When it comes to parceling out rights, Japanese law makes a very clear distinction: What you get depends upon whether you are a Japanese citizen or not. Sort of.

As discussed in a previous column, non-Japanese residents do not have the right to vote, or a constitutionally-protected entitlement to certain public benefits. We are also not eligible for some public-sector jobs. Beyond that it gets very fuzzy, but the general notions elucidated (some might prefer the term "obfuscated") by Japan's Supreme Court are that foreigners have no constitutional right to enter Japan — or re-enter it for that matter (even if they have jobs, property or family here) — and when it comes to freedom of speech and association, they should enjoy the same rights as Japanese people, except to the extent that they influence national policy.

Since "influencing policy" could mean just about anything (including writing articles like this), this is not a particularly useful guideline. I personally would rather know in advance when I might be in danger of crossing the line instead of after the fact (maybe at immigration), but then Japanese law often doesn't seem to work that way. In any case, it at least seems clear that Japanese get X, while foreigners get X minus Y, with most people trying not to notice the fact that both X and Y are variables.