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Arudou Debito's Home Page: Issues of Life and Human Rights in Japan



DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER JULY 1, 2008: SPECIAL ON PRE-SUMMIT (Jul 3)
DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER JULY 1, 2008 SPECIAL ON EVE OF HOKKAIDO TOYAKO G8 SUMMIT Table of Contents: THE BIG PICTURE: JAPAN G8 SUMMIT'S SECURITY OVERKILL My April 22 2008 Japan Times column on excesses of G8 Summit, now also in Japanese Vindication: Japan Times on dangerous precedents set by G8 security Japan Times Eric Johnston speaks for HIBA Sapporo July 10 on G8 Summit aftermath Registered overseas journalists being detained, refused entry into Japan due to Summit IN MICROCOSM: PROTESTING RACIAL PROFILING BY HOKKAIDO POLICE My most recent Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE Column (July 1) as primer to this issue Background: Being stopped by Hokkaido Police for walking while White in Chitose Airport (links to audio recording, stakeout photos, and bilingual transcript of police questioning) Text of Protest Letter handed into Hokkaido Police (Japanese) Full report: Press conference goes well, but Hokkaido Police deny racial profiling despite evidence, use every trick in the book to...


Japan Times: Foreign reporters covering G8 face harassment: media group (Jul 2)
The G8 Media Network, a Japan-based group of journalists from grassroots media outlets, said six people involved with its summit-related events have been wrongfully held and questioned by Immigration officials. The relentless grilling of journalists and political activists entering Japan constitutes a threat to freedom of expression, the group said. "This is suppression of freedom of thought and expression," said Go Hirasawa, a representative of the group. "This is harassment (of journalists)." Another journalist who was detained for 11 hours after arriving in Tokyo on Friday said she was asked to hand over a detailed itinerary and account for every hour of her stay in Japan. She told The Japan Times that she has no criminal record that would justify the detainment.


Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE Column 5: July forecast: rough, with ID checks mainly in the north (Jul 1)
My latest JUST BE CAUSE column, on racial profiling for Summit security: "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. I've likewise criticized the Hokkaido G8 Summit (ZG Apr. 22)--not only as a waste of resources (an estimated $700 million spent, mostly on "security"), but also because police harass foreign-looking people as potential terrorists. Like me... Conclusion: Hang on, folks--it's going to be a rough July. And just wait: These Summits happen here every eight years. So if Tokyo also gets the Olympics in 2016, we'll have a double whammy. Which means, unless Japan develops more public accountability, more money for the police, and more meiwaku for those who unfortunately look foreign."


Narita Customs Cannabis and Sniffer Dog Training part 2: Kyodo says it?s happened 160 times since last September (Jun 30)
Updating older issue about Narita Customs lacing NJ bag with drugs to test their dogs. Kyodo reports: "Three customs officers have planted packages of cannabis resin in the luggage of travelers arriving at Narita International Airport outside Tokyo without notice a total of 160 times since last September to train drug sniffer dogs, Tokyo Customs said Monday. Disciplinary actions have been taken against the three officers and nine senior customs officials as such acts are banned under Tokyo Customs? in-house rules. Among the three was a 38-year-old customs officer who planted cannabis resin in the luggage of a traveler from Hong Kong earlier this year..." Bonus irony: World's Customs body has just elected their Japanese representative as their head...


My next Japan Times articles out July 1 (JUST BE CAUSE column) and July 8 (ZEIT GIST article) (Jun 30)
Hi Blog. Get yourself a copy of the Japan Times tomorrow (Tuesday, July 1, 2008, Wednesday in the provinces), for my fifth JUST BE CAUSE Column. 700 words on the lack of accountability in Japan's police forces, what with the G8 Summit. Next week's (July 8th) Community Page will see my 45th Zeit Gist article, this time on how NJ are being used as guinea pigs for public policy--how the denial of rights to a segment of the population eventually effects everyone. Happy reading! Arudou Debito in Sapporo


Japan Times on dangerous precedents set by G8 Summit security overkill (Jun 29)
Japan Times article by Eric Johnston says what Debito.org has been saying all along--that security overkill sets dangerous precedents for everyone in Japan: "Their region having played host to three Group of Eight ministerial conferences over the past month, many in Kansai are breathing a sigh of relief and hoping the security measures that residents, and even summit participants, found excessive are now in the past. But human rights activists warn the heavy police presence and security checks seen in Kansai are setting a dangerous precedent for next month?s G8 summit in Hokkaido and future international events throughout Japan... Jun Yamamoto, secretary general of Asian Wide Cooperation Kyoto, an anti-G8 NGO, said it was clear both the June 10 arrest and the refusal to allow the South Korean activist into Japan were aimed at intimidating those the government fears, and warned the heavy security seen in Kansai this past month bodes ill. ?The G8 summits have provided a dangerous ...


Japan Times?????????G8???????:7??G8????????????????????????????????????? (Jun 29)
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Registered overseas journalists being detained, refused entry into Japan due to Summit (Jun 28)
Kimura Kayoko of Nikkan Berita reports: Recently, as the eve of the G8 Summit approaches, we are seeing incident after incident of non-Japanese being stopped at airports. NJ who are coming here for G8 Summit activities (including reportage and convocations), without connections to governments or major press outlets, are apparently being subjected to background searches. 24-hour detentions are not unusual. Last night (June 27), three Hong Kong citizen journalists who have been registered with the Citizens' Media Center (Sapporo) were detained by Immigration, and were on the verge of being deported. This morning, Susan George (ATTAC France) was stopped and questioned at the airport. Ms George is 74 years old, and her detention demonstrates a lack of humanity on the part of authorities. Similar measures on the part of Immigration are forecast to continue in this vein.


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World-famous company, Tohoku branch, refuses to employ Japanese kid expressly because he?s ?half??even retracts original job offer (Jun 27)
Summary: A world-famous company in northern Japan, with branches and products overseas for generations, refuses to employ a young Japanese (despite giving him a job offer)--expressly, despite being a citizen, because he's "half". This could have major repercussions in Japan if other Japanese with international roots get discriminated against similarly. Read on. More details to reporters if they want a story. I have the feeling we have a major lawsuit here. I've anonymized it for now because the family fears that the employer will refuse to employ the job candidate further if this article can be traced back to him. Read on: