Innocent Japan suffers more abuse

from evil foreigners---the US in particular.

A few days ago, Merill Lynch announced that several companies, including Japan's Mizuho bank, were investing around $6 billion in its stock. I learned from one of my young right-leaning contacts, that this was, in his opinion, due to pressure on Japan from the US government to buy stock in companies which were suffering from the sub-prime mess. He had read that a few months ago. He couldn't recall the source, but he is a fan of Sankei Sports, a rightwing paper. I am often amazed at how he can blame the US for any and everything he believes wrong with Japan. If pressed for details or rational, he ducks with "I don't know" or "He (the writer) didn't say."

For example:

-Japans recent food scandals were partially the result of the US and Europe FORCING pure Japan to replace its "produced on" labels with "use by." This change somehow caused the pure Japanese food companies to engage in lies, deception, and fraud.

-According to one of the nutjobs he reads, if Japan were to be attacked, the US would violate the security treaty it has with Japan and do nothing but defend itself. Strangely, this seems be the reverse of the actual treaty in which the US is obligated to send its young men and women to be killed defending Japan, but Japanese young men and women in the military are under no obligation to assist the US in defense of Japan. (In fact, they would be prohibited from assisting in combat or combat rescue---no collective action). He could not explain how the US could defend itself at Yokota air base without defending Tokyo.

-Just before he explained how Mizuho was probably being forced to buy ML stock, he told how the Japanese government had to protect the purity of Japan by restricting non-Yamato ownership of airports to no more than 15%. You see, some sneaky Australian company bought a 20% share of Haneda airport. I did not think to ask him if perhaps the Japanese government had forced the Australian company to buy into Haneda. (Article on this purchase here.)

Wareware nihonjin. Omae wa baka gaijin.

No, of course it's not racist! Japan has no racism!

"Hey nigger!! Don't touch that Japanese woman's ass!!"

[Shigeki ] Saka (editor of Kyogaku no Gaijin Hanzai Ura Fairu ---Shocking Foreigner Crime: the Underground File) said that while he knew the term "nigger" is racist, he reckoned it would have a different nuance written in Japanese. "We used it as street slang, writing it in katakana. But if we had known that we would get such a huge reaction from foreigners, we might have refrained from using it," he figured. (From the 26 Feb 2007 Japan Times.)

This is Japan and there is no racism in Japan. I wrote more about this magazine here.
To their credit, the convenience store Family Mart pulled it off their shelves after they determined it to be discriminatory.

Saka claims that he (being a pure Japanese which makes him by nature incapable of being the racist that he obviously is) means no discrimination against non-Japanese. He also said it is not extreme in tone---read the first sentence again and see if that sounds extreme to you.

The secretary general of the UN's International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism, Hideki Morihara, says the magazine is only part of the problem and puts much of the blame on the Japanese government---which is where it belongs. Of course, the Japanese media, being nothing but mouthpieces for the Japanese government in most cases, is to blame too.

How much of this report will be printed in Japanese newspapers? Would it be the same, or would it put a different slant on the story? If not, it would be a bit of a surprise.

The Japan Times is not that good of a newspaper, but it is more independent than many since it is only printed in English, and is not in the kisha--press clubs---that the government uses to pressure and control the media.

Government tells Iranian family to get out of Japan

Japan is not a very friendly country for refugees. It actually has one of the worst records for admitting political refugees of any country. (For example, see the article by Yumi Isozaki of the Mainichi Shimbun here: "we may send money out, but we will not let people in" and "Over the twenty years from when Japan joined the International Convention on Refugees up until last year, I am aware of only one case in which the plaintiff won an appeal to reconsider a denial of refugee status." ) However, Japan wants a place on the UN Security Council.

At present, it, along with the US are being very hardcore on North Korea. In fact, a few people have told me that they are afraid that the US will back off on its pressure on North Korea over nukes because the Democrats won the election. Japan can bluff and run its big mouth with little risk, as it will hide behind the US. Should there be a war in Korea, Japan hasn't a lot to lose unless North Korea is able to attack it. Even then, its risks are limited. The US will have to do most of the fighting with (possible) support from South Korea. Japan will do as little as possible except maybe throw money at the problem.

Should North Korea collapse, China will have to deal with the refugees, as will South Korea, the US, likely Australia, and other countries in the region. EXCEPT for JAPAN. You can bet it will stick to its policy of denying refugees. (30 December: I have heard that Japan DOES have a plan in place to accept North Korean refugees should it collapse. 11 January: The fact on this is that Japan has a plan in the works---said to be poorly thought out---which would allow North Korean refugees to stay in Japan for a year or two at the most. Japan has no intention on allowing any large permanent influx of non-Japanese, be they refugees, starving children or whatever.)

Friday the Japanese government refused to allow an Iranian family to remain in Japan and ordered them to get out by January, despite a petition with 10,000 signatures asking that they be allowed to stay. The family has been here since the early 90s with 2 daughters, one born in Japan who can only speak Japanese. Admittedly, the father came here illegally, but applied for residency. The Japan Times has a short article from which the title of this post came HERE.

Keep out refugees. If some slip in, kick them out.

Japan, in the world, but not of it. This must be the bushido that old Dignity of a State, Masahiko Fujiwara, talks of. Yes, this is a perfect example of the dignity of the Japanese government. And remember (although Fujiwara himself dislikes democracy) it is still a democratic government and as such, represents the will of its citizens.

Is Japan Really Racist?

While looking for information on Tokyo part-time governor "Blinky" Ishihara, I came across a discussion on racism in Japan. I found the following post, which very clearly explains what goes on on Japan. It only scratches the surface, but it is a pretty good distilled summary:

As a black man from LA who has lived in the ghetto (the first one a dangerous place with Cripping going on down my street which is why we moved), got himself educated and took his ass out of the US to experience life somewhere else, I aint gonna say that my home country aint racist. But just cause white supremacists or rednecks aint jumping me in Japan doesn`t mean that I can ignore the racialist/racist structures here in Japan that are fixed. Really fixed. Aint no movement towards the rest of the world here.

I`ve been called a `kuronbo` which is the Japanese equivalent of the `nga` word in the USA (and I have to point out that though I`m a hiphop head and into rap, my black brothers in music have perpetuated a word that was coming close to being unspeakable so it`s a case of black folks publicising a word that should be unknown to young folks in the USA now). The fact that I`ve been called a kuronbo openly and unashamedly by racist old assholes who also spat at the ground around me isn`t why I say Japan is a deeply racist society. A country`s laws tell you about how racist it is.

As other posters have pointed out better than I can and in detail there are so many racialist/racist laws and rules in Japan that perpetuate the myth of racial purity - without a thought. That`s real racism for me - aint no debate in the media, aint no movements against this nasty `Japanese blood` mindset, aint nobody willing to take a stand or even take much time out to think about it apart from a very few. For me, Japan is what the Deep South was before the 1970s in some ways. Just because Japanese people smile and bow and are polite doesn`t make their society`s way of viewing other folks any less unapologetically racist and backwards.

Japan is going to pay for its deep racism when it sinks further into the economic decline. Japan`s whack obsessions with `racial purity`, `the Japanese race` etc over having a population that creates demand and results in supply and economic growth is gonna come back at these folks. Racist societies throughout history have dug their own graves. Japan is doing the same.

Japanese/foreign apologist hypocrisy

is discussed by a guy who pretty much has it nailed at this link . Strange how some people live in Japan for years and never get this. Granted, they are rare. Usually the apologists who give us the "Japanese are so polite" crap only visited or lived in an isolated dream world and were baka gaijin handled while they were here.

Ever wonder why any complaints or criticism about Japan is called whining? The Japanese in general are supersensitive to anything close to criticism, but white foreigners are the most likely to make this charge. It seems that they prefer that everyone goes-along-to-get-along just like the Japanese. They are of the same ilk that in the US tell anyone who would dare criticize that country "Why don't you leave if you don't like it." The answer is, "Because I live here, it's a democracy---whatever that is---and I have a right and a duty to participate in society. If you don't like democracy, then why don't you leave and go where nobody can make any openly critical comments."

Of course, this is not how society/democracy works in Japan. However, imagine that minorities were viewed and treated in the same way in the States or other countries. Would those same apologists who whine about any non-Japanese who criticizes (and even with Japanese- critics too--many will argue with a Japanese who criticize Japan that no, it isn't so bad, it's the same or worse in "my" country.) whine and complain about a minority criticizing their own country's short-comings?

I have pasted the full comment below because it is spot on. This guy has a better understanding of the country than old Edwin Reischauer ever did.

Are Japanese more hypocritical with foreigners ?

---

Foreword

I know some people are going to call this thread "overgeneralization" because I am talking about "the Japanese", a group of 126 million people. Let me say from the start that for the sake of discussion I will use the term "Japanese" not to refer to "all the Japanese", but to "the average Japanese in the streets (of Tokyo where I live), based on my observations". The purpose of this thread (and other ones with such generalization) is to compare one another's opinion based on our personal experience. This seems obvious to me, but I need to explain this if I don't want to be misunderstood.

Are Japanese more hypocritical with foreigners ?

I have now been living for 3,5 years in Japan, during which time I have assiduously analyzed the behaviour and mentality of people around me (just for the record, I very rarely meet foreigners in Japan, apart from Thomas once in a while )

I am pretty good when it comes to understanding people's emotions and guessing what they think. My wife is often surprised how I express her own feelings better than she can herself. I often predict correctly what the person I am talking to will reply to some questions - be it about their opinion, feelings or knowledge for something specific. When I ask the question, I can see in their eyes what they are going to say before they actually say it. I rarely mistake (esp. with Japanese people, which I usually find easier to understand than Westerners).

After these few years of mind-reading and careful observations, I am left with the feeling that the average Japanese have awkward and prejudiced feelings against anybody that doesn't look Japanese. (let me define that "the average Japanese " are not those who come to practice their English with the first foreign-looking person, or those who have lived abroad, but the real average Japanese that don't speak English and know little about other countries).

For example, no later than today, as I was queuing at the supermarket cashier, the careless woman in front of me walked back and stepped on my foot. She first started a typical "ahh, suuumimaseeen !", but as she turned and saw that I was not Japanese, her voice faded before she finished her "sumimasen" and she just walked away with a strange look on her face. This has happened to me times and again.

First, when I mentioned that to my wife or some Japanese friends, I heard "excuses" such as "they think you don't understand Japanese because you are a foreigner", or the like. But these are really just (prejudiced) excuses. At the place near my house where I usually buy my bento, and have been going for 3 years, the staff (you should know m by then), still hardly says anything to me and when they have run out of one kind of bento, make signs crossing fingers and speaking in strange Japanese as if I couldn't understand. They have heard me speak fluent Japanese with my wife, and could not possibly not remember me, but still act in such prejudiced ways (while I always speak Japanese with my Japanese friends, and the have no problem understanding me at all). The worst is when those kind of shop's staff thank the previous (Japanese) customer with "arigoto gozaimaashitaaa, mata okoshi kudasaimaseee" then when it is my turn, they just don't say anything or mumble a quick and dry "arigato gozaimass" as if they were angry.

This week again, as I was riding my bike at lunchtime in crowded central Tokyo, a police car stopped with the policeman rushing toward me and asking if that was my bicycle and checked the registration number. There were other bicycles around, so my intentionally stop me for no reason. That is very embarassing in front of hundreds of people (and made me come late to my appointment, as it took a few minutes). The policeman was also surprised that I spoke so well Japanese and asked me if I had lived for over 10 years in Japan. Again that is very prejudiced to think that foreigners can't speak decent Japanese just after a few years's stay (or maybe because he couldn't do the same in English).

Westerners usually see the Japanese as polite, well-mannered and respectful. But do they behave this way because of social-pressure or because of genuine good feelings ? Very often it is due to social norms. But taking things a step further, I'd like to say that the attitude of many Japanese toward foreigners is very different from the one they use between themselves. When the "foreigner" is a "customer/guest" (kyaku-san) and people treat him/her even better than they would treat a Japanese, with lots of blatant flattery (sometimes annoyingly so, like the fake expression of amazement at how well a gaijin can use chopsticks or eat sushi - which in fact conceals a deep-rooted cultural prejudice that foreigners are inferior to Japanese). But when the foreigner is not a "kyaku-san" or reluctantly so (esp. in small shops), we can see how this was really hypocrisy, as this time the gaijin is treated like a weird animal and not even like a standard Japanese customer.


Any thoughts ?