This is shaping up to be a month of firsts - theme of December's Blog Matsuri, first J-Word Play with a prize, first original keyboard composition...Yeah, yeah, so anything can be a first, really. Today was the first time I woke up on December 21st, 2010, har har. But I feel like we're making progress.
The other day I had kind of a strange experience. It was the first blatant, overt, and hostile display of racism I've encountered in Japan (or anywhere, I suppose), and it wasn't perpetrated by a Japanese person. Joe and I had just gotten some Indian food and were walking to the train station, when we noticed this guy crossing the street and walking towards us. His expression was...friendly? He looked like he recognized us. As soon as he got close, his face changed and he became really angry-looking. He walked right in front of us, gave us the finger, and said something in what I believe was Chinese. The only word I caught was "America." Then the angry dude continued past us in the opposite direction. He stopped and turned to watch him go. Near the end of the block he turned around and flipped us off again. Now I don't know how he "knew" we were Americans or what he has against America, but he's lucky the two of us aren't what he probably thinks most Americans are like. There were two of us and he wasn't a very big guy - we could have easily socked him in the face if we were violent men.
It was a very odd experience, and I felt more perplexed than angry.
Showing posts with label racism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label racism. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Racism! Oops, wait, no...
Racism is a topic that's come up a few times the past couple months. When you're living as a minority in any place, especially one so homogeneous as Japan, it's easy to become more sensitive to being treated differently. I have another story.
Yoshie and I had a fight the other day. She was right. Not in the way that girlfriends/wives are always right, but, in fact, genuinely right.
She was set to play piano at this bar/live house in Kyoto on Tuesday. We get there and walk in together, and she walks inside while I stop at the entrance to pay the cover charge. The guy looks at me, looks at her, then glances at his boss at the bar, and then says something to her that I didn't catch. But I heard the word 外国人 (foreigner; note this is the more polite form of the word). Oh no, I thought. I could feel my blood starting to heat up. This was one of those places? Confused,Yoshie goes over to the bar to ask the manager what the problem is. Meanwhile I ask the guy in front of me "Wait, so I'm a foreigner...and?"
He squirms. 「外国人ですからチャージ取れません。」"I can't charge foreigners."
So they won't accept my money because I'm a foreigner? If I were alone I would have just left with maybe a choice word or two. But Yoshie had a show...I didn't want to ruin her night by going off on the bar staff.
I wait. After a minute, Yoshie and the manager come over. He nods at me and offers a quick すみません (sorry), says something to the guy at the front, and they take my money and give me a drink ticket.
Yoshie said something about how sometimes tourists come in and the staff don't speak any English, but I was too roiled up to understand all of her explanation. What I heard was "These people don't want to deal with foreigners because they don't speak English." Even if that had been the case, it wouldn't have been as bad if they had at least seen if I could speak Japanese before refusing me service. So the rest of the night I tried to calm down for her sake, but wasn't very successful, especially when I saw Yoshie being friendly with the staff. Being the insulted party, I felt kind of betrayed. When our friends came in, I shared the story with them and continued to brood. And in some meaningless protest, I refused to use my drink ticket. Every time Yoshie told me I should have a drink, I told her to use it. Petulant, I know. Not like I was going to hurt the bar by not ordering the drink I already paid for.
So we made it through the show, but I was still moody. On the way back to the station, Yoshie asked me what was wrong and I basically went off on her about how that asshole back there wasn't going to let me in because I'm a foreigner, and my girlfriend should be upset with them instead of chummy. And if it wasn't a big deal, as her behavior implied, they should have talked to me instead of assuming I'm too dumb to speak their language.
Yeah, I shouldn't have went off on her, especially in front of our friends. The next hour and a half of the trip home was quiet and uncomfortable for the most part. Finally we both admitted that we should have handled the situation differently. She agreed that they were rude for not explaining the situation to me and she should have stuck up more for me but didn't know what to do. I conceded that there wasn't much she could do and I shouldn't have yelled at her. And we let it go at that.
Not so bad, right? Well, the next day I was on Gchat telling Dylan about the incident. I went to go take a shower and Yoshie started talking to him. When I got back, Dylan told me that there had been a big misunderstanding. Apparently in my rage I hadn't understood everything that Yoshie had been trying to tell me about the situation. As it turns out, sometimes foreigners go into that live house just to drink at the bar. The staff feel bad because they can't speak much English and many of the tourists who come in can't speak any Japanese, so as a result they often don't charge foreigners the cover fee for the live show if they just come in to sit at the bar. I guess it's easier than trying to communicate the fact that they have to pay a fee because there's a band playing.
So really they weren't being racist at all. As a matter of fact, they were probably trying to be nice. In my defense, I wish they had explained this to me themselves. But ultimately I was the asshole in this story.
Yoshie and I had a fight the other day. She was right. Not in the way that girlfriends/wives are always right, but, in fact, genuinely right.
She was set to play piano at this bar/live house in Kyoto on Tuesday. We get there and walk in together, and she walks inside while I stop at the entrance to pay the cover charge. The guy looks at me, looks at her, then glances at his boss at the bar, and then says something to her that I didn't catch. But I heard the word 外国人 (foreigner; note this is the more polite form of the word). Oh no, I thought. I could feel my blood starting to heat up. This was one of those places? Confused,Yoshie goes over to the bar to ask the manager what the problem is. Meanwhile I ask the guy in front of me "Wait, so I'm a foreigner...and?"
He squirms. 「外国人ですからチャージ取れません。」"I can't charge foreigners."
So they won't accept my money because I'm a foreigner? If I were alone I would have just left with maybe a choice word or two. But Yoshie had a show...I didn't want to ruin her night by going off on the bar staff.
I wait. After a minute, Yoshie and the manager come over. He nods at me and offers a quick すみません (sorry), says something to the guy at the front, and they take my money and give me a drink ticket.
Yoshie said something about how sometimes tourists come in and the staff don't speak any English, but I was too roiled up to understand all of her explanation. What I heard was "These people don't want to deal with foreigners because they don't speak English." Even if that had been the case, it wouldn't have been as bad if they had at least seen if I could speak Japanese before refusing me service. So the rest of the night I tried to calm down for her sake, but wasn't very successful, especially when I saw Yoshie being friendly with the staff. Being the insulted party, I felt kind of betrayed. When our friends came in, I shared the story with them and continued to brood. And in some meaningless protest, I refused to use my drink ticket. Every time Yoshie told me I should have a drink, I told her to use it. Petulant, I know. Not like I was going to hurt the bar by not ordering the drink I already paid for.
So we made it through the show, but I was still moody. On the way back to the station, Yoshie asked me what was wrong and I basically went off on her about how that asshole back there wasn't going to let me in because I'm a foreigner, and my girlfriend should be upset with them instead of chummy. And if it wasn't a big deal, as her behavior implied, they should have talked to me instead of assuming I'm too dumb to speak their language.
Yeah, I shouldn't have went off on her, especially in front of our friends. The next hour and a half of the trip home was quiet and uncomfortable for the most part. Finally we both admitted that we should have handled the situation differently. She agreed that they were rude for not explaining the situation to me and she should have stuck up more for me but didn't know what to do. I conceded that there wasn't much she could do and I shouldn't have yelled at her. And we let it go at that.
Not so bad, right? Well, the next day I was on Gchat telling Dylan about the incident. I went to go take a shower and Yoshie started talking to him. When I got back, Dylan told me that there had been a big misunderstanding. Apparently in my rage I hadn't understood everything that Yoshie had been trying to tell me about the situation. As it turns out, sometimes foreigners go into that live house just to drink at the bar. The staff feel bad because they can't speak much English and many of the tourists who come in can't speak any Japanese, so as a result they often don't charge foreigners the cover fee for the live show if they just come in to sit at the bar. I guess it's easier than trying to communicate the fact that they have to pay a fee because there's a band playing.
So really they weren't being racist at all. As a matter of fact, they were probably trying to be nice. In my defense, I wish they had explained this to me themselves. But ultimately I was the asshole in this story.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Racism: Mini-update
Last month I briefly mentioned the current Arizona state law that is receiving a lot of bad press and how I believe it is being incorrectly interpreted. Apparently the (Democrat-appointed) judge presiding over the current federal lawsuit case read the law the same way I did. This quote is addressing the federal government's claim of preemption, but indirectly gets to the heart of the discrimination issue (in that people would not be racially profiled as they are in Japan, but only ID'ed in the case of criminal activity). She asks:
(Link)
"How is there a preemption issue?" the judge asked. "I understand there may be other issues, but you're arguing preemption. Where is the preemption if everybody who is arrested for some crime has their immigration status checked?"
Good question. Also would like to add that Loco is currently running a very engaging series about racism on his blog, and I recommend checking it out.
(Link)
"How is there a preemption issue?" the judge asked. "I understand there may be other issues, but you're arguing preemption. Where is the preemption if everybody who is arrested for some crime has their immigration status checked?"
Good question. Also would like to add that Loco is currently running a very engaging series about racism on his blog, and I recommend checking it out.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Racism, Part 2
Last week I talked about an encounter I had with the police, and my thoughts on how foreigners are treated in Japan. Since then I've done some more thinking and talked to several people (Japanese and NJ) about the situation. So today I'd like to follow up and perhaps stir up the hornet's nest, as well.
In Part 1, several commenters pointed out that Japan is not the only country to practice this kind of immigration enforcement - people are stopped and asked to show ID in other countries, as well. This is true, but it doesn't change the fact that the practice (at least in Japan's case) is arguably unjust and unwarranted. As Orchid pointed out, Japan is an island with few points of entry, and illegal immigration is hardly a pressing issue. Japanese police also often act on quotas (ID a certain number of foreigners today or no tea and Mr. Donut for you?), whereas I'm not so sure this is the case in many other countries.
Does this make Japan a racist country? Some might and do say so, but I wouldn't. I think it's important to realize that there can be a gap between the values of individual people and the policies that a government espouses. It may also be a generational thing. I've met (at least) hundreds of Japanese people, and I can honestly say that only a handful have struck me as racist (or more kindly "xenophobic"). After last week's encounter, I mentioned it to several teachers I work with. Two of them (English teachers), after confirming that everything was all right, simply said something to the effect of "Ah yeah, that happens sometimes..." and seemed a little too embarrassed to talk about it any further. Two others seemed genuinely surprised. The conversation started something like this:
Me: 先日は、警察に止まれた・・・外国人登録証明書を見せて欲しかった。
(So I was stopped by the police the other day...they wanted to see my foreign registration card.)
Them: えぇ？なんで？
(What? Why?)
Me: [Shrug] 外国人やから。
(I'm a foreigner.)
Them: えぇ？ほんまに？！
(Huh? You're kidding!)
I went on to explain that we foreigners have to always carry around our ID in case we are stopped by the police. These two teachers (Japanese and social studies) honestly seemed to have no idea. They went on to ask me about Japanese policies on naturalization, permanent residency, and the case that a foreigner wants to marry a Japanese citizen. I don't know if it's just the younger generation, but they seemed surprised and sympathetic.
I didn't talk about this as in-depthly with Yoshie, but she told me she doesn't associate foreigners with crime and doesn't think most Japanese people do either (I didn't push her on that, but I suspect it may just be that she hasn't spoken to many other people about the issue).
Talking with a lot of the Japanese people I know, especially those near my age, about the issue is encouraging. I don't mean that I have much hope for serious change, but I feel like it's the lesser of two evils for these xenophobic policies to survive because of ignorance and/or inaction than out of fear or hate.
Changing gears somewhat -- Oh, look, a can of worms!
In the comment section to Part 1, we also had a few mentions of the law recently passed in Arizona. While this doesn't directly relate to Japan, it does bear relation to the overarching topic of racism and racial profiling, so I think it's worth briefly discussing. I was talking with Dylan about this last week, and he put forward that the Japanese policy of randomly IDing foreigners is not that different from the Arizona law. We argued back and forth a bit, and then I suggested that we both read the actual law (something surprisingly few people with such strong opinions on either side have done). I told him that if I were wrong, I apologize and would not, in fact, support the law at all. So we read it. After having done so, he admitted that the law didn't do what he thought it did.
According to a recent poll, over 60% of Americans support the law. Some media are portraying these people as supporters of racial profiling or as racists. I think the problem here is a mistaken perception of what the law actually does. There are many people who seem to think that it allows police to randomly stop anyone suspected of being an illegal or looking as if they could be (a la Japan). Perhaps this is understandable - legislation is not always the easiest form of writing to understand. However if you read through the whole thing (it's not that long), I think it's fairly clear that police aren't allowed to indiscriminately stop anyone and ID them. They are only allowed to stop people who are suspected of committing a crime (other than being illegal).
So really I think it's more an issue of two sides largely agreeing but interpreting the law differently. I suppose what ultimately matters is how law enforcement officials and courts regard it. I don't think this kind of law is the best fix to the problem. But considering the American-Mexican border is largely unprotected, it does seem an understandable move for Arizona. Again, as Orchid pointed out - the situation in Japan is not the same as the situation in America.
Let the flame war begin?
In Part 1, several commenters pointed out that Japan is not the only country to practice this kind of immigration enforcement - people are stopped and asked to show ID in other countries, as well. This is true, but it doesn't change the fact that the practice (at least in Japan's case) is arguably unjust and unwarranted. As Orchid pointed out, Japan is an island with few points of entry, and illegal immigration is hardly a pressing issue. Japanese police also often act on quotas (ID a certain number of foreigners today or no tea and Mr. Donut for you?), whereas I'm not so sure this is the case in many other countries.
Does this make Japan a racist country? Some might and do say so, but I wouldn't. I think it's important to realize that there can be a gap between the values of individual people and the policies that a government espouses. It may also be a generational thing. I've met (at least) hundreds of Japanese people, and I can honestly say that only a handful have struck me as racist (or more kindly "xenophobic"). After last week's encounter, I mentioned it to several teachers I work with. Two of them (English teachers), after confirming that everything was all right, simply said something to the effect of "Ah yeah, that happens sometimes..." and seemed a little too embarrassed to talk about it any further. Two others seemed genuinely surprised. The conversation started something like this:
Me: 先日は、警察に止まれた・・・外国人登録証明書を見せて欲しかった。
(So I was stopped by the police the other day...they wanted to see my foreign registration card.)
Them: えぇ？なんで？
(What? Why?)
Me: [Shrug] 外国人やから。
(I'm a foreigner.)
Them: えぇ？ほんまに？！
(Huh? You're kidding!)
I went on to explain that we foreigners have to always carry around our ID in case we are stopped by the police. These two teachers (Japanese and social studies) honestly seemed to have no idea. They went on to ask me about Japanese policies on naturalization, permanent residency, and the case that a foreigner wants to marry a Japanese citizen. I don't know if it's just the younger generation, but they seemed surprised and sympathetic.
I didn't talk about this as in-depthly with Yoshie, but she told me she doesn't associate foreigners with crime and doesn't think most Japanese people do either (I didn't push her on that, but I suspect it may just be that she hasn't spoken to many other people about the issue).
Talking with a lot of the Japanese people I know, especially those near my age, about the issue is encouraging. I don't mean that I have much hope for serious change, but I feel like it's the lesser of two evils for these xenophobic policies to survive because of ignorance and/or inaction than out of fear or hate.
Changing gears somewhat -- Oh, look, a can of worms!
In the comment section to Part 1, we also had a few mentions of the law recently passed in Arizona. While this doesn't directly relate to Japan, it does bear relation to the overarching topic of racism and racial profiling, so I think it's worth briefly discussing. I was talking with Dylan about this last week, and he put forward that the Japanese policy of randomly IDing foreigners is not that different from the Arizona law. We argued back and forth a bit, and then I suggested that we both read the actual law (something surprisingly few people with such strong opinions on either side have done). I told him that if I were wrong, I apologize and would not, in fact, support the law at all. So we read it. After having done so, he admitted that the law didn't do what he thought it did.
According to a recent poll, over 60% of Americans support the law. Some media are portraying these people as supporters of racial profiling or as racists. I think the problem here is a mistaken perception of what the law actually does. There are many people who seem to think that it allows police to randomly stop anyone suspected of being an illegal or looking as if they could be (a la Japan). Perhaps this is understandable - legislation is not always the easiest form of writing to understand. However if you read through the whole thing (it's not that long), I think it's fairly clear that police aren't allowed to indiscriminately stop anyone and ID them. They are only allowed to stop people who are suspected of committing a crime (other than being illegal).
So really I think it's more an issue of two sides largely agreeing but interpreting the law differently. I suppose what ultimately matters is how law enforcement officials and courts regard it. I don't think this kind of law is the best fix to the problem. But considering the American-Mexican border is largely unprotected, it does seem an understandable move for Arizona. Again, as Orchid pointed out - the situation in Japan is not the same as the situation in America.
Let the flame war begin?
Monday, June 21, 2010
Racism, Part 1
They say that when you're angry about something and you write a missive or email, you should wait about 20 minutes and then throw it away (or delete it, in this digital age). Does that hold true for blog entries, as well? Perhaps, but I'm going to write about this while it's fresh. This may get a little ranty, but I'll do my best to stay on course. I've decided to divide my thoughts into two parts. In Part 1, I'll focus on Japan in an international context. In Part 2 I want to talk more about the U.S., and Japan in comparison to my home country.
So today Brian and I were on our evening dinner break (we teach night classes on Mondays). We had a bit of extra time, so we went for a walk and decided to stop by Family Mart (a Japanese convenience store chain) on the way back to school. We both bought some tea, but as I had some bills to pay, Brian exited the store first. Once my business was concluded, I started to walk out, and noticed that Brian was talking to a couple of well-dressed, middle-aged gentlemen outside the store. Oh, that Brian - always making new friends. So I thought.
As I went outside and began to introduce myself to Brian's new friends, one of them greeted me with a "Konnichiwa" and a badge. I glanced at Brian and noticed that he was cooperatively but obviously unhappily engaged in conversation with the officer's partner. "May I see your...gaikokujin touroku shoumeishoumeisho, please?" he asked good-naturedly. Somewhat stunned, I nodded and with a "Hai," pulled out my Alien Registration Card. "あぁ、日本語大丈夫ですか?" (Ah, is Japanese okay?) he asked. I considered for a moment. I remembered having read about other foreigners' experiences with Japanese police, and a common piece of advice seems to have been to never admit to speaking Japanese. If you do, you may find that you may misunderstand something, but having said you speak Japanese you have waived your chance at the "stupid gainjin" card. Yeah, but we haven't done anything wrong, I thought. I don't want to make this harder than it has to be. "はい、大丈夫です," I answered. Yes, Japanese is fine.
As the detective examined my I.D. and took notes, he asked me stuff like where I live and where I work. As the shock wore off and began to be replaced by annoyance and indignation, I also began to direct my answers towards the other office who was talking to Brian. "Where do you work? Itami?" my guy asked in Japanese. "I looked at him and said yes, also in Japanese, then looked at his partner and added "But I work at two schools. Brian and I work together at the school near here."
"Ahhh, you two are friends?" one of them asked. We both nodded.
After a few minutes of this, I received my I.D. back and could tell this interview was wrapping up. "Is everything all right?" I asked. "Did something happen?" I wanted to add, "Do we look like criminals to you?" But I held my tongue. After all, this was almost over and we had to get back to work.
"Ah, no. We are police detectives and this area is in our jurisdiction. We are checking the touroku-shoumeisho of foreigners." Then they both smiled and thanked us. We nodded and walked away without saying anything.
Now I don't know if these two guys were just feeling like giving some foreigners a hard time, but I doubt it. They weren't rude. They seemed like they were trying to be nice. They were probably just following orders and maybe had some kind of quota to fill (hence the notes they took). But what an assignment for detectives. Don't they have some crime they could be investigating, rather than stopping well-dressed white guys to make sure they're not illegal aliens? I guess not.
I've been talking (or Facebook messaging) with a friend recently about immigration and role of foreigners in Japan. Basically, if you're a foreigner in Japan, you must always carry either your passport with visa or your Alien Registration Card, which is basically the equivalent of U.S. Green Card, except not for citizens. If you are stopped and fail to produce one of these forms of identification, you may be arrested. But I've never been stopped, I told him. Ironic - that was just last week I said that.
Now I bet a lot of Japanese people would defend this. I can hear it now - "But the officers didn't know that you were here legally. They were just checking. Sometimes there are illegal foreigners in Japan. Japan is an island." And besides, many foreigners commit crimes. They may not say this, but many Japanese probably think it. This is because the Japanese media and politicians often portray foreigners as dangerous or more likely to commit crime. Which is statistically not the case at all, at least not uniformly.
From Wa-Pedia:
If we concentrate on real crimes, we find a completely different ranking though. Iranians, Russians or Philippinos have been arrested for a much higher number of offences [visa-overstaying, speeding, ect] than crimes [theft, rape, murder, etc], for instance. We also see that Brazilians and Japanese were arrested for proportionally more crimes than offences. Here is the real crime rate :
Chinese (0.428%)
Brazilians (0.351%)
Japanese (0.291%)
Russians (0.271%)
Philippinos (0.101%)
Thais (0,051%)
Koreans (0.024%)
Britons (0.021%)
Americans (0.016%)
This portrayal of foreigners as more criminal than Japanese surely feeds the system by which Japan is seemingly destined to spiral, crash, and economically burn in a number of decades. Who wants criminals for neighbors? Hence the lack of serious opposition to draconian Japanese immigration policies.
And then there is something else about the Japanese mentality that I find very ironic. As Will Ferguson observed in his recounting of his adventures hitchhiking across Japan, Japanese people are either very arrogant or very self-conscious. They care very much about promoting their country and accomplishments, and what other countries think of them. Just the other day in class, one of the teachers I work with was giving our students a lecture on the shinkansen and how some other countries (like Vietnam) are building their own. He concluded with an encouragement that if any of the students go abroad they should tell everyone about the glorious shinkansen, a wonderful Japanese achievement.
Well let me tell you what - as a JET, it's my job to be a cultural ambassador. I'm supposed to spread my country's culture, and when I eventually return home I am to recount my experiences in Japan. So yes, I will tell people about the amazing restaurants with conveyor-belts of sushi, and the beautiful Japanese hills, and hidden shrines and temples, and about the kindness I experienced in various parts of the country. But I will also tell how I was stopped and asked to explain myself because I was Caucasian. Does it matter that I could have potentially been a naturalized Japanese citizen? Nope.
Sure, this is their country. They can make discriminatory laws and policies if they like. But in doing so, they do not foster international relations and cross-cultural understanding. They make a line, a division between them and us. And it isn't mutual understanding they are promoting, but this division.
時間がかかり過ぎそうだから、全体に訳しないけど、一般的にわめいたんです。でも何点か書くよ。
今日僕とブライアンは警察に近づいて声をかけれたんです。なぜか？ただ白人だからでしょう。外国人登録証明書を見せられて、色んな質問聞かれた。どこに住んでいますか？どこで働いていますか？仕事はなんですか？
警察は失礼か意地悪ではなかった・・・が、まだ不当な処置って気持ちでした。怒って「私たちは犯罪みたいですか？」と聞きたかったんですけどそんなは始まらないな。
日本では、一般的に外国人の方が日本人より罪を犯すってイメージ信じられてると思う。でもそんな証拠がないんですよ。
ALTとして、文化の大使だ。日本には、アメリカの文化を分け合って、アメリカに戻ると、日本にいた間の経験を分け合う。もちろん、いいこと・・・回転寿司、とても美しい丘やお寺とか、色んな人の優しさ・・・でもそして、この経験を分け合うよ。
多分普通な日本人として、これはたいしたことないんですね。ですから、変わらない。
So today Brian and I were on our evening dinner break (we teach night classes on Mondays). We had a bit of extra time, so we went for a walk and decided to stop by Family Mart (a Japanese convenience store chain) on the way back to school. We both bought some tea, but as I had some bills to pay, Brian exited the store first. Once my business was concluded, I started to walk out, and noticed that Brian was talking to a couple of well-dressed, middle-aged gentlemen outside the store. Oh, that Brian - always making new friends. So I thought.
As I went outside and began to introduce myself to Brian's new friends, one of them greeted me with a "Konnichiwa" and a badge. I glanced at Brian and noticed that he was cooperatively but obviously unhappily engaged in conversation with the officer's partner. "May I see your...gaikokujin touroku shoumeishoumeisho, please?" he asked good-naturedly. Somewhat stunned, I nodded and with a "Hai," pulled out my Alien Registration Card. "あぁ、日本語大丈夫ですか?" (Ah, is Japanese okay?) he asked. I considered for a moment. I remembered having read about other foreigners' experiences with Japanese police, and a common piece of advice seems to have been to never admit to speaking Japanese. If you do, you may find that you may misunderstand something, but having said you speak Japanese you have waived your chance at the "stupid gainjin" card. Yeah, but we haven't done anything wrong, I thought. I don't want to make this harder than it has to be. "はい、大丈夫です," I answered. Yes, Japanese is fine.
As the detective examined my I.D. and took notes, he asked me stuff like where I live and where I work. As the shock wore off and began to be replaced by annoyance and indignation, I also began to direct my answers towards the other office who was talking to Brian. "Where do you work? Itami?" my guy asked in Japanese. "I looked at him and said yes, also in Japanese, then looked at his partner and added "But I work at two schools. Brian and I work together at the school near here."
"Ahhh, you two are friends?" one of them asked. We both nodded.
After a few minutes of this, I received my I.D. back and could tell this interview was wrapping up. "Is everything all right?" I asked. "Did something happen?" I wanted to add, "Do we look like criminals to you?" But I held my tongue. After all, this was almost over and we had to get back to work.
"Ah, no. We are police detectives and this area is in our jurisdiction. We are checking the touroku-shoumeisho of foreigners." Then they both smiled and thanked us. We nodded and walked away without saying anything.
Now I don't know if these two guys were just feeling like giving some foreigners a hard time, but I doubt it. They weren't rude. They seemed like they were trying to be nice. They were probably just following orders and maybe had some kind of quota to fill (hence the notes they took). But what an assignment for detectives. Don't they have some crime they could be investigating, rather than stopping well-dressed white guys to make sure they're not illegal aliens? I guess not.
I've been talking (or Facebook messaging) with a friend recently about immigration and role of foreigners in Japan. Basically, if you're a foreigner in Japan, you must always carry either your passport with visa or your Alien Registration Card, which is basically the equivalent of U.S. Green Card, except not for citizens. If you are stopped and fail to produce one of these forms of identification, you may be arrested. But I've never been stopped, I told him. Ironic - that was just last week I said that.
Now I bet a lot of Japanese people would defend this. I can hear it now - "But the officers didn't know that you were here legally. They were just checking. Sometimes there are illegal foreigners in Japan. Japan is an island." And besides, many foreigners commit crimes. They may not say this, but many Japanese probably think it. This is because the Japanese media and politicians often portray foreigners as dangerous or more likely to commit crime. Which is statistically not the case at all, at least not uniformly.
From Wa-Pedia:
If we concentrate on real crimes, we find a completely different ranking though. Iranians, Russians or Philippinos have been arrested for a much higher number of offences [visa-overstaying, speeding, ect] than crimes [theft, rape, murder, etc], for instance. We also see that Brazilians and Japanese were arrested for proportionally more crimes than offences. Here is the real crime rate :
This portrayal of foreigners as more criminal than Japanese surely feeds the system by which Japan is seemingly destined to spiral, crash, and economically burn in a number of decades. Who wants criminals for neighbors? Hence the lack of serious opposition to draconian Japanese immigration policies.
And then there is something else about the Japanese mentality that I find very ironic. As Will Ferguson observed in his recounting of his adventures hitchhiking across Japan, Japanese people are either very arrogant or very self-conscious. They care very much about promoting their country and accomplishments, and what other countries think of them. Just the other day in class, one of the teachers I work with was giving our students a lecture on the shinkansen and how some other countries (like Vietnam) are building their own. He concluded with an encouragement that if any of the students go abroad they should tell everyone about the glorious shinkansen, a wonderful Japanese achievement.
Well let me tell you what - as a JET, it's my job to be a cultural ambassador. I'm supposed to spread my country's culture, and when I eventually return home I am to recount my experiences in Japan. So yes, I will tell people about the amazing restaurants with conveyor-belts of sushi, and the beautiful Japanese hills, and hidden shrines and temples, and about the kindness I experienced in various parts of the country. But I will also tell how I was stopped and asked to explain myself because I was Caucasian. Does it matter that I could have potentially been a naturalized Japanese citizen? Nope.
Sure, this is their country. They can make discriminatory laws and policies if they like. But in doing so, they do not foster international relations and cross-cultural understanding. They make a line, a division between them and us. And it isn't mutual understanding they are promoting, but this division.
時間がかかり過ぎそうだから、全体に訳しないけど、一般的にわめいたんです。でも何点か書くよ。
今日僕とブライアンは警察に近づいて声をかけれたんです。なぜか？ただ白人だからでしょう。外国人登録証明書を見せられて、色んな質問聞かれた。どこに住んでいますか？どこで働いていますか？仕事はなんですか？
警察は失礼か意地悪ではなかった・・・が、まだ不当な処置って気持ちでした。怒って「私たちは犯罪みたいですか？」と聞きたかったんですけどそんなは始まらないな。
日本では、一般的に外国人の方が日本人より罪を犯すってイメージ信じられてると思う。でもそんな証拠がないんですよ。
ALTとして、文化の大使だ。日本には、アメリカの文化を分け合って、アメリカに戻ると、日本にいた間の経験を分け合う。もちろん、いいこと・・・回転寿司、とても美しい丘やお寺とか、色んな人の優しさ・・・でもそして、この経験を分け合うよ。
多分普通な日本人として、これはたいしたことないんですね。ですから、変わらない。
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sumo gets even more Japanese
That headline is putting it in the nicest possible terms. Honestly I got a bit angry reading about this, and I'm not even a fan of sumo.
I'm talking about the Japan Sumo Association's recent decision to limit the amount of foreigners allowed to participate in the sport. "Foreigner" here means foreign-born. So tough luck to those naturalized citizens.
Anyway, here is Debito's coverage of this disgrace and here is the original article.
I especially like his point:
How about having some international sports leagues limit their Japanese players to one — say, Japanese in Major League Baseball teams? Including those Japanese who have naturalized? Oh wait, do I hear calls of racism from the Japanese Peanut Galleries? Yes, the shoe on the other foot would pinch, wouldn’t it? And the sport as a whole would suffer since innate talent (as we have seen by the number of talented sumo rikishi from overseas) is hardly a nativist issue. But try telling that to the racist JSA.
Let's take it one step further and limit MLB teams to one foreigner per team, not just Japanese. Hey - it's an American sport, right? So let's keep it pure. Let the Japanese wannabe-players compete with all the other foreign-born players.
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