Gaijin Criminal Stereotype Questioned

[ultragaijin]

"Special Report" on Yomiuri. (http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20020419wo41.htm)

Now why would you want to go and ruin a perfectly good stereotype?

The Metropolitan Police Department provoked the ire of Chinese living in Japan when it distributed leaflets warning residents of a spate of burglaries. The leaflets encouraged residents to "Call 110 when you think you have seen a Chinese."

In addition, the Japanese media have been accused of sensationalizing crimes committed by non-Japanese and creating a stereotype that foreigners are more likely to commit crimes than Japanese.

Oh really?

The National Police Agency declined to comment on whether there was a higher crime rate among Japanese or non-Japanese. It said the statistics were not available because it did not know the exact number of foreigners living in the country illegally. Also, the NPA said investigative authorities do not always know if crimes were committed by Japanese or non-Japanese.

It sounds like they assume most crimes are commited by foreigners, unless proven otherwise.

Update: Media seen hindering globalization (http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20020419wo36.htm) (another Yomiuri story)

[kamome]

Unfortunately, I have to say the assumption that gaijin are committing more crimes than Japanese is probably correct. While that sucks big time, and I'm affected negatively by it, it seems like gaijin crime rings (generally people from the Asian continent--Persians & Chinese being the worst culprits) do exist. Of course, I have no proof other than what I see on the streets of Shibuya, Shinjuku, etc.

But it's true that the media DOES sensationalize gaijin crimes more than Japanese crimes. I saw a story on the news once where a Chinese was suspected of murder in Japan. Instead of calling the suspect "Chinese", they just called him "gaijin". That pissed me off, because it perpetuates the mode of thinking that gaijin are all in one category without distinguishing us by nationality or race.

[ultragaijin]

I'm not even gonna touch this one. :crazy3: Leute Hater, wo sind Sie jetzt? Wir benotigen Ihre Hilfe.

[Anonymous]

Heh.. it's funny how the Japanese have such a weird sense of PCness. Sony recalls all copies of King Giddra's CDs because they might offend women or gays.. but, when it comes down to the truly discriminitory and offensive aspects of Japanese society, everyone turns a blind eye.

[sorrydaijin]

Instead of calling the suspect "Chinese", they just called him "gaijin". That pissed me off, because it perpetuates the mode of thinking that gaijin are all in one category without distinguishing us by nationality or race.

Which is more prejudiced? Lets face it, Japanese generally don't mind your standard white fucked gaijin, but many of them (not necessarily just the old ones) don't think twice about the racist attitudes they have toward other asians. To me, this is more offensive than any vague prejudice against gaijins in general. So, I prefer the gaijin line to one indicating the specific nationality of the suspect.

And as to the media focusing more on gaijin related crimes, I am inclined to think the opposite. The sheer number of crimes commited by gaijins is amazing and only the real nasty ones get plastered across the media.

Although the way the police view gaijins (including the white ones... and no we aren't all bloody アメリカ人) is frustrating, it is certainly justified by statistics. Shit, I know a lot of people that should be locked up (not myself mind you :roll: ) and most of them are gaijins.

[ultragaijin]

First off, I think the real reason the police won't give those numbers is because they probably have blown the problem way out of proportion, and use it as an excuse to harass the majority of non-criminal foreigners. There's a reason for the innocent until proven guilty concept in the US (though it's not always followed there either).

If you look at sheer numbers, obviously the majority of foreigners, Chinese, Korean, Pilipinos, Middle Eastern, Japanese-Brazilians, or whatever are actually working and supporting the Japanese economy, doing the "three K" jobs that Japanese themselves no longer want to do. The fraction that are criminals are the ones you read about in the newspaper or see scamming on a street corner, because the news doesn't report on the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands or more who go to work everyday and just do their jobs (not to mention those who are exploited by Japanese business interests).

If you're going to argue against being called a "Gaijin" in general, just do that directly, without qualifications. Being offended by being grouped together with non-White Gaijin, smacks of the exact same racist attitude as this article was discussing. Why don't you go tell that to all of those non-Whites that are slaving away in Japanese factories and don't get the Golden Hakujin treatment. Didn't Hitler have these same delusions about non-pure people? You see this kind of thinking in Japanese real estate all the time - "Sure, we'll rent to Johnny Blond-n-Blue Eyes, but HELL NO, we can't rent to a dirty Zambian. And no, it doesn't matter if they are well-educated, professional, high-level embassy staff and can pay double. (Well maybe if they pay triple, we'll think about it. That might just about cover the sand-blasting and fumigation expenses after they leave.)" Other countries have passed laws against that kind of thing.

[kamome]

If you're going to argue against being called a "Gaijin" in general, just do that directly, without qualifications. Being offended by being grouped together with non-White Gaijin, smacks of the exact same racist attitude as this article was discussing. Why don't you go tell that to all of those non-Whites that are slaving away in Japanese factories and don't get the Golden Hakujin treatment. Didn't Hitler have these same delusions about non-pure people?

Whoa-ho-ho, there! Talk about totally missing the point! When I said I was pissed that they called that suspect a gaijin instead of Chinese, it's not at all because I was offended by being grouped with non-White gaijin. If you read further, I said I was upset because it perpetuates the Japanese mode of thinking whereby all non-Japanese are just "gaijin", without any reference to their individual nationality or race. When it happens on the news, it lends an air of acceptance to the term, thereby perpetuating that mode of thinking.

And to take the issue a bit further, I think it is dangerous for the news just to refer to a murder suspect as "gaijin", because that can lead the public either a) to infer that most gaijin are "bad" or criminals, or b) that I or any other law-abiding citizen is a possible suspect. Thus, if non-white ethnic group X living in Japan, for example, is statistically the group most involved in crime, then yes, I do resent being lumped together with them if that's the effect that being called "gaijin" has on the Japanese public. It has nothing to do with my attitudes about that racial/ethnic group, but rather has everything to do with how I am perceived by other Japanese.

[ultragaijin]

I don't think I can reinforce my point any better than you just have.

Thus, if non-white ethnic group X living in Japan, for example, is statistically the group most involved in crime, then yes, I do resent being lumped together with them if that's the effect that being called "gaijin" has on the Japanese public.

Despite resenting being lumped together with "ethnic group X," you yourself are lumping the majority of non-criminals in "ethnic group X" together with the criminals. Again, you don't see these non-criminals on TV, because they are normal working people just getting on with their lives, which makes extremely boring news. Your argument is just as absurd as discriminating against all Italians because of the Mafia. (Insert endless analogies here.)

It has nothing to do with my attitudes about that racial/ethnic group, but rather has everything to do with how I am perceived by other Japanese.

When you worry about how racists perceive you, you are perpetuating their ideas. It is exactly this kind of thoughtless refusal to grasp the situation by self-described non-racists that sustains negative stereotypes. You choose to be a part of the problem or a part of the solution.

If you are non-"ethnic group X", it's very convenient and easy to make a convincing argument why you choose not to be associated with that group. However, if you look at it from the point-of-view of someone who is a member of "ethnic group X", they don't have the option to make the self-interested choice you have. In addition, your pragmatic attitude makes things that much worse for them.

[kamome]

You make a very good point about non-criminal, law-abiding gaijin who happen to be members of an ethnic group that statistically commits a disproportionate number of crimes in Japan. I do sympathize with those individuals who are considered guilty by association just because they happen to be a member of "non-white ethnic group X".

However, whether you like it or not, the suspect was Chinese, not white, not Persian, not black. I don't think it's racist to identify a suspect on the news by their physical features, but it should be specific to that person's physical features for the purposes of clarity and maybe for identifying the suspect in the future.

Calling him gaijin of course serves no such purpose, and that's what I was pissed about. Calling him Chinese at least is specific (and accurate in this case) and I would argue has no racist intent behind it. I'm certainly not offended if the news says that a suspect is Caucasian or American. It's unfortunate if all other Chinese in Japan might be resented by ignorant Japanese people as a result of news coverage identifying the suspect by nationality. But at least then the news wouldn't be guilty of unfair or misleading coverage affecting all gaijin.

[ultragaijin]

I just realized Yomiuri has another related story: Media seen hindering globalization (http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20020419wo36.htm)