i Afro

The IC you Card

2005-11-23T13:55:00.000+09:00

A very informative article from a guy that I know!

The 'IC you' card
Computer-chip card proposals for foreigners has big potential for abuse,

By DEBITO ARUDOU

People are still reeling from September's LDP landslide election, realizing that Koizumi can essentially legislate whatever he wants.

For foreigners, that brings some bad news.

One of Koizumi's platforms is economic recovery through tourism and increased contact with outsiders ("Yokoso Japan") yet his administration can't shake its preconception of foreigners as potential terrorists and criminals.

Koizumi's previous Cabinet bore no fewer than three ministers who mentioned, in their introductory speeches, the alleged foreign crime wave (even though the media, including this column on Oct. 7, 2003, has long debunked this).

In December 2004, the Cabinet released its "Action Plan for Pre-Empting Terrorism," explicitly stating the terrorists to be targeted are essentially foreigners (Community Page; May 24, 2005).

Now Koizumi the tour guide wants to institute high-tech tracking of every foreigner he invites.

On June 16, the LDP's Political Affairs Research Committee ("seimu chousakai") issued their "Proposal for a New Immigration Control Policy" ("arata na nyuukoku kanri shisaku e no teigen").

Their plan: Issue "IC Cards," or credit card-sized identification cards, containing computer chips to track people.

One form of IC card (the "shutsu nyuu koku" card) will be issued to anyone (Japanese or not) crossing the Japanese border, upon request and at their expense.

The other, the "zairyuu card," is obligatory and replaces the Gaijin Card. All resident aliens (except the generational "Zainichi" ethnic "foreigners," who remain unchipped) must still carry it 24/7 or face arrest.

This "Gaijin Chip" will contain data such as: "name, nationality, birthday, passport information, visa status, address, workplace, educational institution if student etc."

Fingerprints will also be encoded "if the person wants." But just in case, fingerprinting will be reinstated to imprint foreigners both entering and leaving the country.

The LDP sweet-talks the reader by insisting the system is for people's "protection" ("hogo") and "convenience" ("ribensei"). They mention benefits to both foreigners and society by tracking alien visits to, quote, "museums, consultative government bodies, national art museums . . ."

It still amounts to central control of untrustworthy elements, and treating foreigners like criminal suspects.

Some expressed goals of Gaijin Chipping are, "strengthening control of residency information," "ease and precision of collection, analysis, and practical use of data for Immigration," and, more colorfully, "smoking out the invisible ('aburi dasu') illegal aliens."

All data will be stored for a vague amount of time (perhaps indefinitely) in a bureau called (in katakana) the "Intelligence Center."

Through a joint Immigration/National Police Agency "task force" on foreigners, this data will be issued to cops and bureaucrats "so they can better service each individual foreigner as a resident without obstacle."

Orwellian overtones aside, consider the policy in practice: Workplaces, schools, hotels, etc. will be legally required to report any changes in foreigner employment, domicile, visa, etc., through swipes of IC Cards at strategically-positioned machines.

This means foreigners will now find it difficult to, say, make an anonymous inquiry at a ward office without having their data swiped.

Likewise if you frequent love hotels. The proposal specifically considers swiping stations for apartments, weekly mansions, and other categories of lodgings, essentially expanding Japanese prison conditions nationwide. If an inmate asks for, say, a pencil in a Japanese prison, he has to give a fingerprint. A roll of toilet paper? Fingerprint. Now, go see some Basho etchings in a museum as a foreigner? Swipe.

Not that I'm advising it, but why aren't they doing this for everyone in Japan? Japan still has no universal ID system.

Because they can't. Last time the government tried to pull a fast one on the public like this, through the Juki-Net system, there was nationwide protest and local governments refused to participate. Issues of privacy, especially since laws insufficiently protect people from government abuse of information, were of course brought up.

But non-Japanese, apparently, don't have the same right to privacy. Unlike Japanese, foreigners might commit crime, you see.

There is a pattern here. We already know the Foreign Registry Law was set up in 1947 specifically to track the alien in our midst.

But even the only law protecting foreigners from refusals at private-sector businesses, the Hotel Management Law, required all people (including Japanese) to write down names and addresses "for the control of infectious diseases."

But now, the government states, this law has become insufficient due to terrorism. So, naturally, they are targeting foreigners. As of April 1, regulations stemming from the Hotel Management Law were revised to empower clerks to demand and copy passports from all foreign tourists.

However, as this column discussed (Oct. 18), it is being applied to all foreigners. This is not only against the law, but also a breach of trust.

Whenever you give more powers to any government, you trust responsible enforcement. However, ministerial misinterpretation has in this case been a concerted effort.

On Feb. 9, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare's Health Policy Bureau clarified the recent hotel regulation changes through internal directives issued to all prefectural governors, city leaders, and local MLHW branches.

After justifying the revision in the name of "securing the safety of guests" (i.e., being kept safe from foreign customers?), the second directive erroneously states "foreign lodgers" are to be targeted.

It also states that a foreigner not showing his passport should be reported to the police, because, quote, "there is a chance he isn't carrying it."

Hang on. This in itself is not illegal. Laws state that foreign residents do not have to carry passports if they have gaijin cards.

What an administrative mess. Plenty of opportunity for misunderstandings, arrests of innocents, even denial of the right to accommodation guaranteed by law.

Not to mention racial profiling and criminal treatment, by people legally unentitled to police powers, on the increasing number of multiethnic Japanese citizens. This will only increase as the IC Card swipers proliferate.

My point is that no matter how sweet the LDP may make its Gaijin Chip proposal sound, there is no telling what will happen when bureaucrats get their hands on it.

Their enforcement has been most unscrupulous this year, and given the urgency of the policy putsch (and the vulnerability of foreigners), I foresee great potential for further enforcement abuse.

Not to mention policy creep. Think IC Carding will be ultimately confined to foreigners?

Historically, unpalatable policies have been foisted on the foreigners first and then quietly introduced to the Japanese public.

For example, look what happened to Japan's lifetime employment system, where full-time work (especially in academia) meant lifetime work.

That was replaced, after a century of guinea-pigging the foreigners, with contract employment, in the form of laws like 1997's "Sentaku Ninkisei Hou."

Employers, realizing that they can hire and fire at will (simply by refusing to renew contracts), and enjoy weak labor law enforcement and a sympathetic judiciary (see www.debito.org/acadapartupdate05.html ), soon adopted the system.

And how. According to the National Union of General Workers, contract labor now makes up 20 percent of all Japanese men, 50 percent of all Japanese women, and 90 percent of foreign labor in the Japanese workforce.

I like to finish a column advising what readers can do about this, if only to offer psychological solace. But there isn't much to say this time. Foreign residents cannot vote and thus mean little to politicians. And these days with the opposition greatly weakened, there is a lack of balance of power.

All we can do is wait for the pendulum to swing back, which it will. Though probably not in time to save foreigners from constant digital fingerprinting, or foreign-looking Japanese from being hassled for not being controllably foreign enough.

Send comments to: community@japantimes.co.jp

The Japan Times: No

Hmm! So I Am Not Crazy!

2005-11-15T12:00:00.000+09:00

I took one of those amplify your brain or prove your IQ type tests and my results are shown below. I guess that this is in the ball park but my intuition tells me that it is not logical.

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (50%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain.
Left Brain (52%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Left brain dominant individuals are more orderly, literal, articulate, and to the point. They are good at understanding directions and anything that is explicit and logical. They can have trouble comprehending emotions and abstract concepts, they can feel lost when things are not clear, doubting anything that is not stated and proven.

Right brain dominant individuals are more visual and intuitive. They are better at summarizing multiple points, picking up on what's not said, visualizing things, and making things up. They can lack attention to detail, directness, organization, and the ability to explain their ideas verbally, leaving them unable to communicate effectively.

Overall you appear to have fairly Equal Hemispheres

-----------------------------------------
According to Darwinian theory, optimal evolution takes place with random variation and selective retention. The evolution savvy individual will try many different approaches when faced with a problem and select the best of those approaches. Many historical intellectuals have confessed their advantage was simply considering/exploring/trying more approaches than others.

The left brain dominant type suffers from limited approaches, narrow-mindedness.

The right brain dominant type suffers from too many approaches, scatterbrained.

To maintain balanced hemispheres, you need to exercise both variability and selection. Just as a company will have more chance of finding a great candidate by increasing their applicant pool, an individual who considers a wider set of options is more likely to make quality decisions.

Wait! I wonder what this means if you don't believe in evolution?

Self-Inflicted Wounds

2005-11-14T11:17:00.000+09:00

I was asked to define the term self-inflicted wound.

Drinking too much!
What you get when you don't use protection. (See #1)
The result of zipping too fast. (See Something About Mary?)
The result of rubbing too fast. (See picture or #5)
Getting married too young. (See #2)
Getting a divorce. (See #5)
The act of wounding yourself in order to get a shiny metal or higher status. (See John Kerry?)
Believing what's written in Michelle Malkin's books!
Excuse you give when asked how you got that ooh wee a.k.a. big azz black eye. (See #8)
Losing to the crash test dummy! (See #7)

The Ugly Gaijin (Foreigner)

2005-11-13T16:25:00.000+09:00

I am a firm believer in You reap what you sow! In this case, the a-hole foreigner shown in the video is really at a lost for words. I guess that he read the wrong book on Japan.

Make sure that you watch the video 'til the end to see how some of the Japanese keep it real!

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~rv5a-phlp/video/osakalow.wmv

Spearchucker Condoms

2005-11-12T22:37:00.000+09:00

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Here is something to help a few men in Japan. Scented Koten Condoms! The caption written in Osaka-ben (dialect) reads Koten koutenka? = Koten kaimasenka? Koten, don't ya wanna buy it?

What do i, Afro, think? Get that ish outta here!

Here are a few replies from others:

Mizuwari at BT said:

Ef yuh wannuh be hung laik MEEESE...den get DEESE.

Another poster wrote:

What's the big deal? Is this really something worth losing sleep over? Some Japanese guys who feel inadequate about themselves want to put little anime-style villager african men with spears on their condom box so they can feel good about themselves. They're actually wanting this stereotype. I think it's funny. It's should be a compliment if anything; it shows jealousy and envy not hatred. It's not something I would start a cause for and it doesn't seem like a hate crime.

Of course, I only say this because I don't know what the box actually says, but in any case I think there's more pressing issues to deal with than making sure condom makers respect your blackness. Japanese guys want to be like black men in bed, whoopty-doo. Let's start a riot and show them what we're made of for thinking black guys perform well sexually.

Tenderhead writes:

Its obvious the spear reps a huge penis and the black cartoon character is akin to an animal like Savage... these condoms will turn the average Joe into Mandingo in bed....

And to really get the party started, I will side with Mizu on this one:

I dare them to put us spear-chucking some cartoony Japanese females...THAT would start up some shyt...

Or even better yet...us boinking Hello Kitty...she doesn't have a mouth, so she can't "scream!"

I guess this is the black version of Pokemon (pokey man, get it)!

Negro Ninjas

2005-11-11T22:40:00.000+09:00

My Kendo Sensei and his son (two kick azz instructors) pose with me after a loooong TV shoot. I battled two fighters at the same time and won!
It was kind of like fighting two opponents with pugal sticks. That Marine Corps rifle and bayonet training still comes in handy!

What did i, Afro, teach the challengers? To understand the meaning of "Who's yo' daddy?"Don't let my smile fool ya, this brotha is a Ninja! Well, that is once the aches and pain go away! Wait! Negro Ninjas? The N word twice. I feel a rant coming on!

--i, Afro, sends an oorah and a salute to Veterans everywhere!

Happy 230th Birthday to the US Marine Corps

2005-11-10T00:30:00.000+09:00

25-years and one-week ago, I was a lowly Private in the US Marines.
Wow! How time zips past ya! I was also the youngest Marine in my unit so I got to cut the birthday cake.

Life in Okinawa, Japan was good back then. Great memories. Young, dumb, and full of........... Wait! Most of my tour brings back great memories.

I occasionally have flashbacks of trying to kill an Unidentified Flying Object (a GIANT cockroach) that landed on my private Johnson while I was taking a shower. The UFO is MIA and Johnson was KIA.

We were both found face down in the shower due to blunt force trauma to the head when I, Afro missed the target and nailed the beans and frank. Hey! I had soap in my eyes. Anyway, who said that two heads are better than one?

Happy birthday Devil Dogs!

Semper Fi!

I, Afro

My pick is bigger than yours!

2005-11-09T19:06:00.000+09:00

I never knew that my afro would come in handy in the Land of the Rising Sun. Everyday is like being at an amusement park. I always seem to find a new character and adventure!

I hope to provide you with insightful information on ura-Nippon (behind-the-scenes Japan). If you are looking for the textbook version on Japan, you will not find it here!

Check out the iAfro Blog and iAfro Podcast for my musings on:

Being Black in Japan a.k.a. The Negro is a Ninja or The Other N Word
Language & Culture (and your lack of it)
Food & Drink(s)
Music & Fashion
Travel
Love, Sex, or Romance (See Money, please!)
Money, please! (See Love, Sex, or Romance)
RANTS!!! (See The Negro is a Ninja)

I, Afro, hope that you will enjoy the show!

P.S. - Please send shower caps!