Debito is Establishing a Permanent Residents Organization

Just thought people may like the heads up that Arudou Debito, known for championing foreigners rights, is speculatively organizing an association of permanent residents and nationalized citizens in Japan. People who have lived here long enough (about 5 years) to get over their guestism, and that want to band together to make their voices heard by an indifferent government.

I agree the time is nigh. And I am very supportive of the founding of such an organization. We are talking as far as establishing a dues-paying registered NGO/NPO to that end, with the ability to lobby and lend support to other groups to pursue the interests of Japan’s international residents.

If you are interested, this entry on his blog exists to gage community thoughts and display some tentative mission statements.

Personally I think it’s about time somebody got things organized. The level of ignorance and mistreatment given everyday in the personal, professional, and legal settings of this country is a baffling farce that is unthinkable in much of the modern world.

36 comments - What do you think? Posted by Claytonian - November 29, 2007 at 12:19 pm

Categories: Foreigners in Japan Tags: Foreigners in Japan, racism

The Overthinker

Most westerners in Japan are short term JET-style “visitors”, and the number with PR or here for the long haul is limited. Any organization might do well to connect with Mindan and get their political power as well. Without that I seriously doubt it would ever have much clout. Oh, and getting Japanese on board is also important to prevent claims of divisiveness.
sireB

The question is with Debito’s creditability. The guy wants to the Jesse Jackson on gaijin? Good luck homie, the only way to make it work is prove to politicians he has something worthwhile to offer (actually, I guess that’s how it works with all soapbox speakers).

What that proof is, I have no idea; I have no clue what voting laws are like in Japan.
- Claytonian
  
  I don’t think Debito is petitioning to be anybody’s leader at the moment.
  - sireB
    
    I am not asking is he is trying to be an elected leader. However, obviously he is going to want some control over an organization he has a hand in starting.
    
    When I say ‘political power,’ think more like, ‘Union Leader’
ponta

It surely is about time for foreign residences to set up an organization for themselves;it will help educate Japanese people.
Will Debito-san be involved in this?
Gimme a break.
Recall many of you were offended by gaijin secret crime file(gaijin ura file) and by the convenience stores selling it and you didn’t want to associate with the publisher and the convenience stores. Japanese will be just like that. Japanese will want to dissociate with the group that is putting up Japanese secret crime file like this even after having been condemned. That just pisses me off.
I recommend overthinker and James if you insist on choosing the organizers from Japan Probe. There are many other good bloggers and commenters on the blogsphere to be cut our for that, though.
- http://www.japanprobe.com James
  
  It wouldn’t be proper to pick Debito as leader for such an organization. Some people might like him, others might hate him, but nobody can deny that he is not a permanent resident. He’s Japanese. If it’s an organization of permanent residents, it only makes sense to have the leader be one.
  - http://www.japanprobe.com James
    
    Update: Looking at his post, I guess he included “Naturalized citizens” as part of the organization, so I guess he could be leader of such a group. However, I’m not sure mixing the two would be the best idea for a group, especially since all the points on the list of goals have to do with foreign residents, rather than citizens.
http://linkdeleted Gaijin

[This comment has been deleted by the admin: There are several posts about the fingerprinting issue, and this is not one of them. Please take your discussion to that thread. Thanks.]
Isa

Joining the Debito organization is risky.
Because Debito is seen as a public enemy by many citizens now.
Connecting with Mindan is even more risky.
Mindan members have involved the abduction also.
- Claytonian
  
  Enemy? Quite the extreme thing to be called. Who are these many people? What is the risk involved? It all sounds a little melodramatic.
  - Isa
    
    At least among Japanese netizens.
    Debito sued Hiroyuki who is one of most popular icon in Japanese internet society.
    I only see negative feedback about Debito everytime he does something since then.
http://whatjapanthinks.com Ken Y-N

The one problem I see (well, I see lots of problems…) is that is it going to be English-only/mainly, and if so, it’s going to be mostly first-worlders (for want of a better word) in professional (including English teaching) employment, who have a rather different Japan experience from S-E Asians or S-Americans.
- Claytonian
  
  Good point. Also the call is coming from his blog, so mostly just English speakers are going to notice it. Hope you take that concern to them!
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=38666&dcn=todaysnews Gaijin

I think that Debito want to use this situation to become a candidate for the next Parlament Election.

We have to remember that he has a japanese nationality,

that’s all!

I hope the webmaster don’t delete my post again!
Gusuke

Hell will freeze over before I let Debito represent me. It really begs the question why he became a citizen of a country who’s government and people he seems to despise.
- Claytonian
  
  I don’t think he hates the people at all; he married one. Do you think people in the ACLU hate other Americans because they stand up for human rights?
  As for the government, well the Japanese government is not exactly ideal in anybody’s eyes, save the foolish.
  - The Overthinker
    
    “…he married one”
    
    From whom he is now divorced in a rather acrimonious divorce. His site has complete details on that and his separation from his children.
    
    I don’t think Debito’s dislike of parts of Japan are reason to reject him – after all, his site is all about protesting, and thus has little about what he likes about the place. I have no idea what that might be, of course.
    - shazzb0t
      
      I just read his treatise on divorce in Japan. And I thought it was bad in the U.S. :-/
- Ryan
  
  Well, I certainly think it would be foolish to have someone who doesn’t really represent you represent you, too. However, it wasn’t Debito who came up with the idea, but a commenter on his blog. Debito’s blog just happens to be a place where news like this would be ideally centered.
  
  Plus, it sounds like it’d be a wide array of people who’d be doing some actual leading over there. Not just him.
  - ponta
    
    I hope the organizers will reject and disapprove the xenophobic, hate-generating site such as Debito-san associates with and tacitly approves of.
    - Ryan
      
      I’m not sure why you’d post that as a reply to myself, but I’m pretty sure that one website that Debito may or may not support and foreigners mobilizing a means from which to speak are two issues that are not at all related, but thanks for sharing.
    - ponta
      
      Well I posted it in the wish that the organizer was reading it and your comment seemed to about the organizers.
      In my opinion, it is clear Debito-san tacitly apporves the hate-site by allowing the hate-expression like gaijin ura file as an appropriate measures to express the anger. If the organizers also keep turning blind eyes on this issue and get Debito-san involved, well, that is okay. That will tell something about the nature of the organization.
      In passing, I think the organization like this is needed. There is probably xenophobia in Japan. I don’t know, I don’t meet foreign people so often,much less talk to them. And average Japanese
      are like that. That is why education at school and outside school is needed. But note also that there are always Japanese who are willing to help gaijin. Without it, any project will be doomed.
      My wish is that this organization will not work in a such a way that it will antagonize the Japanese in general. Not that it should not criticize Japanese society;far from it, it should, but the ill tactic just end up with isolation like Soren.
erika88

Meh, Japanophiles. -_-
Foreigners’ rights in Japan is important, but the people who are most suffering seem to be other Asians living in Japan. I wonder how many white people have Japanese citizenship…
http://myso-calledjapaneselife.blogspot.com/ Shari

It’s interesting how many people see this as a move by Debito to do something which will benefit him by making him a “leader”. Personally, I think being in such a position will be filled with grief and hard work. While it will open up the door to a leadership position, it’s one that is going to be fraught with frustration.

Also, someone mentioned that there are other good bloggers out there who could do this sort of thing for the foreign community but it’s not about who is capable or qualified, but about someone who is willing to put the tremendous time and energy into this as it will require. Everyone is great at posting comments from behind their keyboards but very few are going out there and really doing something. Armchair leadership and quarterbacking are all well and good for nitpicking and offering your opinion on web sites, but this is the sort of thing which requires an “active” activist and Debito is definitely that sort of person.

If someone had the fortitude to do this, they’d already be doing it. Obviously, no one else does, but many are more than willing to criticize and point out the short-comings of one of the few people who is putting himself out there. This is a hard thing, especially in Japan. If you think Debito isn’t the man, then that’s all well and good, but I don’t see anyone else out there doing anything.
- ponta
  
  I agree with everything you said except “Debito is definitely that sort of person.”
  Do you support the person who employs the tactics he himself condemn vehemently? Do you support the person who are against xenophobia in Japan but who tacitly support xenophobia from a a foreigner as an expression of the anger just because there are no other candidates?
  If there are no leader other than Debito-san, I would recommend people criticize him on this point, and yet they can support him as a leader.
Ask the French

“The level of ignorance and mistreatment given everyday in the personal, professional, and legal settings of this country is a baffling farce that is unthinkable in much of the modern world.”

Really? Honestly? Are you saying that because you live in SOMEONE ELSE’s COUNTRY and are being mistreated because it’s NOT YOUR COUNTRY?

Let’s ask the Parisians how it works in France.

Come on man – let’s not generalize, and let’s not make light of the situation by saying nonsensical things. Really – you want to stir up this shit storm now, do you? Why don’t you tell the whole world where you live – and then we’ll know how serious you are. Otherwise we’ll just call you chicken for hiding behind some sort of organized curtain like the rest of the well-spoken but misrepresented of the WWW.

Ever been to Germany? Ask the 2 Million Turks how they feel in Germany.

Or how about the Indians in England?

Lest we ask any African person (not Arab-African of North Africa, but more from the rest of the “Black” African areas) trying to live in Italy or Spain. Ever heard of the Basques? They’re so completely unfriendly to foreigners. In fact, they’re still trying to Separate itself from Spain.

What about Zimbabwe and South Africa?

Oh yeah what about China? Ever heard of all their different languages and distinct cultures that cover THAT large country? Not to piss of the Japanese, but the Manchus are a dying race over there too. Why not go save their language and culture instead?

I could go on and on. For example – you don’t really hear about the people of German descent in the USA, do you? Did you know that most of the US is of German descent? Yet its own people don’t even know that, because of the Anglicization of America – that’s why most people think they’re English! Or Irish, for that matter. The Americans look up to and reflect itself to the British Monarchy, and hold that Throne in wonder, when the English are the ones the Americans defeated to gain its independence! DUH!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.jpg

As a lot of people have said, if you don’t like it, LEAVE. There’s a whole big planet out there, we’re sure you’ll find a more comfortable spot for yourself. Unless, that is, you WANT to STIR trouble and go to war with what you have to say.
- The Overthinker
  
  The German nature of the US is no secret. Early in its history, German was seriously considered as an official language of the country. However the place was started by British colonies, hence the “Anglicization”. And that map you linked to surely shows that most people do NOT think of themselves as English, since they gave their ancestry as German.
  
  The “If you don’t like it leave” idea is naive though. Find me a perfect country, with nothing to complain about, and I’m on the next plane. But no such thing. Presumably the people in Japan have already made that choice, from family, economic, educational, or cultural reasons. If you don’t like the country, then leaving is fine (and many do). But to demand that anyone who doesn’t like all laws and regulations of a country leave it is pointless.
  - The Overthinker
    
    Actually, the predominance of Germans may not be entirely accurate. There seems to have been a massive drop in “English” ancestry between the 1980 census and the 2000 cennsus. “In the 2000 Census, 24.5 million Americans reported English ancestry, 8.7% of the total U.S. population. This estimate may be a serious undercount by 30 million given the fact in the 1980 census 50 million claimed to be of English ancestry.”
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_American)
    
    Also the 7% “American” is thought to be largely British in origin.
- Claytonian
  
  Lets see if I got this right, ask the French:
  
  You seem to think that the rest of the world’s track record on foreigners rights is rather poor, and that I therefore have no right to complain. In fact, I feel that this is faulty logic. While the majority of the industrialized world seems to be striving to make up these disparities, Japan seems to be sitting on its proverbial tucks. And an advocacy group may be the stimulation it needs. Your rant was off-base, ill-advised, and full of irrelevant information and assumptions about what I was saying.
  Overthiker pointed out the flaws of your “like it or leave it” statement, so I don’t need to add to that.
- Ryan
  
  Not only that, it IS his country. He worked hard for that Japanese citizenship. Plus, just because he’s not Japanese in ethnicity doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the right to criticize the place where he lives. That’s what all reasonable people in a democratic country do.
  - ponta
    
    He has every right to criticize Japan. What he shouldn’t do is to use the tactics that he himself vehemently criticizes.
    And what the democratic organization should do is to freely express one’s opinion against the wrongs the would-be leader has done, is doing. In a democratic organization, a leader can be a leader while being criticized by its members;being self-corrective through the open criticism is the strength of the democracy. In this sense this organization can do much better, more sophisticated job than Debito-san does alone.
    I was against gaijin ura file and I expressed it, and I am encouraged by some gaikokujin who expressed the opposition to the tactics Debito-san has taken. At the same time I am disappointed a bit at the fact not as many gaiokujin are explicitly opposed to it as gaikokujin who opposed the convenience stores selling gaijin ura file.
    How can you expect Japanese to do what you yourself don’t do:to express the opposition to the xenophobic measures?
    Or is the organization going to be the one that tries to gain gaikokujin’s power by hurting the Japanese and gaikokujin, each other?
sireB

No matter who is right or wrong in this thread, the Japanese are the only Asian culture to have resisted foreign imperialism. And while everything after 1945 is debatable, they were still able to keep their right-wing, so of course they are going to maintain a homogenous culture of racial isolation.

This idea that Japan IS his country is just not going to fly. The American perception of nationalism via immigration does not apply here. He’s just an old weeaboo, plain and simple.
- Claytonian
  
  I imagine dispelling such a mindset is on of the organization’s goals.
http://bonesworld-gooch.blogspot.com/ Bones

“Arudou Debito, known for championing foreigners rights”
And being abusive of his “fellow” Japanese, and even his own children (that Onsen thing).

“The level of ignorance and mistreatment given everyday in the personal, professional, and legal settings of this country is a baffling farce that is unthinkable in much of the modern world.”
Where exactly is it people like you and Debito live that you are constantly being “mistreated” by the Japanese? You might want to think about moving – I have been here about 15 years and only felt “mistreated” twice. Both times by drunk ojisans, and I have to stretch on the second incident to consider “Does your girlfriend like your big penis?” to be “mistreatment”.

Oh yeah – and what everyone else already said about Debito. Merely having his name bandied about in association with a group automatically destroys its credibility in my book.
Bruce Smith

Debito is a loser and a disgrace. He represents only himself.
Charles Jannuzi

Debito Aurbaito is a shameless self-promoter. You want representation? Learn Japanese and join your local communist party and also a union! If the union won’t take you, join the General Union or Education Workers Consolidated in Osaka.

Debito is Establishing a Permanent Residents Organization

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