有道 出人 DEBITO

有道出人　Debito氏のブログの性格を知るのによいコメントなどがったので紹介する。

Japan ProbeComment by Pete
2009-06-17 12:54:14

Since OigoMIEggo asked, I would be happy to fill him/her in. The situation is not too difficult to understand, really.

Debito Arudou is a naturalized Japanese citizen from the United States. He teaches English-as-a-foreign language in a small (very small) college up in the boondocks of Hokkaido. He decided to put down roots there after he followed over a Japanese woman to Hokkaido from the United States and married her (having 2 children). He is now divorced, but continues to live in Hokkaido. (This is all public information.)

Arudou wants to be more than just an English teacher in Japan pulling in a small paycheck in a small poli-tech school in the middle of nowhere. He wants (needs?) people to acknowledge and respond to his writngs (and has said so repeatedly on his website and other venues).

What does Arudou write about? Anything and everything. Recently ― meaning the past 10 years or so ― he’s decided to bang on about Japan’s allegedly institutionalized racism and xenophobia because apparently it attracts the least-common-denominator as a possible reader: the disgruntled and disenfranchised internet troll.

First problem: Arudou is not a trained diplomat, a scholar, a researcher, a politician, a lawyer, an analyst, or a member of any other business-related profession. He is simply an apparently troubled guy who likes to jot down some random thoughts after an event happens trying to tie it into his main “thesis” (if we can call it a thesis) that Japan is somehow a racist asylum that needs correction for the benefit of all resident foreigners everywhere. In other words, he sees himself as the self-appointed public defender of all non-Japanese everywhere in Japan.

Second problem: most of the 2 million foreigners living in Japan, not to mention the other 127 million Japanese, don’t know who he is nor do they care, so he’s essentially preaching to the choir.

Third problem: since the Otaru Hotspring case in 1999-2001, he’s become something of a public figure among the limited English-speaking gaijin community on the internet. His comments tend to attract a fairly small, but loyal following of mostly anonymous users who enjoy carping about how evil and unusual Japan is. He’s not very cautious about what he alleges in public. And virtually *never* apologizes or posts retractions for statements that are clearly misleading, disingenuous, or worse factually incorrect. Consequently, Arudou is not generally considered a source of reliable information on Japan for many people.

How many of these examples exist? In all honesty, we could be here for quite a while if a list were drawn up and it’s a waste of time to do so right now.

Is he politically effective among the limited English-speaking gaijin community? Most people would say no, he’s not. He has a blog; he has a small column in a small newspaper in Japan; and he runs a self-sponsored internet forum with a limited and dwindling membership of mostly unknown people. I don’t see these things as being indicators of an “influential” maker-and-shaker in Tokyo, but some people delude themselves into thinking that Arudou is somehow important. Truth be told, like many who seek to shock, Arudou may not really believe what he says about how racist and xenophobic Japan is and probably feels astounded when taken seriously.

He’s certainly never dull.

　非常にバランスのとれた論評であろう。どなたか、訳していただけないだろうか？　で、こちらはJapan soc


Japan is Not America: a comparison of how foreigners are treated
Posted by josephtame, 4 days ago in Foreigners



Japan is Not America Pt2 - Why foreigners defend discrimination against foreigners
Posted by josephtame, 4 days ago in Discrimination
In part two of Orchid64's look at discrimination against foreign

で、今日の有道氏の投稿は、六本木の繁華街で、大麻などの違法ドラッグの検査のためだろう、外国人が尿検査をしてくれないか、と警官に頼まれた、という投稿で、そのコメントには、こりゃひどい、こんな日本になぜいなくちゃいけないんだ？？というコメントに、debito.org/?p=3709#comment-179639

– Don’t overreact yet. Let’s see if we can get some confirmation somehow that this is happening, get a reporter on it. That’s what this blog entry is for, to see if we can get conclusive evidence from cyberspace.Anyone with time to phone the NPA?

まだ、過剰反応するな、確認がとれてない、だれか、NPAに電話する時間ないか？とセンセ。

要するに、有道氏ブログに掲載されている情報というのは未確認情報なのである。
ブログ主も認めているようだ。
さらに、間違っていている情報を訂正しないで、訂正しようとするとブロックされることについては、すでに何度か記した。
さらに、自分たちが活動するわけではない。強いて言えば、他の活動家に活動してよ、と誰か頼んでくれないかなあ、とぼやく活動家らしい。

他のコメントに対して、適切なコメントをかえしていないところをみると、法律知識も欠けるらしい。

　日本を非難する誤った情報の訂正はブロックし、日本を非難する未確認情報、日本・日本人に対する憎悪のコメント・投稿は公表し、現実的な人権擁護活動はせず、かえって、外国人犯罪被告人の裁判などで、被告人に不利な事実はあえてブロックするような活動って、何のための活動と思われるでしょうか？

ジャーナリストの方々も参照にしていただきたい。

また、在日外国人におかれても、他のしっかりした日本人と協力して、現実の運用、法律などをしっかり学んで、在日外人の権利の向上に努めたほうがよいのではないか、とアドバイスしたい。
こんな「活動」ばかりだと在日外国人のイメージがかなり悪くなるだけだ。

（本投稿をグーグルなどでなるべくヒットするようにするにはどうしたらいいのだろうか？ーーー誰か知っていたら教えて欲しい。）
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Doug Says:
June 30th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Although I no longer visit Roppongi or Shibuya – been over 4 years since I last was there – if this is true it is a travesty.

Does anyone know for a fact that this is happening to non Japanese only? I think this is an extremely important question.

If so, this falls in the “last straw” category for remaining in and staying connected to Japan. If in fact only non Japanese are being stopped, and asked for samples of body fluids when the only basis for suspicion is being foreign, I would have to say that Japan has tipped the balance and has now gone beyond tolerable for foreigners. If it is in fact true that only non Japanese are being stopped I do not think this is an over reaction.

I have been able to tolerate the random ID checks, being stopped on a bike and questioned by the cops, etc. but this seems to be over the top and extreme and would definitely warrant legal action.

It seems that from the news on this blog (and from other sources) things have actually gotten much worse in the last 2 years. Does anyone else feel this?

What is even more discouraging is the fact that I am not surprised by this, which is even more scary. Do others share the same reaction?

It is one thing for a small group of people in a country to exhibit racist or xenophobic traits, however when the government and the police (with their power to detain and arrest) constantly exhibit these tendencies it makes one ask, “Is it really worth staying in Japan?”

As I question more frequently why I stay in Japan and why I remain connected it is getting much harder to rationalize. I have a business here but I am not married to a Japanese so I must admit my connection to Japan does not extend as far as many others on this board (I know Debito-san is a citizen and others are married to Japanese citizens) so maybe it is easier for me to walk away. But, I am still curious. Why do we stay? I am also wondering if others with more concrete connections to Japan (those that have nationalized or those married to Japanese spouses) are starting to ask the same questions?

In many ways I think Japan is an excellent nation (it has flaws too as we all know) but I am starting to think it is an excellent place if you are Japanese, not if you are foreign and wish to have a long term connection to the country.

– Don’t overreact yet. Let’s see if we can get some confirmation somehow that this is happening, get a reporter on it. That’s what this blog entry is for, to see if we can get conclusive evidence from cyberspace. Anyone with time to phone the NPA?

Tornadoes28 Says:
June 30th, 2009 at 8:25 am
This is insane. So if you are walking down the street, they are asking random NJ for urine samples? What, do they put a curtain around you on the sidewalk and ask you to pee in a cup? This does not sound right. If this is true, can you please provide something more then a comment from a reader or a Gaijinpot post.

If this is true, it better be illegal. If true but legal, then Japan is royally screwed up.

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