Reuters: UN’s Doudou Diene checking out racism in USA

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

UN Special Rapporteur Doudou Diene, who has visited Japan three times in the past, called racism here “deep and profound”, and urged Japan to pass laws against racial discrimination, is now visiting the US for the same reason. Good. Let’s see how the USG deals with his report (and let’s see how high up Diene gets meetings. Even Tokyo Gov. Ishihara found no time to meet Diene on any of this trips…). The GOJ essentially ignored his reports, alas.

DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER MAY 17, 2008

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

IRONIES AND HOW TO SWING THEM:
1) No bank accounts allowed at Mitsui Sumitomo for NJ without minimum six-month stays.
Okay at Japan Post Office, however.
2) Japan proposes language requirement for foreign long-term visas,
yet protests when Britain proposes the same.

GOOD NEWS:
3) Mainichi: MOJ overturns deportation order, allows NJ couple to stay with child in Japan.
4) Yomiuri: 80% of hospitals interested in employing foreign nurses.
5) Japan Times: Canada, U.S. nudge Japan to join child abduction resolution framework
(and it appears to have worked).

WORD GETS OUT:
6) US State Dept Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2007, Japan
7) UN News recent articles on Human Rights Council
8) UN News: first group of 16 nations reviewed by HRC

9) Debito.org Podcast April 5, 2008: My March 18 FCCJ Speech in full on Trans Pacific Radio
10) Japan Times Feb 16 Symposium, my question from the floor makes the paper
11) “WELCOME NON-JAPANESE CUSTOMERS” stickers for businesses
now on sale at Debito.org (Paypal OK)
12) Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE column 3: “Activism vs Academia”

And finally…
13) Humor: Sankei Sports Pure-Ai Keitai dating service advertisement

Japan Today: NJ suspect acquitted by J Court, yet still detained–for overstaying his visa due to denial of bail!

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Here’s another way to make sure you perpetually incarcerate any NJ suspected of any crime. Even if they’ve even been acquitted in court, just keep them in detention (after all, NJ aren’t allowed bail in Japan) long enough, and then you can get them for overstaying their visa! “Hostage Justice’s” safety catch…

Burma/Myanmar junta’s connection to Japanese Imperial Army

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Articles from the Japan Times and JPRI on the Burmese (Myanmar) junta’s historical connection to the Japanese Imperial Army, and how the Japanese government even today has surprisingly close ties to the maniacs who rule Burma–to the point of muting criticism when a Japanese journalist gets cut down by the military, and instead offering criticism of Aung San Suu Kyi’s election victory!

Anonymous on job-market barriers to NJ graduates of J universities: The “IQ Test”

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

An anonymous poster with a degree from a world-class Japanese university writes in about barriers to getting a job at Japanese companies–an IQ test that in the poster’s view doesn’t measure non-native candidates fairly or accurately. I too had to deal with one of those back in 1989, but managed to talk my way into the job anyway (thanks to the “kokusaika” mantra of the Bubble Years). Other readers with experiences with these types of corporate entry-level tests are welcome to share them. For in the author’s view (and mine), these sorts of barriers only hurt Japan when educated candidates want to stay and contribute.

Japan Today: Gov’t looks to immigrants as population shrinks

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

According to the AFP and Japan Today: “Japan’s ruling party is considering plans to encourage foreign workers to stay in the country long-term, a daily reported Monday after the birth rate fell for the 27th successive year. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has proposed setting up an “immigration agency” to help foreign workers—including providing language lessons, the Nikkei economic daily said without naming sources. The party also intends to reform current “training” programs for foreign workers, which have been criticized for giving employers an excuse for paying unfairly low wages, the paper said.”

Washington Post on the Yakuza and the Japanese Police

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Washington Post: “Hi Blog. This is a tangent to the Debito.org role of bringing up issues of NJ in Japan, but it relates as we have been talking about the NPA in recent months. One of my friends, a person who studies wrongful arrests in Japan, says, “The Japanese Police are some of the biggest criminals in Japan.” According the the article below, the NPA’s involvement in hindering international investigations of Japanese organized crime may be evidence of that. Courtesy of The Club. Arudou Debito in Sapporo

=====================================
Washington Post: “Unlike their Japanese counterparts, U.S. law enforcement officers are sharing tips with Japan. Officials from both countries confirm that, in November 2003, the Tokyo police used information from ICE and the Nevada Gaming Control Board to seize $2 million dollars in cash from a safe-deposit box in Japan, which was leased to Kajiyama by a firm affiliated with a major Las Vegas casino. According to ICE Special Agent Mike Cox, the Kajiyama saga was probably not an isolated incident. “If we had some more information from the Japan side,” he told me last year, “I’m sure we’d find other cases like it.”… In early March, in my presence, an FBI agent asked the NPA to provide a list of all the members of [Yakuza crime boss] Goto’s organization so that they could stop them from coming into the country and killing my family. The NPA was reluctant at first, citing “privacy concerns,” but after much soul-searching handed over about 50 names. But the Tokyo police file lists more than 900 members. I know this because someone posted the file online in the summer of 2007; a Japanese detective was fired because of the leak.”

DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER MAY 11, 2008–SPECIAL ON CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN JAPAN

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

JUDICIAL TREATMENT OF NJ VICTIMS OF CRIME
1) Filipina allegedly killed by J man, let out of jail despite suspicion of killing another Filipina in past
2) Japan Times et al on homicide of Scott Tucker: “likely to draw leniency”
3) Tokyo Police apparently drop case of Peter Barakan’s assault
4) Yomiuri and Japan Times on Matthew Lacey Case:
Fukuoka Police dismiss NJ death by blow to the head as “dehydration”

JUDICIAL TREATMENT OF NJ ACCUSED OF CRIME
5) “Hostage Justice”: Swiss woman acquitted of a crime,
but detained for eight months anyway during prosecution’s appeal
6) Two articles from The Economist on bent Japanese criminal justice system, death penalty
7) Rough Guide on what to do if and when arrested in Japan
8) Yuyu Idubor’s Statement to High Court April 23, 2008, letters from prison parts five and six

SYSTEMATIC POLICE TREATMENT OF NJ EVEN WITHOUT CRIME
9) Japan Today: Male Shinjuku cops rough up Singaporean women during “passport check”
(with link to Japan Probe site with information about possible police identity fraud)
10) Hiragana Times July 2006 on NJ police brutality by Toyonaka, Osaka cops
11) Potential Olympic torch problems in Nagano? All the more reason to target NJ!
12) Asahi, Mainichi, and Yomiuri: Replacement “Gaijin Card” system, increasing police powers
13) Japan Times: Critics deride future extra policing of NJ under new proposed registration policy

WHY THIS IS UNJUST: JAPAN’S EXTREME POLICE POWERS
14) Reuters: Study says immigrants and crime rate not linked
15) Japan Times ZEIT GIST: G8 Summit and the bad “security” habits brought out in Japan

Japan Times Feb 16 Symposium, my question from the floor makes the paper

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

I have offered my opinion on how the Japan Times could improve its readership in the past on this blog (the JT is uniquely poised to offer something more independently, as a newspaper not controlled as a vanity project by the other Japanese newspapers, such as the doctrinaire Yomiuri, or a union-busting, closed-circuit Asahi. I’m hoping that it finally sinks in that the JT can most easily turn on a dime, and offer information not only for English-language readers, but also the immigrants who want to make a life in Japan and need essential information even when there’s no emergency like the (cited) Great Hanshin Earthquake.

Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE column 3: “Activism vs Academia”

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

JUST BE CAUSE Japan Times column 3: “So naturally, some academics have been rather skeptical when I claim racial discrimination here is growing in magnitude and scope. One even asserted at this forum that my online “naming and shaming” of discriminators ( www.debito.org/roguesgallery.html ) is counterproductive — that too much “attacking Japan” alienates potential allies. Again, I understand why never the twain. The academic observer, particularly in the social sciences, is bound by a “prime directive” — not to interfere with their object of study when collecting data; plus there is an incumbent resistance to making value judgments (think of “cultural imperialism” etc.; to an anthropologist, I’m probably the Antichrist). In sum, academics observe societal or global “standards.” Activists, however, try to create or adjust them.”

UN News: first group of 16 nations reviewed by HRC

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

UN News: The top United Nations human rights official warned that some States still do not recognize the existence of racism as a phenomenon. “National laws and measures to ensure its elimination in most countries are either inadequate or ineffective,” said High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour. “As a result, vulnerable groups continue to suffer aggression while abusers enjoy impunity.” Like in Japan…

Japan Times: Canada, U.S. nudge Japan to join child abduction resolution framework

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Canadian and the U.S. government officials and a law expert Friday
urged Japan to join an international legal framework to resolve
cross-border cases of child abduction by parents and others… The U.S. currently has 40 cases of international child abduction
involving Japan, the third-largest after Mexico and India, said
Kathleen Ruckman, deputy director of the U.S. State Department’s
Children’s Issues Office.

産經：「青い目の人形」に“市民権”　愛媛・西予市。Sankei: Old dolls get “City Citizenship”. Now how about NJ residents?

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

産經新聞　　愛媛県西予市の市立狩江、俵津両小学校に保管されている「青い目の人形」３体が住民登録されることになり、１８日、市役所の窓口で人形それぞれに特別住民票が交付される。日米友好の証として米国から日本に渡ってきた人形。昭和という激動の時代を経て約８０年ぶりに“市民権”を得ることになった。

Japan Today: Shinjuku cops rough up Singaporean women during “passport check”

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Japan Today: A few burning questions that arose from this incident:
1) Are these police officers authorized to request our passports as they wish?
2) Under what circumstances can these officers exercise this authority?
3) Without any resistance in any way from us, other than just asking why they require our passports and trying to walk to the station control, where we feel safer, are they allowed to use physical restraint?
4) Are these male officers allowed to use physical restraint on females like us? Should they not have waited for a female officer?
5) In such a predominantly tourist area like Shinjuku, where these officers are checking for foreign passports, should they not have received some form of language training so that they can explain why they need to see my passport? I do not believe that expecting them to be achieve a basic level of communication skills in the English language which is spoken in most of the rest of the world is unreasonable in anyway. What kind of training DO these officers receive?
6) What in the world did my friend and I do that warranted the passport check and the physical restraint?

Potential Olympic torch problems in Nagano? All the more reason to target NJ!

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Kyodo: “The association of hotels and Japanese inns in the city of Nagano has requested that its members fully check the identifications of their foreign guests prior to the Beijing Olympic torch relay on Saturday as part of efforts to counter suspicious individuals, local officials said Tuesday.” Naturally, that follows–protesters must be foreigners…

Mainichi: MOJ overturns deportation order, allows NJ couple to stay with child in Japan.

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Mainichi: The Justice Ministry has decided to grant special residence permission to a Kurdish man, his Filipino wife and their 7-year-old daughter, overturning its earlier decision to deport the couple for overstaying their visas. The ministry’s move came after the Tokyo High Court suggested a settlement in the case in which the family’s request to nullify the ministry’s order to deport them had been turned down by the Tokyo District Court.

毎日：強制退去訴訟：ジランちゃん一家に在留特別許可　法務省

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

毎日新聞：埼玉県川口市に住むトルコ国籍のクルド人タスクンさん（３２）とフィリピン国籍の妻ベルトランさん（４１）、長女ジランちゃん（７）の一家３人が、強制退去処分の取り消しを求めた訴訟を巡り、法務省は一家に在留特別許可を与える方針を決めた。鳩山邦夫法相が２５日、閣議後会見で明らかにした。同日中にも１年更新の定住資格を与える見通し。１審は一家の訴えを退けたが、控訴審で東京高裁の寺田逸郎裁判長が外国人の強制退去を巡る訴訟では異例の和解を打診し、法務省が処分見直しを含め対応を検討していた。

Japan Times ZEIT GIST: G8 Summit and the bad “security” habits brought out in Japan

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Japan Times column on the Hokkaido G8 Summit: The point is, international events bring out bad habits in Japan. And now we have Tokyo bidding for the 2016 Olympics? Cue yet another orgiastic official fear-and-crackdown campaign foisted on the public, with the thick blue line of the nanny state the biggest profiteer. Conclusion: I don’t think Japan as a polity is mature enough yet to host these events. Japan must develop suitable administrative checks and balances, not to mention a vetting media, to stop people scaring Japanese society about the rest of the world just because it’s coming to visit. We need to rein in Japan’s mandarins and prevent them from converting Japan into a police state, cracking down on its already stunted civil society.

Donald Richie gives great review of HANDBOOK in Japan Times

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Donald Richie on HANDBOOK: “In this important and necessary book the authors address migrants and immigrants to Japan in saying that “we believe that your life in Japan should be under as much of your control as legally possible.” That it sometimes seems not to be, is the reason for their having written this handbook… The wise newcomer, be he or she nascent migrant or not, is hereby counseled to acquire this valuable volume and render life in Japan not only possible but practical and pleasurable as well.”

Tokyo Police apparently drop case of Peter Barakan’s assault

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Update: Police seem to have dropped the case of TV tarento Peter Barakan getting assaulted by last December. In his words, they have done “absolutely zilch”, even though they found the car, they found somebody in the car, they found the mace. Yet the suspect didn’t get the regular 23-day interrogation one would expect if a NJ had assaulted by a Japanese. I guess a lack of “100% certainty” means police can drop the case completely.

DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER APR 17, 2008: NEW TOUR SCHEDULES

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

1) ADVANCE NOTICE OF POTENTIAL TOURS: WANT ME TO COME SPEAK?
CALIFORNIA AUG 17-28, JAPAN SEPT 1-16, 2008

2) REVIEW OF HANDBOOK BY DONALD RICHIE, IN JAPAN TIMES APR 20
3) MY LATEST JAPAN TIMES COMMUNITY PAGE ARTICLE, ON WASTEFUL G8 SUMMIT, APR 22

4) HIBA SPEECH IN SAPPORO NEXT TUES APRIL 22
5) MIYAZAKI SPEECH NEXT THURS APRIL 24

…and finally…
6) HANDBOOK ADVERTISED IN ASAHI APR 13, SALES LEAP ON AMAZON JAPAN

Filipina allegedly killed by J man, one let out of jail despite killing another Filipina in past

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

We have (insufficient) news reports about a case earlier this month of a Filipina suspected of being killed by a Japanese man, and having her body parts stowed in a locker in Hamamatsu Station. Then it turns out this guy, Nozaki Hiroshi, had killed a Filipina some years before, and apparently tried to flush her body parts down a toilet. For that previous crime, Nozaki was convicted, but only sentenced to three years plus. It wasn’t even judged a murder. And he got out allegedly to kill again. Oddly enough, Nozaki’s jail sentence was only a bit more than Nigerian citizen Mr Idubor’s, and Idubor’s conviction was for alleged rape, not murder. Yet Nozaki was apparently caught red-handed, while there was no physical evidence and discrepant testimony in Idubor’s Case. Ironically, that means that under these judicial litmus tests, the women involved could have been killed and it would have made no difference in the sentencing. That is, if you’re a Japanese criminal victimizing a foreigner, it seems. It’s getting harder to argue that the J judiciary is color-blind towards judging criminals and victims.

イドゥボ氏の 第2回公判４／２３(水）１４：３０陳述書記載

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

イドゥボ氏の陳述書より：「控訴の趣意は弁護人から2008年2月25日に控訴趣意書を提出しました。私は次の事項を付け加えて述べたいと思います。警察官による供述調書は、署名すれば不起訴にするとの約束で、署名させられたものです。また、警察官は重要な証拠を隠したり、なくしたりしました。例えば、私の携帯電話のアドレス帳から告訴人の友人の電話番号が消され、彼女から私へ送られてきた脅迫メールの記録も消されていました。また、私の店の監視カメラの記録を調べなかったために、新しい内容が自動的に上書きされ、当日の記録は消されました。また、警察官は彼女たちの意図が分かるような告訴人とその友人の詳細な関係を調書に書きませんでした。」

在日韓国・朝鮮人高齢者の年金訴訟を支える会: 4月25日判決傍聴と呼びかけ

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

在日韓国・朝鮮人高齢者の年金訴訟を支える会より判決傍聴と呼びかけご協力のお願い:４月２５日（金）１５時３０分〜大阪高等裁判所２０２号法廷で、終了後、１６時〜大阪弁護士会館で報告集会を行います。明細はこちら. Court decision due April 25 on elderly Korean Zainichis being denied their Japanese nenkin pension contributions due to being foreign.

Hiragana Times July 2006 on NJ police brutality by Osaka cops

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Hi Blog. Another in the ongoing series re Japan’s judiciary. Retyping from document, sorry for any typos. Only time enough to render English version for now. (And yes, the comma-less sentences, poor syntax, and mediocre writing are in the original; no wonder many Japanese find English hard to read!). Arudou Debito in Sapporo ========================= SPEAK …

US State Dept Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2007, Japan

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Although the US is certainly no paragon of human rights worldwide (what with torture, renditions, abuses under SOFA, denial of Habeas Corpus to non-citizens, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and the largest arms sales worldwide, to name but a few caveats under this administration), here is their annual report on human rights in Japan in full. For what it’s worth. Note how the situation of “Japanese Only” signs nationwide is no longer mentioned, like it was in previous reports. I guess the US State Department considers the situation resolved. I beg to differ.

Rough Guide on what to do if and when arrested in Japan

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Anonymous Guide: “In Japan, police can arrest anyone, any time. They do not come announced. There are no government leaflets that prepare you for the catastrophe. So, I wrote this one instead, compiled from my own painful experience and those of many other foreigners in Japan. The actual chances to be arrested in Japan are much higher than the chances to be hurt by an earthquake in Japan – especially if you are a foreigner. Don’t think that you will be able to deal with it just because “you know your rights” from back home or from Hollywood court movies. Japan is not about justice, it is about bustice. So prepare yourself for the real big bang – read this.”

無罪でも延々勾留　スイス人に裁判長「お気の毒」…また無罪

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

朝日：覚せい剤取締法違反などの罪に問われ、一審・千葉地裁で無罪判決を受けた後も勾留（こうりゅう）が続いていたスイス人女性（２８）の控訴審で、東京高裁は９日、検察側の控訴を棄却する判決を言い渡した。女性の勾留は解かれたが、不法残留のため入国管理施設に収容されたとみられる。

“Hostage Justice”: Swiss woman acquitted of a crime, but detained for eight months anyway during prosecution’s appeal

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Here’s another oddity of the Japanese judiciary–“hostage justice”. The prosecution is so strong in this country that, in the extremely rare case (less than one percent of all cases that go to trial) they lose a criminal case judgment (and the accused goes free), they can appeal. But, as you can see in the article below, the rights of the accused differ by nationality. If you are a Non-Japanese, and even if you are judged innocent by a lower court, you are still incarcerated for however many months it takes for the higher court to deliver a verdict (in this case, innocent again). Because, you see, foreigners aren’t allowed bail in Japan. Unlike Japanese. When Japanese appeal guilty verdicts, they are not detained (see Horie Takafumi and Suzuki Muneo; the latter, now convicted of corruption twice over, is still on the streets, even re-elected to the Diet!).

UN News recent articles on Human Rights Council

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Hi Blog. Here are a gaggle of recent UN News articles on the Human Rights Council, the one which monitors countries (like Japan) on their human rights practices. Here’s hoping they’ll be coming down on Japan soon for it’s broken promises regarding establishing a law against racial discrimination. Arudou Debito in Sapporo ================================== UN HUMAN …

Yomiuri: 80% of hospitals interested in employing foreign nurses

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Yomiuri: “More than 80 percent of medium- or large-sized hospitals have indicated an interest in accepting foreign nurses, while about 40 percent are actually considering hiring such nurses, according to a survey by a research team at the Kyushu University Asia Center. Following bilateral economic partnership agreements signed between Japan and the Philippines and Indonesia, Japan likely will start accepting nurses and caregivers from those countries as early as this summer. “There were more hospitals that showed interest in accepting foreign nurses than we’d expected,” said Sadachika Kawaguchi, professor at University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan, who also was involved in the survey.”

読売：病院の８割超、外国人看護師に関心…４割は受け入れ検討

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

読売：経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）により、今夏にもフィリピン、インドネシアから看護師・介護士が来日する見通しが強まる中、中規模以上の病院の８割以上が外国人看護師の導入に関心があり、４割近くは具体的に受け入れを検討していることが、九州大アジア総合政策センター研究班の調査で明らかになった。共同研究者の川口貞親・産業医科大教授は「想定よりも外国人受け入れへの関心が高かった。単なる人手不足の穴埋めでなく、病院活性化への期待も高いが、情報不足でちゅうちょする病院も多い」と分析している。

DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER APRIL 9, 2008

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

1) BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK TOUR–A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE
2) DEBITO.ORG PODCAST WITH ENTIRE FCCJ SPEECH ON HANDBOOK
3) EXCERPT OF THE BOOK ON JAPAN FOCUS
4) TERRIE LLOYD REVIEWS HANDBOOK POSITIVELY FOR DAIJOB.COM
5) CHUUNICHI SHINBUN ON ONE OF MY NAGANO SPEECHES

…and finally…
6) JAPAN TIMES JUST BE CAUSE COLUMN 2
…ON LOCAL KOKUSAIKA FORUMS AS WASTED OPPORTUNITIES

Japan Times: Critics deride future extra policing of NJ under new proposed registration policy

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Japan Times: Foreigners living in Japan should be allowed five-year visas but kept under the eye of a new unified Justice Ministry-run nationwide identification system, a government panel on immigration control said in its report released Wednesday. The panel, made up of university professors and private-sector executives, said a new foreigner registration system and revision of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law should aim at creating “a symbiotic community” by providing a “pleasant environment for foreign residents in Japan.” While the report emphasizes that the proposed measures will enable the government to provide better services for foreign residents, critics view the new registry system as increased state control…

Terrie Lloyd reviews HANDBOOK positively on Daijob.com

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Terrie Lloyd reviewing HANDBOOK at Daijob.com: “Indeed, this is one of the outcomes of reading the Handbook – it prompts you to want to find out more. Although the book has 376 pages, half of it is written in Japanese so that someone who you might be seeking advice from (a lawyer or Japanese friend or “senpai”) can quickly grasp the nature of what you are asking, and give you a more specific answer. This means that the Handbook is not only a quick read, but also is intended to be a framework rather than an exhaustive reference manual. Arudou addresses this fact by providing copious notes on where to go to get follow up help. By the time you read this, you should be able to pick up the Handbook at your local bookstore. But just in case you can’t, Arudou maintains a pretty comprehensive website at www.debito.org, and right on the front page there is a link with instructions on how to order a copy. I checked Amazon.com, but obviously the book is still too early to have gone through their registration process yet. The retail price is JPY2,415, and my personal opinion is that it is worth every yen. A necessary read for newcomers, and useful “gap filling” information for longer-term residents.”

Asahi on new “Gaijin Cards” with greater policing powers over “NJ overstayers”

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Asahi: “An advisory group to Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama has proposed changes to the alien registration card system to crack down on people overstaying their visas. The new registration card would make it easier for the authorities to keep track of foreign nationals staying in Japan.”

Mainichi: MOJ delays decision on requiring Zainichi to carry ID, with abolition of old NJ Registry System

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

The Justice Ministry will postpone until next fiscal year a decision on whether to require special permanent residents such as Koreans to carry identification cards after the government abolishes the alien registration system, ministry sources said. Ministry officials have deemed that they need more time to carefully consider the matter as the human rights of permanent foreign residents are involved, according to the sources. An advisory council to the government on immigration policies will submit its final report to the justice minister by the end of this month, recommending that the alien registration system be abolished and a system similar to the basic resident register system for Japanese nationals be introduced for permanent residents.

毎日：特別永住者：身分証携帯義務化の結論先送り　法務省

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

毎日：外国人登録法に基づく在留管理制度を撤廃することを決めている法務省が、今月末までにまとめる予定の新制度の骨子案に、在日韓国・朝鮮人など特別永住者に新たな身分証を発行し携帯を義務付けるかどうかについては盛り込まず、結論を来年度以降に先送りすることが分かった。特別永住者への対応は、来年の通常国会に提出予定の法案作成時までずれ込む可能性もある。

Yomiuri: GOJ revising NJ registry and Gaijin Card system: More policing powers, yet no clear NJ “resident” status

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Yomiuri reports the change in the old “Gaijin Card” system, extending its validity for up to five years and somehow registering NJ with their J families. The bad news is that this measure, despite claims that it will make life “more convenient” for NJ living in Japan, is mainly a further policing measure. Registration will be centralized in the police forces (not the local municipalities any more), the replacement Cards will have more biometric data and tracking capability (RFID, anyone?), and the “zairyuu” (not “zaijuu”) cards, as labelled, are rhetorically old wine in new bottles. We still have to get beyond seeing NJ in Japan as “not really residents”, and all our protestations thus far clearly have not sunk yet in with policymakers at the national level.

読売：外国人在留を５年に延長、管理厳格化を機に…法務省方針

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

外国人在留を５年に延長、管理厳格化を機に…法務省方針 2008年3月21日03時03分 読売新聞 http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/news/20080320-OYT1T00662.htm 　外国人の在留管理制度の改善を検討してきた法相の諮問機関「出入国管理政策懇談会」（座長・木村孟(つとむ)大学評価・学位授与機構長）が月内に鳩山法相に提出する「新たな在留管理制度に関する提言」の全容が２０日、明らかになった。 　身分証となる「在留カード」を入国管理局が発行し、不法滞在対策などを強化する一方で、「在留期間の上限の延長」を盛り込んだのが柱だ。提言を受け、法務省は、原則３年が上限の現在の外国人の在留期間を５年に延長する方針だ。来年の通常国会に出入国管理・難民認定法などを改正する関連法案を提出する。 　提言は、不法滞在外国人の増加などを受けて対策を講じるもので、〈１〉市区町村が発行する外国人登録証明書を廃止し、入管が「在留カード」を発行する〈２〉外国人に、在留期間中の勤務先などの変更を入管に届け出ることを義務づける〈３〉外国人の留学、研修先などの所属機関に在籍状況などの報告を義務づける――ことなどが柱となっている。国が在留管理を一元化し、厳格化する一方で、適法に在留する外国人の利便性を向上させることを目指している。 　日本国内では、昨年１０月の改正雇用対策法の施行により、外国人を雇用する事業主には、氏名、在留資格などをハローワークへ報告することが義務づけられ、在留管理が厳格化された。提言を受け、法務省は、この報告義務を、大学など他の所属機関にも拡大する。 　外国人の在留期間は在留資格ごとに決まっており、「日本人の配偶者等」「企業内転勤」などの在留資格では、「１年または３年」となっている。最初は１年で、問題などが起きなければ、３年に延長されるのが一般的だ。５年に延長されれば、日本人の配偶者などの長期滞在の外国人は、在留期間更新手続きなどの負担が軽減される。 　現在、外国人登録をして日本に滞在している外国人は、約２０８万５０００人（２００６年１２月３１日現在）。このうち、新たな在留管理制度の対象となるのは、「永住者」をはじめ、「日本人の配偶者等」「企業内転勤」の外国人などだ。 　今回の提言は、「外交・公用」が目的で滞在する外国人や、「特別永住者」と呼ばれる在日韓国・朝鮮人（約４４万人）などは対象としていない。 　出入国管理政策懇談会は不法滞在外国人の増加などを受け、昨年２月に「在留管理専門部会」を設置。新たな在留管理制度について検討してきた。 （2008年3月21日03時03分 読売新聞）

Debito.org Podcast April 5, 2008: My March 18 FCCJ Speech in full on Trans Pacific Radio

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

In this edition of the Debito.org Podcast on Trans Pacific Radio, Arudou Debito has recorded his entire speech (a little more than an hour and a half), along with Q&A, given at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on March 18, 2008. This is the standard speech he gave during his recent three-week-long nationwide tour to promote HANDBOOK FOR NEWCOMERS, MIGRANTS, AND IMMIGRANTS TO JAPAN, so if you missed the tour, here’s your chance to see what he was on about. It’s not all about the book; he also talks about Japan’s lack of an immigration policy and issues of multiculturalization and Japan’s future.

Taste the irony: Japan proposes language requirement for foreign long-term visas, yet protests when Britain proposes the same

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

Yes, you read that right. The GOJ wants to issue Japanese language tests for long-term NJ visa renewals, yet protests when Great Britain proposes the same. Moral: We Japanese can treat our gaijin any way we like. But don’t you foreign countries dare do the same thing for members of Team Japan.

Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE Column 2, “Public Forums, Spinning Wheels”

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

JUST BE CAUSE Column 2: “At that point in the speech I began woolgathering — recalling all the warm-fuzzy forums I’d seen turn into woolly-headed worry sessions — and arrived at a sad conclusion: “Kokusaika” forums like these are wasted opportunities. For even if these events are put on by people genuinely concerned about the welfare of non-Japanese residents (not by the local-government “internationalization Old Boys,” justifying budgets for parties and overseas trips), if one is not careful the agenda will go on autopilot, bogged down in banalities.”…

Two articles from The Economist on bent Japanese criminal justice system, death penalty

Posted on by Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

The Economist, two articles: “Article 34 of the Japanese Constitution guarantees the right to counsel and habeas corpus, but is systematically ignored. Police and prosecutors can detain suspects for 23 days. Interrogations are relentless and sometimes abusive. Prosecutors are reluctant to bring cases to trial without a confession. Indeed, it is considered a first step in a criminal’s rehabilitation. When asked about the country’s 99% conviction rate, Japan’s justice minister, Kunio Hatoyama, corrected your correspondent to state that it was actually 99.9%, because prosecutors only present cases that are watertight.”… “The notion of being innocent until proven guilty is not strong in Japan. Mr Hatoyama calls it “an idea which I want to constrain”. But confessions are important and the courts rely heavily upon them. Apart from helping secure convictions, they are widely interpreted as expressions of remorse. A defendant not only risks a longer sentence if he insists he is innocent, he is also much less likely to be granted bail before trial—often remaining isolated in police custody, without access to counsel, for long enough to confess. Toshiko Terada, a private lawyer, calls this hitojichi shiho—hostage justice. Perversely, where little supporting evidence exists, the system helps hardened criminals, who know that if they do not confess they are unlikely to be indicted. Innocents, on the other hand, may crack—as in the Kagoshima case, or in a notorious 2002 rape case when the accused confessed under pressure but was released last October after the real culprit came forward.”