Job Discussion Forums

[PAULH]

How do things look from your perspective in Sapporo Glenski?

http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20050104zg.htm

[Mike L.]

Although I do think he's a bit sensationalist, I have to agree with Debito.

The foolish behaviour of some Japanese in this regard is not only bad for business but also exposes a well "retarded" side of the national character! I can think of no other way to describe it.

You could write books mocking these foolish traits, they are so numerous and dam funny too! :lol:

Does anyone rember tyhe panic before the world cup? In Yokohama (I think) they sprayed some sort of glue on the rocks on the train track bed so "hooligans won't throw them."

I mean in what other country would you see people in positions of offical responsibility do something so foolish?

[Gordon]

How many of you have had friends and relatives come over to visit while you've lived here? I've had 3 people in 2.5 years. It's not just because Japan is expensive, but no one really wants to come.

[mixmag]

[Nismo]

I managed to trudge my way through that hideous travesty of an article. With Debito's pretentiousness and horrible writing skills aside, there are numerous flaws in the article, mostly in the form of illogic and subjective views.

First, he starts off the article with (a lame, rhetorical why? thrown into a professional work):

[matador]

Hmmmm, its odd... I lived in Japan for about 7 years (my wife is Japanese) and every now and then when I was trying to catch a taxi, they would just zoom past me . Now I live in Shanghai and taxis have never zoomed past me. I dont speak good Chinese, the drivers dont speak English...but we get along! I have a map or a business card and, hey. the driver does his job! Any other expats in Japan have experience of catching taxis...or do you just not bother and catch the subway... Japan is very good at holding these various International Symposiums, etc but on a day to day street level the discrimination is still there...ever tried going in to a real estate agents and renting an apartment in your name....here in Shanghai it happens all the time...and you dont need a guarantor. Dont misunderstand me, Japan is a pleasant place to live but there does not seem to be a concerted effort by the authorities to seriously combat peoples predjudicies... Why is that?

[Nagoyaguy]

[PAULH]

[matador]

...renting an apartment in Japan is difficult. I know there are places that do rent to foreigners BUT these are the exception. Call up 20 agents today at random and see how many rent to non-Japanese. My wife (Japanese) and I were going to rent an apartment and it was totally in her name and supported by her family. But the agents did not rent to foreigners...so by association with me the deal was cancelled.

.....can you believe it?

It just becomes embarrassing when you confront these agents/landlords about their predjudices...as you find there is hardly any logic at all involved!

'Ah....sometimes foreigners do not pay their rent on time'

(....er....and this NEVER happens with Japanese.....?)

'Ah...sometimes foreigners wear their shoes on tatami....'

(...oh, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!)

'Ah...the neighbours do not like living near foreigners. It makes them feel...hmmmm...uncomfortable.....'

(Phew! That lets you off the hook then. Its those damn neighbours!)

[Roam]

If I am refused entry to a place of business for obviously racist reasons who do I contact to report the situation? Is there a formal method of introducting consequences into these ignorant people's lives?

[canuck]

Thankfully, these things do not happen in Osaka, or at least or not even close to what is happening in Hokkaido.

To use your words..."I managed to trudge my way through that hideous travesty of a" post. Nismo, I politely ask to give your head a shake.

[Celeste]

I have never experienced such discrimination in Fukuoka, either. If I were to experience that sort of thing, I likely would not have stayed here very long.

[Glenski]

I live in Sapporo, roughly an hour from where Arudou lives and teaches. I have never met him, nor corresponded with him. I've read some of the stuff he has written, both on his web site and in the papers.

Just wanted to clear that up. Also, I'm not an economist, nor someone who keeps his eye on the Japan stock market. I also do not frequent the bars, whether in Susukino or other places in town. I only get to them if my school has a party there.

I HAVE lived in Sapporo for over 6 years, for what that's worth.

Whew! Totally cleared up now? Well, maybe.

I found Arudou's article as lacking as Nismo pointed out. I don't agree with everything Nismo says, but for someone like Arudou to have published such an article with a strong economic statement to make, and for someone as well-versed in discrimination in Japan as he is, it VERY poorly written, at LEAST in terms of supporting statements and data.

The World Cup produced a great stir across the nation. People were in fear that hooligans would demoish the society with their aggressiveness over the perceived stereotypically weak Japanese. What happened? Nothing. Zilch. No conflagrations. No riots. No mass raping of Japanese women (as one write forecasted). Instead, a lot of people came, and a handful (maybe less) were turned away at the airport. Up here in Sapporo, I saw tons of foreign faces (and I'm sure I didn't recognize an equal number of Asian foreign ones), and everyone behaved quite well and did not seem to be put out by any discrimination. Show me the new articles that prove otherwise.

But to get back to Arudou's article's main thrust...discrimination hurting the Japanese economy. Well, yes and no, in my opinion.

I haven't seen his web site in a while, but a quick glance at his "Rogue's Gallery" of cities with obvious signs of discrimination, he has ....are you ready for this huge number? ...... 6. Yup, six. Not 666. Six. Again, for someone as vociferous as Arudou in his quest to seek out and destroy such negative influences in Japanese society, either he has failed seriously to update his site, or I have missed something here.

The subtitle under his article says "Arudou Debito offers accounts of how "Japanese Only" policies are turning international business away from Japan". Granted that this may have been editorial license by the publisher, and not Arudou's words, but look at the article. How many "international businesses" did he describe that were turned away? Look at it. 1! Not 1000. One. Northpoint Network, Inc. Oh, he alludes to some places in Sakhalin, but not one name or even a rough estimate of numbers. I'm sorry, too, but exactly what is Northpoint Network? The article only vaguely describes it as a place that is devoted to "building business contacts between Japan, China, Russia, America, Canada, and New Zealand and Australia". (Let's poke fun a bit and mention the fact that the article wrote all of these countries, then said about the president Jackson, "his countries of origin. " Jackson came from ALL of these countries? How is that possible? Bad writing.

So, Jackson's contacts in those countries have actually been turned away from doing business here? No, the article does not say that. It merely points out that the custom of taking clients to bars gave them a "very bad impressions, which last a long time".

So, a bunch of Russian businessmen and a Japanese advisor went to "about 10 bars" in Susukino and got refused entry. Was that 6? 7? How many is "about"? And, since the advisor KNEW in advance that the Russians were hesitant about coming for this reason, did he even bother to scope out the places to avoid such a faux pas? I would guess not. In any case, this is the only explicit incident mentioned that is meant to support the claim by Jackson that "Susukino is now essentially closed to foreigners." Sorry, buddy. A sample size of one businessman doesn't cut it, and there are hundreds of bars downtown, so just visit the other 95% if you get refused someplace. Besides, if he is such a hotshot businessman in the first place, he would have his own business bar to cozy up to and show off.

By the way, who actually wrote this article? Arudou or Jackson? From the percentage of quotes and lines of text devoted to Jackson's stories, it would seem that Arudou had nothing to do with it at all.

A lot of the report seemed to focus on the bad results of Russians. Well, heck, Sapporo is (as I wrote above) only an hour from Arudou's stomping grounds, where all the legal problems arose BECAUSE OF RUSSIANS. It was they who caused the bathhouses to post signs restricting use. Do you know what those Russians (mostly sailors from the accounts I've read) actually did to cause this? Read the news. It's no wonder that other businesses are afraid to take them in, even in bars.

As for the story of Nagoya, where the western businessmen were appalled at not being given flyers to the bars, well, think about it. Others have already commented on the potential language barrier. Consider this as well. Who hands out those flyers? Not exactly your higher class establishments. Which would have appalled the businessmen more -- to be ignored like that, or be given flyers with naked women in seductive poses as an attraction to soapland or seedier establishments?

I'm sorry, but this was a very badly written article, full of holes and toothpicks for support legs.

What do I see in Sapporo? I can't vouch for bar hopping ventures, but one foreigner who tries to take other foreigners around town just doesn't amount to a drop in the bucket for sample sizes. Besides, foreigners aren't the only people in Japan who try to recruit other foreigners. Let's get some reports from the Japanese businesses. Or even the slanted statistics from the Japanese government!

I applaud Arudou's efforts in many cases. Trying to rid Japan of racial discrimination is wholeheartedly laudable and even commendable. Japan SHOULD make laws to support its ratification of the anti-discrimination treaty that is almost 10 years old. However, this article is a very poor way to instigate that. Moreover, since Arudou has just published a book on his bathhouse court case, one might wonder if this wasn't merely a way to get people to notice and then buy it.

[guest of Japan]

Whether or not Debito has flaws in his argument is pointless in a long term struggle. He isn't out to make one scathing all-emcompassing report to quickly be forgotten. He is trying to get in the news as often as possible. Ten flawed published articles are far better than one gem of an article.

[Glenski]