issho V1 #808 (fwd)
Tony Laszlo
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 00:05:03 +0900 (JST)
From: issho <owner...@ml.gol.com>
Reply-To: is...@ml.gol.com
To: issho-...@ml.gol.com
Subject: issho V1 #808
issho Tuesday, September 21 1999 Volume 01 : Number 808
subjects of the messages sent today:
[ISSHO] Re: issho V1 #806/Birthdays old and new
[ISSHO] Japan - Peru (Jp txt)
[ISSHO] REPORT: Exclusionary Onsen in Otaru (Aldwinckle)
[ISSHO] joho kokai but for whom
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 09:16:24 +0900
From: ishibash...@toshiba-machine.co.jp
Subject: [ISSHO] Re: issho V1 #806/Birthdays old and new
9/20/99 Ginza weather:高温多湿
Having just recently joined the ISSHO ml, I have no idea as to what
part of cyberspace ISSHO was on.
In regards to contemporary Japanese customs with Confucian roots, I
would venture to assume that one would be ohaka-mairi.
Ken
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: issho V1 #806
Author: <is...@ml.gol.com> at Internet
Date: 1999/09/19 5:00
issho Sunday, September 19 1999 Volume 01 : Number 806
subjects of the messages sent today:
[ISSHO] Birthdays old and new
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 13:21:18 +0900 (JST)
From: Tony Laszlo <las...@gol.com>
Subject: [ISSHO] Birthdays old and new
Next Saturday (9/25) will be Confucius' two thousand and
forth birthday. On last Friday (9/17) software OS Linux'
turned eight. And the ISSHO Digest recently saw issue #800,
making us 800 days old since we were reborn on this mailserver.
Trivia question: in what part of cyberspace was the ISSHO list
located before it was here? Extra points: what contemporary
Japanese customs still reflect their Confucian roots?
- ------------------------------
End of issho V1 #806
********************
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 11:58:32 +0900 (JST)
From: Tony Laszlo <las...@gol.com>
Subject: [ISSHO] Japan - Peru (Jp txt)
朝日新聞ニュース速報
在日ペルー人の送金業務を代行していた商社「コペルニックスジ
ャパン」＝東京都大田区蒲田４丁目＝が銀行法違反（無免許営業）
の疑いで警視庁と三重県警の家宅捜索を受けた事件が、４万人以上
といわれる在日ペルー人社会に波紋を広げている。同社は設立以来
、８年間にわたってペルー人の本国への送金をほぼ一手に引き受け
てきたが、これが「地下銀行」と認定された。同国人にとっては世
話役のような存在だった同社の摘発は、ペルーのテレビニュースに
も大きく報じられ、在日本ペルー総領事館も大蔵省などに相談に訪
れるなどの騒ぎに発展している。
家宅捜索が行われた１２日の午後６時。コペルニックス近くのペ
ルー料理店に、在日ペルー人たち約２０人が集まった。警視庁によ
る捜索を見守っていた人たちで、突然の摘発に動揺している様子。
来日６年で、神奈川県小田原市に住むパウロさん（３７）は「スペ
イン語で送金を受け付けてくれるこの会社は便利だった。来週から
の仕送りをどうしよう」と嘆いた。
同社を利用するペルー人は２万５０００人を数え、さらにブラジ
ル人１万人が会員になっているという。
同社の送金の仕組みは――。ペルーへの送金を希望する在日ペル
ー人は、現金書留や銀行振り込みでコペルニックスに金を払い込む
。同社はこれらの現金を一括して大手都市銀行に持ち込み、送金依
頼する。都市銀行はペルーの銀行の指定口座に為替送金する。ファ
クスで送金明細の連絡を受けたコペルニックスの現地法人が送金さ
れた金を銀行で下ろし、現地の受取人に渡す。為替送金手数料は、
件数を一括化することによって節約でき、個々の顧客から入る手数
料との利ざやが同社の収入になっていた。
警視庁は、集めた金を同社名義にして一括して送り、現地で分配
する行為は銀行法上の為替業務にあたり違法、と判断した。
従来の地下銀行と異なり、送金手続きで大手都銀を経由している
ところが、コペルニックス側の安心感につながっていた。「善良な
ペルー人のお金を扱っており、これも社会貢献。何で今になって違
法というのか」。同社の馬場弘行会長（６４）は納得できない様子だ。
馬場会長によると、同社はペルーで日系人が経営する信用組合３
団体が出資し、１９９１年に設立された。当初から、日本に出稼ぎ
にきたペルー人の仕送り代行手続きが主な業務だった。稼いだ金を
日本の銀行から送ろうとしても、日本語の送金依頼書が読めず、書
類不備で届かないケースが相次いだからだという。
同社の依頼で為替送金を扱っていた日本の都市銀行の対応はまち
まちだ。ある都銀は「銀行法違反の可能性がある」として数年前に
取引を中止した。一方、同社によると、従来の「地下銀行」の送金
システムを示しながら、「われわれは大丈夫」と太鼓判を押した銀
行もあったという。
馬場会長は「このシステムが違法なら、銀行の責任は問われない
のか」と不満をあらわにする。
ペルー総領事館は摘発後、大蔵省など関係機関への相談に追われ
ている。「どうすれば、送金業務を続けられるのかを模索している
が、納得のいく回答が得られない」という。エドガル・ゴメスサン
テェス・グッティ総領事は「コペルニックスは仕事が確実で、私も
送金に利用した。信頼できる会社で、領事館業務を手伝ってもらう
こともあった。警察の方にもわかっていただけると信じている」と
話している。
[1999-09-20-04:19]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 19:10:10 +0900
From: Dave Aldwinckle <dav...@do-johodai.ac.jp>
Subject: [ISSHO] REPORT: Exclusionary Onsen in Otaru (Aldwinckle)
Okay, sorry to keep you waiting:
REPORT: THE TRIP TO "GAIJIN-OKOTOWARI" ONSEN
OTARU, HOKKAIDO, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1999
PART ONE: THE SETUP
OTARU MYCAL, HILTON HOTEL LOBBY, 1PM
A surprising number responded to the call. Aside from my wife and two
children, and Olaf with his wife and three children, we had: 1) a Chinese
woman who was a wife of an academic friend of mine and her two daughters, 2)
a Hokkaido JET named Morgan all the way from Hiroo (south of Obihiro, 250
kms away) with his wife and infant daughter, 3) an elderly Mr Ohno, married
to an American in the Association of Foreign Wives in Japan and all the way
up from Yokohama, and, completing the action team, was Mr Nishimura from
Hokkaido Shinbun. All told we had seventeen people, eight of them little
kids, and we sat down to discuss strategies for addressing the problem:
Otaru bathing establishments which exclude any and all foreigners from their
premises.
In a half-hour briefing in the lobby, I outlined our goals:
1) THIS IS A MISSION TO CONFIRM FACTS OF THE CASE. There are to be no
demonstrations, no angry words, no push-and-shove or even a sit-in. Does
this onsen hot spring have a "Japanese Only" policy or doesn't it? We would
get the official word from the management witnessed by a professional
journalist, who would be along for the ride until he decided to step in and
introduce himself after our group had finished talking with the management.
Afterwards, we would be taking pictures of the signs or other public
indications of exclusionary policy for the public record, later accessible
through the internet.
2) THIS IS A MISSION TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION. By definition,
communication is a two-way activity. So after being refused entry we would
ask the management to explain the reasons why. We would then, one by one,
logically take apart those reasons and show them exactly why we felt this
policy was not a good idea. Then we would ask them nicely to consider
rescinding this policy for the good of Otaru and Japanese society.
I also suggested some DOs and DON'Ts:
1) DON'T GET ANGRY (may be interpreted against us later as being
"threatening") OR SMILE (may show that we're here for a lark, having fun
harassing private companies). DO KEEP A STRAIGHT POKER FACE (sumashita
kao), and if you show any emotion, make it sadness and disappointment.
Appealing to pity works better here, in my experience. Especially since we
would be going to an establishment rumored to be run by the yakuza--anger or
undue jollity could be answered by oneupmanship.
2) DON'T EVER TOUCH ANYBODY. As in America, lay a finger on anybody and
it's assault. If they block your entry, do not push. Do not plan to enter
by any means (I was worried that if these managers were really smart, they
would deflate us by just letting us in). DO JUST STAND THERE AND TALK
ONE-BY-ONE (take turns because it is less threatening than a flurry of
comments all at once). We are not here to cause trouble. Just to make our
point.
3) DO BUY A TICKET from the vending machines, because by law once they have
our money they are by duty-bound to either provide service or give us a
refund. If they do neither, it's theft and thus a punishable offense.
Moreover, having to refund all that money will make it clear just how much
cash they are losing by turning us away.
4) DO NOT IDENTIFY YOURSELVES by a tracable name. This has been a touchy
subject for people contributing thoughts to our movement--for are we an
official protest group or just a buncha sweaty families? If the former,
what's our group name? If the latter, than why are we so well-organized
with a reporter in tow? We had lined up the official support of Tokyo-based
intercultural communication group ISSHO KIKAKU (http://www.issho.gol.com)
just in case the onsen or the newspaper wanted formal identification. But
in the end, the journalist said that as far as the newspaper was concerned,
Dave and Olaf could be identified by first name and generic occupation in
the article. Plus the onsen owners never bothered to ask for formal ID
since we were trying to be paying customers, not picketers. We tightroped
the fine line.
Finally, 5) DO LET ME HAVE THE FINAL WORD if there is any negotiations to be
had. Everybody is welcome to say their opinion in a calm manner (and
everybody did in the end). But when it comes to having the motivation, the
language ability, a foreign face, and all the arguments at my fingertips, it
would be better in the long run if Olaf said his piece and then I gave the
concluding arguments. Having one foreign face to focus on (instead of them
trying to emote a sympathy vote from our wives) was far more cricket in the
end.
These were pretty rough ideas when I sat down the night before and
strategized. How they worked, we shall see:
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
PART TWO: ONSEN VISIT NUMBER ONE
YUUNOHANA, OTARU (near Otaru Aquarium), 1:45 pm
My preconceived image of this place (I heard through the grapevine that this
is Yakuza-affiliated) was of some dinky run-down, corrugated-sheet metal
hovel with flashing lights and spray-painted trucks out front. However, we
found ourselves in the huge parking lot of an enormous sparkling
family-oriented onsen just like those all-purpose "health-centers" where
people can relax any way they want. I've been to dozens of places like
these all over Japan; imagine our surprise when we saw a sign next to
sliding double doors, saying, in Cyrillic, English, and Japanese:
JAPANESE ONLY
That was fact number one confirmed.
My wife and the Chinese mom went in to buy tickets with our kids while we
idled outside and gawped at the sign. I had never seen such a brazen
example of xenophobia on such an earnest-looking establishment, and while it
was just a novel shock to me, to Olaf, who had been turned away once before
at an Onsen in Wakkanai (a place called Yuuransen), it was the rekindling of
a very furious memory. "I can feel my blood pressure rising," said he.
Says I: "Keep it cool for now, okay? Let's see what happens when we go
inside." We filed in slowly (so as to not look like we were storming the
Bastille), my wife and the Chinese lady had had their tickets taken by the
youth at the counter when the kid, wondering exactly how he was going to
deal with this, said to Olaf and me:
"I'm sorry, but we have a policy of not admitting foreigners to this onsen."
When Olaf asked why, he said, "That's our policy. I'm sorry."
We asked why again. When the kid realized that just saying "the sign out
front says so" wasn't going to do, the clerk asked us to wait a few minutes
while he called the manager.
The manager emerged a few minutes later, and he was a balding tired-looking
ojisan nearing fifty with eyes that would rarely meet any of ours. We stood
in the lobby, shoes left off in the genkan and right in full view of about
twenty customers and families sitting in the main lounge watching TV, and
began the tete-a-tete.
When he gave the boilerplate about this being policy and he was sorry and
all that, we had a word [some of the comments below have been incorporated
from other, later conversations to save space, but I'll paraphrase]:
Olaf: "Why can't we come in? Look at our kids. They're already inside,
running around. They want to take a bath, and you are stopping them because
you are stopping their daddies."
Manager: "I'm sorry, but our rules say that you foreigners cannot come in."
Olaf: "But look how kawai-sou (pitiful) it is for the children."
Manager: "Yes, it is, but [turns to my wife] you must understand that we
can only allow Japanese in here. It causes too much trouble to allow
foreigners. We lose Japanese customers that way."
Morgan: "But you let in a Chinese woman. You took her ticket. Why are you
stopping the Whites and not the Asians?"
Manager: "That was our mistake. I'm sorry. We will provide you all with a
full refund." By now he was getting very nervous and probably itching to
find a way out of this.
Dave: [putting his hand on the manager's shoulder softly to calm him down]
"Sir, I don't know your name [he didn't take the bait and give me it], but
we are not here to attack (semeru) you. We just want to know the reasons
why you have this policy. What sort of troubles have you had with
foreigners?"
Manager: "Well, foreigners, especially Russian sailors, have bad manners.
They come in here and jump into the baths and splash water everywhere. They
don't wash the soap off before they get into the hot water and sometimes
even get in with their underpants on. They swim hand in hand and talk in
loud voices. Sometimes they're drunk or carrying vodka bottles, and because
their bodies are big and they don't understand Japanese it can be hard to
reason with them or get them to leave. They are frightening to our
customers and they often complain to the management that if there are
Russians here they won't come back. But we can't just ban Russians in
particular, so we ban all foreigners out of fairness. We have a business to
run, and we can't let people in which will spoil the atmosphere of our
onsen."
So runs Japanese logic on discrimination: "discriminating against
everybody, as long as they are not Japanese, is fair"--confounding, but one
has to avoid getting annoyed if any calm, constructive action is to take
place.
Dave: "Look, sir, I understand you have a problem. I was in an Otaru
restaurant a few weeks ago [Victoria Station] that was half-full of Russian
sailors, and I found them pretty frightening too. But that was because they
were sailors, not because they were Russians. Sailors of any nationality
are rough people--look at Popeye. I'm an American, and I would be afraid of
American sailors in Okinawa too. But not all foreigners are Russian
sailors. Some of us live here permanently in Japan and have families. Look
at all our children--they want to take a bath. But because of this policy
you are hurting them, not just us. I must ask you to reconsider this
policy. It is too easily abusable (ranyou shiyasui). As you saw, only the
people who don't look Asian get excluded. So what about our children when
they get older--they don't look entirely Asian, either. Are you going to
exclude them too?"
Manager: "No, of course I don't want to exclude them. They should be let
in because they are Japanese citizens."
Dave: "Yes, but you are excluding us based on looks, not nationality. That
is the problem with this rule. Terrible things happen because of it."
Manager: "I see what you mean. This is a funny rule. But it is our rule,
and I cannot change it right now--I'm not the main boss. Actually, the boss
is thinking about this rule and whether we should say 'Japanese Only' or
not. But many places in Otaru are now doing so. The Otaru Sentou
[bathhouse] Association has decided that all Sentou that are not onsen will
bar foreigners. And many other places, even Freizeit [Otaru's huge
multiplex onsen, pool, and sports club complex, in Otaru Mycal], are
debating whether or not to do it."
Olaf: "What? So who will exclude foreigners next in Otaru? Restaurants?
Private schools and hospitals? This is what Hitler did to the Jews step by
step in my country, and who knows where this will stop? Also, Otaru gets
most of its revenue from tourism and if people see this racist policy is
spreading, it will drive tourists away. I now do not want to buy anything
associated with Otaru, and I will make sure that no academic conferences
ever have any connection with this town. This is not good business."
Manager: "Yes, I see what you mean. This policy is not very fair. But
again, I can't change it. I wish I could."
Dave: "Okay, so please tell your bosses this: We understand you have a
problem, but this policy is not the way to fix it. Put up signs with rules
on how to use the baths, stop people at the door because they are drunk or
carrying vodka, and throw them out if they don't have good manners. But
please, please don't bar people because they are foreign. Onsen bar people
with tattoos because they are probably yakuza. But those people chose to
put on those tattoos or to join the yakuza. We cannot choose our skin
color, or take it off. So make the basis for exclusion a matter of
case-by-case, based upon the behavior of the individual, not by associating
the actions of a few people with the actions of everybody who looks the
same. We will find ways to help you, so please call upon us and we will
work together to make a policy which is better for all."
Manager: "I will tell them that. Again, I'm very sorry."
Dave (so the whole room could hear): "Okay kids. Amy, Anna, we've been
ejected from the premises. For reasons that we were born with." (ami, anna,
wareware suihou sareta yo, umari tsuki no riyuu de).
There were eddies of nervous laughter from everyone in the room (now about
thirty people, mostly middle-to -older ojisan and obasan, watching the
exchange intently from their sofas). A number of them were saying in stage
whispers, "They oughta let them in," "How sad," One even came up to
Morgan's wife and expressed regret that this was happening and it should not
be. Thus our point was made.
As we were on our way out, Mr Nishimura came up to the manager here and
identified himself as a journalist, and that he was coming along to survey
what was happening for a news article. He asked the manager if he would
like to give the onsen's side of the story, which he did. Meanwhile, we
lined up outside for a group photo in front of the exclusionary sign.
A little while later, as it started to rain and it was clear that the Mr
Nishimura's interview was going to take a while, we decided to split up and
head to Freizeit for a bath and a meal instead of going on to Trouble Spot
Number Two. Morgan was due back in Hiroo that night, the Chinese mom had
her parents-in-law waiting at Mycal to go home, and Mr Ohno wanted to find
accommodation for the night and would rejoin us later. Most importantly,
the kids were far more disappointed than the adults were about not being let
in, so we decided that taking them someplace which would let us all in was
better now than later. It would turn out that this onsen would provide the
most information for Mr Nishimura anyway, so we decided to recharge our
batteries before continuing the mission.
As we drove to MyCal in the driving rain, the children in the back of my car
started singing, "Namida, Namida" to the windshield wipers. "Teardrops,
Teardrops." It was very appropriate.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
PART THREE: ONSEN VISIT NUMBER TWO
OTARU MYCAL, FREIZEIT, 5 pm
Olaf, his son Daniel, and I had just had a much-needed soak, and we were
sitting in Freizeit's restaurant "Jiyuutei" getting some beverages and
waiting for our wives and daughters to emerge from the swimming pool. I had
gone moments before to the main lobby counter and asked if I could speak to
the manager. What about? The "gaikokujin-okotowari" problem, and how we
had heard that Freizeit was considering enforcing it too. We wanted to
touch base and encourage him to keep the doors open to people like us. The
youth at the counter seemed to understand exactly where I was coming from,
and ten minutes later we had Mr Kakibayashi, general manager (shihainin) of
Freizeit, sitting at our table for the next half hour, meeting our wives and
children, and receiving congratulations from us for being so open-minded as
to let us in despite being refused at Yuunohana. We didn't mention that for
this "largesse" we would be spending about 20,000 yen at a struggling MyCal.
But I'm sure that Mr Kakibayashi knew that, and he accepted the kudos with
glee:
"Yes, we have no exclusionary policies. Never have, never will. As a
matter of fact, the general manager of the Hilton Hotel is a Swiss
gentleman. So as you can see, MyCal is a very open place and we will
continue being so."
Dave: "But we heard that Freizeit was considering exclusion. After all,
the Otaru Sentou Association has made it official policy. Isn't there any
danger that you will change your mind?"
Kakibayashi: "No there is not. We are not a member of any of the local
bathing associations, and will not join them because we like foreigners
here. We will not even consider such a terrible policy here. How would
those onsen managers like it if they went overseas and found themselves
being kicked out because they were Japanese?"
Music to our ears. But I was still going to introduce factors until I was
satisfied with the sincerity: "But what about your Japanese customers?
Yuunohana said that if foreigners come the Japanese will stay away. Won't
that happen here?"
Kakibayashi: "We have never heard of that here. Yes, there have been some
bad-mannered foreigners, but there are also bad-mannered Japanese too. We
give both them a warning and they shape up. No problem. And do Japanese
people stay away? Of course not. We make the rules clear with pamphlets in
several languages, and consequently everybody enjoys our baths. I don't
believe onsen owners when they cite this is as an economic reason."
Olaf: "Yes, but it seems to be convincing them. Wakkanai is now justifying
excluding foreigners because of decisions made in Otaru. Ohtaki-Mura's
'Kawasemi' onsen is turning our friends down. Ohtaki-Mura [in the middle of
the mountains] is not exactly a place where Russians go. So this problem is
getting worse. We need your help."
Kakibayashi gave me his meishi to pass on to Mr Nishimura: "I'll be happy
to cooperate with your article. We hope you will come back here again."
Olaf: "We will keep coming back as long as you will keep letting us in."
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
PART FOUR: ONSEN VISIT NUMBER THREE
OTARU ONSEN "OSSUPA", 7:15 pm.
Olaf and I parted company with our wives and kids (they went back to
Sapporo) and it was just as well. We met Mr Nishimura and Mr Ohno in the
parking lot of a simply dreadful-looking establishment very close to MyCal
in the Otaru Port area. This time it WAS a filthy run-down corrugated-sheet
metal place with flashing lights and BIG ECHO karaoke sounding off at
triple-digit decibels. We ran through the rain and entered what would turn
out to be a side entrance (it had no exclusionary sign), and, after passing
countless UFO-catchers and unused video-games, found the counter manager, a
dour looking denizen in his fifties, glaring at us. After a momentary look
of revulsion, he said, "Japanese only" and looked down at his books,
pretending we weren't there.
Olaf was not in the mood to talk to a man as condescending as this, and we
knew that we were not going to get the time of day like we did at Yuunohana.
So I leaned over and got close--the only way we could hear each other--and
began shouting through the music just to get the same basic answer.
"Japanese only."
"Why?"
"Because it's the rules."
"Why do you have this rule? It's not a good rule."
"Too bad. We have a business to run. You foreigners only cause trouble."
"You know us personally? How do you know we will cause trouble?"
"Look, it's our rule. Japanese only. Didn't you see the sign?" There it
was. Above the counter and outside the main door.
"Why don't you tell us why this rule is in place?" We eventually got him to
sit down with us over in a corner and have a brief tete-a-tete. But he
would give us few insights as to methods behind the madness. A few minutes
later, another night manager at the karaoke counter, even older, came and
said, "He's only been here a year, and came after this rule was in place.
He doesn't know why. You are welcome to talk to our manager,
Ohkoshi-buchou, tomorrow, if you call and make an appointment. Here's the
number."
Our group looked at each other and understood that this is as far as we were
going to get. We left the joint feeling grimy as the cold rain intensified.
Dave: "Ugh! A place as kitanai as that should be banned from everybody,
including the Japanese."
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
PART FIVE: ONSEN VISIT NUMBER FOUR
TENBOU ONSEN PANORAMA, 7:45 pm
This onsen is within the Shin Hokkai Ferry Terminal, right where the ships
connecting Otaru with Maizuru, Tsuruga, and Niigata dock. A Russian ship
was parked right next to it, and there would be no place more convenient for
a sailor, who apparently gets only cold showers on a Russian tub, to beg for
a good hot bath for a change. It was in a nice new building on the fifth
floor with no exclusionary signs outside or in the elevator (except one
barring tattoos and yakuza). We took the ride up to see the final
permutation of bathhouse rules enforcement.
We four men walked in and the matron of the establishment, a woman in her
late forties, took a sideways look at us and prepared her tongue to lash.
She turned to the Japanese men and said:
"Are these two [foreigners] with you?"
Mr Ohno, who had stayed in the background with Mr Nishimura all day watching
things with a smile, said, "Yes they are. Does it matter?"
"Yes it does. We have a policy of excluding foreigners. See the sign?"
It was on the wall kitty-corner to the elevator out, and not readily
visible. It read in English under the Cyrillic:
===========================================
ABOUT THE REFUSAL OF HOT SPRING BATHING
PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS HOT SPRING WILL BE ASSUMED TO BE USE LIMITED
FROM THE DIFFERENCE OF THE LIFE CUSTOM TO THE JAPANESE.
RECORD
EXECUTION ON JULY 18 (SATURDAY) GENERAL MANAGER
===========================================
And in Japanese:
===========================================
平成10年7月15日
当温泉入浴は生活習慣の違いから日本人に限るご利用と致しますのでご了承下さい。
記
7月18日（日曜日）から実施 支配人
===========================================
Easy to tell this had not been proofread by a native speaker. Who would
want to translate this?
Ohno: "So you mean that these two can't enter?"
Matron: "Are you going to take responsibility for them?"
Ohno: "What do you mean, 'responsibility'? What could these two people do?"
Matron: "Not follow manners. Disturb our Japanese customers."
Ohno: "Look, these two have lived in Sapporo for ten years. They speak
Japanese. They are Permanent Residents. They have families. They are
members of this society."
Matron: "Well, that's different then. Okay, you want to go in, you can go."
Well, I thought, that called our bluff. Olaf, Ohno, and I were prepared to
go in if necessary. But Nishimura didn't want a bath, so he said,
"Actually, we are here on a surveying mission." And he gave the Matron the
information about his reporter qualifications and asked if we could speak to
the manager on duty. One phone call later, we were on the second floor of
Shin Nihonkai Ferry in a conference room, sipping coffee with a Mr
Nishizawa, mid-thirties, who was giving us a very friendly, heart-to-heart
talk on the situation. Twenty minutes into the conversation, in between all
our tailor-made speeches about unfairness and abuse of bad rules, he said:
"Actually, Shin Nihonkai Ferry is of two minds about this policy. When we
first opened five years ago, we allowed anyone in. But because we are not
only close to the Port--we ARE the Port--lots of Russian sailors came in.
Their manners were so bad the Japanese clientele actually stopped coming.
There's also the problem of disease. So we instituted this rule last year
in July--"
Dave: "Excuse me. 'Disease'? Are you saying there was a contagious
disease (kansen byou) involved here?"
Nishizawa: "No, not in our establishment. Over at Ossupa [the place we
were last]. They said that some kind of disease was brought in by the
Russians."
Dave: "What kind of disease? Of the skin? Of the lungs? What are the
symptoms?"
Nishizawa: "I don't know exactly."
Dave: "How many people were infected? Is there any medical proof of this?
Any doctor's report?"
Nishizawa: "Ossupa didn't give details because they didn't want to lose
business. This was just something circulated amongst bathing
establishments."
Dave: [flabbergasted] "So on the basis of a RUMOR of disease with no factual
basis and no proof of a connection with the Russians, you and every sentou
in Otaru went and banned foreign bathing in your establishments!?"
Ohno: [scoffing] "Yes, Japanese are very weak about fears of disease.
Nobody wants to take any chances. One word, and everybody closes their
doors out of fear."
Dave: "Not just fear. Superstition and supposition completely unsupported
by science. Reminds me of 1986, when AIDS was big news over here and people
started making cracks about how any contact with foreigners would infect
them. The old 'foreigners are unclean' (gaikokujin wa fuketsu) sentiment.
What century is this, people?"
Nishizawa: "But listen, we are not banning foreigners entirely. It's
case-by-case. We have no exclusionary sign up downstairs, and if the matron
sees foreigners, she usually phones down and checks with us. If they are
not drunk or if they have been here before, we let them in. If they show us
their Gaijin Cards, we know that they are not just sailors and we let them
in. If they look like troublemakers, the matron turns them away. The thing
is the rules are not absolute. We choose on the spot whether or not to
enforce them."
Ohno: "Yes, but look at the way you decide to phrase those rules.
'Difference of the Life Custom to the Japanese' (Seikatsu Shuukan no
Chigai)? What does that mean, exactly? If they don't speak the language,
if they don't wear kimono, if they don't eat sushi, you can bar them? Also,
this asks for trouble because any Japanese who reads this is going to say,
if he finds you let somebody in, 'Hey, kick this foreigner out! What about
that sign?' Nobody is clear at all what the lines are and it makes nobody
happy."
Nishizawa: "That's why we are really having trouble finding consensus on
this rule. Half the company wants a complete ban because otherwise Japanese
customers stay away [the Matron downstairs later confirmed this]. The other
half, including myself, wants complete opening because we can't stomach this
discrimination."
Nishimura (the reporter): "I did an article on this place last year, and
I'll be doing one this year. Do let me know if you change the rules."
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
PART SIX: CONCLUSIONS
DRIVING HOME, 10:30pm
"We had a really good day, today," said Olaf. "Learned a lot. What do you
think about what we saw?"
Well, to me it was a glimpse of the enforcement spectrum. On the
exclusionary extreme, we have Ossupa, which considers foreigners to be a
form of contamination and disease, and it will hardly even talk to
foreigners, let alone consider a change of policy. On the welcoming
extreme, we have Freizeit, which takes anybody and has systems in place to
make sure people follow the rules.
Then we have the softer middles. The exclusionary softie, Yuunohana, our
first stop, was firm about kicking us out, no exceptions. But the manager
was a very professional hotelier about doing it. Even my wife said, "Gosh,
you know, I'm not angry at all at the manager--he said everything the right
way and made us feel more sorry for him for not being able to change the
rules than for ourselves having to obey them."
"Yeah," said I, "I found that very emotionally confusing as well--this way
of telling people to get lost without actually hurting their feelings.
Seems exceptionally Japanese."
Yet Panorama, the last stop, was willing to make exceptions. Problem was
that it was ideologically gagging on its own rules.
And that is what Olaf and I would derive strength from. Japanese may often
be exclusionary, even racist, in their approach to social problems. But
once notified of it, many begin to tie themselves up into the same mental
knots as Americans and Europeans. Many are not ignoring the discrimination.
They just don't know what to do about it.
"There's hope for this movement yet," said I. "All it takes is somebody to
stand up and say, 'this is wrong'. Because Japanese too, in their hearts,
know it is. However, the thing is that we, as The Community, have to
realize is that it must be us who says it. We can't wait for people to wake
up to it. We have to nudge them. That is our job in the Japan of the
future. To stand up for our own rights."
"And who is 'we'?"
"It might as well be us."
Dave Aldwinckle
Sapporo
PS: Mr Nishimura just told me, in a phone call a few minutes ago, that his
article on this whole trip should be appearing in the morning edition of
Hokkaido Shinbun, September 21, 1999. Have a look if you can get a copy.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 00:01:46 +0900 (JST)
From: Tony Laszlo <las...@gol.com>
Subject: [ISSHO] joho kokai but for whom
I think the issue brought up by Jonathan and
then by Francoise certainly deserves more of
our attention.
The move to allow "anyone with a viable reason"
to see someone's personal documents if that
person is a foreign resident would seem to be
in the spirit of the recent "tochoho" or
wiretapping bill.
Then, why is the gov't asking for opinions
on this? Will the opinions actually affect
the decision?
------------------------------
End of issho V1 #808
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