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Is Japan a Racist Society?
BBC ^ | 11 July 2005 | Chris Hogg

Posted on 07/11/2005 6:11:57 AM PDT by Our_Man_In_Gough_Island

An independent investigator for the UN says racism in Japan is deep and profound, and the government does not recognise the depth of the problem.

Doudou Diene, a UN special rapporteur on racism and xenophobia, was speaking at the end of a nine-day tour of the country.

He said Japan should introduce new legislation to combat discrimination.

Mr Diene travelled to several Japanese cities during his visit, meeting minority groups and touring slums.

He said that although the government helped to organise his visit, he felt many officials failed to recognise the seriousness of the racism and discrimination minorities suffered.

He was also concerned that politicians used racist or nationalist themes, as he put it, to whip up popular emotions. He singled out the treatment of ethnic Koreans and Chinese and indigenous tribes.

Mr Diene says he plans to recommend that Japan enact a law against discrimination, which he said should be drawn up in consultation with minority groups.

He said he would now wait for the Japanese government to respond to his comments before submitting a report to the United Nations.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Japan; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ainu; bushido; immigration; japan; racism; unitednations
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To: Judge Roy

" Bet they have little crime,"

Crime is way up here ...especially murder ...bodies everywhere ...

" bet they are not paying blackmail payments to welfare voters. "

They pay it to the Yakuza ...$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

" Bet they are not suffering from more internal murders every night than a country in a war zone."

Getting there ...slowly but surely ...


21 posted on 07/11/2005 6:45:12 AM PDT by sushiman
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To: kharaku

Well, those are white and asian societies you are talking about. In this country those two groups are legally discriminated against in college applications.

Apparently you must be either a Black, Hispanic, Indian, or Muslim to be the victim of discrimination in this country.


22 posted on 07/11/2005 6:48:47 AM PDT by DuckFan4ever (Liberals lie)
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To: AnalogReigns
The national repentence which occurred in Germany, never really took place in Japan

Not sure it should occur. We should not be bashing the Japanese for the simple fact that they scare the living hell out of China. We will need Japan when the war comes.

23 posted on 07/11/2005 6:55:04 AM PDT by nonliberal (Graduate: Curtis E. LeMay School of International Relations)
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To: weegee
Blackface comic portrayls can still be found and there are bars that turn away westerners (no foreigners permitted).

I was stationed there for two years and I saw the blackface pictures on products. I thought it was funny. As a black woman, it certainly didn't affect my way of life over there. The Japanese are some of the kindest, most polite people I've ever met. I don't care what they may or may not say behind their back about me (and why spend your life being that paranoid?). Let them have their all-Japanese bars, there are hundreds of other bars where I can find a drink. My cousin taught English there for three years. She loves the place and the people. There's nothing wrong with people congregating with their own kind. Japan's business inner circle is also closed to foreigners. That's just life.

24 posted on 07/11/2005 6:55:26 AM PDT by rabidralph (Stop surveilling--start arresting!)
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To: Our_Man_In_Gough_Island
"He was also concerned that politicians used racist or nationalist themes, as he put it, to whip up popular emotions."

Sounds familiar.

25 posted on 07/11/2005 6:55:30 AM PDT by bayourod (Winning elections is everything in a democracy. Losing is for people unclear on the concept.)
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To: kabar

" is a racist society."

Whatever racism still remains exists in old fogeys over 60...The Japanese are no more racist per capita than the US , England or any other Western country .


26 posted on 07/11/2005 6:55:58 AM PDT by sushiman
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To: ncountylee

They're not doing that now, are they? Hey, what about the treatment of Africans, forcibly brought to America hundreds of years ago? Over and done with.


27 posted on 07/11/2005 6:56:51 AM PDT by rabidralph (Stop surveilling--start arresting!)
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To: Our_Man_In_Gough_Island
An independent investigator for the UN says racism in Japan is deep and profound...Doudou Diene, a UN special rapporteur on racism...

Looks like the Japanese are in deep Doudou now.

28 posted on 07/11/2005 6:59:51 AM PDT by pawdoggie
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To: AnalogReigns
who knows what is said behind closed doors.

Does this keep you up at nights?

29 posted on 07/11/2005 7:00:39 AM PDT by rabidralph (Stop surveilling--start arresting!)
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To: kabar

No surprise indeed. Japanese racism is a well known part of their national character. I'd be more interested (and even impressed) if the UN investigated the continuing Arab slave trade, treatment of Filipino and other guest workers in the Arab Gulf countries, and how Islam justifies (along with mass murder of innocents, pedofilia, second class treatment of "dhimmis", etc.) all of this. Not holding my breath on that one.


30 posted on 07/11/2005 7:02:26 AM PDT by katana
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To: rabidralph
Yes, the Korean descendants are still, today, receiving terrible treatment.
31 posted on 07/11/2005 7:04:36 AM PDT by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
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To: Our_Man_In_Gough_Island

I think an investigation on the racist government of MEXICO, would be more of a priority. Afterall I don't see many Japanese paying coyotes to sneak them acros the border.


32 posted on 07/11/2005 7:04:43 AM PDT by marty60
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To: clarissaexplainsitall
"Why the devil is there a UN investigator looking into racism in Japan? That is really stupid. There are bigger fish to fry here."

Never trust a guy named "DooDoo", especially if he's from the U.N.!

33 posted on 07/11/2005 7:06:00 AM PDT by albee (The best thing you can do for the poor is...not be one of them!)
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To: sushiman
Whatever racism still remains exists in old fogeys over 60...The Japanese are no more racist per capita than the US , England or any other Western country.

First, the old fogeys still run the country. What percentage of the Japanese population are foreigners? Of different races? How are Koreans and the Ainu treated?

`Sambo' returns to bookracks in Japan

HUMAN RIGHTS-JAPAN: UN Calls for Anti-Racism Legislation

JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA CAN ATTITUDES CHANGE? Atavistic racism: greatest impediment

" Japan has not reached this stage. Japan is an outlier; from the racism viewpoint, it is a pariah state. Racism lies in the very fabric of Japanese society; it is still at its primitive, visceral and atavistic stage. It is so ingrained that Japanese often appear totally bewildered when told they are racist. Being racist and being Japanese are so intertwined that racism is not seen as a form of deviance, but as normal. So Japanese racism is rarely expressed in vituperatively violent form. It is passive, intrinsic, underlying general social behavior. Barring foreigners from joining golf clubs, for example."

34 posted on 07/11/2005 7:08:24 AM PDT by kabar
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To: Our_Man_In_Gough_Island

is rain wet?


35 posted on 07/11/2005 7:08:52 AM PDT by N3WBI3 (If SCO wants to go fishing they should buy a perit and find a lake like the rest of us..)
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To: Our_Man_In_Gough_Island
I have a friend who taught school in Japan for several years. He is one of the smartest people I know.

I recall him telling me once that the Japanese don't like American Blacks.

36 posted on 07/11/2005 7:11:26 AM PDT by yarddog
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in the sense of foreigners in Japan, for example, being stopped at the door of a restaurant or 'snack' (bar/pub) vs. a Japanese receiving similiar treatment (refusal) in the United States, I'd probably say the foreigners in Japan would receive many more of these such treatments in Japan ...therefore making Japan the more racist.

on the other hand, in terms of actually gaining entrance to such a bar, concerning the number of foreigners beat up by Japanese in such a bar, vs. Asians beat up in American bars by patrons, solely on race, i'd probably wager that would be much more on the American side. So there you have it. not a clear cut situation as to who harbors more 'racism'. i'd say more 'subtle' racism toward the non-Japanese by Japanese in Japan; and more 'violent' racism--resulting in injury or outright death--toward the non-White/non-Black, Asian by Whites or Blacks in the USA. take your pick as to which is more nefarious

37 posted on 07/11/2005 7:16:09 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo (**AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT IS NOT SO MUCH "WHO" WE STAND FOR, BUT RATHER "WHAT" WE STAND FOR**)
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To: Our_Man_In_Gough_Island

Yes. A simple answer.


38 posted on 07/11/2005 7:21:34 AM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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To: ncountylee

I've heard they don't like the mixed races they created through the war. Such, is life. If I was having that difficult a time, I would move. I would gladly live among the Japanese, rather than some ethnicities in America.


39 posted on 07/11/2005 7:24:01 AM PDT by rabidralph (Stop surveilling--start arresting!)
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To: rabidralph
Mrs Exile and I were discussing this the other night. She's got a thing for Japan, she loves their food, their godzilla movies, and the whole anime thing.

She was saying that she'd like to live in Japan at some point. While I would enjoy visiting their country, I wouldn't want to live there. She asked why, and I responded in two parts, one I am first last and always an American. All other countries have BO. Second Japan is very xenophobic. A white guy, like myself, would never be accepted entirely in their culture. Not a bad thing, in and of itself. It's their country, and they can keep it homogeneous if they so wish.
40 posted on 07/11/2005 7:26:13 AM PDT by exile (Exile - Helen Thomas tried to lure me into her Gingerbread House.)
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