Job Discussion Forums

[J.]

Here's an article that previews the findings of the U.N. investigator who recently visited Japan. Have a look:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4671687.stm


Is anyone really surprised? But the investigator apparently is recommending that Japan enact anti-discrimination legislation, something we've known is needed for awhile. Frankly, I'll be surprised if they do it. What do you think?

[Akula the shark]

Will have a look in the Japanese media and see how much coverage this gets. Hopefully it will raise awareness slightly.

[Akula the shark]

Here's the Yomiuri article for those that can read Japanese.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/world/news/20050711i411.htm

[Akula the shark]

And the Japan times article

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050712a1.htm

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

I heard this on BBC radio today and it piqued my curiousity. I have seen Koreans and Chinese act far more racist (and violent) towards Japanese than Japanese to Koreans and Chinese. It was so long ago, I can't remember Japanese attitudes towards Koreans and Chinese living in Japan.

I do recall my ex-wife however (Japanese) saying that Chinese are primitive and blind and that Koreans are "weird".

Anyone have spouses/friends they could ask? Curious...

[Tamago86]

^
I have many Japanese friends who detest Chinese and think of them as noisy and dirty. These aren't the old people either, but the teens and those in their 20s. But as usual it's not likely a Japanese person would say it to their faces, and it's good to remember that even some Chinese people accuse themselves of being dirty and rugged. I haven't seen much apprehensiveness towards Koreans, partly thanks to the Korean-pop wave I guess. Though I'm sure it exists as well.

I would be very surprised if an anti-discrimination policy made it through the Diet. The people who really need it are the SouthEast Asians and the zainichi.

To be honest I think this man's time would have been better spent in Korea or China, though racism in Japan definately exists it's mild compared to some things that happen in Korea and especially China.

[Big John Stud]

When I lived and work in Korea, I lost count of how many times a Korean would say with passion, "I hate the Japanese!" to me. Most hate Americans second. One Korean in a bar told me how he likes China, Russia and many other countries better than the U.S. so I told him that I liked Japan better than Korea. He got offended.
When I first returned to Japan, I often would bad mouth Korea, and many of my Japanese friends would talk good about Korea trying to convince me that somewhere in Korea there is at least one good Korean.
Koreans like to think of themselves as being a victim so they can feel justified to hate. You think discrimination takes place in Japan go get a job in Korea. When you come back to Japan you will feel that you have left hell and went to heaven!

[JezzaYouBeauty!!]

Hai.....big john....hai....I think we have met before on this forum, RE: this topic.

I am actually getting sort of....bored of just thinking about it......Korea is full on.

[JezzaYouBeauty!!]

I like this one......

""Yoko Nakamura, a 52-year-old woman in Tokyo, said that living in Europe and Australia had shown her the advantages of Japan's uniformity.

"Everyone has the same hair colour and the same eye colour. You feel maybe the guy next to you is feeling the same way, so it's a good feeling to be homogenous," she said.""

From a link from the BBC deep and profound racism article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3708098.stm

By the way...reading one of the articles......what was the japanese orgy in China?......sounds a bit....funny....no...maybe not?

[Doglover]

[Big John Stud]

JezzaYouBeauty the picture of the pizza is cruel! I live in a small town no decent pizza here and now I am hungry for a pizza! That is the way I love my pizzas with everything on it!

[Big John Stud]

Doglover wrote:

JezzaYouBeauty!! wrote: I By the way...reading one of the articles......what was the japanese orgy in China?......sounds a bit....funny....no...maybe not? You are probably referring to an article last year where a major Japanese corporation rented a hotel ballroom for a staff party of the japanese workers working in China. Not sure of the numbers but the company hired something like 500 Chinese prostitutes to service the Japanese guests. Considering Japan's history and sensitive relations with China the s--t hit the fan when the press found out about it.

I remember that! Couldn't understand what the big deal was. I am sure the hotel was making money, the prostitutes were making money everyone was making money but the Japanese who were spending the money everyone was making!

I think the rival between China and Japan has nothing to do with history. China wants to dominate Asia and views Japan as a threat. Japan beat China through the 1900s, but now China has the fast growing economy.

[malcoml]

Hello BJS,

[J.]

Thanks for posting the Japan Times article. It is excellent and gives a little more detail than the BBC site. As we all know, racism isn't only in Japan but is not justified just because it also exists in other Asian countries. The point here I think is that Japan purports to be a first-world country but has a lot of very old-fashioned ideas about people they consider "foreigners". Considering the amount of stories about people being turned away from apartments, denied credit, being discriminated against in jobs ( like being denied tenure at universities) not being given worker's benefits, hired at wages far below national standards ( like factory workers), being barred from baths and bars, and called "dirty", being laughed at and singled out on the street, I would think the government would consider it a priority to pass the anti-discrimination legislation BUT apparently some legislators are so out of touch they just don't see the problem. They (some members of the LDP Party) are also trying to water down and block legislation to improve the status of women, according to the Japan Times today. I wonder if this was what Koizumi had in in when he said he was going to "reform" Japan? What with the witch hunts for "visa overstayers" and evil criminal elements the papers are always talking about I guess no one really looks closely enough at the government's poor record on modernizing anything, at least, up until now.

[SEndrigo]