Anti-Foreign Legislation

[Fat Man]

Come Out And Say 'No!' To Immigration Legislation Aimed At Controlling Foreigners

May 12 (Friday) 7pm, Urgent Assembly
500 yen entrance
Sponsors: Amnesty International Japan, Solidarity with Migrant Workers Japan

Resist a surveillance society!
Korea YMCA, 9th Floor Kokusai Hall (http://www.ymcajapan.org/ayc/jp/)
Tokyo Chiyoda-ku, Sarugakucho 2-5-5

six minutes from JR's Suidobashi Station (Sohbu Line)
nine minutes from JR's Ochanomizu Station (Sohbu or Chuoh Lines)

For a 1/8000 magnification
http://map.yahoo.co.jp/pl?nl=35.41.48.309&el=139.45.42.601&la=1&fi=1&sc=3


For a 1/1500 magnification closer look, try:
http://map.yahoo.co.jp/pl?nl=35.41.48.309&el=139.45.42.601&la=1&fi=1&sc=1

Currently, a bill to amend Immigration law is under deliberation in Japan's Diet under the rubric of "anti-terrorism measures." The proposed legislation would compel all foreigners in Japan to provide fingerprinting, facial scans and other biometric data for use in a database that would compile and store such personal data on over 7 million foreigners a year. Japanese citizens would also be subject to such biometric scans, including fingerprints and facial scands for use at automatic gates at airports and other public facilities.
The police will also be able to use such data, as would foreign governments. For instance, if Japan and the US decide to exchange such data they will be able to create a multinational biometric database.
In addition, an ambiguous definition of "terrorist" in the proposed legislation will enable the arbitrary deportation of certain foreigners as "terrorist sympathizers" and raise the possibility for false arrests.
Despite the obvious problems of the bill, it was deliberated by the lower house legislative committee for just a fortnight and largely ignored by the media.
With the end of Golden Week, the upper house has begun to deliberate it.
We strongly oppose this fostering of discrimination against foreigners and a move toward a surveillance society.
Turn out and demonstrate your opposition too.

[Socratesabroad]

On another board (the guy gets around), someone countered:
All foreigners and all Japanese citizens?Am I wrong inreading that as "everyone"?That sounds like big brother for sure but not anti foreign.

I was thinking the same exact thing.

The other thing that bothers me about Fat Man's post is the love of catchphrases - "surveillance society", anyone?

And my last peeve is the hypocrisy. The maps Fat Man linked to weren't drawn by bespectacled cartographers, now were they? Apparently the NSA is still waiting for your expression of gratitude for satellite imagery (and I won't even go into the origins of the Internet...).

By the way, Fat Man, I've got the perfect headwear for you

[Kuang_Grade]

[Hokgwai]

I don't know....I mean, is it really our place to protest in a country that's not ours??

Japan belongs to the Japanese and quite frankly as "gaijin" we are guests aren't we?

How does that work out inviting yourself as a guest to someone's house and you complain about the rules that they have under their own roof.

U.S. is having a BIG problem right now with Latino immigrants who have been protesting about the immigration rules of the U.S.--------- but many are rallying for the rights of those who migrated ILLEGALLY to the U.S.

I see a common denominator here.....

Given the state of the world with terrorism and all....I think every country has its right to set up whatever protocols or laws in the interest of the saftey and protection of its citizens and yes, its guests.....

I really don't think they are doing it just to f#&k with people.....I think they have better things to do and bigger things to worry about.

[kamome]

I don't know....I mean, is it really our place to protest in a country that's not ours??

Japan belongs to the Japanese and quite frankly as "gaijin" we are guests aren't we?

How does that work out inviting yourself as a guest to someone's house and you complain about the rules that they have under their own roof.

U.S. is having a BIG problem right now with Latino immigrants who have been protesting about the immigration rules of the U.S.--------- but many are rallying for the rights of those who migrated ILLEGALLY to the U.S.

I see a common denominator here.....

Given the state of the world with terrorism and all....I think every country has its right to set up whatever protocols or laws in the interest of the saftey and protection of its citizens and yes, its guests.....

I really don't think they are doing it just to f#&k with people.....I think they have better things to do and bigger things to worry about.

You can still be a "guest" and have certain rights and privileges even with that status. If the laws of Japan give you the right of speech and assembly, why shouldn't you be allowed to protest (assuming you are in the country legally and are paying your taxes, etc.)?

[Socratesabroad]

[james]

I don't know....I mean, is it really our place to protest in a country that's not ours?? Japan belongs to the Japanese and quite frankly as "gaijin" we are guests aren't we?

for someone who claims to be a "guest" in this country, you sound an awful lot like certain members amongst our "hosts" who like to drive around in black trucks and be obnoxious.

How does that work out inviting yourself as a guest to someone's house and you complain about the rules that they have under their own roof.

i think this analogy is far too simplisitc. the fact that one is not a citizen does (should) not automatically relegate them to a "guest" status. i and many others here are peaceful, contributing and constructive members of society who have adapted to the language, culture and set roots here with their japanese spouses and children. oh and pay taxes. don't forget the shitload of taxes. just like millions who have done so in a multitude of other countries.

but many are rallying for the rights of those who migrated ILLEGALLY to the U.S. I see a common denominator here.....

i do not. i honestly think these are two very different issues. the US has a *massive* problem with illegal immigration on a scale such that illegal immigrants now hold a lot of political sway. this is not the case here. also i think the majority of foreigners living and working here are doing so legally ("pink" industries excluded perhaps).

Given the state of the world with terrorism and all....

ah yes, terrorism, a handy blanket bogeyman to push through any legislation, such as this to strip citizens and non-citizens alike of basic personal privacy and due course of justice. certainly not unique to japan in any case but a very handy tool for those in power who would like to do away with certain "undesirables", whatever criteria that may be.

[Greji]

I generally agree with your Points James, accept there is one point*

"... i think the majority of foreigners living and working here are doing so legally ("pink" industries excluded perhaps)...."

If one were to yell "immigrations officer" in front of one of the day labor pick-up points, he might well be trampled in the rapid departure of certain nervous prospective workers!

[james]

If one were to yell "immigrations officer" in front of one of the day labor pick-up points, he might well be trampled in the rapid departure of certain nervous prospective workers!

i wonder if the immigration office has the equivalent of the original star trek series "red shirts"..

[Hokgwai]

for someone who claims to be a "guest" in this country, you sound an awful lot like certain members amongst our "hosts" who like to drive around in black trucks and be obnoxious.

BLACK TRUCKS?! In Japan?? Dude, who are or what are you talking about? Last time I heard of such behavior, the drivers were wearing "white togas with big pointy white hats"! Please explain....

i think this analogy is far too simplisitc. the fact that one is not a citizen does (should) not automatically relegate them to a "guest" status. i and many others here are peaceful, contributing and constructive members of society who have adapted to the language, culture and set roots here with their japanese spouses and children. oh and pay taxes. don't forget the shitload of taxes. just like millions who have done so in a multitude of other countries.

The matter of paying taxes and/or being married is a good point. There are significant number of constructive foreign residents here. I didn't say foreign residents shouldn't have ANY rights--- But I think there is a reason why we don't have voting rights nor the ability to run for Prime Minister for that matter....unless I'm wrong about that, please let me know.

ah yes, terrorism, a handy blanket bogeyman to push through any legislation, such as this to strip citizens and non-citizens alike of basic personal privacy and due course of justice. certainly not unique to japan in any case but a very handy tool for those in power who would like to do away with certain "undesirables", whatever criteria that may be.

Dude, this ain't a movie and it ain't "V For Vendetta". I like to think we are living in pretty modern times where "modern and free" societies have learned enough from past mistakes to avoid transgressions like that. Call me naive but that's what I like to think.

Due to homeland security that the U.S. was able to apprehend (and convict after a fair trial) Zacarias Moussaoui for his participation in the 9/11 attacks.

I don't think anyone wants to strip anyone of their rights or due justice. Not in this country anyway. Japan is quite aware of how important its foreign residents are to its economy.

shoot man, I just don't want to get blown up, gased or fire-bombed on the train on my way to my shit-job...I just wanna enjoy my fucked-gaijin life.

[rooboy]

Thanks. Now for Hogkwai - er, I dunno about you but living in Japan has always been bloody expensive for somebody who's a "guest" like me.

There's just those matters of paying into the National Pension scheme that cost me a whopping 13,300 per month since I started working in Japan. Now it's 14,000 yen per month. Read carefully - a Japanese person living and working in Australia usually will pay about or less than $1,000 Australian for the duration of their 4 year or whatever stay if they work in Australia.

Do the maths, Hogkwai - over 4 years that 'pension' (scam because I'll never be able to collect it and I won't be refunded what I paid into it when I leave Japan) is funding the Japanese. Japanese people are benefiting from all fucked gaijins who don't live here til they're 65 or whatever the age to collect the pension is.

I work that out to mean that the Japanese are actually benefiting mightily from gaijin in a one way situation where we have obligations but few rights. We are treated exactly like the Japanese when it comes to collecting our money and do we fund these people and their society!

How about NHK? A tv station that ignores countless stories about discrimination against non Japanese and censors many things that would help the xenophobes in Japan to think again about the bullshit they come out with on tv, in print, and even around the city where Neo-Fascists can run around broadcasting their hate against us.

In my country two stations (ABC and SBS) continually tell Aussies about minor instances where a very subjective assertion of racism suddenly becomes national news. You don't have to pay them, unlike NHK which regards foreigners generally as non existent except to run their own more moderate versions of the gaijin criminal news that is par for the course on Japanese tv.

ABC and SBS in Australia not infrequently show migrants and refugess bitching about Aussies and telling us that we are a terrible country and have no culture. All the while collecting generous social security (welfare) and benefiting from the goodwill of political parties, volunteer groups, city councils, state and federal govts.

Australia gives benefits and asks next to nothing back in terms of obligations. Some migrants and refugees recognise this and appreciate it, others use it to bitch about us all the while collecting from us and considering us soft for it as they would never do the same in their own countries. Those people need to get more of a grateful attitude in them.

In Nippon gaijin are only considered equal when it comes to paying up. Have you experienced those neighbourhood fees Hogkwai? You know, when some ugly bitch comes and takes your hard earned money to distribute to Japanese people so their kids can go on a trip or pay for some old xenophobe's funeral. Who does that to the Japanese in our home countries? Pay up - you're not one of us but pay up. Pay up - you get shit from this fee but you have to pay, gaijin.

I could give a lot more examples but I won't. Bottom line - we do everything the Japanese do in paying taxes etc and we do more by being stiffed out of pension refunds and robbed at neighbourhood level. That's not a guest. Don't perpeptuate that myth if you're a gaijin - it's bad enough when the Japanese do it.

[homesweethome]

Thanks. Now for Hogkwai - er, I dunno about you but living in Japan has always been bloody expensive for somebody who's a "guest" like me.

There's just those matters of paying into the National Pension scheme that cost me a whopping 13,300 per month since I started working in Japan.

Do the maths, Hogkwai - over 4 years that 'pension' (scam because I'll never be able to collect it and I won't be refunded what I paid into it when I leave Japan) is funding the Japanese. Japanese people are benefiting from all fucked gaijins who don't live here til they're 65 or whatever the age to collect the pension is.

I work that out to mean that the Japanese are actually benefiting mightily from gaijin in a one way situation where we have obligations but few rights. We are treated exactly like the Japanese when it comes to collecting our money and do we fund these people and their society!

That's not a guest. Don't perpeptuate that myth if you're a gaijin - it's bad enough when the Japanese do it.

Rob has enough trouble getting his bowels to move, he can't move anything.

I agree with everything you say, but please do tell, why do you pay?

[james]

BLACK TRUCKS?! In Japan?? Dude, who are or what are you talking about?

since first coming here 10 years ago and moving here quasi-permanently 8 years ago (i'm PR now and i have no idea when/if i'll leave), my sarcasm meter has needed constant tune-ups during visits back to canada, but you seem genuine in your affirmation that you don't know about the black trucks. here's a pic and a very brief explanation on flikr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mutantfrog/47951300/

in my time here, i've seen *one*, but considering i live out in the boonies of rural shimane where attitudes towards foreigners seem to be quite friendly (perhaps because there are so few of us comparatively speaking), i was quite surprised. it's quite different to see it first-hand.

The matter of paying taxes and/or being married is a good point. There are significant number of constructive foreign residents here. I didn't say foreign residents shouldn't have ANY rights---

i'm honestly not too concerned about voting. would be like farting in a typhoon anyway for all the effect it would have. i don't know of any countries where permanent residents / landed immigrants (ie: long-term non-citizens) *can* vote in anything more than a municipal election. where i take issue is that in this country, the only time foreigners seem to be deemed human is when some neighbourhood association or tax office feels the need to perform a cash-ectomy on my wallet to keep their pyramid-ponzi scheme afloat. money for the most part i'll never see again and derive no benefit from. japan is the only oecd nation where foreigners aren't legally considered "resident". sure, i pay jyumin-zei but i can't have a jyumin-hyou and i'm barely a footnote on my wife's. it's the double-standard... getting pretty off topic here i guess..

Due to homeland security that the U.S. was able to apprehend (and convict after a fair trial) Zacarias Moussaoui for his participation in the 9/11 attacks.

sure, and how many innocents have been detained and left to rot with no access to legal counsel, no due justice (let alone timely) and no recourse? the truth is we don't know.

if legislation like this were passed, all it would take is one phone call to the new gestapo from someone with a grudge against you saying that you were acting "suspicious" and disturbing the wa and you'll find yourself in some hole, probably for a lot longer than the customary 23 days of beatings and sleep deprivation from the j-stone coppers. hell it's practically that way now in some parts of the country. gotta watch out for those chinese thieves and bike-stealing foreigners. (that was tongue-in-cheek).

Japan is quite aware of how important its foreign residents are to its economy.

not trying to sound overly jaded. so far my experience here has been mostly very positive and i'm quite happy living here. however i think the japanese are in fact quite unaware, or certainly unwilling to accept it except in notable cases. the extrememly biased media does little to incline me to think otherwise from the attitude that "foreigners in japan are a problem to be solved or here to entertain us".

shoot man, I just don't want to get blown up, gased or fire-bombed on the train on my way to my shit-job...I just wanna enjoy my fucked-gaijin life.

i'm quite happy being in one piece too, however the current legislation i think would do little to enhance safety. would it have prevented the sarin nerve-gas attacks conducted by aum shinrikyou? or any number of other atrocities committed? a lot of the shit going down here is home-brewed and smokescreen legislation like this and scapegoating of foreigners is a convenient way for the media to portray that something is being done.

[Taro Toporific]

There's just those matters of paying into the National Pension scheme that cost me a whopping 13,300 per month since I started working in Japan... over 4 years that 'pension' (scam because I'll never be able to collect it and I won't be refunded what I paid into it when I leave Japan)

You can get it refunded.

Up to 590,000yen will be refunded when you leave Japan. The J-Pension Refund is OK deal for gaijin here in the Land-of-Concrete(tm) for 3 years or less. If you stay longer, it is your own damn fault.]Please LEAVE Japan and get a $5,000 bonus[/B]

[rooboy]

No agreement. Not all the fault of the Japanese Government, I know. However, fuckedJapanese leaving Oz get their refunds in full - and they pay diddly squat compared to foreigners in Japan. As I mentioned to get Hogkwai thinking a bit about his statements.

Taro - I'm in the fucked National Insurance/Pension scheme so I've lost out already regarding the pension refund. Can't claim more than 244,000 yen or whatever it is which will be well under what I paid into it. That's the way it is but it's a fact to point out to Hogkwai.

Hogkwai -

Japanese people in Australia don't get told they're guests and when I went back home I didn't notice anybody denying them or other foreigners living and working in Australia legal equality etc. There were plenty of laws to protect their rights and easy/cheap access to lawyers. Nobody told them how lucky they were to be paying tax into government coffers, nobody made them pay $150 Oz per month for their superannuation (what we call the pension) and nobody bailed them up to pay for 'the neighbourhood group'.

Many rights but no obligations apart from following laws and paying taxes.

Fucked gaijin - obligations but few rights. And continually reminded we are 'guests' to boot. That's why so many fucked gaijins are pissed off at the new proposals to tighten the grip on our lives in Japan.

And Homesweethome - had no say in that matter. The ward office made me sign up when I got into the National Health system. I wouldn't have done it otherwise. Hmm - if we're guests in Japan why are ward offices forcing us to join the scheme? Another question for Hogkwai. Still waiting .............

[Hokgwai]

....but you seem genuine in your affirmation that you don't know about the black trucks. here's a pic and a very brief explanation on flikr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mutantfrog/47951300/

in my time here, i've seen *one*, but considering i live out in the boonies of rural shimane where attitudes towards foreigners seem to be quite friendly (perhaps because there are so few of us comparatively speaking), i was quite surprised. it's quite different to see it first-hand.

OHHHH.....! THOSE guys in the black trucks! Oh, yeah, they're not out to sell Mr. Softee ice cream from those trucks....

[Greji]

OHHHH.....! THOSE guys in the black trucks! Oh, yeah, they're not out to sell Mr. Softee ice cream from those trucks....

The only thing soft in those trucks are the heads of those riding inside.

[homesweethome]

These scary black trucks are driven around Japanese cities by low-ranking Yakuza wannabes hired by ultra-right wing groups as an act of intimidation.

FG has got the Black Dog to take care of things.

It is said that when a trucker works to hard he or she will see the black dog.It runs at you till it gets to you .Some truckers vears oof the road.The truck could hit trees,walls,cars,gaurd rails. A man said he was a trucker that said he had seen the black dog . He said he lost control of his truck and filped his truck and stop in a football feild.He got out of his truck and ran to the road looking for the dog.He did not see the dog.People called him crazy .They put him in a mental insatute for a year .He got out on December 5, of 1994 .

And came to Japan to teach Ingurishu!

[Greji]

These scary black trucks are driven around Japanese cities by low-ranking Yakuza wannabes hired by ultra-right wing groups as an act of intimidation.

Surprisingly, a lot of the people hired to do that are college students and a lot are not uioku, they just want the chump change they're paying.

BTW, HSH, no particular reason, but I was wondering if that dog is an osu or a mesu?

[homesweethome]

BTW, HSH, no particular reason, but I was wondering if that dog is an osu or a mesu?

AC-DC, Ever-Ready to start your Betty.