Discrimination

Century 21 Post-Earthquake Commercial

Century 21 has a new commercial airing on Japanese TV, in which real estate agents from around the world send messages of support to Japan:

It’s a very nice commercial. However, before people out there accuse me of providing Century 21 with free advertising, I feel I should bring up the fact that they don’t exactly have a great reputation for treating foreign customers with respect.

Here’s what one Japan Probe reader (sublight) had to say about them:

Century 21, however, gets special mention for their two-hour “we don’t want to help you, but we don’t want to say we don’t want to help you, so we’re going to be as unhelpful as possible until you leave” dance. They were friendly enough when my Japanese wife had called the day before to ask if an apartment was available to see, but the moment they saw me, the smiles dropped (this was at the Ikejiri-Ohashi branch in Tokyo). Suddenly, there was a ‘problem’ with the apartment and they couldn’t show it just yet. While we waited (for over an hour), they didn’t give us any other listings to look at, and instead spent all their time with other couples.

After realizing we weren’t leaving (it had taken us an hour to get there, and we had all day), one agent said, “well, we can show the place, but we can’t go inside.” I said “fine, we’ll look at the outside.” “But it’s raining and we can’t use the office car.” “That’s fine, I have an umbrella. You’ll walk there with us.” So we walked over and stood in the pouring rain staring at the outside wall for about 15 minutes before heading back. When we got back to the realtor’s office, he positioned himself in the doorway and quickly said “well, sorry we couldn’t help you thanks for coming goodbye.”

[this was in 2000 and I'd been living in Japan for 5 years by then, so my Japanese was fairly solid. Also, I wasn't going with a friend but the person who'd be living in the apartment with me and paying half the rent.

As for a guarantor, I was working full-time with NEC as a project coordinator then, and they were guaranteeing me.]

Another foreign resident of Japan (Eric) was treated a bit worse:

The only problem I ever had with renting an apartment was with Century 21. Went inside, and they immediately crossed their arms and gave me the “batsu”. Wow…. such friendly folks.

If anyone else out there has had a particularly positive or negative experience with Century 21 in Japan, please let us know in the comments thread of this post!

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City Apologizes After Fukushima Evacuees Face Discrimination

The government of Tsukuba City in Ibaraki prefecture has apologized after it faced strong criticism for a “discriminatory” policy that asked evacuees from Fukushima to undergo radiation checks or provide certificates that they were free of radioactive substances:

This week Tsukuba officials including Mayor Kenichi Ichihara apologized for the measure, scrapped last week, saying it was intended solely as a safety precaution for the evacuees themselves. But a government minister described such steps as “heartless,” the issue of possible discrimination against victims of radiation carrying stark echoes of what happened for survivors of World War II’s atomic bombings, known as “hibakusha.”

Between March 17 and April 11, Tsukuba, population 200,000, city insurance and fire offices asked those relocating from towns close to the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to submit proof that they had been screened for potential radioactive substances clinging to their hair, clothes and body before given clearance to permanently move to Tsukuba. The measure was scrapped after Ibaraki Prefecture said it received complaints from a displaced survivor looking to move to the area.

“We feel very sorry,” said Koichi Iida, a city official. “We did not mean it as an act of discrimination.” Tsukuba Mayor Ichihara said the intention was misunderstood and apologized for the confusion at a news conference Tuesday. He said it was never an enforced rule and was applied out of consideration for the well being of the Fukushima evacuees to ensure they were safely free of radioactive substances. But he conceded it was also a means to assuage concerns among residents who worried unchecked residents could infect others with radiation — although such transfer is not possible.

The radiation checks may have been instituted to ensure the safety of evacuees, but such a policy could also reinforce public misconceptions about evacuees being able to spread radiation as if it were some kind of communicable disease.

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Tiger Woods Blackface Act on Japanese TV – ಠ_ಠ

On Monday night’s episode of “Sekai Maru Mie TV,” somebody thought it would be hilarious to put black paint on the face of a Japanese guy so he could apparently look like Tiger Woods:

The character called himself Taraiga Woods, a pun on the golfer’s name and the Japanese word for tub (tarai). Celebrity guests would be asked to predict what would happen next in funny home videos. If someone answered incorrectly, the blackface Taraiga would drop a tub on his/her head.

At other times when face paint is used for Japanese impersonations of Black celebrities, they actually make a serious effort to match the appearance of the celebrity. A lot of people don’t think it’s proper to categorize those acts as blackface acts.

However, this case, like the case of the Obama Onsen blackface, is so crude that I think it is totally appropriate to call it a blackface act.

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JAL Faces Lawsuit Over Firings

Japan Airlines is facing a lawsuit in Japan from former employees, many of whom feel they were unfairly fired because of their age:

The case, filed with the Tokyo District Court, claims JAL management did not do enough to avoid the layoffs. The company’s court-approved rehabilitation plan calls for cutting about 16,000 jobs.
The plaintiffs and their supporters marched to the court carrying a banner saying: “Japan Airlines must withdraw dismissals for the purposes of reorganization.”
“The company has discarded people, especially those who have long ensured the safety of its flight operations,” plaintiffs told local media, according to Kyodo News.
“Through court hearings, we want to question the company, which belittles operational safety and lacks concerns for the good of society.”

Related story: Back in December, JAL was fined by a Taiwanese court for violating age discrimination laws in that country.

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QB House Responds to Complaints About “Racist” Sign

A reader of this site has forwarded us a copy of an e-mail he received from QB House after sending them an e-mail tactlessly accusing them of “promoting racism and xenophobia” because one of their barber shops put up a sign informing customers that they might not be able to get a haircut if they can’t speak Japanese.

Original Inquiry (ridiculous lines bolded for emphasis):

From: Jeremy *********
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2011 2:45 AM
To: infosg@qbnet.jp
Subject: Movie about racisim in Japan.

Hello,

My company is making a documentary movie about racism and right wing practices in Japan. We have seen these signs in your business. Could you please explain why your company is practicing racism? We would like to include your response in our movie. Please tell us why your company is making Japan a non-international country and promoting racism and xenophobia?

Regards,
Jeremy *******
****-Films
Director

Response from QB House:

On 2011/01/17, at 13:55, “F****” <********> wrote:

Dear Mr. *******,

I think you have misinterpret our signs. You might not be familiar or realized that in Japan, besides Japanese language most other foreign language including English are not commonly used and sadly most of our hair dressers are of no exception. Most of them know and understand only Japanese.

As our service depends a lot through communicating with customers on their specific requirements and in order to avoid any unsatisfied service by means of miscommunication, we decided to put up these sign. If you had read carefully, you would have notice that we actually did not mentioned non-Japanese speaking customers would be rejected right away – “Those who are not able to communicate with our staff in Japanese may be refused service”. As we do have a couple of hair dressers who are able to converse in English, we would gladly offer our service to the customers if they happen to be working on that day.

As an International Company with stores operating out of Singapore and Hong Kong, it definitely makes no sense for us to be racist not to mentioned that it had never even come across our mind.

I hope you now have a better understanding of our intention and wish you all the best in your movie making.

Regards,
F*********
Chief Operations Officer
QB Net International Pte Ltd

The response from QB House seems pretty adequate to me, and, as noted in the other post, the signs have already been taken down.

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Japan Airlines Fined for Age Discrimination

Taipei City’s Department of Labor Affairs has fined Japan Airlines (JAL) 600,000 Taiwan dollars (20,000 USD) for age discrimination:

The fine stemmed from a layoff in July of 70 Taiwanese flight attendants, including 18 senior employees who were close to retirement — a move that violated the Employment Services Act (就業服務法), the department said.

“Japan Airlines fully realized that the employees were senior members with excellent performance records and higher salaries. The move to lay off senior workers was an act of age discrimination,” commissioner of the department Chen Yeh-shin (陳業鑫) said.

The employees who were laid off have protested against their dismissal and filed a complaint with the department in August, accusing the airline of workplace discrimination.

The employees said that while JAL had cited financial difficulties as the reason, the layoff targeted people who were Taiwanese or female, and the Taiwanese flight attendants were soon replaced by Japanese.

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