Japan Defense Minister on Considering UFOs

Alicia

Sat Dec 22 03:06:41 -0800 2007

manage

Considering that Japan is the most racist and xenophobic nation on the planet, it is no surprise that a Japanese defence minister is adding to the propaganda against outsiders and trying to make their ignorant public worry more about the non-Japanese threat to their nation. Hey, those foreigners are so different, with their strange ways, maybe they are alien. After all, only the Japanese were descended from god, so everyone else is like an alien to them, and not regarded as human beings.

And as a Canada who is living in Japan, I wished I did my homework before I came. After moving here, I found out that Japan is the only developed nation that does not have any anti-discrimination legislation, so the government, police, organizations, and individuals can openly discriminate against foreigners and engage in hate crimes. Now that I am learning Japanese, I discovered that their are black vans/trucks that drive all over the city with loud speakers yelling out hate speech against non-Japanese, with the full co-operation of the police! And the more Japanese I learn, the most racial slurs I hear (and understand) which directed at me as I walk down the street, take public transit, or visit a store or restaurant.

Even worse, the police here are closer tried to right-wing extremists and the Yakuza (Japanese mafia), and can take an innocent foreigner off the street, torture them up in jail for 21 days, and then deport them, without any charges even being laid. And now the courts now have ruled that all non-Japanese, including permanent residents, do not have any legal standing, and that non-Japanese testimonies in court are not admissible. So if I was attack or raped by a Japanese, it would be pointless for me to do to the police, unless I had a Japanese witness that would back me up.

And yes, I have come across many good decent, and non-racist Japanese, who bend over backwards to help foreigners, but there are not enough of them to provide any type of resistance to the systemic racism in their country. Government officials, especially the defence minister, justice minister, and crackpot Tokyo governor/mayor all routinely may public racist statements against foreigners, and no Japanese here is willing or able to stand up to them and say that it is wrong.

What troubles me most is that it is clear that Japanese society does not want any foreigners here, and the government is taking steps to make it worse and worse for legal residents and visitors. And yet, they still have the Jetro (Japan External Trade Organization) and Japan Tourism office actively trying to lure more foreigners (suckers) to come. The company I am working for is now considering relocating its Asian headquarters to Singapore, which at least treats its foreigner population better. I hope that other foreign companies also relocate their Japanese offices as well, since we are not welcomed or wanted here.

Japan Defense Minister on Considering UFOs

Zanthrick

Sat Dec 22 09:56:42 -0800 2007

manage

Congratulations, now you know how minorities feel in most places of the world, including America. Just ask the Lakota how great legal protection is.

Japan Defense Minister on Considering UFOs

proletariat

Sat Dec 22 13:52:56 -0800 2007

manage

The writer never stated what race/ethnicity she is. You're assuming that the writer didn't already know what it's like to be a minority in other countries.

Japan Defense Minister on Considering UFOs

Zanthrick

Sat Dec 22 14:13:05 -0800 2007

manage

And I never stated being a minority has anything to do with your race or ethnicity either. A white male can easily become a minority in the US in high school by doing "girl" activities. I brought up the Lakota because they were recently in the news, and one of their "representatives" stated their legal protection from treaties meant jack shit in practice.

Japan Defense Minister on Considering UFOs

Zanthrick

Sat Dec 22 14:21:31 -0800 2007

manage

It's obvious from her article she knows what it's like to be a minority now, but she's talking as if what goes on in Japan is much worse than what happens everywhere else. It's quite common for people who go abroad to complain about people being racist or xenophobic in the countries they go to and ignore their own racism. I'm not saying the writer is, but I don't think it's too much to assume the writer thinks it's much worse than other places, though she doesn't state that directly.

Japan Defense Minister on Considering UFOs

Alicia

Sun Dec 23 10:32:03 -0800 2007

manage

Sorry for not responding sooner, I've been swamped with holiday preparations. With regard to my background, I was born in Portugal, and moved with my parents to Canada as an infant. Canada is where I grew up, went to school, etc. I look Caucasian, and since I am tall and fair skinned but have dark hair and eye, I often get confused for middle European (German, Australian, Dutch, ...).

And, no I have never experienced any racism against me in Canada, so I am not used to it. I also lived for a few months in the US, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, and western Europe and did not experience any racism there as well.

It is much worse here in Japan. Not because of racist actions from the general public, but because of the racist policies of the government. Keep in mind the following points:
 

• Japan is the only developed country on the planet not to have any anti-racism legislation
• Japan does not even provide citizenship to people legally born in the country, even those that are 3 or more generations living in Japan and do not have any citizenship with any other country; many of the Koreans who's relatives were brought over to Japan against their will over a hundred years ago are in this situation
• no other country, including the US, forces long term and permanent residents to be fingerprinted, while excluding their own citizens from fingerprinting
• courts in Japan have ruled that testimony from non-Japanese have no merit
• right-wing racist groups are actively supported by the police and the ministry of justice

The first serious racist event I experienced was when I went to rent an apartment, and even though I was using a guarantor company, most landlords refuse to rent to me because I was a non-Japanese women, and they clearly told me that. I have visited Japan many times in the past, and let me tell you that first that racism is getting worse here in this post 911 environment, not better, and second that visiting a place for a few weeks is not the same as living in a place for months or years in a residential neighbourhood and doing local stuff like renting an apartment, shopping for food, furniture, etc. People treat you different if they think that you are staying here for a while. In fact, I get less racism when I pretend to be a tourist then when I try to blend in.

I think this video best describes the situation here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtHrVcefWlo

Japan Defense Minister on Considering UFOs

Spider

Sat Dec 22 19:59:43 -0800 2007

manage

I have only visited Japan once as a tourist and was treated very well.  I should think that most countries have various amounts of racism embedded in their society especially where minorities are concerned.  I don't speak Japanese so I can't say if behind the infrequent smile was some verbal abuse.  If as posted there are vans with loud speakers etc.  promoting hatred of foreigners then that is something that the international community should take note of and be worried about.  The Japanese also like to kill whales.
Mr Shigeru Ishiba definitely appears to be worried about the numbers of UFO's being sited around Japan, perhaps the aliens understand Japanese also and don't like being verbally abused or badly depicted in Japanese Sci-Fi movies and magazines. Perhaps the occupants of the UFO's are friends of the whales?  Perhaps he is a follower of  Ron Hubbard? Either way his actions appear to be the attention seeking ravings of a man who's  mind is in another galaxy.

it's Japan: retract the skyscrapers and send up the EVAs!

rubycodez

Sat Dec 22 22:13:46 -0800 2007

manage

had to laugh at the other big-honcho who mentioned Peru’s Nazca Lines as a basis for belief in ET, those merely show that yet another group of ancients had superlative surveying skills.

But sightings of unknown flying things are common, and we had a famous one here in Chicago area just over a year ago.

November 7, 2006, big UFO sighting by a dozen airport employees and others over concourse C of O'Hare airport in Chicago, dark grey elliptical shaped object at 1500 - 2000 feet, that then quickly went straight up leaving apparent "hole" in clouds.   Nothing seen by radar or by controllers.  Official explanation is that it was just a "weather phenomenon".