Saitama assemblyman apologizes for remark about number of registered dogs, foreigners

Staff Report

A 58-year-old official in the city of Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, has pointed out that the city’s non-Japanese population is larger than the number of registered dogs. He later withdrew the remark after coming under criticism from other assembly members, according to local media reports.

Hiroaki Noguchi, a Liberal Democratic Party assemblyman, made the remark at an assembly session Wednesday when he was asking questions about the number of foreign residents who had failed to pay their taxes, the daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

After receiving complaints from some assembly members that his remark was inappropriate, Noguchi reportedly apologized, saying he only wanted to illustrate that the number of foreigners living in the city is on the rise. He said he did not mean to discriminate against them, but agreed that the remark was misleading.

He told assembly Chairman Kazunari Inagawa on Thursday that he wished to withdraw the remark, the report said.

On Friday, Inagawa reprimanded Noguchi and decided to delete the remark from assembly minutes and video records, according to the report.

According to the local daily Saitama Shimbun, Noguchi said Wednesday the number of foreign people in the city is increasing, pointing out that the number of dogs registered at the city is 26,000 while the number of foreign residents totals 27,000.

Inagawa told Saitama Shimbun that the remark could be regarded as being discriminatory, adding he believes it is similar to the “Japanese only” banner put up at Saitama Stadium by supporters of Urawa Reds soccer team last year.

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  • disqus_vBekJrf7g5

    He gets to ‘retract’ his remark, and it’s deleted from official records? Big wow, it’s like it never happened.
    Except of course, because this is Japan, he’s totally escaped any punishment for his disgusting racist views.
    Tokyo Olympics is coming! The world should see that in Japan politicians can call NJ ‘stray dogs’ with no repercussions.

    • Stewart Dorward

      He apologised fast – that is an improvement.

      • Guillaume Vares

        It shouldn’t be possible to delete any official record. It is necessary for the public, journalists and historians, to have a complete and accurate picture of decision making.

      • disqus_vBekJrf7g5

        Absolutely. deleting the record doesn’t delete his opinion.

      • Steve Jackman

        Doctoring of official records and documents is extremely widespread and it happens all the time in Japan. This is why I am extremely skeptical and do not trust official Japanese records.

        I have encountered this problem frequently working at Japanese companies here in Japan. Meeting minutes and other official documents have little resemblence to what actually took place, since they are falsified so often as to be entirely useless.

      • Guillaume Vares

        It shouldn’t be possible to delete any official record. It is necessary for the public, journalists and historians, to have a complete and accurate picture of decision making.

  • GIJ

    People like this guy Noguchi are the ones who lend credibility to the activities of somewhat over the top social justice warriors like Debito. There is no filter, no restraining mechanism of any kind it seems, for LDP politicians in particular.

    • disqus_vBekJrf7g5

      Instead of ‘lend credibility’, I think you mean ‘prove Debito correct’.

    • Steve Jackman

      This is why we need people like Debito to expose endemic racism, xenophobia and racial discrimination against foreigners in Japan. Noguchi’s comments are just the tip of the iceberg.

  • Jonathan Fields

    Hey, I’m happy about this. Usually no one cares, but it sounds like the other members jumped on him. That’s great.

  • David W. Rudlin

    Honestly, what he said doesn’t bother me at all. It seems an innocent — if clumsy — comment on the similarity of the two numbers. I am much more concerned about the LDP’s long-held view that the only suitable roles for foreigners are 3-5 stints in jobs Japanese don’t want. And no one is apologizing for that!

    • Steve Jackman

      And you think there is no connection between the two?

    • Bernd Bausch

      Japanese politicians seem to have a certain talent for clumsy comments that might be interpreted as offensive by some people. Recent remarks about homosexuals come to mind, or the member of the Tokyo assembly who told a female colleague she should first make a few children before criticising him, or the former Tokyo governor’s warning about foreigners rioting in times of earth quakes.
      The good thing is that it provides us a glimpse into their real thinking. I just hope that society learns to take note and release such people to well-deserved retirement.

      • disqus_vBekJrf7g5

        That’s not ‘a talent for being clumsy’, it’s called ‘bigoted discrimination’.

    • Toolonggone

      Well, I am much more concerned about their grotesque mentality that compares registered foreigners to non-human subjects, and low-level of thinking that regards their work as re-tapable political circus. That’s just dumb and dumber.

    • Toolonggone

      Well, I am much more concerned about their grotesque mentality that compares registered foreigners to non-human subjects, and low-level of thinking that regards their work as re-tapable political circus. That’s just dumb and dumber.

  • Squidhead

    Should be forced to resign. Japan Times should make a bigger stink about it.

  • Paul Johnny Lynn

    “…could be regarded as discriminatory…” COULD be…speaking from personal experience though, I’m going to say it’s entirely likely HE didn’t think he WAS being discriminatory. Until of course someone pointed out that he was. Unfortunately the “software” in many people’s heads here doesn’t compute that comparing (even if not likening) human beings from other countries, cultures, races to animals is offensive to the humans on the receiving end. Please don’t take that as meaning that excuse him, or agree with him for even a parsec.

    • Steve Jackman

      He was probably joking and laughing about comparing the number of “gaijin” to the number of dogs the night before with his cronies over some cheap shochu at the local izakaya and thought he could just continue doing it. Sadly, such crass humor and vulgarity is what constitutes as wit in the minds of many such ignorant nitwits.

      Unfortunately, these types of comments are routine among the majority of Japanese and reflect their parochial thinking. The only thing different here is that his comments became public. Even the way foreigners in Japan are portrayed on Japanese TV is often not that different from the way animals are treated.

      • Paul Johnny Lynn

        Many’s the time back in my old job I’d have to bite my tongue when one of the “students” would make offensive generalisations about foreigners. Just once I would’ve liked to have given them a piece of my mind.

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      • Lemming

        Let’s be honest, it’s not just the students making those ridiculous generalisations about foreigners.

      • Lemming

        Let’s be honest, it’s not just the students making those ridiculous generalisations about foreigners.

    • Lemming

      “agree with him for even a parsec”
      I see what you did there
      I can’t wait for Friday either

      • Paul Johnny Lynn

        Actually that would be my boo-boo, not good with science.

      • Paul Johnny Lynn

        Actually that would be my boo-boo, not good with science.

  • Chattinginjapan

    While his remarks are awful, I think a bit of fact checking regarding the state of tax payments should have been done too. If he had a legitimate gripe that shouldn’t be swept under the rug and allowed to fester. Additionally, more could be done to determine why taxes are not being paid. In some cases, I suspect the rise of private contractor contracts that put all the burden on the worker and are sold as ways of avoiding taxes by the employers would come under the microscope. Or we could check what percent of the Japanese residents haven’t paid their taxes either. However, if his claims are false, that would be more insulting to me as a taxpayer than comments about dog populations.

  • Cleiton Fujimura

    What a stupid!

  • tiaraboo

    Anyone ever wonder why Japan is so safe? Yep.

    • Paul Johnny Lynn

      You’ll have to explain exactly what you’re hinting at there.