Does Gregory Clark read FG?

[omae mona]

I think Gregory Clark is a raving lunatic most of the time. And to support my hypothesis, now I think he might be a regular reader of FG!

Antiforeigner discrimination is a right for Japanese people
Japan Times
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

By GREGORY CLARK
"Japan girai" — dislike of Japan — is an allergy that seems to afflict many Westerners here. If someone handing out Japanese-language flyers assumes they cannot read Japanese and ignores them, they cry racial discrimination. If they are left sitting alone in a train, they assume that is because the raci st Japanese do not want to sit next to foreigners. If someone does sit next to them and tries to speak to them in English, they claim more discrimination, this time becau se it is assumed they cannot speak Japanese.

Normally these people do little harm. In their gaijin ghettoes they complain about everything from landlords reluctant to rent to foreigners (igno ring justified landlord fear of the damage foreigners can cause) to use of the word "gaijin" (forgetting the way some English speakers use the shorter and sometimes discr iminatory word "foreigner" rather than "foreign national."). A favorite complaint is that Japanese universities discriminate against foreigners. How many Western universi ties would employ, even as simple language teachers, foreigners who could not speak, write and read the national language?
..moron..

The editorial gets even worse as it proceeds, and it's apparently full of factual errors as well. Debito is piping mad and I think he has a point this time.

[Gilligan]

Just reading the above excerpt it's pretty obvious that he's full of shit. It sounds more like he's trying to say, "Hey, look at me! I'm a better gaijin than you are."

I think I'll start calling someone like him an Uncle Gregory.

[Yokohammer]

Raving indeed. You can almost hear the snorts of righteous indignation between the lines. Clark has a few out-of-focus points expressed badly and tied together with frail logic, but on the whole it just comes across as whining tripe.

It's really too bad that the kick-and-scream loonies and fanatics get most of the attention, because there are a few level heads out there who really have something to say.

[Behan]

Thanks for being so encouraging to all the racists here, Gregory-kun!

[Takechanpoo]

I had read his nihonjin-ron in my university days.

I think Gregory Clark is a raving lunatic most of the time. And to support my hypothesis, now I think he might be a regular reader of FG!

Gregory's twisted method of expression is resemble Charles's one to a certain extent.

[wuchan]

too much.........?

[Greji]

I had read his nihonjin-ron in my university days.


Gregory's twisted method of expression is resemble Charles's one to a certain extent.

[Catoneinutica]

Der Gregster: Japan's most cuddly Australian FG!

-catone
-is he planning on going to that Tableaux dinner?

[omae mona]

"If someone handing out Japanese-language flyers assumes they cannot read Japanese and ignores them, they cry racial discrimination. If they are left sitting alone in a train, they assume that is because the raci st Japanese do not want to sit next to foreigners.

I think having open seats next to me on the train and not having crap shoved in my face on the street are some of the best things about being a foreigner here. Who the hell has been complaining? Like Mr. Clark, I'd like to see more of this kind of discrimination.

[Iraira]

In his "diatripe", Gregory didn't mention anything about having sex with animals...perhaps he finds that arousing.....

[kusai Jijii]

[Mulboyne]

Clark has replied to some criticisms of his piece on the NBR Forums:

On whether foreigners are worse tenants than Japanese:

I am involved with an enterprise that rents rural cabins and besso a wide range of Japanese and foreign residents. The rental delinquency rate with Japanese - almost zero; with foreigners - around 30 percent. One foreigner managed recently to abscond (yonige) after causing one million yens worth of damage and a four month non-payment of rent. They are still trying to sue him.

For any landlord, especially for Japanese with their well-known abhorrence of 'trouble' ( on which the yakuza feed heavily) even a five percent gap in delinquency rates would be enough to discourage renting to any foreigner, given language and cultural problems. Having to allow for a possible extra five percent delinquency rate can even be the difference between profit or loss in some cases. Allow for the 'trouble' factor and I am surprised so many foreigners do find lodgings.

On the other hand when there is little likelihood of problems and the landlord has some English ability, often there is a bias in favor of foreigners because they will leave when their contract tells them to leave. I have been the recipient of such favoritism (and, unbelievably, criticised by the anti-discrimination fanatics for accepting such it).

On whether foreigners in the onsens are noisy and whether posting rules or taking a deposit would be better countermeasures:

I suggest you go to Otaru, as I have, and speak with the Russian seamen there, as I have (in their own language) and you will understand why there is a particular problem with these people. Your suggested remedy is quite unrealistic. What should have been done was organise a seaman's club as is found in other major ports. Seamen everywhere cause problems when they are let loose in foreign cities, not to mention one that has nice exclusive onsen baths.

But [some persons opposed to discrimination] found it easier to intimidate, sue and then boast about their victories. One approach that could have been used was to bar non-Japanese speakers. But to expect a provincial onsen operator to realise that is rather un-realistic. And [some persons] would probably have objected to that also.

Clark concludes:

Frankly, of all the countries in which I have lived I find Japan more tolerant than most, especially in matters such as taxation, property rights and education.

The problem is the way Japan with its unusual value system seems to encourage more than its fair share of suspicion and dislike. In fact the value system on balance provides more pluses than minuses for foreigners - more so than most other value systems, the Korean especially. But that also means that the minuses operate at levels our own value systems find hard to tolerate. So when the Koreans with a value system closer to ours turn anti-foreign we can understand where they are coming from without becoming too hysterical. When the Japanese turn anti-foreign we cannot understand the sensitivities involved. Hysteria is the usual response, especially among the small group of foreigners here who have turned anti-discrimination into a small cottage industry.

Maturity suggest that one enjoys the pluses without making too much fuss about the minuses. Or if one does want to make a fuss, make a fuss also about the problems in other societies, including our own.

The NBR forum moderator has suggested that discussion of Clark's views should now cease before it gets nasty.

I see that Momus heartily agrees with Clark's piece and is so taken by it that he is considering making the Japan Times his main news bookmark.

[omae mona]

I certainly don't dispute that foreigners sometimes cause trouble. I think I even accept that if I were a landlord, I might not want to rent to somebody who I cannot communicate with. I even accept that the rate of trouble from foreigners is occasionally higher than the rate from citizens.

However, the jump to implying that institutionalized discrimination is the correct solution is absurd. The vast majority of foreigners here are not the rent-skipping, tatami-wetting, garbage-mixing newbies that Clark implies. Banning them systematically will certainly result in a tiny bit of reduced headaches for certain people (perhaps landlords and shop owners). But it's also going to drive away the 99% of foreigners who are not causing trouble. And along with that it drives away the economic benefit they bring.

Idiot. However, he provided me with my new signature.

Seamen everywhere cause problems when they are let loose in foreign cities

[canman]

My take on this, is that Mr. Clark has been here a long time, and perhaps feels "at one", with the Japanese people. He doesn't like other people coming and A. stealing his thunder, and B. making him look bad.
As for the second point, none of us like being tarred with the same brush, and up here in Hachinohe, being close to Misawa Air Base, it does sometimes happen. Whenever there is any kind of incident concerning base personnel, there is a feeling people look at you differently, etc. But that can be rectified by being a good citizen and leading by example. But Clark doesn't want any of that. He wants them all out if they are not to l his liking, which is just insane.
As for the first point, I've witnessed on more than a few occasions cases where foreigners love being the only one and being the special one. The more of us there are, that kind of wears thin. Grow up Mr. Clark.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Or if one does want to make a fuss, make a fuss also about the problems in other societies, including our own.

Logical fallacy alert!

If you live and work in Japan, you probably care about discrimination in Japan first and foremost because it effects you directly. What's so hard to inderstand about that?

What drives me nuts is the broad brush that people use to paint things. Especially landlords. No gaijin, period. Let's forget the fact that I, for example, have lived here over 6 years, have a tack record of being a good tenant, have no credit issues, have a decent job with a good income, and have decent enough Japanese to communicate verbally and handle any paperwork on my own.

Back when I was teaching business English, I had a class of Japanese lawyers. We were talking about housing discrimination which most of them didn't realize was an issue for gaijin. However, one of the ladies had a friend from school who had faced problems because she was Korean. Her friend spoke perfect Japanese, had graduated from a top Japanese univeristy with a degree in law, had passed the Japanese bar exam (only something like 3% of test takers do), was working for a major law firm and she was still getting the "no gaijin" line from landlords. Probably even more so because she was Asian. But maybe they just didn't want the whole building to reek of kimchee which is understandable.

[prolly]

i can't stand gaijin when i'm in japan, and i am one. one thing i seem to notice is many foreigners feel a sense of entitlement when they should instead focus on being gracious guests; it's japan, not cancun.

[Samurai_Jerk]

[quote="prolly"]i can't stand gaijin when i'm in japan, and i am one. one thing i seem to notice is many foreigners feel a sense of entitlement when they should instead focus on being gracious guests]

I've found that most gaijin who say this are the biggest douche bags of all.

[kusai Jijii]

[quote="prolly"]i can't stand gaijin when i'm in japan, and i am one. one thing i seem to notice is many foreigners feel a sense of entitlement when they should instead focus on being gracious guests]

The year is 2009. Whether you like it or not, we live in a globalized world. I dont feel entitled to anything more than the next bloke. And I certainly dont think I am Japanese.

I first came here 21 years ago, and have been here for 15 of those years. I have always paid my taxes - INCLUDING JYUUMIN ZEI (something the J-Gov have no qualms about taking from me, because, in their eyes, I am a resident, and paying residency taxes is one of the responsabilities of being a 'member' of this society). I do working bees each month in my little town. I stand once a week doing gomi-toban, and help the kids every other week doing 'hata-toban' (crossing duty). I have never been convicted of a crime. I have built a house here. I have raised my family here.

Just when exactly do you think I can stop considering myself a 'gracious guest'?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Just when exactly do you think I can stop considering myself a 'gracious guest'?

That's a rhetorical question, right?

[Iraira]

Note to Gregory, I got over my "I am the alpha gaijin" crap around year 3.
Note to Jiji: You're saying that for the sake of world order, I should not change the avatar under threat of jihad?

[Behan]

Clark has replied to some criticisms of his piece on the NBR Forums:

On whether foreigners are worse tenants than Japanese:

I used to be friends with my landlord and he told me that there were (J) people in one of his apartments that had been there for years without paying any rent and that there was nothing he could do about it. He told me that due to tenant rights he couldn't kick them out.

I know this is only one case but years of non-payment would certainly financially equal quite a few FGs who are only several months delinquent.

And what about subsidized housing like shiei jutaku? Can FGs get in them? Maybe if poor FGs could they wouldn't be delinquent with their rent.

[Behan]

The year is 2009. Whether you like it or not, we live in a globalized world. I dont feel entitled to anything more than the next bloke. And I certainly dont think I am Japanese.

I first came here 21 years ago, and have been here for 15 of those years. I have always paid my taxes - INCLUDING JYUUMIN ZEI (something the J-Gov have no qualms about taking from me, because, in their eyes, I am a resident, and paying residency taxes is one of the responsabilities of being a 'member' of this society). I do working bees each month in my little town. I stand once a week doing gomi-toban, and help the kids every other week doing 'hata-toban' (crossing duty). I have never been convicted of a crime. I have built a house here. I have raised my family here.

Just when exactly do you think I can stop considering myself a 'gracious guest'?

My time in Japan is pretty close to yours and I feel the same way as you. I want to think that I have immigrated here and am not just a tourist.

[kusai Jijii]

Note to Jiji: You're saying that for the sake of world order, I should not change the avatar under threat of jihad?

Affirmative.

[kusai Jijii]

i can't stand gaijin when I'm in japan, and I am one.

And that's coming from the dude who started the "I will pay you to make a restaurant reservation for me" thread.

[james]

[quote="prolly"]when they should instead focus on being gracious guests]

suggest you read a little more. as kj has adeptly surmised it in his post in this thread, the notion that foreign nationals here should never be viewed (and therefore treated) as more than guests is wholly anachronistic.

[Gilligan]

I used to be friends with my landlord and he told me that there were (J) people in one of his apartments that had been there for years without paying any rent and that there was nothing he could do about it. He told me that due to tenant rights he couldn't kick them out.

I know this is only one case but years of non-payment would certainly financially equal quite a few FGs who are only several months delinquent.

And what about subsidized housing like shiei jutaku? Can FGs get in them? Maybe if poor FGs could they wouldn't be delinquent with their rent.

But the logic is no different than the logic used by Uncle Gregory to defend his position.

[Mike Oxlong]

I used to be friends with my landlord and he told me that there were (J) people in one of his apartments that had been there for years without paying any rent and that there was nothing he could do about it. He told me that due to tenant rights he couldn't kick them out.

I know this is only one case but years of non-payment would certainly financially equal quite a few FGs who are only several months delinquent.

My current neighbor is the same. Paid the key & thank you money, first month's rent, and not one thin yen since. Landlord got paid through insurance up to a certain point, then nada. Sez he can ask them to leave, but forcing them is "chotto muzukashi...". They claimed a mother & son would be living in the rental, but there has been a revolving door of shady characters, bill collectors, and investigators sniffing around night and day. Postman keeps asking about all the new names getting mail at that address. Yet at the slightest disturbance, where do the locals look as to the source of the problem...the gaijin scourge living upstairs.

[Iraira]

Have had dinner with my landlord a couple of times. He bitches about the J-chick living below him (he lives in the same building) who has people coming over at all hours who ring his door by mistake. I asked if he knows how much she charges....met her before and all I can say is that she can't charge much...
Maybe...we are the good gaijin....and all the rest are just as Gregory says they are.

[Greji]

has people coming over at all hours who ring his door by mistake.

What can I say, I was pissed and forgot which joint was her's.....

[Iraira]

What can I say, I was pissed and forgot which joint was her's.....

That sucks...you're in the neighborhood and you don't even stop by...
actually that explain the strange sounds I heard coming from thr 5th floor. It kinda sounded like, "I don't know why the it says in the Poulan 360 owner's manual to only insert the blade end into the rectum while the blade is rotating at over 200 rpm or it might get suck, after all that mochi my bowels are so impacted, I'm thinking of going the C4 route to unplug them again."