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A Somewhat Personal & Very Non-objective View of Life In Japan
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ISSUE: June/July 2002 |
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Don't forget to check out the Gaijin's |
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This Month's Topics:
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Of course, the big news of early June was the World Cup, held for the first time in Asia & co-hosted by two countries for the first time. The idea of so many foreign supporters flooding into Japan to rape & pillage seems to filled a lot of Japan's more stupid citizens but lets be fair. The only example of true hooliganism seen on TV so far was the kicking in of a glass door -- by a JAPANESE fan who couldn't get a ticket because of the bizarre ticket retailing system. (He later shoved an official through the door & was duly arrested.) Now I know our beloved Tokyo Governor Ishihara must be sorely disappointed that he couldn't send the 'Self Defence Force' onto the streets of Tokyo to fight off the barbarian hordes, but what if the government built extra jail cells to deal with the rocketing crime wave my fellow foreigners were supposed to cause? (They actually did hire a special ferry to transport English hooligans off Hokkaido, a ferry they later had to cancel!) A lot of the taxes they use so blithely on everything except solving Japan's problems are paid by foreigners, & it does get a bit tiring being so regularly reminded that we are the cause of AIDS, famine, crime. bad weather & Japan's failing economy. Anyway, let's see how the World Cup goes. I was genuinely pleased to see Japan get through to the 2nd round & I wish them well, especially as a bad performance now could spell the end of football here. Now 'J League' might be a bit of a joke, but it's better than nothing!
Now I don't want to stretch your credulity too much, but the London-based human rights group Amnesty International claims that Japan violates foreigners' human rights. Surely not! What makes this especially hard to believe is that they are referring to that bastion of logic & justice, the Immigration Department. In a report with the hard-to-swallow title 'Japan: Not all foreigners are welcome,' Amnesty said each year thousands of foreign nationals travelling to Japan, particularly those from developing countries, are subject to interrogation, detention & deportation. Some are denied the right to seek asylum, while others are simply denied entry even though they have valid travel documents. Amnesty cites reports of foreign detainees being held in windowless cells, "sometimes for weeks without exercise," & denied access to legal advice & medical treatment. The report also cited instances of foreign nationals being beaten by private security officers in charge of facilities for foreigners detained at Japanese airports. Now I was as shocked as any other foreign resident when I read this, as it leaves me totally confused. Next thing they'll be saying is that some Japanese officials are racist . . .
Here's a message for all you folk who still think Tokyo is crime free -- it isn't! Pretty damn safe, yes, but crime free, no. Japan has never been slow to emulate the West & so it is with crime. Thought 'Road Rage' was purely a Western thing? Think again! Just a couple of weeks ago, down near Osaka, a citizen by the name of Miura is alleged to have beaten a newspaper delivery man to death with a child seat from his own car. The accused, an office worker, claimed that the poor deliveryman had been staring at him. Talk about evil gaijin ways! However, never fear that Japan's boys in blue are not reacting to all this delinquency. For quite a while now, Tokyo's euphemistically named 'entertainment zone' of Kabukicho, in Shinjuku, has had 50 surveillance cameras watching the folks go by. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police insisted they were necessary to curb that area's burgeoning crime, although I can't help thinking that if Tokyo's finest stopped doing paperwork in their 'Koban' (= mini police station) & actually patrolled, that would be an even bigger help. However, Kabukicho isn't the only area to feel the grip of 'Big Brother.' A local newspaper has reported the MPD is setting up 'super crime prevention lampposts' in Edogawa, Setagaya, Suginami & Sumida wards. The new 'crime fighting' tools have 'Emergency Communication Device' written on them in Japanese, & also have a red 'panic button', which allows 2-way voice communication round the clock. Now disagreement is sadly rare here but not everyone agrees with the new lampposts. As one local journalist observed, 'The only way that will work is if there's a cop in front of a monitor who's ready to dash to the rescue the moment he spots a crime. The cameras are just a substitute for their own neglect, & are a waste of tax money.' When one remembers how rarely the Cops fail to obtain a conviction, & recall that 'prisoners rights' is a quaint foreign idea, being watched by the boys in blue might not be as reassuring as it may at first seem!
Isn't technology wonderful? You may have heard that Sony recently marketed a 'copy-proof' CD, to try & cut down on piracy. However, with the kind of adaptability that brought us down from the trees many millennia ago, British technology buffs have beaten the elaborate disc copy-protection technology with a rather low-tech felt-tip marker! The new technology was designed to stop consumers (who are naturally guilty until proven innocent) copying music onto recordable CDs or computer hard drives. The British news agency Reuters decided to test both the technology & the way round it. They bought an ordinary CD which came with Sony's 'Key2Audio' technology. At first, they were unable to play it on a PC but after blacking out the edge of the shiny side of the disc with a felt tip marker, they were able to play it as normal! Later Internet postings claimed that tape or even a sticky note can also be used to cover the security track, typically located on the outer rim of the disc. But will the record companies retaliate? As one newsgroup posting said, 'Maybe they'll ban markers.' Oh, & thanks to this new anti-copying technology, consumers may also have trouble playing CDs on some portable devices & even some car stereo systems, both infamous for their use by CD pirates. Maybe the record companies want us all to come in & listen at their offices!
Talking of reproduction, it seems that we foreigners might not be such an irrelevant minority here for too much longer! According to a recent, rather alarmist report, the Health Minister Chikara Sakaguchi seems to believe that the Japanese face extinction due to their low birth-rate. At last, a reason for the empty seat beside the gaijin! It seems that Japan's population of 127 million might start shrinking as early as 2007. What's more, that well known hairdresser's model, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, told his ministers to encourage folk to have more children by improving welfare services & making it 'easier' (possible) to work while raising children. The actual statistics show that the number of Japanese under 15 years of age has dropped for 21 consecutive years & now stands at only 14.3% of the total. Now if you thought that news was scary, wait till you read this. The United Nations reported just 2 years ago that due to its 'greying' so quickly, Japan will need to import around 600,000 workers annually until 2050 to keep its working population stable. If they do that (which doesn't seem too likely), then nearly 30% of the population would be of foreign descent! I reckon that'll lead to a few frowns down at Immigration, although smiles are never exactly common over there, anyway!
Say That Again . . .
From the honest lips of one Taku Yamazaki, who just happens to be Secretary General of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. He was visiting his lover, but what he told his driver was:
'An important supporter lives here. I'm going to say hello.'
Mind you, I suppose it all depends on how you define 'support.' (nudge-nudge, wink-wink)
As the more clued-up residents of Tokyo will know, there is a copy of the Statue of Liberty situated by the beach on Odaiba Island -- the same size as the French one, not the one in NYC. However, the fact that you cannot see 'Send me your poor, your sick, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,' is no accidental omission. To begin with, no-one can apply for political asylum here as Japan doesn't have such a thing. Secondly, the numbers speak for themselves; between 1982 & last year, a total of 2,532 people applied for refugee status here, of whom only 284 were allowed to stay. That's means around 89% of those who try to come here end up being pushed away. Maybe that's why the consular staff were so unworried by the Chinese Police dragging refugees away from their compound -- they knew the North Koreans wouldn't get in anyway! (No North Koreans have been granted refugee status here.)
Now like one or two other gaijin here, I do a spot of English teaching now & then, & my students often complain that it's difficult to practice their listening skills. This is not helped by the policy of so many local TV stations to dub. Not long ago, most foreign films were shown with subtitles or were bi-lingual, meaning you could choose which language you heard provided you had stereo. However, more & more local channels are now giving that up & just dubbing everything into Japanese. Give them credit, NHK (Japan's BBC) does not but many commercial stations (especially TV Tokyo, channel 12) are doing so more & more. Now this may seem a trivial complaint & I suppose it is when one considers films. However, when a local cable company decides to dub the British TV series 'World at War,' one can't help wondering why they don't want the original English commentary heard. A series about World War Two? Maybe it isn't too difficult to speculate on why they might hide the commentary. . .
Update on China's contempt for diplomatic missions. As you may have read, Chinese police recently broke into the South Korean Embassy in Beijing to drag out some 'highly dangerous' North Korean refugees, injuring two South Korean diplomats & a journalist in the process. One pleasing thing is the way South Korea reacted (compared with Tokyo), resisting the Chinese Police & then calling Beijing's ambassador in for a good rollicking. However, China still knows that all this is just talk & that even if it invaded an embassy with troops, nothing serious would really result. Now don't get me wrong. I have good & dear Chinese friends, but how long is it going to take before someone stands up to the Beijing dictatorship? America embargos Cuba because it is a repressive dictatorship. Pardon me, Mr President, but take a look at China. If World War Three ever happens, it won't start in Havana but the 'Central Kingdom', that's another story!
'As you may have to remove your
shoes quite often in Japan, be sure to have socks or stockings that are in good
condition. Protruding toes can be hard to hide!'
(Taken from the 'Gaijin's
Guide to Living in Japan')
&
'Want to read the news from abroad
for free? Then visit the NATIONAL DIET LIBRARY, Japan's largest reference
library with over 850 newspapers from all over the world (including archives)
plus many thousands of books. Open 9.30-17.00, closed Sundays. Nearest Subway is
Nagatacho . For more information, call 3581-2331.'
(Taken from the 'Gaijin's
Guide to Enjoying Tokyo')
Miss last month's 'Empty Seat'? Not to worry. You can check out the Gaijin's previous ramblings as easily as clicking below.
Oh well, back to the day job! If you've nothing better to do, why not pop in again around the middle of July for the next enthralling tirade from your very own 'Tokyo correspondent'? Only if you're in the neighbourhood, mind. Whatever happens, take care of yourself, dear reader, & may the gods smile on you now & then.
The Gaijin
| * | Regular travellers
on Japan's buses & trains know that the seat next to a foreigner
will usually remain empty, even during the rush hours. This can rankle at first but should really be seen as a relief in a place where space is hard to find. |
