Debito Arudou - The Japan Times

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Debito Arudou

Debito is the Just Be Cause columnist for the Community Page and has been contributing to The Japan Times since 2002. Author of eight books, including "Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants and Immigrants" (2nd Ed.), "Japanese Only" and the novel "In Appropriate," his most recent work is "Embedded Racism: Japan's Visible Minorities and Racial Discrimination" (Lexington Books). He has been a naturalized Japanese citizen since 2000, and his daily blog and archive is at www.debito.org.

For Debito Arudou's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Nov 3, 2009

Demography vs. demagoguery: when politics, science collide

Last June, I attended a symposium sponsored by the German Institute of Japanese Studies. Themed "Imploding Populations: Global and Local Challenges of Demographic Change," I took in presentations about health care, international and domestic migration, and life in a geriatric society.

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Oct 6, 2009

Savoie case shines spotlight on Japan's 'disappeared dads'

M aking international (and to a lesser extent, national) news recently has been the Savoie child abduction case. Briefly: After a couple divorced in America, ex-wife Noriko Savoie absconded with their children to Japan. Then ex-husband Christopher, who had been awarded custody in the U.S., came to Japan to take the kids back. On Sept. 28 he tried to get the children into the American Consulate in Fukuoka, but was barred entry and arrested by the Japanese police for kidnapping.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Sep 1, 2009

Meet Mr. James, gaijin clown

If you want to sell stuff, it helps to have a recognizable mascot representing your company. Disney has Mickey Mouse, Sanrio Hello Kitty, Studio Ghibli Totoro. These imaginary characters grace many a product and ad campaign.

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Aug 4, 2009

Unlike humans, swine flu is indiscriminate

The biggest news a few months ago, now affecting every prefecture in Japan, has blipped off our radar screens. For the time being.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Jul 7, 2009

Cops crack down with 'I pee' checks

My blog has been getting periodic pings about rumblings in Roppongi: Tokyo cops cleaning out pesky foreign touts before Olympic inspectors see them; the U.S. Embassy warning Americans to stay away from the area after reports of drugged drinks and thefts.

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Jun 2, 2009

The issue that dares not speak its name

A few columns ago ("Toadies, Vultures, and Zombie Debates," March 3), I discussed how foreign apologists resuscitate dead-end discussions on racial discrimination. Promoting cultural relativity for their own ends, they peddle bigoted and obsolescent ideologies now impossible to justify in their societies of birth.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST

May 19, 2009

IC you: bugging the alien

When the Japanese government first issued alien registration cards (aka gaijin cards) in 1952, it had one basic aim in mind: to track "foreigners" (at that time, mostly Korean and Taiwanese stripped of Japanese colonial citizenship) who decided to stay in postwar Japan.

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

May 5, 2009

Fujimori gets his; Japan left shamed

News item: Alberto Fujimori, former president of Peru, was sentenced last month to 25 years in prison by a Peruvian court for connections to death squads.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Apr 7, 2009

'Golden parachutes' mark failure of race-based policy

Japan's employment situation has gotten pretty dire, especially for non-Japanese workers. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry reports that between last November and January, more than 9,000 foreigners asked the Hello Work unemployment agency for assistance — 11 times the figure for the same period a year earlier.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST

Mar 24, 2009

Punishing foreigners, exonerating Japanese

Examine any justice system and patterns emerge. For example, consider how Japan's policing system treats non-Japanese. Zeit Gist has discussed numerous times (July 8, 2008; Feb. 20 and Nov. 13, 2007; May 24, 2005; Jan. 13, 2004; Oct. 7, 2003) how police target and racially profile foreigners under anticrime and antiterrorism campaigns.

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Mar 3, 2009

Of toadies, vultures and zombie debates

If there's one thing execrable in the marketplace of ideas, it's "zombie debates" — discussions long dead, exhumed by Dr. Frankensteins posing as serious debaters.

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Feb 3, 2009

2channel: the bullies' forum

Bullying in Japan is a big problem. The victims have limited recourse. Too often they are told to suck it up and self-reflect. Or if they fight back, they get criticized for lashing out. It's a destructive dynamic, causing much misery and many a suicide.

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Jan 6, 2009

Japan makes progress in 2009

As we start 2009, let's recharge the batteries by reviewing last year's good news. Here is my list of top human rights advancements for Japan in 2009, in ascending order:

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Dec 2, 2008

Hailing the tail end of Bush

Regarding Barack Obama's election as U.S. president, I welcome the groundswell of hope. It's about time. The past eight years have been, well, awkward for Americans overseas.

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Nov 4, 2008

Truth: a delicate matter of give and take

Every activist and essayist must deal with a singular phenomenon when addressing the public: just how "truthful" one should be.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Oct 7, 2008

'Gaijin' mind-set is killing rural Japan

Allow me to conclude my trilogy of columns regarding the word "gaijin" this month by talking about the damage the concept does to Japanese society. That's right — damage to Japanese society.

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Sep 2, 2008

The 'gaijin' debate: Arudou responds

Last month's column (Aug. 5) was on the word "gaijin." I made the case that it is a racist word, one that reinforces an "us-and-them" rubric toward foreigners and their children in Japan. It generated a lot of debate. Good. Thanks for your time.

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Aug 5, 2008

Once a 'gaijin,' always a 'gaijin'

Gaijin. It seems we hear the word every day. For some, it's merely harmless shorthand for "gaikokujin" (foreigner). Even Wikipedia (that online wall for intellectual graffiti artists) had a section on "political correctness" that claimed illiterate and oversensitive Westerners had misunderstood the Japanese word.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST

Jul 8, 2008

Beware the foreigner as guinea pig

Anywhere in the world, noncitizens have fewer legal rights than citizens. Japan's Supreme Court would agree: On June 2, in a landmark case granting citizenship to Japanese children of unmarried Philippines mothers, judges ruled that Japanese citizenship is necessary "for the protection of basic human rights."

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Jul 1, 2008

July forecast: rough, with ID checks mainly in the north

I have suggested before (Zeit Gist, Dec. 18, 2007) that Japan shouldn't host major international events. Unfettered police power and insufficient media scrutiny create a virtual police state, inconveniencing everyone.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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