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Fingerprinting: Anger in the Blogosphere

Posted by debito on November 23rd, 2007

Hi Blog. Lots to do this weekend in Tokyo at JALT, so I’ll be brief:

In all my twenty years of Japan, I’ve never seen the NJ communities so angry.

Not during the “gaijin all have AIDS” scare of 1986, the Otaru Onsens Case of 1999, the Ishihara anti-gaijin anti-crime “Sangokujin Speech” media campaigns of 2000, the “anti-hooligan” scare before and during World Cup 2002, the Al-Qaeda scare of 2005, or the “foreign crime is rising” National Police Agency media campaigns every six months. This time, there’s a very “faith no more” element to it all.

I am receiving links to angry diatribes on the Fingerprint policy in the Blogosphere. Two that leave a lasting impression:

Running Gaijin Card Checks
http://www.keepingpaceinjapan.com/2007/11/running-in-fear.html

Oppose Japan’s bid for The Olympics
http://nofj16.googlepages.com/home

If you know of any more, please send links to the comments section below. Angry, humorous, ironic, and/or poignant is fine, racist is not, so exercise discretion.

The point is, how else are NJ going to express their anger when they are this disenfranchised in Japanese society? Where the media machines for manufacturing consent will ultimately pit the entire Japanese society against the “gaijin”–through completely unfounded assertions of criminality, terrorism, and allegedly effective preventative measures which single people out for discrimination by race, nationality, and national origin.

How else? The Blogosphere. Vent away.

How things work over here to create “Team Japan vs. The World” has never come out as clearly as now. Arudou Debito in Tokyo

9 Responses to “Fingerprinting: Anger in the Blogosphere”

  1. 害人 Says:

    出人 様
    私のことを過激過ぎると思っているようです。
    それはそれで結構です。
    But, boycotting Japan is probably the only possible thing we can do.
    Do not come here to participate in sports or cultural events or scientific meetings.
    I am a professor not a criminal, I am an athlete not a criminal and so on.
    And do not accept japanese persons as researchers, teachers etc. abroad. Just say , we do not want a racist in OUR country.
    Isolate them, that is what they want anyway.
    This is a 21 century fascism, leading to a well known end point.

  2. ponta Says:

    There is nothing wrong with opposing the fingerprinting. It helps Japanese government to improve the system.
    And there is nothing with opposing the bid for Olympics. I myself am against it.
    But do you support the second site?
    “Japan is now a fascist Police State”

    I don’t like Ishihara’s speech on gaikokujin , but

    “He’s the head of the committee for Tokyo’s 2016 Olympic bid.

    And his personal friends:
    (the photo of a black van of the extreme rightist)

    These are the militant right-wing folks who want to return to the glorious days of the Japanese Imperial Army. You know, the ones who invaded most of Asia, killing, raping and enslaving.”

    Did you confirm the fact?

    “Japan is the sick man of Asia now.”

    Don’t you think it is hate-speech?

    I can pick up many other statements that is hard to confirm.

    Is this the way you promote the opposition to the fingerprinting?

    –NOPE. JUST SAID THE BLOG LEFT AN IMPRESSION. AS IT SEEMS TO HAVE DONE ON YOU. NOT SO PLEASANT WHEN UNFOUNDED ACCUSATIONS APPLY TO JAPANESE, NOW, IS IT? NOW TRY TO EMPATHIZE WITH THE NJ FOR A CHANGE–DON’T FALL INTO THE VICTIM COMPLEX ALL OVER AGAIN.

  3. vegetablej Says:

    Scarily, I found myself nodding my head to most of the items on the “alphabet of abominations” in Japan on the second link.

    It bears repeating that the previous head of the Military is now under investigation for scandal, a pretty big irony considering the Ministry of Justice’s big concern about FOREIGN CRIME. Shift the focus tactics?

  4. Hoshisato Says:

    As for the Olympic bid, note that there is a comment form on the Tokyo 2016 webpage: https://www.tokyo2016.or.jp/en/faq/inquiry.php
    I left my objection about the bid being spearheaded by Shintaro Ishihara, the man stands for everything the Olympic games tries to oppose.

  5. Ken Y-N Says:

    Debito, I find that nofj16 link offensive, and it features a good number of obvious lies and many distortions. I’ll list a few:

    The Ishihara quote - that’s a new quote to me, so I’d like to see evidence of it.

    A - millions?
    C - 30 times weighted by land area, not an absolute value
    F - Half the Japanese population climb Fuji san every year?
    G - 7% of those in jail are foreigners
    H - 55% of the population over 65?
    S - These numbers are made up

    The rest is a message of hate, and I’m disappointed that you have chosen to highlight such stuff.

  6. Thomas Says:

    Informing and thinking about biometric controls at entry gatepoints un Japan:
    http://reentryjapan.blogspot.com/

  7. Jerome Besson Says:

    I remember a tale of solidarity and courage from WWII. In German-occupied Denmark, king Christian X, who used to ride his horse unattended through the streets of Copenhagen, took to displaying that infamous yellow star on his sleeve and his subjects followed suit. Although this is assigned to legend, the fact remains that the solidarity the Danes displayed toward their Jews prevented the Nazis from carrying out their racial policy in Denmark. The Jewish community of Denmark spent the war in relative safety.

    http://www.ushmm.org/research/library/faq/details.php?topic=04#01
    http://www.ushmm.org/research/library/faq/languages/en/04/01/denmark2.htm

    I would like to suggest the following as a form of peaceful resistance:
    1) foreigners in Japan would display an enlarged copy of their finger print on their breast pocket or the rear window of their car in protest.
    2) like-minded Japanese would follow in silent solidarity.
    3) the movement gaining ground would set a new trend whereby gift shops in Harajuku and Shimo-Kitazawa would devise pins that could allow one to display ones finger-print.

    When I last left Narita five years back, immigration sent me away with a nice memento – a “52-4” logo stamped on my passport. I’ll leave it to the initiated to appreciate. I had lived peacefully there for sixteen-years and ever since then have lived estranged from my two kids.

    Shame the dorks and have fun!!

  8. A Says:

    Those of you that are offended at Debito’s reference to that website are missing the point entirely. It’s not whether Debito\I\You agree with the contents of the website or not. The reference is to illustrate the reaction that Japan’s blatant xenephobia is generating. The contents of the website may, or may not be, entirely accurate but the fact that such websites are being created is completely relevant to the topic at hand.

    Even if the website is exaggerated, what do you expect? You can only poke a dog with a stick for so long before it turns around and bites you. However, once the dog is biting you, you don’t get a say in how hard it does it.

    Japan is long overdue for a bite from its foreign community, it has poked for a long time, and much the same as the biting dog, I doubt that there will be much consideration for fairness and equality in the foreign community’s reaction.

    For better or worse, expect such sites and sentiments as the referenced link to increase as Japan continues to label, and treat, the entirety of its foreign population as criminals-in-the-wait.

  9. ponta Says:

    DON’T FALL INTO THE VICTIM COMPLEX ALL OVER AGAIN.

    I don’t understand.
    Do you fall into the victim complex all over again when you claim the accusations for gaijin is unfounded?
    And do you think the statement that gaijin is sick falls into one of the category “Angry, humorous, ironic, and/or poignant”but not racist and that it is justified for the Japanese to express the anger in that way for the unfounded accusation?
    Is such unfounded accusations good to let gaijin empathize with the Japanese for a change?

    –YOU’RE RIGHT, YOU REALLY DON’T UNDERSTAND. SOMETIMES I REALLY MISS THE FACT THAT THERE IS A DEARTH OF IRONY IN THIS SOCIETY.

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