DOWNSIDE OF BEING FOREIGN
Discrimination's blatant signs, not roots, easy target
By AKEMI NAKAMURA
The Japan Times: March 25, 2004
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20040325b1.htm
A few years ago, lawsuits by foreigners against businesses that barred their entry
gained public attention, and while the litigation may have faded from memory, not
so the discrimination they fought -- just see the signs.
Nightclubs in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, bear signs barring entry to foreigners.
AKEMI NAKAMURA PHOTO
Paul Shepherd, 41, of Britain said that when he tried to enter a nightclub staffed
by foreign hostesses in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, in mid-February, the Japanese
manager refused to let him in just because he is a foreigner.
The same night, Shepherd, who speaks fluent Japanese, said he was turned away by
two other hostess clubs in the city -- both boasting no-foreigner signs.
Shepherd said one of those clubs used to let him in until about three years ago,
when he started bringing English-speaking clients from his motorcycle export business
there to entertain them.
Then one day the club suddenly began barring foreign customers, he said. Now the
three clubs only allow foreigners in if they have a Japanese escort. He went to other
nightclubs in neighboring cities, only to find that the exclusion policy was a general
trend.
"I thought it was about time something (was) done about it before it gets
worse," said Shepherd, who has a Japanese wife and a son.
The type of discrimination Shepherd faced is not limited to hostess clubs, however.
American-born Debito Arudou says he has been barred from other establishments nationwide,
ranging from bathhouses to pachinko and mah-jongg parlors to barbershops, hotels
and restaurants.
[NB: Not quite. I have been barred from bathhouses, a barbershop, a hotel,
and many bars, but have found "No Foreigner" policies in place in pachinko
and mah-jongg parlors, a restaurant, a sports shop, and other nightlife establishments.
The latter places did not expressly bar me, thanks to language, a Japanese passport,
or the fact I did not expressly try to enter.]
Arguably one of the nation's most high-profile champions of the fight against discrimination,
Arudou has not only taken on such establishments but has made a point of doing so
as a Japanese.
The Hokkaido Information University lecturer, who launched a closely watched legal
fight against a bathhouse in Otaru, Hokkaido, that barred his entry, now runs a Web
site on discrimination.
"If you don't stop this, other people would realize 'why not refuse (foreigners)'
because it's easier to refuse than explain rules to deal with difficult customers,"
said Arudou, who has lived in Japan for more than a decade and acquired Japanese
citizenship in 2000.
The hostess clubs that barred Shepherd had a litany of excuses for banning foreigners
who don't have Japanese companions.
"We used to have a lot of trouble with foreign customers. (Some) didn't have
money and (some) claimed our charges were too expensive," the manager at one
of the clubs said, adding that the language barrier is also a problem.
The proprietress of another club said the ban is necessary because she needs to
"supervise" the foreign female dancers dispatched from a so-called entertainment
agency.
"Foreign customers and dancers can converse in English, and they may even
get together outside the club and start a relationship," she said, claiming
this poses problems for the club in its relations with the agency.
She said the club refuses foreigners "in the same manner" as it refuses
yakuza and drunks.
For lawyer Yasushi Higashizawa, who represents Arudou and two other plaintiffs
suing the hot spring bathhouse in Otaru over its Japanese-only policy, such excuses
are no justification for discrimination.
[NB: Mr Higashizawa represents Plaintiff Arudou Debito only in my appeal
against Otaru City. The other two plaintiffs, Olaf Karthaus and Ken Sutherland,
are represented in a separate case (Yunohana hot spring's appeal against the ruling,
more details here) by Lawyer
Itoh Hideko. FYI.]
"Japanese customers also cause trouble at clubs, and Japanese men also meet
foreign hostesses on the outside," Higashizawa said.
One such encounter in fact proved fatal for British hostess Lucie Blackman, whose
dismembered corpse was found in a seaside cave near a condominium owned by Joji Obara,
who allegedly drugged, raped and killed her during a "compensated date"
after meeting her at a club in Tokyo's Roppongi district.
She was not his only victim, according to prosecutors.
Regarding all foreigners as troublemakers is wrong, Higashizawa said, noting that
unlike yakuza or drunks, who can change their ways, there is no way to change one's
race.
Businesses should make it a point to stress that certain rules of proper behavior
must be followed, and withhold service to those who don't comply, he said, adding
that being sued for discrimination can be a losing proposition.
The Shizuoka District Court awarded 1.5 million yen in damages to a female Brazilian
journalist who sued a jewelry shop in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, in 1999 that
refused to serve her because of her nationality.
In 2002, the Sapporo District Court ordered the Otaru bathhouse to pay 1 million
yen in compensation to each of the three plaintiffs. The owner has appealed the ruling.
Before more cases are brought to courts, however, experts say the national and
local governments should establish laws banning racial discrimination.
Japan ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination in 1995. But legislation that embodies the convention has yet
to be introduced.
"The convention was used by the district courts to rule in the racial discrimination
suits," Higashizawa said. "But without laws and ordinances prohibiting
racial discrimination, it is difficult for local governments to force businesses"
not to post signs barring foreigners.
Arudou plans to sue the government, demanding establishment of such a law, after
the Sapporo High Court rules on his suit this summer.
He said that although it is necessary to enlighten Japanese about racial discrimination,
foreigners must also take some responsibility.
At the least, they must try to learn the language and some of the social conventions,
he said, adding that foreigners now facing discrimination from businesses should
also calmly lodge complaints.
If this fails to get a situation corrected, the next step would be to bring a problem
to the attention of local authorities, including legal affairs bureaus and human
rights sections of local governments, Arudou said.
Shepherd went to those authorities in Koshigaya a week after the clubs turned him
away. While they are investigating his case, he is considering taking legal action
if nothing changes.
"Everyone should be free to go anywhere, regardless of (whether they are)
Japanese or foreign," he said. "I have only just started to take action
in hope that my son or (other) foreigners will not face the same discrimination in
the future."
The Japan Times: March 25, 2004
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