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The Telegraph’s Ridiculously Inaccurate “Flyjin” Article

The Telegraph has jumped on the bandwagon of foreign media outlets reporting about the “flyjin,” foreigners who fled Japan in the wake of the March 11th earthquake. The article, by Julian Ryall and Malcolm Moore, appears under the headline “Rebuilding Japan: Special scorn for ‘flyjin’ foreigners who fled country“:

Here is an excerpt of some terribly misleading and inaccurate parts of the article:

As Japan continues to grapple with its nuclear emergency, special scorn has been reserved for the “flyjins”, foreigners who made their living in the country but fled in the wake of the March 11 earthquake.

[...]

In addition, almost all Chinese and Korean residents in Japan have now left the country, despite no advice to do so from their home governments.

The sudden flight has dismayed the Japanese.

The claim that “almost all” of the Chinese and Korean residents in Japan have fled is jaw-droppingly inaccurate.

According to Japanese government statistics, in 2009 there were over 680,000 Chinese citizens and 578,000 Korean citizens residing in Japan. The number of foreigners who left Japan in the weeks immediately following the March 11th earthquake was 531,000. More than half of the departures were tourists, so they would not be included in the resident statistics. Although tens of thousands of Chinese and Koreans left Japan in March and more may have left the country in April, hundreds of thousands of Korean and Chinese citizens remain in Japan.

The article claims that the flight of foreigners has led to “special scorn” and “dismay” among “the Japanese.” What’s the source of this alarming information? One Japanese housewife. While what she says may be true, no attempt is made to actually verify it. If companies in Tokyo are indeed resentful about foreign employees who have left, why not interview somebody who is witnessing it firsthand?

The authors fail to inform readers that “flyjin” is not a Japanese term. It is a “popular” term that was invented by English-speaking expats and foreign reporters. I don’t think that it would be unreasonable to say that anger towards foreigners who left is very like the use of the term “flyjin” – it is something taking place mainly within Japan’s expat community.

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36 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - April 22, 2011 at 12:35 pm

Categories: Foreigners in Japan Tags:

Aceface

Wrong paper,James!

Although I’m still waiting for Justin Maccurry to write “Tsunami washed off Kesennuma fishermen,Sharks got unexpected feast”.

http://www.japanprobe.com James

Duly noted. (Unlike major newspapers, I don’t have a staff of editors available to check my posts for stupid errors)

William

Also: “The authors fail to inform readers that “flyjin” is a Japanese term.” I think there should be a “not” in here.

Sorry for the pedantry but this of course is key to your point at the end.

Excellent find, though, and thanks for posting this.

These two “journalists” seem to be on a roll! They also churned out this masterpiece recently:
http://spikejapan.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/spiked-telegraph/
http://whatjapanthinks.com Ken Y-N

Yup, I saw that this morning – I didn’t read any scorn into what the random housewife said. Indeed, it’s some of the commenters under the story that seem to be filled with scorn and hate for Japan.
Hamachiman

Proof, once again, that no verifiable facts or confirmations are ever needed to sensationalize and demonize the Japanese populace. Hearsay, shoddy investigation, manipulation of facts, any and all of these shady tactics are perfectly acceptable for journalists to engage in when it comes to Japan. ESPECIALLY if such news makes Japan and its people look bad.

And the debito bottom feeders and their japan disliking ilk eat it all up without once questioning the source.

Jay

I don’t see how this article demonizes the people of Japan. It’s complete trash and full of misinformation, but doesn’t particularly make Japanese people look bad. It makes that housewife look kind of stupid, but otherwise serves no real informative purpose. I think you might be a little paranoid.

Hamachiman

Then you need to take a closer look at the article, but more importantly, the comments section with the usual japan haters chiming in about how they understand how all these koreans and chinese left because of racist targeting, blah blah blah.

The article is misleading as pointed out in the original article above. It gives the impression that many more Chinese and Koreans are leaving than what actually appears. How convenient, because that’s what the Japan haters often focus on when they demonize the entire society and culture of Japan, of how it is sooooo hateful against ethnic Koreans and Chinese.

And some of the statements they highlight from Japanese are absolutely designed to spark animosity from outsiders, who will take few quotes and use that to apply to the whole country.

Only Japan, no other country. double standards as always and forever.

flowby

Sorry but I have to agree with jay on this one.

The article is as bland as they come and essentially offers little insight into what’s happening in Japan (it probably wasn’t intended too – you know the readers)

But where does the ARTICLE truly bash Japan??? In fact it gives a slant that foreigners left in a panic, perhaps irrationally so.

The comments section is NOT the responsibility of the article’s author or necessarily supports the paper’s views.

As brain numbing as some of the comments may well be, they are a seperate issue from the article.
Comment

Hamachiman is thoroughly convinced that Japan is unique in that some people dislike it.
nanashi

This is not unique to Japan. To expand even further, hidden agendas tend to result in larger degrees of FUD and what have you not in a wide variety of topics. Simple example, jump onto any financial investment forum for example and you’ll see all sorts of negativity and FUD for almost any stock. Pre-2008, Wall Street hedge funds resorted to all sorts of tactics to further their own financial interests (and still do but to a lesser degree).

But this article doesn’t even demonize Japan. It is just sensationalizing the flyjin thing and erroneously attributing it to Japanese people engaging in it when the reality is that it is a small but irritatingly vocal minority who are stupidly perpetuating this gaijin who stayed versus gaijin who left rift. How much you want to bet the ones perpetuating this derision are also the very ones who give foreigners a bad rap to begin with because in real life, they also exude this downright negative attitude which leads to a less than positive image by others?

ari

Malcolm Moore and Julian Ryall were also the authors of another lie-fest, “Rebuilding Japan: Hitachi’s residents put faith in ‘family’ company”.
They even claim that the city of Toyota has changed its name to “Koromo”??
See Spike Japan’s dissection at http://spikejapan.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/spiked-telegraph/
These two are unworthy of the term “journalist”
takahide

it is ridicurous that DPJ is going to give them Right to foreigners to vote

Greeeeen

Except they never will, so don’t worry your pretty little head about it.

takahide

I m not worry about it at all. thanks dweeb

Greeeeen

You worried about it enough to post a poorly written comment about it on an article having nothing to do with the issue whatsoever. You’re welcome.

Simon

It is amazing how transparent your attempt at trolling has become.

Hamachiman

Here’s some of the nice comments from that trash of “journalism”:

1. I have lived in Tokyo for 11 years and can unequivocally say this story is a complete and utter fabrication.

I do know a number of foreigners who have left temporarily after the quake. But all have returned. I also knew many Japanese who left after the quake. All but one has returned.

As for Koreans and Chinese, all those (bar one Korean) that I know (about 20 people in total) stayed in Tokyo the entire time.

You are just making up stories and facts DT. Even when I returned, I was met with only concern and friendliness by the Japanese people who had stayed – no scorn whatsoever.

2. Always a mystery to me why DT uses parachuted in, or briefly in country journalists to write a story on Japan. You can tell they never stray far from the Press Club, just down the road from Ginza. Plus lacking the background knowledge, language skills, contacts developed over an extended period required to “get into the culture”. Doubt if they can even use public transport.
Which is why reports like this come across as shallow, borderline inaccurate.
And why flip distances into miles and risk error?

3. Since you neither have a concept of Japan or Japanese, you shouldn’t be writing any story about the country or the problems they have been facing.

After 21 years in Japan, 1200 Earthquakes in 2 weeks, food shortages, radiated water, gas shortages and gas lines, as well as the need to maintain normal life, I figured it was time to take a break. No scorn was shown me when I evacuated to get a respite from food / water shortages or from all the shaking.

Of course, I am not gone from Japan for good, only enough time to get rid of the motion sickness. I imagine most of my fellow expatriates are in the same position.

You also conveniently forget that most of the people leaving in the Fukushima area are either farmers or farm related, thus the high concentration of foreigners.

You obviously are asking the same people your questions who subscribe to the Ishihara doctrine that foreigners are the problem in Japan and that are quite comfortable in their Tokyo homes. Give up the racist crap as it is so 1950′s.

4. I am a British citizen 60yrs old and have lived in Japan for over 10 years. I have a Japanese wife and we have two young children. I have worked for over 40yrs in the UK, US and now work for a Japanese company in Yokohama. I can say that of the many companies I have worked in my life it is the best by far. The Japanese staffs treat me as I treat them, with utmost respect. My children are bilingual and attend local Japanese state school. I can assure you that I feel most fortunate to be able to live and work and hopefully eventually retire here in Japan. I have got nothing but the greatest respect for the Japanese people which I consider to be the benchmark for which to judge a civilized society.

I was here and remained here during the Earthquakes and its aftermath. Apart from travel disruption and shortages of some food stuffs during the following few weeks’ life in Tokyo and Yokohama quickly returned to near normality. There is very little evidence of structural damage in Tokyo and Yokohama areas. The destruction televised around the world was in those coastal areas hit by the Tsunami. My company has a resident number of foreigners working for western companies here on temporary assignments. Their companies arranged for them the leave Japan following the major quake but most were quite happy to stay on as they felt the risks from the nuclear plant were negligible. Their company insisted as they were told it was due to insurance liabilities, nearly all are now happy to be back.

I my Japanese and western family and friends were amused when we first heard the term Flygin! We also found this DT article amusing but for the fact that it did not faintly match to our experiences here. Speaking as a staff member in a Japanese company that employs some 3000+ people, on no occasion has anyone of us heard any derogatory remarks towards those who decided to leave due to the events here. At all times they were offered support, understanding and concern for their wellbeing. That maybe because the Japanese seam to consider us to be compassionate, intelligent professionals, these traits appear to be sadly lacking from some of those commenting on this article.

MF

I’m in China, and my students were talking about this a bit. Everybody they know who came back from Japan didn’t do it because they thought they were in danger — in fact, they were sure they were perfectly safe. They did it because they were under a ton of pressure ill-informed parents. Chinese kids tend to fold when moms, especially, put pressure on them.

This ridiculousness is global, though — I’m in Shanghai, and one German guy in my Chinese class went back home because his mother freaked out and sent him a plane ticket. She believed that everybody in China was going to get irradiated and die because of the Fukushima power plant.

Cara

Frankly, isn’t this old news by now? Almost all of the foreigners I personally who left are back. The Japanese who I know left are also back. Let’s move on.
Aceface

Anyone recognize they misspelled the bartender’s name? “Hidetugo”?

Also from Ryall.
“Japan is notoriously lacking in the natural resources required to power its industrial sector and is actively looking to develop new forms of energy or alternative sources of the raw materials that it requires. Further exploration will need to identify the sites with highest concentrations of uranium, which are likely to become the initial sites for human habitation on the Moon. ”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/5711129/Uranium-could-be-mined-on-the-Moon.html

I came across Ryall leaving a post over at Okinawan Independence Party’s comment section asking everyone for “more radical opinion about Okinawan Indepndence”back in governor election in 2006.
S barber

The Telegraph is notorious for ill-informed and sometimes prejudiced coverage of Japan. When my Japanese wife worked for the newspaper in Tokyo, her senior, Robert Whymant, regularly wrote stories about Emperor-worship and Japan’s military past as the old Emperor Hirohitowas dying.

This story is a miserable piece of journalism, but that when I visited Tokyo a week after e quake, I found the selfish panic of hoards of well-paid foreigners who fled Japan contemptible. And I can tell you, the great majority left. I did not see a single gaijin in the first 24 hours after arriving Besides, Tokyo was no more dangerous or unpleasant a city to live in than it was before the quake.

The Japanese will take a long time to forget who stayed and who left at the time – and will remember who came to visit at a time when irrational fear caused many to cancel visits quite unnecessarily.

So, poor journalism, but the yes, ‘flyjin’ is a fitting epithet.

Stephen Barber

Wendell Maas

The reason for your not seeing many foreigners around a week after the quake/tsunami maybe results from the power cuts and transport situation at the time. Certainly, I didn’t want to get too far from home in those days, so limited my commutes and worked at home as much as possible. There were lots of us still here, but maybe we stayed inside a bit more than usual.

yankdownunder

“almost all Chinese and Korean residents in Japan have now left the country, despite no advice to do so from their home governments.”

Can anyone guess why they wrote this? There can be no source since it isn’t true.
Did he get this info from the bartender?
Day-Bee-Toe

I have a feeling that some NJs (read: white men) in Japan are living in a parallel world….
In the real world, “fly-jin” (Japanese would pronounce it fuRAijin) doesn’t sound similar with “gaijin” (gaIJIN) at all and many Japanese are disappointed to see their country suddenly became unpopular. In their wonderland, all the Japanese hate “gaijin”s and want them to leave here and at the same time they also hate “fly-jin”s, who chose to leave here (Sounds very complicated. Phew!).

Level3

It does seem hypocritical, simultaneously doing their best to make up bullshit stories about “oppression” to dissuade more gaijin from coming to Japan, and then hating flyjin for leaving Japan. Gaijin should neither come to Japan, nor leave, apparently.

But these are mostly eikaiwa lifers with no future. It’s not actually hypocrisy to them.
They see other unskilled eikaiwa lifers as competition for the shrinking number of uni jobs, and thus the debito et al. “Don’t come to Japan (and steal my job)” propaganda machine keeps running and catering directly to the targeted market.

They see the flyjin as the rich corporate executives. And these sad people hate anyone rich or successful (especially because they are rich enough to enjoy Japan to the fullest, like in the movies) But since these execs are not eikaiwa lifers aiming to take their part-time, overpaid university eikaiwa jobs, they are not competition, and they do not need to be dissuaded from coming to Japan. Envy of the rich takes priority over the “Don’t come to Japan” propaganda for them. It becomes “Don’t leave Japan, flyjin!”

And then there’s there whole “fight” against “racism”, half of which consists of racist rants against Japanese people.

It must be hard to keep track of so many double standards.

flowby

What?

Joe

Are you seriously trying to suggest that “fly” and “gai” don’t sound the same? They rhyme, for f’s sake!

Guest 23

They don’t in Japanese. ga-i and fu-ra-i have differing syllables. Anyway, Japanese have no concept of rhymng because with only 5 vowels, it is too easy. Flyjin is 100% foreign.

http://spikejapan.wordpress.com/ Pachiguy

Spike Japan here. I’ve just done another dissection of a different article by our all-conquering Telegraph hacks:

http://spikejapan.wordpress.com/

Enjoy!
S barber

Day-Bee-Toe is confused. There are no stresses in Japanese. But if you translitelrate ‘fly-jin’ into Japanese syllabary, you get ‘fu-rai-jin’,’ which has three syllables, rather than the two of ‘gai-jin’. But if the Japanese were to say ‘furaijin’ they would elide the first two syllables and say ‘fraijin’ – much closer to ‘gaijin’. Actually, the R would be pronounced somewhere between an R and an L, so even closer to ‘gaijin’. Still, I suspect the word is a gaijin invention.

LOD

From “Flyjin.com” (There’s already one!) –

Flyjin: A foreigner or expat in Japan (gaijin) who heads for Narita (or Kansai) at the first sign of a nuclear holocaust. Not a Japanese word and not familiar to or used by Japanese, flyjin was coined by English-speaking Twitter users.

It must be so, as to Japanese speakers, furai almost always means fried dish. “Furaijin” would mean a man in a kigurumi of fried oyster or something.

Looking at Debito, he also found (?) alternatives like “Bye-jin” and “Die-jin”. All three of them are combined words of English and “-jin” to rhyme with “gaijin” – sound quite unnatural to my Japanese ears, to say the least.
ponta

“But if the Japanese were to say ‘furaijin’ they would elide the first two syllables and say ‘fraijin’ – much closer to ‘gaijin’. ”

と感じられるのは外人さんだけで、日本人からすると、どうやったら、「フライジン」と「ガイジン」が近似しているのか、見当もつかないでしょうね。「ふら」と「が」はまるで違う。
。
「フライパン」を「ガイパン」に聞き間違えるひとはまずない。

外国人の方が、”flyjin”　と発音したのを聞いたことがないですか、もしかすると、「雷神」と聞き間違えるひとはいるかもしれない。

まず、発想からして、日本から脱出する人から、あるいは、逃げる、ということから、fly　ということを思い浮かばない。

逆に、Flyjin といわれて、英語から、その意味をとるのも難しい。フライ・・・野球のボールのフライ？天ぷらフライ？
飛ぶ人、揚がった人？なんだか、たぶんわからない、と思います。
http://tepido.org LB

There are no stresses in Japanese.

Wrong.

If there were no stresses, or accented syllables, 橋 would be pronounced exactly the same as 箸, and it isn’t. Ask any Japanese.
Day-Bee-Toe

Day-Bee-Toe is confused. There are no stresses in Japanese.

It is correct that there are no stresses in Japanese, but there are pitch accents instead. What I indicated with capitals was higher pitch and with lower cases lower pitch.

But if the Japanese were to say ‘furaijin’ they would elide the first two syllables and say ‘fraijin’ – much closer to ‘gaijin’.

Actually, vowels “i” and “u” are often omitted in standard Japanese (not so in many West-Japan dialects like Kansai-ben). However, in Japanese, one mora is still perceived as one mora, especially there is a pitch change between devoiced vowels as in this case. As a result, most Japanese don’t even realize the existence of phenomenon devoicing. In fact, I didn’t know it until I happened to read an introductory textbook of Japanese phonology when I was 25 years old.

ちなみに私は日本生まれの日本人ですので、混乱していると言われても困るのですが……。私の下手な英語を見ればそのことはおわかりいただけると思ったのですが、勘違いだったでしょうか。
いずれにせよ、私の感覚では「ガイジン」と「フライジン」は全く似ていません。これは普通の日本人に聞けば誰でも同じことを言うと思いますよ。実際、「ガイジン」と「社会人」や「渡来人」を引っかけたダジャレなんて聞いたことないでしょう？抑揚がいかに大事かということですよ。

Cleo

Isn’t the foreign press merely responding to Japanese domestic news focusing on foreigners “fleeing” due to “irrational” misgivings about the safety situation. Wouldn’t a native New Yorker feel the same unease if this was the situation in New York? Would a New Yorker care if foreigners were leaving in a racial profiling way if tourist traffic was low as it was because of 9-11? The nature of the Japanese coverage is nasty about foreigners as if foreigners while not welcome “owe” Japan tourist dollars. Nobody owes Japan anything.

http://tepido.org/ LB

Hmmmm… Seeing as I watch nothing but Japanese TV, and have yet to see anything like you say is going on, there are two distinct possibilities at work here, Cleo:

1. You are watching the news, and hear “blah blah blah GAIKOKUJIN blah blah blah”, and being unable to understand 90% of the words used you have latched onto “gaikokujin” and let your fevered imagination fill in the rest.

2. You live in an alternate universe and actually reside in a “Mirror Japan”, but yet are somehow able to get internet access to our world.

The Telegraph’s Ridiculously Inaccurate “Flyjin” Article

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