Debito Arudo protests police questioning targeting foreigners

Thursday 26th June, 05:07 AM JST

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user1684 at 04:40 PM JST - 1st July

David is a good man and has always stood up for human rights.

I am sure his letter will do some good in waking up the police to the fact that security measures should be tempered with common sense .

The police are just doing their job in anticipation of this meeting but you always have a couple of bad apples who go overboard and get a bit too "zealous" This letter by David should help them curb some those cops.
flyingfish at 04:52 PM JST - 1st July

RTex(no off intended),I do accept your point about Debito,but i really wonder what other options he has (as noone sees foreigners or naturalized citizens as a group with whom its necessary to find consensus with)and noone else is doing anything.. however regarding the japanese and consensus,I believe that is changin (witness all the lawsuits japanese are filing now)..

and anyway that law you quote is now up to be changed.

for me ,the point is i dont want my kids as japanese to suffer this sort of nonsense,which is why i believe debito is performing a valuable act..
RepublicofTexas at 05:07 PM JST - 1st July

Flyfishing,

Though I don't agree with Arudo Debito's tactics, I believe that Japan's government as well as society does need to be changed, and as long as their isn't a larger number of more moderate activists I'm willing to "live with him". However it is my hope that more Japanese and more moderate voices take over the "campaign" for change.
RepublicofTexas at 05:13 PM JST - 1st July

Flyfishing,

It's not that i don't believe you or anything, it's just that I would be interested in reading about the change in the citizenship law, I couldn't find it on google.

Thank you
flyingfish at 05:30 PM JST - 1st July

sure, it was in the japtimes but I thought youd prefer the link to the article on the mans website http://www.debito.org/?p=1758

its at the bottom..

admittedly this is only a proposal but i think you can assume it will become law fairly soon..(though prob some of the other stuff will get watered down)
Peeping_Tom at 06:45 PM JST - 1st July

Japain is no worse than any of the other "more advanced (cough) countries" JTeers constantly brag about. If you're foreigner you get discriminated against and that's that; don't like it?
flash1480 at 10:12 PM JST - 1st July

Zen builder,

The takashimaya golden clock in Nagoya JR station is the easiest landmark in the city centre for people people to meet at, gaijin or japanese, gaijin and japanese, but white faces are a common sight, waiting to meet groups of friends. In six years in Japan, the only place i have been asked for ID by police is there, before or since a six month period between the end of 2006 and beginning of 2007. I've been there often before and since, but the only explanation is a crackdown on white faces at that time. the visible presence of vast numbers of police vehicles on the roads here in greater Nagoya and on the beat in the streets and in all major train stations in Aichi (far from Nagoya as well as near) and definitively far from hokkaido, remind me of their little psuedo crackdown on gaijin presence in nagoya about the same time as that pathetic gaijin crime wave magazine a few years ago. I dont regard these events as coincidences. Feel free to disagree.
European1 at 12:22 PM JST - 2nd July

How about crack down on Yakuza looking faces? Aren`t they suspicous looking people? Everyone can see it, but not Police. No way! They scare to hell and will never stop them and vans with loud speakers. When one stay in Shibuya, guys from KOBAN stay and listen them even though it is not legal.
PepinGalarga at 01:38 PM JST - 2nd July

this discussion is not really getting anywhere. let's wait for debito to get out of his 22-day hold (kidding) and actually say what he thinks of all this, otherwise everyone's opinion is already laid out. get your lives back ppl.
irishosaru at 12:47 AM JST - 3rd July

tetsukon -

A privileged white guy who wouldn't know racism if it bit him

So many silly assumptions. Japan is a racist country, and he's been here for years. I'm sure he knows what racism is.

That said, he's barking up the wrong tree with the current issue.
Zen_Builder at 01:11 PM JST - 3rd July

Interesting thread on another blog about this story.

http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=5036
RepublicofTexas at 01:23 PM JST - 3rd July

For all those who seem to think Japan is racist especially against white people if you take a look around you'll realize how wrong that assumption is.

Have you ever seen how much Japan seeks to emulate Europe in everything from cooking, architecture, to music. Many Japanese companies give their companies and products European sounding names. Look at all the Japanese bands out there from L'arc~en~ciel to Janne da Arc. Not to mention the strong American influence in Okinawan music and cuisine. Japanese people love American music, and if you've ever looked at Japanese manga or anime you notice how most of the characters are given caucasian features. Also many of the models in Japanese advertisements and commercials are...guess what...white.

Stop trying to use a few relatively (I stress relatively) isolated incidents to accuse the entire Japanese populace of racism. Have you ever been to US or China?
Zen_Builder at 01:40 PM JST - 3rd July

Wonder how the security and carding will happen at the upcoming Olympics?
flash1480 at 09:16 PM JST - 3rd July

A few valid points in recent posts, if you think we white guys have got it bad, (and we do up to a point), try being of south american or african descent here. We've got it pretty good.

But cops and bureaucrats in this country are a bunch of rude ignorant arrogant (insert expletive here)s.

republic calls them isolated incidents, i call these events a pattern.
delitachan at 02:04 PM JST - 10th July

What's the problem? Just show your ID or passport. The more waves you make, the more suspicious you seem.