Just when you thought it was safe to go to the bookstore

[LewisBluff]

Someone gave me a copy of Debito's literary masterpiece, and I am proud to say that it has served capably in my bathroom library, right by the Far Side gallery. I've never read it, though. The Far Side is just so enjoyable...

Debito stinks, though. Like a smell fish left out overnight (though some contest that he's more like a cowboy https://japanblogreview.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/the-japan-times-%E2%80%93-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/).

The thing that bothers me about Debito is that almost every time he opens up his yap, it's to complain. Not needed.

[kino]

Setting aside Debito's activism, political views, and general absurdity, the thing that bugs me the most about him is the fact that he is sometimes wearing a turtleneck in his pictures. For Christ's sake, how does he not realize what a douchebag that thing makes him look like? Again, talking purely fashion, here. Just, wow.

[Thanatos' embalmed botfly]

[omae mona]

Today debito has taken to intentionally mistranslating a poster for his gullible readers, in order to stir up outrage. Displaying a photo of the MOJ's latest subway poster, he implies it's enlisting the general public to spot check gaijins' alien registration cards.

The poster actually is specifically telling employers they must check foreign employee's residence status at the time they hire them. It has nothing to do with the general public or spot checks.

We know Debito can read the Japanese, and he accurately translates another part of the poster. Yet he doesn't mention the word "employment" in his entire diatribe, even though that's what the whole poster is about. Whether or not he legitimately has a beef with the idea that employers need to enforce visa status, he's once again trying (successfully, it seems) to fool his blog followers.

[EDIT: just noticed tepido.org has picked up on this. Damn... they beat me to the scoop again!]

[Yokohammer]

Today debito has taken to intentionally mistranslating a poster for his gullible readers, in order to stir up outrage.

Saw this on Debito's site yesterday (I actually look from time to time), and I'm beginning to wonder if he isn't losing touch with reality a bit. Is he so blinded by his own rage that he can't see how out of line he is in this case? He's just so off target it's bewildering.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

...he's once again trying (successfully, it seems) to fool his blog followers...

I dunno...I think hiis blog followers have got the fool part down pat without much help from him, but he still gives it anyway (this message excepts all present company, by the way...).

[FG Lurker]

Debito is over the top as usual but I don't like the poster either. It feels like a continuation of the "We can't trust those sneaky gaijin so we have to fingerprint them on entry and then keep a close eye on them." thing. If the target is employers then it should be sent directly to businesses. There is no need for a subway poster campaign targeting the general public.

Also, companies that hire illegal workers won't be influenced by a campaign like this. The only affect it seems likely to have is add a bit more fear / distrust of gaijin by the general public.

[Greji]

Debito is over the top as usual but I don't like the poster either. It feels like a continuation of the "We can't trust those sneaky gaijin so we have to fingerprint them on entry and then keep a close eye on them." thing. If the target is employers then it should be sent directly to businesses. There is no need for a subway poster campaign targeting the general public.

Also, companies that hire illegal workers won't be influenced by a campaign like this. The only affect it seems likely to have is add a bit more fear / distrust of gaijin by the general public.

I'm with ya 100% Lurk. The poster sucks.
Also, besides knowing Debito, I think he's all right. His heart is in the right place, but he sometimes simply outsteps himself, or gets too excited. At least he believes in what he's trying to do.

[Ganma]

[Yokohammer]

Thing is, if Debito took the time to prepare his case and then deliver it in a level headed manner he'd be a hell of a lot more effective. Although there are problems with the poster and the way it is being used, he has pounced on it, all shrill and arm-waving like, and misrepresented it to ... this is important ... misrepresented it to people who don't have the language skills to read it for themselves. That's probably a large percentage of his readers, and that, in my mind, is a big no-no.

I'm all for the cause, but twisting the truth in the name of said cause is just wrong. It's also counterproductive. Sometimes I think he does more damage to the general NJ reputation than the poster in question.

Debito needs help in the form of a partner or editor or someone who can calm him down, wipe the froth off his mouth, and work through issues carefully before going public in full-throttle animosity mode.

Any volunteers?

[Ganma]

[Catoneinutica]

Debito needs help in the form of a partner or editor or someone who can calm him down, wipe the froth off his mouth, and work through issues carefully before going public in full-throttle animosity mode.

I'll do it, in exchange for a night with Masako-sama. Any of you niggaz gots tha hook-up?

Glad Big Daddy Greji and Lurker stepped in, because the Debito haters were really running amok]Cosmos[/I] episodes) and 1981 (the "New Romantic" no-sideburn look). But shit, the boy can't help it: he's nearly a Canadian. The fact that we're discussing him speaks to the fact that he churns out, or links to, some pretty interesting content sometimes, unlike, say, tepido K-Y or whatever the fuck his name is, and he updates his blog regularly, unlike, say, Marxy.

As for the poster, it's pretty damn disingenuous. It's like something you might see posted on the office wall of a Red Lobster manager, next to the "wash your hands" signs in Spanish. They should put J-go versions of those on the subway - except subway and JR bathrooms don't have soap. Oh well.

[BigInJapan]

Debito needs help in the form of a partner or editor or someone who can calm him down, wipe the froth off his mouth, and work through issues carefully before going public in full-throttle animosity mode.

Let's hope the JT takes on that task if he tries to include this latest diatribe in his next column (which potentially has a larger audience than his blog).

...the turtleneck-and-sport-coat look... the "New Romantic" no-sideburn look... the boy can't help it: he's nearly a Canadian

Ouch. Hmm, 100% full-blooded Canuck here, and I've never worn turtlenecks, and I've been sporting healthy sideburns for basically my entire adult life. When debito starts showing up in t-shirts and jeans and maybe a flannel shirt (unofficial uniform), then maybe you can call him [I]nearly a Canadian...]

[Catoneinutica]

Let's hope the JT takes on that task if he tries to include this latest diatribe in his next column (which potentially has a larger audience than his blog).

Ouch. Hmm, 100% full-blooded Canuck here, and I've never worn turtlenecks, and I've been sporting healthy sideburns for basically my entire adult life. When debito starts showing up in t-shirts and jeans and maybe a flannel shirt (unofficial uniform), then maybe you can call him nearly a Canadian...]

...and a toque? And a mutt named Hoser? Then he'd be just like Bob and Doug: "Radiation has made me, like, an enemy of civilization, eh!"

-catone
-one time I was with a friend in Victoria, waiting for the light to change, when a bummy-looking guy walked up and said, "Well, well, look what we have here: a couple of U. Vic. students!" [I]Even the homeless are bitchy in Canada!
But I love the place.

[Mike Oxlong]

-one time I was with a friend in Victoria, waiting for the light to change, when a bummy-looking guy walked up and said, "Well, well, look what we have here: a couple of U. Vic. students!" Even the homeless are bitchy in Canada!
But I love the place.

You should have gone up island to a little town called Scrambled Liver (some folks call it by it's former name of Campbell River). The standard greeting there is to offer a spliff.

[McTojo]

Amy Chavez writes for the Japan Times and half the time I think she pinched some 'shrooms from C.W. Nicol's woodland...I can't understand 99% of the shit she writes and wonders why the JT even publishes her shit.

Finally, somebody who agrees with me. I wish they'd publish my stuff. I am far more well balanced then a lot of the crap writers out there.

[omae mona]

I'm all for the cause, but twisting the truth in the name of said cause is just wrong. It's also counterproductive. Sometimes I think he does more damage to the general NJ reputation than the poster in question.

THIS. And I think it's getting worse with time. I think that in reality, some of the problems faced by foreigners in Japan have, very slowly and very slightly, improved in recent years. Naturally, there are likely to be fewer foreigners outraged. Debito should be patting himself on the back for helping move things forward. Instead, he's taken to altering the facts and exaggerating to maintain the outrage level, and, I think, his perception of his own importance.

Like Hammer, I am all for the cause, but only the "reality" version. And I still think there is plenty of work to be done on that front. Debito's doing everybody a disservice by twisting facts; he will lose his remaining credibility by continuing. The poster in question is probably annoying enough on its own.. there's no need for Debito to lie about what it says in order to make a valid point.

DISCLAIMER: I am a former big fan of Debito, even having met him in person and attended some organizational events he put together. I just think he's gone off course in the last few years.

[GomiGirl]

[ChargerCarl]

Let's hope the JT takes on that task if he tries to include this latest diatribe in his next column (which potentially has a larger audience than his blog).

Ouch. Hmm, 100% full-blooded Canuck here, and I've never worn turtlenecks, and I've been sporting healthy sideburns for basically my entire adult life. When debito starts showing up in t-shirts and jeans and maybe a flannel shirt (unofficial uniform), then maybe you can call him [I]nearly a Canadian...]

Do you get your milk in bags?

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Guys, I think people in this thread are confusing "foreigners" and "Westerners." Let's not forget, TIJ.

The vast majority of foreigners here are psudeo-coolies from the Asian mainland and second-, third- and fourth-generation foreigners, with the next biggest group being the ethnic Japanese South Americans mainly from Peru and Brazil and then Filipinos.

Deadbeato's stomping ground is the English language market in Japan. He's sending his message online to a few angry gaijin -- Americans mostly -- and the handful of increasingly elderly Japanese who buy the Japan Times to show off on the train and who probably skip his shite anyway.

His sole contribution to improving foreigners' rights in this cuntry was to inform a sector of Japanese that there are oddball Americans here who will do anything for attention. He did this by receiving a relatively large amount of publicity in the Japanese media more than a decade ago as he bullied the fuck out of a bathhouse owner in Otaru using entrapment and treating the poor, ignorant fucker like he was a Class-A war criminal.

Yet, he has since that bathhouse case managed to generate more new anti-foreigner sentiment in Japan than any other person. He has done far more to set back the foreigners' rights cause by giving the growing anti-foreigner movement a figure to point out and remind ordinary people what a bunch of fucking kooks foreigners are.

Deadbeato's got the hypersensitivity of a paranoid African-American without having had to carry an ounce of the history and cultural baggage that made some that way.

Japan is insular and ignorant. And it's racist...but not to Westerners, unless you think in terms of giving us preferential treatment. Hands up anyone here who doesn't want that? Whatever way, Deadbeato is doing nothing to help any foreigner in Japan, including himself because, of course, he's not a foreigner anymore, as he has reminded us endlessly over the past dozen years.

We shouldn't forget that this is Japan...and that you should be careful what you wish for in case you get it. I don't know whether I'm too keen on getting exactly the same treatment the average Japanese punter gets handed out.

[nottu]

[Catoneinutica]

Guys, I think people in this thread are confusing "foreigners" and "Westerners." Let's not forget, TIJ.

The vast majority of foreigners here are psudeo-coolies from the Asian mainland and second-, third- and fourth-generation foreigners, with the next biggest group being the ethnic Japanese South Americans mainly from Peru and Brazil and then Filipinos.

Deadbeato's stomping ground is the English language market in Japan. He's sending his message online to a few angry gaijin -- Americans mostly -- and the handful of increasingly elderly Japanese who buy the Japan Times to show off on the train and who probably skip his shite anyway.

His sole contribution to improving foreigners' rights in this cuntry was to inform a sector of Japanese that there are oddball Americans here who will do anything for attention. He did this by receiving a relatively large amount of publicity in the Japanese media more than a decade ago as he bullied the fuck out of a bathhouse owner in Otaru using entrapment and treating the poor, ignorant fucker like he was a Class-A war criminal.

Yet, he has since that bathhouse case managed to generate more new anti-foreigner sentiment in Japan than any other person. He has done far more to set back the foreigners' rights cause by giving the growing anti-foreigner movement a figure to point out and remind ordinary people what a bunch of fucking kooks foreigners are.

Deadbeato's got the hypersensitivity of a paranoid African-American without having had to carry an ounce of the history and cultural baggage that made some that way.

Japan is insular and ignorant. And it's racist...but not to Westerners, unless you think in terms of giving us preferential treatment. Hands up anyone here who doesn't want that? Whatever way, Deadbeato is doing nothing to help any foreigner in Japan, including himself because, of course, he's not a foreigner anymore, as he has reminded us endlessly over the past dozen years.

We shouldn't forget that this is Japan...and that you should be careful what you wish for in case you get it. I don't know whether I'm too keen on getting exactly the same treatment the average Japanese punter gets handed out.

FGs discussing him = debito wins.

-catone

-of course he's a self-aggrandizing blowhard: he named his bloody site after himself. And if you didn't know that, then Amaz*n.com recommends, Internet personalities are sometimes hucksters. Yes, it's true. But even hucksters can be entertaining now and then.

-"Deadbeato" is one term of derision I wouldn't use with him, because AFAIK he's paying his child support

[waruta]

Guys, I think people in this thread are confusing "foreigners" and "Westerners." Let's not forget, TIJ.

.... I don't know whether I'm too keen on getting exactly the same treatment the average Japanese punter gets handed out.

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Screwed-down Hairdo again."

Bravo and well said sir.

[Mulboyne]

He's suggesting the Japan Times starts a Dead Gaijins page.

If it doesn't sound too macabre or sinister, I'd be quiet happy to see some more obituaries in the JT. It's often one of the most interesting features of British newspapers where some of the writers have turned it into a minor art form.

[TennoChinko]

meh. Obituaries... I'd rather have the good old police blotter!

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I know who's obituary I wouldn't mind reading about...

[sublight]

Even the "he's doing more harm than good" complaint is likely overstating his impact. Really, what percentage of Japanese have even heard of him? Hell, most of the westerners I talk to here have never heard of him, and that's the only group he tries to reach.

[Mulboyne]

No love for his book at the Japan Times

[sublight]

No love for his book at the Japan Times

Wow, harsh, but true. And good that Kosaka kept it purely a criticism of the book and not the author. Probably better than I'd be capable of after having to wade through that tripe.

[Greji]

Wow, harsh, but true. And good that Kosaka kept it purely a criticism of the book and not the author. Probably better than I'd be capable of after having to wade through that tripe.

Light, I don't know about this so-called review. I went back and read it again and with a second reading, I'm not sure what "Kris Kosaka" is trying to say. On second and third readings, I get the feeling that Kosaka is in fact, shooting at Debito. Kosaka may also be trying to dish out his/her own statement on anti-Japanese problems, under the guise of the problems with the divorce systems.

It just seems to be a badly directed article purporting to be a book review, that supposedly addresses how bad Debito is at writing a book and that he has totally clouded the issue with his various stereotypes. Huh? A little PC thrown in to warn off detractors of the article? Sounds close to a BS call.

I will give the writer kudo's on one passage ".....he manages to reduce Japanese women to one of two extremes: the Asian sexually free goddess or the hermetically closed puppet of a domineering family...."

Well, one out of two ain't bad.... Could it be be Ms. Kris Kosaka?



JMHO