Tales of the Gaijin Violators!/Japan, Bastion of Tolerance

[Masa the Masta]

I like how he brings up "WELL IN WORLD WAR II YOU GUYS CALLED US MONKEYS."

Ironic, since he started the poo flinging.

I may have read things wrong, but as well articulated as he was about it, I gathered that part of his argument was that it's ok for Japanese to use the word "nigga" because they don't understand or care about what it means.

Man...I really want to say something big and furious in response to that, but all I can really work myself up to say is...that's lame.

[4letterwords]

Author dismisses government's fear mongering myth of crime wave by foreigners

For years, people like Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara have been up in arms about rising crime rates among foreigners and juveniles in Japan, but one of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's public safety experts has come out to say the claims are groundless, according to Sunday Mainichi (12/31).

Ishihara and his ilk have long laid the blame on foreigners for a perceived worsening of public safety standards that has allowed the powers that be to strengthen and crack down on non-Japanese and teens.

But Hiroshi Kubo, the former head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Emergency Public Safety Task Force, says they've got it all wrong.

"Put simply, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's public safety policy involves telling people that public safety standards have worsened and police groups need strengthening to protect the capital's residents," Kubo tells Sunday Mainichi. "But I've realized there's something unnatural about this 'worsening.'"

In his newly released book, Kubo goes through the statistical data being used to justify taking a hard line on foreigners and kids and argues that maybe it's not quite all there. For instance, the growing crime rate in Tokyo is based on reported crimes, not actual crime cases. This means the count includes cases where people who have been scared into believing their safety is under such a threat they contact the police for any trifling matter only to be sent away with no action taken.

And taking a look back over the past 40 years shows that violent crimes by juveniles has actually declined. Current worries about how youths are becoming more criminally inclined -- and at a younger age -- sound like a recording of similar cries dating back to the '60s.

Crimes by foreigners have long been highlighted, but there's little to suggest that Tokyo or Japan is in the midst of a violent crime spree. In 2002, there were 102 non-Japanese arrested in Tokyo for violent crimes including murder, armed robbery, arson and rape. The following year, that number jumped to 156, fell back to 117 in 2004 and was just 84 in 2005. And the number of violent crimes foreigners are committing in Tokyo is not a patch on the Japanese, who account for about 1,000 cases a year.

Kubo says authorities are merely fear mongering, taking statistics that work in their favor and molding them to suit their purposes. National Police Agency data is used the same way as authorities are doing in Tokyo, spreading fear nationwide.

"There's an underlying current of anxiety throughout society. People have no idea what's going to happen in the future, they're worried about employment and pay and declining living standards and somebody who's going to openly talk about the reason for their anxieties is going to attract their interest," the public safety expert tells Sunday Mainichi. "Say somebody comes out and says 'foreigners' violent crimes are all to blame' then anxious people are going to go along with that. And the national government, prefectural governments, police and the media all jump on the bandwagon and believe what's being said." (By Ryann Connell)

December 21, 2006

[Campion]

An open letter to Shigeki Saka


Before I start, let me first say that I am genuinely sorry to hear that both you and your staff are the subject of threats and harassment. I too can understand the sentiment of these individuals but by no means do I condone their behaviour.

I must say that I take great insult to your recent letter defending the publication of 'Gaijin Hanzai Ura Fairu' Sir, not as a Gaijin, but as a fellow Rhetorician. I shall therefore attempt to rebut your assertions as the latter rather than as the former.

First, you suggest that ‘many foreigners consider any suggestion that they engage in lewd or criminal behavior to be an unacceptable insult.’ I’m sure we would, it’s such a broad statement that it makes us feel as if we are all to be treated as potential criminals, even those of us whom have never perpetrated a criminal act. You would no doubt have elicited an equally strong reaction if you had made such an assertion about the Japanese themselves.

You then try and make a point on ‘Free Speech’ by claiming ‘I suppose the same right to free speech they claim for themselves should not extend to those who might want to buy and read our publication.’ You are attempting here to equate the freedom of speech to a ‘freedom to purchase’, in effect suggesting that that the purchaser is liable for accepting the sentiment inside your magazine, this in my opinion is remarkably fatuous. This is not an issue only of free speech, but an issue concerning the differences between freedom of speech and freedom of the press and freedom of the press comes with entirely different responsibilities as I am sure you well know. I deplore this obvious attempt to blame your individual clients for your own decisions as editor or to deflect blame from your publishers.

You claim that your statistics show that Gaijin crime is on the rise in Japan, so why does the Mainichi Daily News proffer alternative statistics, stating that;

Originally Posted by http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070208p2a00m0na007000c.html

Police investigated 27,459 cases nationwide of suspected crimes allegedly committed by nonpermanent foreign nationals in 2006. The number is 16.9 percent down from the previous year. (Mainichi Daily News – Feb.8 2007)

Clearly you have differing statistics, are you absolutely sure your statistics are indeed as ‘accurate’ as you claim and that nothing has been erroneously included or omitted?

I must say I do rather like your choice of crimes in justification of your position on Gaijin crime, the Chinese nationals who murdered a Japanese family in 2003 is clearly the most sensationalist you could find, otherwise I would suggest you would have chosen to justify your position with a crime that was somewhat more recent, it’s an old trick of rhetoric Sir, and a very obvious one at that.

You conclude this paragraph on crime with the statement ‘It's true that American guys grope their Japanese girlfriends daily on the streets of Tokyo.’ If this is a crime in Japan, then I suggest it should be better advertised to visitors, for I was completely unaware of it until now. If it is not a crime (as I suspect), but merely a ‘cultural taboo’ I suggest that you move it from a paragraph dealing otherwise exclusively with crime as you could be seen to be giving the wrong impression. On this point I have sincere doubts that all Americans are so demonstrative in public, I have met many who would never dream of committing such an act in America let alone Japan and without prefacing the words ‘American Guys’ with the word ‘some’, you are pursuing an agenda that smacks of cultural generalization. Perhaps I should put this down to a mistake in translation, but considering how expertly your letter has been worded in English I would prefer to err on the side of deliberation.

I am glad you accept that some criticism is reasonable, particularly your choice of blurring the faces of the Japanese but not the foreigners in certain images, however your defence of ‘if we had covered up the foreigners' faces, the reader wouldn't be able to recognize them as foreign’ is abhorrent. Sir, If the Japanese were clearly Japanese with your added blurring effect, then the foreigners would have been as equally obvious to your readers. I would suggest that this displays an awkward level of disdain for your readership and a poor attempt to justify your position.

Your assertion that ‘Niga’ as a colloquialism is perfectly acceptable and is in no way a racist sentiment shows (I hope only) a distinct lack of clear thinking. It is obviously taken from the equivalent English N-word and I would suggest that if you take the word, you would take it connotation intact (as many other English words are taken in to the Japanese language). I find it personally offensive and I am unsure as to why you can clearly not see it as being deliberately offensive yourself.

Citing xenophobic attitudes to defend xenophobic attitudes is an interesting trick, particularly as you have to go back 60 and 20 years respectively to justify your accusations that we gaijin are just as culpable as yourselves.

“In World War II you labeled us "monkeys," and in the bubble economy years, you considered us "economic predators."”

I do not deny the citations you have made, and I would never expect to see them exhibited in this day and age. I would like to think that a world of cultural understanding about the Japanese has occurred over the last twenty years in the west and I sincerely wish it had been reciprocated, if you want to challenge xenophobia with xenophobia you are playing a difficult game, one can not justify the other, ever. All such accusations do is evidence the schoolboy journalism employed by your staff. ‘If he’s doing it I can do it too’ is not a sentiment I expect to find penned by a professional editor.

As Japan becomes increasingly pluralistic, discussing issues such as crime will become a necessity as you assert, yes. The magazine itself however seems to place heavy emphasis on atypical media fear tactics and this will not evince an open and frank exchange but merely create more segregation as the Japanese people are provided with only the negative aspects of foreign integration. Fear is a good way to sell your copy, but not a good way to make the point you claim to be making. You and I both know that creating a culture of fear is counter-productive to coming to any kind of a healthy understanding in the populace.

If you wanted to talk about crime in the context of us all, as ‘human beings’ (as you claim), you would not have unfairly concentrated on 1% of your population whilst ignoring the rest, this Sir is the most vapid piece of rhetoric I have found in your letter of defence and possibly the worst way I can think to conclude your statement.

If you are genuinely interested in helping Japan to move in to a pluralistic society, then please rethink the approach you take to your editorial and evidence it in your next publication.


Campion.

[Masa the Masta]

That was good.

No wonder your name is Campion.

[Roxie]

....omg...this muthafucka right here!

Wow.

Wooooow!

So, even though he is aware of the "strength" of the word "niga" in English, it's "unfair" to translate it to English b/c it's "just slang" in Japan? Even though it's next to a picture of a black man???
It's placing next to a black person indicates the author knows EXACTLY what they're doing and are doing exactly what they like.

[Masa the Masta]

I think one should bring up a Japanese word equally as offensive and similar in use to help demonstrate understanding.

I can't imagine what the Japanese equivalent of "niga" is, but at least you could say, "It'd be like saying "_____" in America. Does that make it any less wrong in saying it? Of course not!"

[Danistar]

The equivalent is "nip".

[Masa the Masta]

Does it carry the same cultural significance in Japan though? I'm aware in America it's pretty bad, but do the Japanese know of that?

(I've heard stories of like Americans flipping off Koreans during the Korean war and when the Koreans asked what it was, American soldiers passed it off as a "Hawaiian good luck sign")

[Danistar]

Originally Posted by Masa the Masta

I think one should bring up a Japanese word equally as offensive and similar in use to help demonstrate understanding.

I can't imagine what the Japanese equivalent of "niga" is, but at least you could say, "It'd be like saying "_____" in America. Does that make it any less wrong in saying it? Of course not!"

Well you asked what the equivalent was in America. In America, calling a Japanese person a nip is the most offensive thing you can call them.

[Masa the Masta]

But I meant a word that has cultural significance in Japan, but you say it in America.


I know what I said. I guess I didn't specify clear enough.

[Danistar]

I'm not really sure that the Japanese have made an offensive word to call Japanese people. I mean, why would they. In America we have derogatory words to call all the different races because all the different races live together here and sometimes they hate each other. In Japan, there were never enough of a different race living there to make up a derogatory word to call Japanese people in Japanese. The best thing I can think of is that there may be a derogatory word for Japanese people in Chinese, but I don't know for sure, we'll have to ask Hanenosuke.

[羽之助]

For Japanese, you could always say 倭寇, wakou, Japanese pirates, but I don't think many people would get it.

Chinese? Japanese devils or Japanese dogs seems to work. 日本鬼子 (Rìbĕn Guĭzi) or 日本狗滾 (Rìbĕn Gŏugŭn). But you'd have to ask Fumi. And even then, we wouldn't know if such terms are used by the Chinese community in Japan.

Although, it would be interesting to find out what the Yayoi people called the invading Koreans, and what the Emishi, Ezo, and Ainu peoples called the subsequent invading Yamato Japanese.

[Masa the Masta]

But...


I love pirates...!

[jindojim]

I'm sorry Campion, I really liked your letter, but I'd like to make one little criticism.

You're using rhetoric as well by citing an article's quote out of context. The quote appears to justify your meaning, but the article itself is actually about how foreigner crime is really on the the RISE...

I wish you the best anyway though and encourage you to submit that letter. Just, with a better quotation than one from that article...

Originally Posted by cited article

The number of crimes committed by nonpermanent foreign nationals in 2006 declined in Tokyo, the National Police Agency (NPA) said on Thursday.

Police investigated 27,459 cases nationwide of suspected crimes allegedly committed by nonpermanent foreign nationals in 2006. The number is 16.9 percent down from the previous year.

By region, Tokyo's figure, 3,802 cases, was 10 percent less than in 1991. But in the Chubu region of central Japan, the number stood at 7,716, a staggering 35.4 times the number of 1991.

The 279 cases in the Shikoku region shows a rise of 21.5 times that of 1991. The number for other regions such as Hokkaido, Tohoku, Chugoku, Kinki and Kyushu, all increased from 15 years ago. The number for the Kanto region actually rose if Tokyo's figure was excluded.

The figures reflect the surge in foreigners living in areas outside of Tokyo.

"We have beefed up our efforts in Tokyo, forcing foreign criminal groups to flee to other regions," an NPA official said.

Of the 27,459 suspected crimes, 67.9 percent were committed by groups of at least two foreigners.

In 2006, 40 foreign nationals left Japan after allegedly committing crimes, the NPA said. The number of foreign nationals who have been accused of committing crimes in Japan and of fleeing totaled 656 by the end of 2006. (Mainichi)

[Hatsumomo]

'Sup, Backpedal?

(To the guy behind the magazine, not anybody here.)

Nice letter, Campion. Very eloquent.

[mpz]

Originally Posted by Masa the Masta

(I've heard stories of like Americans flipping off Koreans during the Korean war and when the Koreans asked what it was, American soldiers passed it off as a "Hawaiian good luck sign")

It wasn't actually during the Korean war (although in a sense the war is still ongoing), but in 1968. It was a partially successful attempt of the captured USS Pueblo crew to rebel against their captors. Here's more.

[Chinpokomon]

http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/shakai/...P08022007.html

Foreigner crime down 16% in '06.

[Masa the Masta]

Originally Posted by mpz

It wasn't actually during the Korean war (although in a sense the war is still ongoing), but in 1968. It was a partially successful attempt of the captured USS Pueblo crew to rebel against their captors. Here's more.

REALLY.

Wow, I guess I read that wrong in my textbook, or the textbook was wrong.

I'm thinking the former, I definitely don't have a perfect memory.

[Campion]

Thanks for your support everyone, I may take a look at the letter and do some editing over the weekend, I don't think it flows very well and I've missed out one thing I would dearly like to take him to task for.

Originally Posted by jindojim

You're using rhetoric as well by citing an article's quote out of context. The quote appears to justify your meaning, but the article itself is actually about how foreigner crime is really on the the RISE...

I wish you the best anyway though and encourage you to submit that letter. Just, with a better quotation than one from that article...

Let me start by saying, thank you.

Yes, I know I'm using rhetoric, the whole letter is rhetoric as was his. We are both professional rhetoricians, what are we going to argue with, the dialectic? Sorry jindojim but I thought I covered that in the second paragraph.

You accuse me of quoting out of context, a fair argument perhaps, but you seem to have inferred the meaning here for me. I would urge you to read this part of my letter again. There is a very good reason why I have chosen that quote and phrased the preceeding and closing sentences around it in the way that I have and if you really want to know why I will PM you.

Thanks for taking the time to make your argument jindojim, it's good to hear all points of view and is very much appreciated.


Campion.

[IndianThrilla!]

Originally Posted by Pierrot le Fou

No, there's nothing wrong with saying, "Well, they're a bad thing, but I can't be bothered."

Doesn't this sum up the Japanese attitude towards this magazine? It never did make it to the national media stream (right?) or bring about a national discussion on the topic. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

All this 'brouhaha' about the magazine did was successfully remove the magazine from the shelves and bring about heated discussions on foreigner forums. It was brought to the forefront outside of Japan with no resulting pressure being applied to Japan as a nation (or their inherent cultural identity).

The result of which is essentially moot.

At the whole beginning of this discussion, this was JindoJim's point. Doing nothing (or something but in indirect ways) about this magazine is more productive than complaining about it at the top of your lungs, showing your feathers and then prancing around for all to see, which is what a lot of Japanese expect us, as foreigners, to do. You are only fueling their image of us 'uppity' foreigners. You are not doing something productive to change the root of the problem in Japan in a Japanese way, but a foreigner way.

To make change in anyone, foreign or Japanese, is to have a receptive audience. Getting in front of a crowd to 'teach them' about the ignorance that takes place or protesting at the top of your lungs does not make a receptive Japanese person. You are not their superior (boss or otherwise) so acting as such, will not gain the effect you desire. This is NOT the Japanese way. Small steps and indirectness is.

The best way to illustrate the hurt that cases like this magazine cause is simply to talk to those closest to you. Open up to them and demonstrate what it is that really affects you by said 'offensive material'. Have a discussion and open their mind when they are receptive. They will, in turn, pass on what they have heard/learned to those closest to them. Then the cycle repeats.

Do not under-estimate the power of the word of mouth in Japan. As has been stated on numerous occasions, you'll be surprised by how much everyone in your community knows about you. Being a model foreigner and 'enlightening' those closest to you about your views on the world does more good for change in Japan than any outburst of malcontent or pulling of magazines off of store shelves in a kombini ever will.

This was THE MOST important thing I ever learned about dealing with Japanese people during my stay in Japan. As insignificant as it feels at times, being calm and making people understand you are talking from the heart does a world of good.

Anger attracts anger. Happiness attracts happiness. Therefore, calm and understanding attract...

Let me start by saying, thank you.

If everyone on the Internet was as cool as you are, it would be a much less fun place.

[Chinpokomon]

Originally Posted by Crowley

If everyone on the Internet was as cool as you are, it would be a much less fun place.

Bugger off!

[羽之助]

Originally Posted by Chinpokomon

Bugger off!

Bollocks!!

[mikem]

Originally Posted by 羽之助

Bollocks!!

Smashing baby, yeeeeah!