On 19-Jan-2012 19:11, band beyond description wrote:
> Weird stuff...been bandied about in the Twittersphere even before The
> Economist Banyan blog ran it with veracity disclaimers, with some tweeps
> saying he's a crock at worst and a selective withholder of all pertinent
> facts and misrepresenter of his stated occupation (a "journalist") at best.
Some things to note would be:
(1) Johnson refuses to publish details about his visa status because his lawyer advised him against it. What is he hiding? Provided what he writes is true, wouldn't it just rub more dirt in Japan's face for getting it all wrong?
(2) The thing with the armed officer he writes about in his rambling. AFAIK only law enforcement is allowed to have guns. And hunters. Would a police officer really allow some private security guard to say "Hey, if you don't oblige I'll shoot you with this guy's gun"?
(3) He renewed his work visa in 2008. How long do work visas last? Could it be that it expired and he didn't notice? Though in that case, why didn't the airline staff at Incheon airport notice it? I'd assume Korea->Japan flights are especially tough on checks.
Not that I don't believe him getting fifth-class treatment after it was decided he was going to be leaving...
_The Economist_ is reputable enough that there's probably something to
it.
My experiences with immigration were equally odd, but in the opposite
direction. I ended up with 3 simultaneously valid visas and the guy I
met with before I left on vacation scheduled an appointment with for the
day after my return.
OTOH, before I got to the counter to plead my case (in Japanese) I witnessed
the same guy (and his collegues) denying visa renewals (or visas) to a large number of other furriners who had (IMO) pretty valid cases. 'Course,
it didn't help that some of them insisted on their rights...
According to at least a couple of people who claim to know him, the guy is something like a junior double under-sub assistant fuku-henshucho-dairi at Daily Gomiuri and has been doing Japan on a tourist visa for almost two decades ... three months in Wa, 36 hours in a foreign port, and back. So, I guess that might tend to piss off the Immigration people just a tiny bit ... if the tax guys didn't get him first. But, it has given Debit a new lease on his miserable life.
On Jan 20, 5:06 am, Frederik Christiansen <usen...@biglot.org.hk>
wrote:
> Message didn't go through(?), so we try again...
> On 19-Jan-2012 19:11, band beyond description wrote:
> > Weird stuff...been bandied about in the Twittersphere even before The
> > Economist Banyan blog ran it with veracity disclaimers, with some tweeps
> > saying he's a crock at worst and a selective withholder of all pertinent
> > facts and misrepresenter of his stated occupation (a "journalist") at best.
> Some things to note would be:
> (1) Johnson refuses to publish details about his visa status because his
> lawyer advised him against it. What is he hiding? Provided what he
> writes is true, wouldn't it just rub more dirt in Japan's face for
> getting it all wrong?
My guess is that Immigration has hit the "engaged in activities not
consistent with current visa status" button.
> (2) The thing with the armed officer he writes about in his rambling.
> AFAIK only law enforcement is allowed to have guns. And hunters. Would a
> police officer really allow some private security guard to say "Hey, if
> you don't oblige I'll shoot you with this guy's gun"?
Have seen a few private security guards with firearms over the years.
His rant was implying that police, or at least the normal police,
simply do not have jurisdication beyond the passport control area.
Seems a little strange.
On Friday, January 20, 2012 7:00:15 PM UTC+9, band beyond description wrote:
> CL <flo...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > On 01/19/2012 10:43 PM, Declan Murphy wrote:
> >> What do you think of this case? Must be more to it than just a few
> >> critical/negative blog posts...
> >> http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2012/01/japans-immigration-control
> > According to at least a couple of people who claim to know him, the guy
> > is something like a junior double under-sub assistant
> > fuku-henshucho-dairi at Daily Gomiuri and has been doing Japan on a
> > tourist visa for almost two decades ... three months in Wa, 36 hours in a
> > foreign port, and back. So, I guess that might tend to piss off the
> > Immigration people just a tiny bit ... if the tax guys didn't get him
> > first. But, it has given Debit a new lease on his miserable life.
> never knew him as a Japan "journalist," let alone to have a Yomiuri
> association (Yom would never tolerate someone with such a sketchy visa
> track record); FWIW, googling his name & Yomiuri brings up an "Asia Times"
> tag, however.
> and his blog does have some extremely limited examples of "journalism,"
> often just blog-like, amateurish, rife with typos and in dire need of a
> decent editor—but none to be confused with material *anywhere* near on a
> par with the New York Times or Pulitzer-worthy:
> also he's on twitter at @cjinasia if it matters...
His original article on his blog (which my dyslexia kept insisting was called "preposterous.com") has been revised umpteen dozen time since it has been
pointed out that he has been claiming a lot of things that simply beggar belief.
I read perhaps the first draft of it and I only managed about 3/4s of the
way through it. As a "journalist", his writing style leaves a LOT to be
desired. As you say, he is in dire need of an editor which is why I think he
crowd sourced it to the world in general and now, for some reason, is getting
a bit aggro that people are questioning the veracity of it.
Some of the long commentary about it can be found here:
While I think some of the things may have happened, a good portion of it has
been embellished by his own anger and hyperbole that it really isn't worth
listening to. That reminds me of someone ... I just can't recall who ...
On Jan 23, 9:43 am, chuckers <chucker...@gmail.com> wrote:
> His original article on his blog (which my dyslexia kept insisting was called "preposterous.com") has been revised umpteen dozen time since it has been
> pointed out that he has been claiming a lot of things that simply beggar belief.
> I read perhaps the first draft of it and I only managed about 3/4s of the
> way through it. As a "journalist", his writing style leaves a LOT to be
> desired. As you say, he is in dire need of an editor which is why I think he
> crowd sourced it to the world in general and now, for some reason, is getting
> a bit aggro that people are questioning the veracity of it.
> While I think some of the things may have happened, a good portion of it has
> been embellished by his own anger and hyperbole that it really isn't worth
> listening to. That reminds me of someone ... I just can't recall who ...
My guess is still a) activities inconsistent with whatever category of
work visa he may have had, or b) churning tourist visas and working
illegally.
> My guess is still a) activities inconsistent with whatever category of
> work visa he may have had, or b) churning tourist visas and working
> illegally.
He actually updated his tale around two hours ago to elaborate on the visa issue. The changed version said:
> I had work visas dating back to 1989, and papers saying the government
> had acknowledged the receipt of my application to renew my work visa,
Then he sneakily undid the change.
From what I get out of it, he had a work visa issued in 2008 and it expired in late 2011. He therefore attempted to get it renewed. Before the renewal was processed, he left Japan for Korea and tried to reenter within a very short amount of time. He couldn't play the "I need to tie up loose ends before leaving forever, please let me in as a tourist" card, because his renewal was already in progress.
Rather than act apologetic about the entire situation, he decides that the best way to deal with it is to go on a narcissistic rage trip and display a massive sense of unwarranted entitlement.
Actually, thinking about it, the reason he probably made a short trip to Korea is because his renewal wasn't in progress -- it was denied. He therefore wanted to change to a tourist visa. I guess that falls under (b).
Frederik Christiansen <usen...@biglot.org.hk> wrote:
> On 23-Jan-2012 10:45, Declan Murphy wrote:
> > My guess is still a) activities inconsistent with whatever category of
> > work visa he may have had, or b) churning tourist visas and working
> > illegally.
> He actually updated his tale around two hours ago to elaborate on the > visa issue. The changed version said:
> > I had work visas dating back to 1989, and papers saying the government
> > had acknowledged the receipt of my application to renew my work visa,
> Then he sneakily undid the change.
> From what I get out of it, he had a work visa issued in 2008 and it > expired in late 2011. He therefore attempted to get it renewed. Before > the renewal was processed, he left Japan for Korea and tried to reenter > within a very short amount of time. He couldn't play the "I need to tie > up loose ends before leaving forever, please let me in as a tourist" > card, because his renewal was already in progress.
> Rather than act apologetic about the entire situation, he decides that > the best way to deal with it is to go on a narcissistic rage trip and > display a massive sense of unwarranted entitlement.
The "deep apology" is usually all the Japanese officials want to hear...
> Frederik Christiansen <usen...@biglot.org.hk> wrote:
> > On 23-Jan-2012 10:45, Declan Murphy wrote:
> > > My guess is still a) activities inconsistent with whatever category of
> > > work visa he may have had, or b) churning tourist visas and working
> > > illegally.
> > He actually updated his tale around two hours ago to elaborate on the
> > visa issue. The changed version said:
> > > I had work visas dating back to 1989, and papers saying the government
> > > had acknowledged the receipt of my application to renew my work visa,
> > Then he sneakily undid the change.
> > From what I get out of it, he had a work visa issued in 2008 and it
> > expired in late 2011. He therefore attempted to get it renewed. Before
> > the renewal was processed, he left Japan for Korea and tried to reenter
> > within a very short amount of time. He couldn't play the "I need to tie
> > up loose ends before leaving forever, please let me in as a tourist"
> > card, because his renewal was already in progress.
> > Rather than act apologetic about the entire situation, he decides that
> > the best way to deal with it is to go on a narcissistic rage trip and
> > display a massive sense of unwarranted entitlement.
> The "deep apology" is usually all the Japanese officials want to hear...
Declan Murphy <declan_mur...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Jan 23, 10:40?pm, mtfes...@netMAPSONscape.net wrote:
> > Frederik Christiansen <usen...@biglot.org.hk> wrote:
> > > On 23-Jan-2012 10:45, Declan Murphy wrote:
> > > > My guess is still a) activities inconsistent with whatever category of
> > > > work visa he may have had, or b) churning tourist visas and working
> > > > illegally.
> > > He actually updated his tale around two hours ago to elaborate on the
> > > visa issue. The changed version said:
> > > ?> I had work visas dating back to 1989, and papers saying the government
> > > ?> had acknowledged the receipt of my application to renew my work visa,
> > > Then he sneakily undid the change.
> > > ?From what I get out of it, he had a work visa issued in 2008 and it
> > > expired in late 2011. He therefore attempted to get it renewed. Before
> > > the renewal was processed, he left Japan for Korea and tried to reenter
> > > within a very short amount of time. He couldn't play the "I need to tie
> > > up loose ends before leaving forever, please let me in as a tourist"
> > > card, because his renewal was already in progress.
> > > Rather than act apologetic about the entire situation, he decides that
> > > the best way to deal with it is to go on a narcissistic rage trip and
> > > display a massive sense of unwarranted entitlement.
> > The "deep apology" is usually all the Japanese officials want to hear...
> usually?
I've been following this story here and in some of the other online venus mentioned. I thought those of you who do not already subscribe to the JBR Japan Forum mailing list might be interested in the following post by Gregory Clark. He seems to have asked some well-placed friends and confirmed that what we had suspected is in fact the case.
On Jan 29, 10:42 am, Scottintokyo <sc...@tokyo.jp> wrote:
> I've been following this story here and in some of the other online
> venus mentioned. I thought those of you who do not already subscribe to
> the JBR Japan Forum mailing list might be interested in the following
> post by Gregory Clark. He seems to have asked some well-placed friends
> and confirmed that what we had suspected is in fact the case.
> On Jan 29, 10:42 am, Scottintokyo <sc...@tokyo.jp> wrote:
>> I've been following this story here and in some of the other online
>> venus mentioned. I thought those of you who do not already subscribe to
>> the JBR Japan Forum mailing list might be interested in the following
>> post by Gregory Clark. He seems to have asked some well-placed friends
>> and confirmed that what we had suspected is in fact the case.
>> On Jan 29, 10:42 am, Scottintokyo <sc...@tokyo.jp> wrote:
>>> I've been following this story here and in some of the other online
>>> venus mentioned. I thought those of you who do not already subscribe to
>>> the JBR Japan Forum mailing list might be interested in the following
>>> post by Gregory Clark. He seems to have asked some well-placed friends
>>> and confirmed that what we had suspected is in fact the case.
>>>>> http://nbrforums.nbr.org/foraui/message.aspx?LID=5&MID=41079 >>>>> Guess I'll revert back to lurker mode now.
>>>>> Scott Reynolds
>>> You lurker you! Pls drop by with some of your pearls of wisdom more
>> frequently!
> I'll do my best.
He's baaaaack, with an "extended" post (which some in the 2nd & 3rd links
describe less charitably):
On Friday, April 6, 2012 7:56:05 AM UTC+9, Band Beyond Description wrote:
> Scottintokyo <sc...@tokyo.jp> wrote:
> > On 2012-01-31 06:04:41 +0000, Declan Murphy said:
> >> On Jan 29, 10:42 am, Scottintokyo <sc...@tokyo.jp> wrote:
> >>> I've been following this story here and in some of the other online
> >>> venus mentioned. I thought those of you who do not already subscribe to
> >>> the JBR Japan Forum mailing list might be interested in the following
> >>> post by Gregory Clark. He seems to have asked some well-placed friends
> >>> and confirmed that what we had suspected is in fact the case.
> >>>>> http://nbrforums.nbr.org/foraui/message.aspx?LID=5&MID=41079 > >>>>> Guess I'll revert back to lurker mode now.
> >>>>> Scott Reynolds
> >>> You lurker you! Pls drop by with some of your pearls of wisdom more
> >> frequently!
> > I'll do my best.
> He's baaaaack, with an "extended" post (which some in the 2nd & 3rd links
> describe less charitably):
Bonus points for anyone that can read the whole thing all the way through in on go.
How anyone can such a poor writer be considered a "journalist" is beyond me. But I guess he is the only one that considers himself to be so.
Reading paragraphs at random (theoretically "out of context") shows how bizarre and warped his thinking is. Reading the paragraphs IN context shows that there actually is NO context to begin with. Just some sort of stream of consciousness that begs for psycho-therapy.
chuckers <chucker...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Friday, April 6, 2012 7:56:05 AM UTC+9, Band Beyond Description wrote:
>> Scottintokyo <sc...@tokyo.jp> wrote:
>>> On 2012-01-31 06:04:41 +0000, Declan Murphy said:
>>>> On Jan 29, 10:42 am, Scottintokyo <sc...@tokyo.jp> wrote:
>>>>> I've been following this story here and in some of the other online
>>>>> venus mentioned. I thought those of you who do not already subscribe to
>>>>> the JBR Japan Forum mailing list might be interested in the following
>>>>> post by Gregory Clark. He seems to have asked some well-placed friends
>>>>> and confirmed that what we had suspected is in fact the case.
>>>>>>> http://nbrforums.nbr.org/foraui/message.aspx?LID=5&MIDA079 >>>>>>> Guess I'll revert back to lurker mode now.
>>>>>>> Scott Reynolds
>>>>> You lurker you! Pls drop by with some of your pearls of wisdom more
>>>> frequently!
>>> I'll do my best.
>> He's baaaaack, with an "extended" post (which some in the 2nd & 3rd links
>> describe less charitably):
> Bonus points for anyone that can read the whole thing all the way through in on go.
> How anyone can such a poor writer be considered a "journalist" is beyond
> me. But I guess he is the only one that considers himself to be so.
> Reading paragraphs at random (theoretically "out of context") shows how
> bizarre and warped his thinking is. Reading the paragraphs IN context
> shows that there actually is NO context to begin with. Just some sort of
> stream of consciousness that begs for psycho-therapy.
In sum, suspect whole charade is clumsy (but effective) publicity stunt
designed to raise his profile (stupidly at others' expense).
