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Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 17:34:16 +0900
To: debito@debito.org
From: Arudou Debito/Dave Aldwinckle <debito@debito.org>
Subject: Media Update 8/20/01: Burakumin, 4th Court Hearing, Elections

Hello All, and welcome back from a lovely hot summer (which we in Hokkaido
finally got after weeks of cursing one of the wettest and coolest Julies in
memory). I guess it's time to get back to work, so here are a few articles
and announcements which may be of interest.

////////////////////////////
1) 8/25 SPEECH ON DISCRIM TO BURAKUMIN LIBERATION LEAGUE
2) ONSEN LAWSUIT: 4TH COURT HEARING 8/27 10 AM
3) 7/23 KARTHAUS SIIS SPEECH HITS PRESS (Jp link)
4) UN UNIV SEMINAR CANCELLATION STAYS IN PRESS (Jp link)
5) KYODO ARTICLE ON FUTURE ANTI-DISCRIM POLITICS (Jp text)
6) NEW JAPAN TODAY COLUMN ON J ELECTIONS (Eng text)

////////////////////////////

1) SPEECH ON DISCRIMINATION TO THE BURAKUMIN LIBERATION LEAGUE (Buraku Kaihou Doumei) SAT AUG 25, 2001, 4PM, GUNMA-KEN

I will be speaking on how minorities in Japan can and should work together
to combat discrimination, at one of the best-organized anti-discrimination
leagues in Japan. The Burakumin, in case you don't know, are historically
the Japanese underclass, in charge of some of the dirtier jobs in the bad
old days (leather tanning, night soil). To this day, they face difficulties
in hiring and marriage, with many a promising life broken thanks to
detective agencies screening people and denying them opportunities merely by
dint of birth and ancestry.

This event, the 45th annual get-together of about 900 youth (Buraku Kaihou
Dai 45-Kai Zenkoku Seinen Shuukai) from all over Japan is being held to meet
minds, discuss strategies, and generally raise awareness. It will take
place in Gunma-ken (an hour's shinkansen ride from Tokyo, from
Kamigetakahara-eki). Information on the event and the sponsors in Japanese
at
http://www.debito.org/bll082501.jpg

-----------------------------------------

2) ONSEN LAWSUIT: 4TH COURT HEARING
NEXT MONDAY, 8/27 10 AM


Sapporo District Court House (Chihou Saibansho) 8th Floor
Address: Odori, Nishi 11. Phone: (011) 231-4200
Proceedings Open to the Public
This time we answer Defendants' claims of innocence.
All background at http://www.debito.org/otarulawsuit.html

-----------------------------------------

3) 7/23 KARTHAUS SIIS SPEECH HITS PRESS (Jp link)

At SIIS ("Sapporo Institute for International Solidarity") fellow Plaintiff
Olaf Karthaus spoke to some 300 students (future bureaucrats, legal
scriveners, and lawyers) on "The Onsens Issue--What Now?". An article
appeared in the July 6 Sapporo Times at
http://www.geocities.com/okarthaus/stimes010706.jpg (Jp text)

-----------------------------------------

4) UN UNIV SEMINAR CANCELLATION STILL IN PRESS (Jp link)

As I reported last May, the United Nations University in Tokyo cancelled
this weekend's Otaru human rights symposium, because financial pressure from
the Hokkaido Government to cancel my speaking invitation led to the
coodinating committee resigning in protest. The issue still has life in it.
Monthly magazine Doshin Today carried a two-pager in its August issue (Jp
text) at

http://www.debito.org/doshintoday0801-1.jpg
and
http://www.debito.org/doshintoday0801-2.jpg

(Full background in English and Japanese at
http://www.debito.org/UNUGlobalSeminar.html
June 16 Doshin article (Jp text)
http://www.debito.org/doshin061601.jpg)

-----------------------------------------

5) KYODO ARTICLE ON FUTURE ANTI-DISCRIM POLITICS (Jp text)
Kyodo (Japan's Associated Press) did an interview on the political situation
re discrimination. It appeared in the July 19 issue of the Kyoto Shinbun,
amongst others.
http://www.debito.org/kyodo071301.html

-----------------------------------------

Okay, I admit that some of the above newsbits are a bit stale (this is what
happens when I get wrapped up in final exams and then take a holiday). But
here's a fresher article I wrote today:

-----------------------------------------

6) NEW JAPAN TODAY COLUMN ON J ELECTIONS (Eng text)

I voted for the first time as a naturalized Japanese citizen last July, and
it caused enough rumination for yet another column. The epiphany is that I
understand why so many Japanese are confused or disillusioned about where to
put their votes. See the article at
http://www.japantoday.com

All for now.
Arudou Debito
Sapporo