CENSORED by the Japan Times

[Russell]

I get that the OP doesn't like the Japan Times or the fact that they employ a crank like Davy Arbieter, but Christ, at least they cover the news unlike the Daily Gomiuri that has it's nose so far up the ass of the LDP that they don't report and/or bury stories critical of LDP gaffes. That to me is real censorship, and yet I have never once heard the OP criticize the Gomiuri.

+1

[Yokohammer]

I get that the OP doesn't like the Japan Times or the fact that they employ a crank like Davy Arbieter, but Christ, at least they cover the news unlike the Daily Gomiuri that has it's nose so far up the ass of the LDP that they don't report and/or bury stories critical of LDP gaffes. That to me is real censorship, and yet I have never once heard the OP criticize the Gomiuri.

Yes.

And then there's the Asahi's recent last-minute refusal to run a piece by journalist Akira Ikegami because it criticised their coverage of the "comfort women" issue. They eventually recanted, but only after a major public outcry that threatened to hurt their image and bottom line. An isolated case? Probably not.

Looks like censorship to varying degrees is pretty commonplace. I don't see The Japan Times as a standout den of evil censorship or propaganda (and for the record, I have absolutely no affiliation). You always have to read between the lines.

[omae mona]

I get that the OP doesn't like the Japan Times or the fact that they employ a crank like Davy Arbieter, but Christ, at least they cover the news unlike the Daily Gomiuri that has it's nose so far up the ass of the LDP that they don't report and/or bury stories critical of LDP gaffes. That to me is real censorship, and yet I have never once heard the OP criticize the Gomiuri.

Yes.

And then there's the Asahi's recent last-minute refusal to run a piece by journalist Akira Ikegami because it criticised their coverage of the "comfort women" issue. They eventually recanted, but only after a major public outcry that threatened to hurt their image and bottom line. An isolated case? Probably not.

Looks like censorship to varying degrees is pretty commonplace. I don't see The Japan Times as a standout den of evil censorship or propaganda (and for the record, I have absolutely no affiliation). You always have to read between the lines.

I don't think censorship per se here is the issue. All newspapers have an editorial slant, as you guys are saying, and one way they express it is via omission. You can call that censorship, and I think we all accept that as normal.

It's the refusal to make corrections to factual mistakes that is the problem. Censoring the requests for those corrections is just a symptom. Printing fairly clear-cut incorrect facts and then refusing to correct them is NOT up to journalistic standards in any 1st-world countries I am aware of. This is true even for opinion pieces. Just for example, here's the New York Times elaborating on their policy that they absolutely, positively insist on factual corrections even for opinion pieces. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/28/weeki ... -fact.html

If the author doesn't correct it himself, the NYT editorial board will issue a correction on his or her behalf. NYT is clear that opinion is opinion, but when clearly incorrect facts appear in an opinion piece, they have just as much of an obligation to correct them as they do for a pure news story. The Japan Times would do well to live up to these same minimal standards of journalistic integrity.

[Mike Oxlong]

I don't think censorship per se here is the issue. All newspapers have an editorial slant, as you guys are saying, and one way they express it is via omission. You can call that censorship, and I think we all accept that as normal.

It's the refusal to make corrections to factual mistakes that is the problem. Censoring the requests for those corrections is just a symptom. Printing fairly clear-cut incorrect facts and then refusing to correct them is NOT up to journalistic standards in any 1st-world countries I am aware of. This is true even for opinion pieces. Just for example, here's the New York Times elaborating on their policy that they absolutely, positively insist on factual corrections even for opinion pieces. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/28/weeki ... -fact.html

If the author doesn't correct it himself, the NYT editorial board will issue a correction on his or her behalf. NYT is clear that opinion is opinion, but when clearly incorrect facts appear in an opinion piece, they have just as much of an obligation to correct them as they do for a pure news story. The Japan Times would do well to live up to these same minimal standards of journalistic integrity.

That's it exactly.

[Yokohammer]

Well yeah, but gee, there's more ...

Daily Asahi Shimbun retracts faulty Fukushima story, sacks top editor

Factual errors, it seems.

But anyway, I get the Japan Times issue, and I'm not saying it's OK because others do it, just that I don't think the JT is generally a standout offender when it comes to journalistic standards. Disorganized and maybe a tad incompetent at times, but not evil. I think it's becoming clear that at least some of the major Japanese newspapers engage in some pretty egregious fact twisting.

Of course then there's NHK ...

[omae mona]

Well yeah, but gee, there's more ...

Daily Asahi Shimbun retracts faulty Fukushima story, sacks top editor

Factual errors, it seems.

But anyway, I get the Japan Times issue, and I'm not saying it's OK because others do it, just that I don't think the JT is generally a standout offender when it comes to journalistic standards. Disorganized and maybe a tad incompetent at times, but not evil.

I'm not sure. When the editor in charge is intentionally deleting public comments pointing out egregious errors, I think it is getting pretty close to crossing the line of "evil", not incompetent.

I think it's becoming clear that at least some of the major Japanese newspapers engage in some pretty egregious fact twisting.

I don't disagree, but are you saying the Asahi's response is inadequate? Or that there are other cases of objective factual errors that have not been addressed?

Of course then there's NHK ...

Yep. While nothing has led me to think NHK's explicitly lying about any news, Chairman Momii's statement that NHK's objective is to support the current administration makes me distrust the focus and slant of all of NHK's coverage.

[Yokohammer]

I'm not sure. When the editor in charge is intentionally deleting public comments pointing out egregious errors, I think it is getting pretty close to crossing the line of "evil", not incompetent.

It would be interesting to know just who the editor in charge is, and what connections he or she has to the article's author. Still, I kinda suspect we're missing some critical info on this one. There's some kind of fuckuppery going on, but I can't believe it's evil.

I don't disagree, but are you saying the Asahi's response is inadequate? Or that there are other cases of objective factual errors that have not been addressed?

The response is pretty darned flaky if you look at it closely. First of all, Sugiura may have stepped down as executive editor, but he's still an executive director at Asahi. A deft lateral arabesque that removes him from blame while leaving him in a position of considerable power. Secondly, the error has been known for quite a while, yet the textbook damage control public apology and ostensible sacking only happened after doing nothing became impossible. I can not take the Asahi response at face value.

[matsuki]

All this "stepping down" musical chairs bullshit is never-ending...do company presidents ever stand their ground, apologize, and then take legit action to ensure the same fuck ups don't happen again...or is that too foreign a concept?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Never mind.

[havill]

It would be interesting to know just who the editor in charge is, and what connections he or she has to the article's author. Still, I kinda suspect we're missing some critical info on this one. There's some kind of fuckuppery going on, but I can't believe it's evil.

The editor in charge of the Community section of the Japan Times is Ben Stubbings (<-- that is self-published publicly known information). I have conversed with him about several topics via his work email in the past... both in a friendly (I helped him deal with a favorite Canadian of ours who was attacking him) and not so friendly (he approved an entire broadsheet page of the newspaper for an article that was sort of about me and CJ and FG and the Japan commenting community... and based all my quotes on an email declining to cooperate for the article) way and not in that order. The friendly events happened after the not so friendly.

I wrote to him twice about this incident a few days after my comments were published. The disappearing of the comments happened a few hours after I specifically pointed out the comments to him in an email... attached below. I'm not saying that is proof that he deleted them personally or ordered the deletions. However, the deletions were not accidental. Disqus' documentation makes that clear.

MIME-Version: 1.0
Received: by 10.216.187.71 with HTTP; Sun, 7 Sep 2014 22:42:45 -0700 (PDT)
Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2014 14:42:45 +0900
Message-ID: <CAK2+pu=JH74siXdVe8B8u0x5bxpXEcBsvq_1dRBt_xOeoaK8=Q@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Do you actually proofread / fact check Debito's articles?
From: Eido Inoue <YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY@gmail.com>
To: Ben Stubbings <XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX@japantimes.co.jp>

Does anybody actually proofread or fact check Debito Arudou's articles?

There are glaring obvious factual errors in the this month's "Just Be
Cause" which could have been spotted by somebody with an intermediate level
(JLPT N2) of Japanese that reads other Japanese newspapers online:

GETTING A POLICE ARREST REPORT WRONG AND MISREPRESENTING OTHER NEWSPAPERS
ARTICLES IS A BIG DEAL.

• http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/09/03/issues/visible-minorities-caught-police-dragnet/#comment-1573805810
• http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/09/03/issues/visible-minorities-caught-police-dragnet/#comment-1578660809

I'm surprised the Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture police department hasn't
issued a request for correction.

Approximately (<-- I don't have an exact timestamp for that because Disqus doesn't give one for events like "marked as spam" or "removed") a little under three hours later, Disqus showed that the comments listed above had been "marked as spam". Hours later (<-- again, Disqus doesn't keep timestamps on these events), they had been "Removed" by a human moderator.

It's possible for comments to get auto-marked as spam, or suggested for review, especially if other commenters gang up and click on the "report abuse" button on each comment, but comments can not be automatically or programmaticly removed. So a human, with moderating permission for Japan Time's Disqus system (meaning they had been empowered to make deletion decisions by the Japan Times) definitely removed those two comments I pointed out.

After confirming that a human had decided to change them from published to spam to deleted, I wrote this:

MIME-Version: 1.0
Received: by 10.216.187.71 with HTTP; Mon, 8 Sep 2014 01:23:09 -0700 (PDT)
Received: by 10.216.187.71 with HTTP; Mon, 8 Sep 2014 01:23:09 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <CAK2+pu=JH74siXdVe8B8u0x5bxpXEcBsvq_1dRBt_xOeoaK8=Q@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAK2+pu=JH74siXdVe8B8u0x5bxpXEcBsvq_1dRBt_xOeoaK8=Q@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2014 17:23:09 +0900
Message-ID: <CAK2+pu=HdUbnmd7TxV=5Zz0i3S_i7SEoNq0JEsuiYxmFR5E1yQ@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Do you actually proofread / fact check Debito's articles?
From: Eido Inoue <YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY@gmail.com>
To: Ben Stubbings <XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX@japantimes.co.jp>

Really? After I told you this, did you or someone else at Japan Times, a
newspaper editor, just censor and delete all my comments on Debito's post?
I see that a Japan Times moderator has gone through and marked them all as
spam according to my Disqus console, even though they have been published
for days, received hundreds of votes, and almost a hundred followup
comments.

Looks like I'm going to have to make other newspapers (and everybody I know
on 2ch and social media, in English and Japanese) in Japan aware of this.

Unfortunately for Japan Times, I kept screenshot proof of the deletions.

Although I have sent messages and received replies to/from Ben many times in the past, I did not receive replies for these two messages. And in truth, I wasn't expecting any hence the tad snarky tone; I expected action. And I got it. Just not the action I expected.

[havill]

STEALTH EDIT ALERT!

The new paragraph, edited today (Click on "Article History"), says:

When asked what he was doing, he said he was meeting friends. When asked for his passport, he said he didn’t have it on him. At this point, he would no doubt have tried to explain his dual citizenship ― something the police claim they only confirmed much later through an interpreter.

Hilariously, they forgot to fix the other, very obvious error:

However, it is for non-Japanese. So the cops, convinced that he was really a non-Japanese man, took him in for questioning — for five hours. Then they arrested him under the Immigration Control Act for, according to a Nikkei report, not carrying his passport, and interrogated him for another seven.

You can see and compare to the original here: http://www.debito.org/?p=12621

Funny what happens when you talk to the Asahi, Nikkei, JT, and Ibaraki police and make them "aware" (in Japanese) of the Community section.

Dear Ben: sorry for going over your head, but in fairness, I went to you first. I only went above your head and to other people when you deleted and ignored me. I imagine that must have been an interesting conversation you had with your superiors, who received my communication yesterday. This video is dedicated to you:

[GomiGirl]

Havill-sempai - hands down, this is one of the most awesome acts of "revenge" I have ever witnessed.

If I am ever in trouble - I want you on my team.

[havill]

Havill-sempai - hands down, this is one of the most awesome acts of "revenge" I have ever witnessed.

If I am ever in trouble - I want you on my team.

Wasn't too hard since I had leverage. I know that the JT doesn't care what I think or write. But I know they DO care about what the Asahi or Nikkei think of them, especially if they write something that their advertisers will read.

I also know that Asahi / Nikkei doesn't normally care what JT writes (not in the same league journalistically speaking). Asahi, however, DOES care what other papers inaccurately write about or attribute to them... Especially as they're recovering from a multiple scandals involving journalism ethics and accuracy.

It was simply a matter of making both of them aware of what the other one knows or did.

[Hijinx]

Sorry, but as the recipient of J-pig harassment in airports and train stations for being white in a public place, J-pigs are still pigs and I'm at this point in my Japan experience never ready to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Fuck the racist twats. Good for Deibido in skewing the story to make them look bad--they are bad.

[IparryU]

Sorry, but as the recipient of J-pig harassment in airports and train stations for being white in a public place, J-pigs are still pigs and I'm at this point in my Japan experience never ready to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Fuck the racist twats. Good for Deibido in skewing the story to make them look bad--they are bad.

:this:

They are lying cunts and try to fuck you pver more than help. All to get some paperwork done and have a nice month end report for what they accomplished.

[Mike Oxlong]

I disagree. The constant inaccurate claims by activists does more harm than good. Inaccurate claims about immigration, divorce and custody, and police and civil liberties don't help anybody educate nor protect themselves.

[IparryU]

I disagree. The constant inaccurate claims by activists does more harm than good. Inaccurate claims about immigration, divorce and custody, and police and civil liberties don't help anybody educate nor protect themselves.

Ummm immigration here is ass backwards for Japan's situation, dont shoot yourself in the foot anymore even remotely mentioning divorce and child custody..., but the police and civil liberties you do can make a point on.

[Mike Oxlong]

I disagree. The constant inaccurate claims by activists does more harm than good. Inaccurate claims about immigration, divorce and custody, and police and civil liberties don't help anybody educate nor protect themselves.

Ummm immigration here is ass backwards for Japan's situation, dont shoot yourself in the foot anymore even remotely mentioning divorce and child custody..., but the police and civil liberties you do can make a point on.

I don't think anybody's claiming there are not fucked immigration cases, fucked divorce and custody cases, or fucked police and civil liberties cases...or fucked officials in the system. What some around here are claiming is that those are on a case-by-case basis, and do not necessarily reflect on the system as a whole(which one should learn about as quickly and in as much detail as possible).

[Wage Slave]

and do not necessarily reflect on the system as a whole(which one should learn about as quickly and in as much detail as possible).

Fair enough. So what evidence is there that the system as a whole is fair and accountable? I mean things like:

1. What policies are in place?
2. What training is delivered?
3. What procedures exist to deal with complaints/miscarriages?
4. What external oversight is there? How would a victim access it?
5. What sanctions are applied to officers who transgress against 1. above?
6. How many officers have been disciplined/sanctioned in, say, the last ten years?

[Mike Oxlong]

and do not necessarily reflect on the system as a whole(which one should learn about as quickly and in as much detail as possible).

Fair enough. So what evidence is there that the system as a whole is fair and accountable? I mean things like:

1. What policies are in place?
2. What training is delivered?
3. What procedures exist to deal with complaints/miscarriages?
4. What external oversight is there? How would a victim access it?
5. What sanctions are applied to officers who transgress against 1. above?
6. How many officers have been disciplined/sanctioned in, say, the last ten years?

I could not tell you. I rely too heavily on English language sources. Probably why the misinformation from guys like Debito bugs me, and why I greatly appreciate the efforts of OM, Havill, etc. to counter that.

[Wage Slave]

and do not necessarily reflect on the system as a whole(which one should learn about as quickly and in as much detail as possible).

Fair enough. So what evidence is there that the system as a whole is fair and accountable? I mean things like:

1. What policies are in place?
2. What training is delivered?
3. What procedures exist to deal with complaints/miscarriages?
4. What external oversight is there? How would a victim access it?
5. What sanctions are applied to officers who transgress against 1. above?
6. How many officers have been disciplined/sanctioned in, say, the last ten years?

I could not tell you. I rely too heavily on English language sources. Probably why the misinformation from guys like Debito bugs me, and why I greatly appreciate the efforts of OM, Havill, etc. to counter that.

To be brutally honest I haven't seen very much of that kind of argument or evidence. Perhaps I'm not paying enough attention.

[omae mona]

Fuck the racist twats. Good for Deibido in skewing the story to make them look bad--they are bad.

:this:

They are lying cunts and try to fuck you pver more than help. All to get some paperwork done and have a nice month end report for what they accomplished.

When you find it necessary to lie in order to make your point, you have gone way beyond the point where you should be questioning if your point is valid or not. Where are the activists that stick strictly to the truth? If there aren't any, why not?

For a recent example of how much lying by an activist can do to harm a cause, please look up Somaly Mam.

For the record, I think there are people who have had unpleasant experiences, and I believe those stories. I also think there are legitimate cases of racist behaviour and police misbehaviour.

[IparryU]

Where are the activists that stick strictly to the truth? If there aren't any, why not?

Not sute man... Slim to none methinks.

[havill]

and do not necessarily reflect on the system as a whole(which one should learn about as quickly and in as much detail as possible).

Fair enough. So what evidence is there that the system as a whole is fair and accountable? I mean things like:

1. What policies are in place?
2. What training is delivered?
3. What procedures exist to deal with complaints/miscarriages?
4. What external oversight is there? How would a victim access it?
5. What sanctions are applied to officers who transgress against 1. above?
6. How many officers have been disciplined/sanctioned in, say, the last ten years?

There are actually answers to all those questions, but you need to ask them one at a time, and make them more specific (for example, the answer to "what policies" is a multi page answer that's goes as far back as post WW2 regarding systematic changes done to prevent something like the kempeitai from abusing its power).

All of the answers to your questions are already on the Japanese language web, by the way -- official and/or unofficial sources. If you asked me one of these questions, all I'm going to do if look it up in Japanese, maybe check with my local police sub-station (located 200m from my home) that I'm on good terms with to make sure the answer isn't B.S., and translate it into English.

[Wage Slave]

and do not necessarily reflect on the system as a whole(which one should learn about as quickly and in as much detail as possible).

Fair enough. So what evidence is there that the system as a whole is fair and accountable? I mean things like:

1. What policies are in place?
2. What training is delivered?
3. What procedures exist to deal with complaints/miscarriages?
4. What external oversight is there? How would a victim access it?
5. What sanctions are applied to officers who transgress against 1. above?
6. How many officers have been disciplined/sanctioned in, say, the last ten years?

There are actually answers to all those questions, but you need to ask them one at a time, and make them more specific (for example, the answer to "what policies" is a multi page answer that's goes as far back as post WW2 regarding systematic changes done to prevent something like the kempeitai from abusing its power).

All of the answers to your questions are already on the Japanese language web, by the way -- official and/or unofficial sources. If you asked me one of these questions, all I'm going to do if look it up in Japanese, maybe check with my local police sub-station (located 200m from my home) that I'm on good terms with to make sure the answer isn't B.S., and translate it into English.

It would be interesting and informative to know the answers. They, if satisfactory, would go a long way towards nailing the activist lie, if lie it is. Specifically, I was referring to policies toward and accountability for those not in a monogamous relationship with the Japanese state and not wholly Japanese in appearance and linguistic prowess.

[dimwit]

Generally, I don't bother reading anything that Davy Arbiter writes both because there is always a question of veracity in much of what he states but also I find him to be a narcissistic twat.

That being said, Japan does have an appalling lack of transparancy and especially accountability. And yes, racism is a problem here. Most of us ignore it and get on with our lives. Some people see it very directly affecting their lives. So there is a role for someone to honestly raise the issue, as much for Japanese people as for foreigners.

I think to answer the question as to why no honest person tries to be the anti-racist crusader is that if you spend all your time looking around for racism this country will drive you entirely insane.

[6810]

That being said, Japan does have an appalling lack of transparancy and especially accountability. And yes, racism is a problem here. Most of us ignore it and get on with our lives. Some people see it very directly affecting their lives. So there is a role for someone to honestly raise the issue, as much for Japanese people as for foreigners.

As compared to where? I honestly believe this to be a case of individuals who have yet to acquire local linguistic agency and therefore assume a lack of transparency, ulterior motives etc.

Though some people on this board may come from nations where anti-discrimination laws and related penalties are more explcitly coded and/or tested, it is my (uninformed) assumption that many of these people have yet to actively utilise these social and legal frameworks in thier "home countries". It is the same in Japan. This type of framework is slowly being encoded within specific cultural conditions - it's early days and early, high profile, over-represented failures represent a moment in time. Repeated testing is required and given the small proportion of the overall population, their linguistic ability etc - this testing is going to take a while. Doesn't necessarily = instant fail though.

In practice, the people who are supposed to benefit from these frameworks are already so disempowered, jaded and in marginal positions that they will never use these systems. In other words, while the intention for the creation of anti-discrimination policy may be good, IMO such policy functions mostly as to salve white guilt. As in "See, world? We took their land, stole their people, built nations, imported cheap labor etc - BUT we're not really bad people, here's some policy to prove it."

Meanwhile...

There is this strange negative feedback paradox when it comes to discrimination activists in Japan. Debito occurred at the beginning of the internet era. He attempted to create an archive of discrimination, blacklists etc as a resource for the foreigner in Japan. This worked well when the channels of information were largely one-way and the number of voices of foreign experience in Japan was relatively low.

That's right, like it or not, Debito's prominence as an English language source of info on the net since the early days, IMO had a profound effect on shaping the ways in which narratives of being foreign, facing discrimination etc were created. For a long time, his narrative was taken by gospel by non-Japanese-speaking, English-speaking, temporary visitors (English "teachers" etc) and this in turn furthered the spread of his highly-specific, highly personal, very narrow as an authoratative source of knowledge.

However, in the last 5 years or so, thanks to the availbility of the internet, everywhere, social network, communication and blogging technologies many voices expressing rather different, more nuanced and more informed accounts of local experience have begun to appear. Many of these voices have cast doubt on Debito's neutrality, Japanese language ability and analytical capacity.

Debito's greatest claim to fame was that despite eventually becoming a legal Japanese he always chose to position himself as an antagonistic "outsider". There are many others now who lead more hybridised lives, who see themselves as belonging in Japan, who have no problem integrating Japanese culture into their own identities, transforming themselves and the country in the process.

Debito's activism has always been underscored/influenced by his traumatic emotional and family life in Japan. This is not new but after all these years, it is easier to see.

Which is not to discount the intention and efforts he has made but we must also be careful of disproportionately praising/respecting a man who has repeatedly misrepresented facts (deliberately or otherwise through insufficient translations) to fit a greater narrative of HIS experience in Japan as being the DEFINITIVE experience for all foreigners. This is just pure hubris. Always has been and this is the problem that many have with the man.

[havill]

Very, very, well written synopsis by 6810.

That's right, like it or not, Debito's prominence as an English language source of info on the net since the early days, IMO had a profound effect on shaping the ways in which narratives of being foreign, facing discrimination etc were created. For a long time, his narrative was taken by gospel by non-Japanese-speaking, English-speaking, temporary visitors (English "teachers" etc) and this in turn furthered the spread of his highly-specific, highly personal, very narrow as an authoratative source of knowledge.

To give you an example of that: just a few weeks ago, I saw a user on this board attempt to pass on a urban legend (one of the many variations of "they check your refrigerator for kimchi during the home inspections when you try to naturalize to Japanese") that originated in the early nineties from the pre-web internet "Dead Fukuzawa Society" mailing list.

The person that first originated that urban legend? Guess who.

It's amazing that these unverified, one-off English-language old-Japan-hands urban legends are still being spread to this day in 2014.

[matsuki]

That being said, Japan does have an appalling lack of transparancy and especially accountability. And yes, racism is a problem here. Most of us ignore it and get on with our lives. Some people see it very directly affecting their lives. So there is a role for someone to honestly raise the issue, as much for Japanese people as for foreigners.

As compared to where? I honestly believe this to be a case of individuals who have yet to acquire local linguistic agency and therefore assume a lack of transparency, ulterior motives etc..

Other first world countries? I don't think it's a language/gaijin issue either, from those I talk to, it seems most Japanese find the lack of either just as appalling but think it's too mendokusai to effect any change. The most used excuse I hear goes something like "when Japan became a peaceful country, the population went flaccid."

Don't get me wrong though, as much as I hate J-police, I'm not supporting lies and "enhancing" the details of questionable events.

[Wage Slave]

That being said, Japan does have an appalling lack of transparancy and especially accountability. And yes, racism is a problem here. Most of us ignore it and get on with our lives. Some people see it very directly affecting their lives. So there is a role for someone to honestly raise the issue, as much for Japanese people as for foreigners.

As compared to where? I honestly believe this to be a case of individuals who have yet to acquire local linguistic agency and therefore assume a lack of transparency, ulterior motives etc..

Other first world countries? I don't think it's a language/gaijin issue either, from those I talk to, it seems most Japanese find the lack of either just as appalling but think it's too mendokusai to effect any change. The most used excuse I hear goes something like "when Japan became a peaceful country, the population went flaccid."

Ah but

it's early days

2014?

And it's cultural

slowly being encoded within specific cultural conditions

Reminds me of Lee Kuan Yew and his fondness for using "Asian Values" to dodge any questions about transparency, accountability or justice. The PAP would even say that in "our culture" a head count traditionally means the number of your enemies heads you cut off. Old fashioned authoritarianism? Perish the thought.