Comments on: Aye, yo, I’m Japanese

By: shakuhachi

shakuhachi — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 13:40:38 +0000

I agree that Debito’s methods are divisive rather than constructive. His methods of confrontation, without the all important omoiyari （思いやり）just leads to more conflict with conflict shy Japanese. There are other activists who are much more effective.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 13:37:14 +0000

Taiwanese and Koreans were legally designated as naikokujin (内国人) or “inner country people,” to distinguish them from gaikokujin (外国人) or “outer country people,” i.e. outright foreigners. Sort of a limbo status between being Japanese and not being Japanese. Now, that naikokujin distinction doesn’t exist; everyone’s a gaijin and that’s just the way it is. Until you go the Bianchi route, of course.

By: kushibo

kushibo — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 11:09:17 +0000

Aki, I was quite aware of the ethnic Korean who was elected to the Japanese Diet in the 1930s. Ironically (some would say), ethnic Koreans for the most part enjoyed considerably more rights, freedoms, and opportunities as Japanese citizens outside Chōsen/Korea than they did inside Chōsen/Korea.

By the way, had Japan not lost its Chōsen and Formosa, these two “Outer Japan” colonies were to be represented directly in the Japanese Diet starting in 1946, with Japan finally making good on that particular promise to treat Koreans and Taiwanese as “equals” with those in the Japanese home islands.

By: Aki

Aki — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 09:46:40 +0000

There seems to be misunderstanding about the history of Japanese voting system. Everyone living in Japan have equal right to vote and to be voted since 1926 regardless of his/her ethnisity provided that he/she has Japanese citizenship. Before WWII, an ethnic Korean, 朴春琴, was elected as a Diet member twice in 1932 and 1937. Even voting in hangul had been allowed. After the WWII, Koreans lost the right to vote and to be voted in Japan since they lost Japanese citizenship as a result of the independence of Korea.
Brief history of Japanese voting system for ethnic Koreans (in Japanese).
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~fv.....juuichidai

By: Curzon

Curzon — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 07:02:03 +0000

Kushibo: All good points.

By: kushibo

kushibo — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 06:42:50 +0000

The hwagyo (Korea-born ethnic Chinese) were treated at least as badly as Japan-born ethnic Koreans were in the past.

Curzon, you have a point, though I think several issues of scale should be considered. First, the number of naturalized Koreans not of Korean ethnicity is, I believe, considerably smaller than their counterparts in Japan. Second, the number of elected offices is considerably smaller (given that the ROK’s population is about one-third that of Japan’s). And finally, democratically chosen, directly elected offices are something that have around barely a decade in Korea.

If it is to happen, it is going to take a bit more time. I thought I read about an ethnic Vietnamese woman being elected to a town council, but I might be confusing that with something else. (In the past there were a lot of ethnic Japanese holding public office, but they weren’t democratically elected. )

By: Curzon

Curzon — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 06:06:14 +0000

wjk: Putting aside your issues with Chonko’s logic, he has a point that can’t be denied: The Japanese electorate has voted in naturalized “foreigners” to public political office in local and national government. The Korean electorate has not, to the best of our collective knowledge, had a similar experience.

By: wjk

wjk — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 05:50:04 +0000

to be fair, I mention here something that was mentioned here in the past. South Korea had ethnic Chinese people living in South Korea (Hwa gyo), but they weren’t allowed to do a lot of things South Koreans did.

They wouldn’t be allowed to go to Dae Hak, University.

That’s pretty significant, considering everyone in Korea thinks or thought one must at least have a university diploma to do anything in life.

Most Hwa gyos were in the Chinese food business. Not because they wanted to, but because that was what the government let them do. Severely messed up, in my opinion.

Hwa gyos weren’t allowed to vote. Beyond messed up, in my opinion.

To be fair, I don’t know for sure if all of the above is true. I heard of it from a South Korean radio broadcast op/ed show in Los Angeles, California.

But, I think it’s mostly true.

I was in my teens back then, and I thought the South Koreans were basically doing what the Japanese did to Koreans living in Japan.

By: wjk

wjk — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 05:44:08 +0000

according to Chonko, every bad person would be Korean.

By: wjk

wjk — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 05:43:19 +0000

you’re the racist, Chonko. I don’t know what Korean(s) wronged you so severely that you hate them so much, but you’re the one with the assumptions and the poor attitude. Kanji would be Hanja

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji

We, the Koreans, already had that.

What the Japanese asked us to do was stop speaking/writing/reading in Korean (but mostly stop speaking), and have totally new names. Japanese names.