ONLY:  The Otaru Hot Springs Case and Racial Discrimination in Japan\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cinemabstruso.de\/strawberries\/main.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2735\" title=\"sourstrawberriesavatar\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/sourstrawberriesavatar.jpg\" alt=\"sourstrawberriesavatar\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?cat=32\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4921\" title=\"debitopodcastthumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/debitopodcastthumb.jpg\" alt=\"debitopodcastthumb\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nUPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito<br \/>\nDEBITO.ORG PODCASTS on iTunes, subscribe free<\/p>\n<p>Hi Blog. \u00a0Here we have some naked xenophobia and related intolerance in interpersonal internet auctions. \u00a0I have heard of numerous cases like these on Japanese internet outlets, where sellers simply refuse to sell to somebody with money if the buyer happens to be bearing money while foreign (and nothing would come of it from moderators). \u00a0But here&#8217;s a report of what one person, Jeff Smith, decided to do about it. \u00a0As he says, auction forums in Japan need to step up with rules to honor bona fide transactions, because that&#8217;s the entire point of money as a means of transaction &#8212; it is not foreign currency even if the buyer is foreign. \u00a0Let&#8217;s wait and see what Yahoo Japan decides to do about it, if anything. \u00a0Arudou Debito<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED<\/strong>: \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=1935\">The case for internet anonymity in Japan, defended with inter alia &#8220;Japanese culture&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0(yep, &#8220;Japanese are shy&#8230;&#8221;)<\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>Yahoo Auctioneer Denies Foreign Bidders<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Documented by Jeff Smith (Osaka, Japan) February 15th, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Something I came upon last night while looking for guitars on Yahoo Auctions, Japan. This individual ignoramus had the nerve to actually write in his or her auction that foreigners would be denied the right to buy said item once found to be foreign, NJ or otherwise:<\/em><\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-9958 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/yahooauctionsscan1.jpeg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/yahooauctionsscan1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/yahooauctionsscan2.jpeg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/yahooauctionsscan2-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb\u3000 \u5546\u54c1\u8a73\u7d30 \u3000\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb<br \/>\nESP\u306eHORIZON\u2161\u306e\u30ce\u30f3\u30c8\u30ec\u30e2\u30ed\u3067\u3059\u3002<\/p>\n<p>\u4e2d\u53e4\u54c1\u3068\u306a\u308a\u307e\u3059\u304c\u3001\u50b7\u3082\u898b\u53d7\u3051\u3089\u308c\u305a\u3001\u304b\u306a\u308a\u306e\u72b6\u614b\u306e\u3044\u3044\u3082\u306e\u3067\u3059\u3002<br \/>\n\u72b6\u614b\u306f\u30d5\u30eb\u30aa\u30ea\u30b8\u30ca\u30eb\u3001\u30cd\u30c3\u30af\u306e\u305d\u308a\u3082\u306a\u304f\u3001\u30d5\u30ec\u30c3\u30c8\u3082\u307b\u307c\u6e1b\u3063\u3066\u3044\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002<\/p>\n<p>\u5546\u54c1\u306e\u30b9\u30da\u30c3\u30af\u306f<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.espguitars.co.jp\/original\/horizon\/hrz_2_nt.html\"> http:\/\/www.espguitars.co.jp\/original\/horizon\/hrz_2_nt.html<\/a><br \/>\n\u3088\u308a\u3054\u78ba\u8a8d\u304f\u3060\u3055\u3044\u3002<\/p>\n<p>ESP\u306e\u30ae\u30b0\u30d0\u30c3\u30b0\u304c\u4ed8\u5c5e\u3044\u305f\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/p>\n<p>\u767a\u9001\u306f\u30e4\u30de\u30c8\u4fbf\u3067\u4fdd\u967a\u3092\u304b\u3051\u3066\u767a\u9001\u3044\u305f\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/p>\n<p>\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb\u3000 \u652f\u6255\u8a73\u7d30 \u3000\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb<br \/>\nyahoo\u304b\u3093\u305f\u3093\u6c7a\u6e08<br \/>\n\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30f3\u30cd\u30c3\u30c8\u9280\u884c<\/p>\n<p>\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb\u3000 \u767a\u9001\u8a73\u7d30 \u3000\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb<br \/>\n\u30e4\u30de\u30c8\u4fbf\u7740\u6255\u3044<\/p>\n<p>\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb\u3000 \u6ce8\u610f\u4e8b\u9805 \u3000\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb\u25cf\u25cb<br \/>\n\u30aa\u30fc\u30af\u30b7\u30e7\u30f3\u7d42\u4e86\u5f8c\u3001\u843d\u672d\u901a\u77e5\u3092\u3054\u78ba\u8a8d\u304f\u3060\u3055\u3044\u3002<br \/>\n\u6700\u8fd1\u65b0\u898f\u306e\u65b9\u3067\u9023\u7d61\u306e\u53d6\u308c\u306a\u3044\u65b9\u3001\u30de\u30ca\u30fc\u306e\u306a\u3044\u65b9\u304c\u5897\u3048\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3059\u306e\u3067\u3001\u65b0\u898f\u306e\u65b9\u306f48\u6642\u9593\u4ee5\u5185\u306b\u9023\u7d61\u304c\u3068\u308c\u3066\u3001\u305d\u306e\u5f8c48\u6642\u9593\u4ee5\u5185\u306b\u5165\u91d1\u53ef\u80fd\u306a\u65b9\u306b\u9650\u308a\u304a\u53d6\u5f15\u3044\u305f\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002<br \/>\n\u307e\u305f\u3001\u30c8\u30e9\u30d6\u30eb\u7d9a\u51fa\u306e\u305f\u3081\u3001\u5916\u56fd\u4eba\u306e\u65b9\u3068\u306f\u53d6\u5f15\u306f\u53d6\u5f15\u5b9f\u7e3e\u304c30\u4ee5\u4e0a\u3042\u308b\u65b9\u3068\u3057\u304b\u3044\u305f\u3057\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002<br \/>\n\u30aa\u30fc\u30af\u30b7\u30e7\u30f3\u7d42\u4e86\u5f8c\u306b\u53d6\u5f15\u76f8\u624b\u304c\u5916\u56fd\u4eba\u3068\u5206\u304b\u308a\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3089\u843d\u672d\u8005\u90fd\u5408\u3067\u524a\u9664\u3044\u305f\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/p>\n<p><em>The statement here is as follows in English:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>\u201cWinners please be aware of the message I send upon auction close. I will not accept new bidders who do not reply, or people with bad manners. New bidders are to respond within 48 hours, and those that do so will be allowed to pay for the item. In addition, due to troubles that have occurred, I am not accepting any foreign bidders with a score under 30 rating.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0[<em>This was actually changed this morning, Feb. 15, 2012: originally it said I will accept NO FOREIGN WINNERS, period<\/em>.] \u00a0<strong><em>If I find that the winner is a foreigner after the auction ends, I shall void the auction at my convenience.&#8221;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Amazed that this person could even have the gall to write in such a manner, I contacted the seller with a message as follows:<\/em><br \/>\n\u3053\u3093\u3070\u3093\u306f\u3002\u5916\u56fd\u4eba\u3068\u306e\u30c8\u30e9\u30d6\u30eb\u304c\u3042\u3063\u305f\u3053\u3068\u306f\u6b8b\u5ff5\u3067\u3059\u304c\u3001\u4e00\u5207\u53d6\u308a\u5f15\u304d\u3092\u3057\u306a\u3044\u3068\u66f8\u304b\u308c\u308b\u306e\u304c\u76f8\u5f53\u504f\u898b\u3067\u53b3\u3057\u3044\u8003\u3048\u3060\u3068\u601d\u3044\u307e\u3059\u3002<br \/>\n\u771f\u9762\u76ee\u306a\u3072\u3068\u3082\u3044\u307e\u3059\u3057\u3001\u65e5\u672c\u4eba\u3067\u3082\u30c8\u30e9\u30d6\u30eb\u3092\u8d77\u3053\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002\u50d5\u306f\u305d\u3046\u3044\u3046\u7d4c\u9a13\u304c\u3042\u308a\u307e\u3059\u304c\u3001\u65e5\u672c\u4eba\u5168\u54e1\u306e\u305b\u3044\u306b\u306f\u3057\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002\u3053\u308c\u304b\u3089\u3044\u3044\u843d\u672d\u8005\u304c\u51fa\u73fe\u3067\u304d\u308b\u3088\u3046\u306b\u3002<\/p>\n<p><em>English translation:<\/em><br \/>\n<strong><em>Good evening. It\u2019s a shame that you have claimed to have had some trouble with foreigners, but to say that you will do no business with them is prejudicial thinking on your part. There are people on this auction who are serious, and Japanese people have caused trouble on auctions as well. I myself have had problems, and have not blamed all Japanese people for it. I hope you find a good bidder.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>The auctioneer quickly replied with the following:<\/em><br \/>\n\u6b8b\u5ff5\u306a\u304c\u3089\u8a00\u8449\u306e\u901a\u3058\u306a\u3044\u304b\u305f\u3084\u3001\u610f\u5fd7\u758e\u901a\u306e\u3067\u306a\u3044\u304b\u305f\u304c\u591a\u3044\u306e\u3067\u53d6\u5f15\u3057\u306a\u3044\u3053\u3068\u306b\u3057\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/p>\n<p>English:<br \/>\n<strong><em>\u201cBecause of lack of comprehension and inability to effectively communicate intentions on the part of the winners, I have decided not to do business with foreigners.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> (\u610f\u5fd7\u758e\u901a: ishisottsu; means this ability to communicate thoughts or intentions smoothly)<\/p>\n<p><em>He or she then responded with a nasty jab:<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u6c17\u306b\u306a\u308b\u3053\u3068\u306e\u3067\u3042\u308c\u3070\u5165\u672d\u3057\u306a\u3051\u308c\u3070\u3044\u3044\u3060\u3051\u3067\u306f\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3057\u3087\u3046\u304b\uff1f\u3044\u3061\u3044\u3061\u3053\u3093\u306a\u3053\u3068\u3092\u8cea\u554f\u862d\u306b\u66f8\u304b\u306a\u3044\u3067\u304f\u3060\u3055\u3044\u3002<\/p>\n<p>English:<br \/>\n<strong><em>\u201cIf you (or someone else) doesn\u2019t like it, just don\u2019t bid, please. Also, please don\u2019t put comments like this<\/em><\/strong><em> (actually these, because \u3044\u3061\u3044\u3061(ichi-ichi) in Japanese implies a nagging complaint, therefore someone else called this person out.) This person\u2019s Japanese language ability isn\u2019t all that great, either.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I reported this person to Yahoo Auction under \u8a50\u6b3a (sagi:fraud), and possible trouble (\u30c8\u30e9\u30d6\u30eb\u53ef\u80fd\u6027) which if you think about it, it is if someone is to deny someone their rights to buy an item if they are found to be foreign! The ridiculous comments from this person, such as the \u201cinability to communicate intentions\u201d just goes to show how xenophobes and racists use these lame excuses to cover up how they dropped the idiomatic \u201cball\u201d and had bad experiences. Still, Yahoo Auction needs to have a clearer stance on their guidelines as to not tolerating this kind of behavior. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Be on the lookout for these types of idiots who think they can run auctions with impunity: don\u2019t be afraid to call people out on it!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here we have some naked xenophobia and related intolerance in interpersonal internet auctions.  I have heard of numerous cases like these on Japanese internet outlets, where sellers simply refuse to sell to somebody with money if the buyer happens to be bearing money while foreign (and nothing would come of it from moderators).  But here&#8217;s a report of what one person, Jeff Smith, decided to do about it.  As he says, auction forums in Japan need to step up with rules to honor bona fide transactions, because that&#8217;s the entire point of money as a means of transaction &#8212; it is not foreign currency even if the buyer is foreign.  Let&#8217;s wait and see what Yahoo Japan decides to do about it, if anything.<\/p>\n<p>Jeff Smith: Something I came upon last night while looking for guitars on Yahoo Auctions, Japan. This individual ignoramus had the nerve to actually write in his or her auction that foreigners would be denied the right to buy said item once found to be foreign, NJ or otherwise:  The statement here is as follows in English:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWinners please be aware of the message I send upon auction close. I will not accept new bidders who do not reply, or people with bad manners. New bidders are to respond within 48 hours, and those that do so will be allowed to pay for the item. In addition, due to troubles that have occurred, I am not accepting any foreign bidders with a score under 30 rating. [This was actually changed this morning, Feb. 15, 2012: originally it said I will accept NO FOREIGN WINNERS, period.]  If I find that the winner is a foreigner after the auction ends, I shall void the auction at my convenience.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Amazed that this person could even have the gall to write in such a manner, I contacted the seller with a message as follows&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,43,34,13,11,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pinprick-protests","category-bad-business-practices","category-exclusionism","category-media","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-8"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9958","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=9958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}