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Public schools turn to non-Japanese teachers
Third-grade students at Osaka municipal Kita-Nakajima Primary School get insights into culture on the Korean Peninsula that many others do not. Their homeroom teacher is Lee Chi I, 31, a third-generation South Korean living in Japan. Lee’s grandfather came from South Korea’s Gyeongsangnam-do, but she was born and raised in Aichi Prefecture. Students at the…
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More seek, fewer win status as refugees
The number of people granted refugee status by the government between January and September was less than a third of the figure for the same period last year, according to Justice Ministry documents. Considering that applications for refugee status during the nine months surpassed the record number set for the period in 2008, people who…
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Too innocent for prejudice?
Are kindergarteners racist? Do they discriminate between children with different skin colors? “Children are too innocent,” one Japanese mother told me in a survey of parents’ views. Her conclusion: “They do not hold racial prejudices.” As innocent as children may be, extensive research conducted in the United States and Europe has shown that children as…
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Senior immigration officer arrested on suspicion of corruption
A senior immigration officer arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes is believed to have told his briber to set up an office in Kawasaki as a front. Arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes in return for favors in the screening of residence permits for female bar workers was Masashi Ogura, 54, a chief screening officer…
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A level playing field for immigrants
Despite Japan’s looming demographic disaster — you know, the aging society and population drop due to low birthrates and record-long life spans — we still have no immigration policy. No wonder: The people charged with dealing with non-Japanese (NJ) — i.e. the Ministry of Justice’s Immigration Bureau and sundry business-sector organizations — just police NJ…
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FOREIGNER SUFFRAGE
Local vote for foreign residents: time ripe? Permanent foreign residents of Japan may finally face a realistic chance of being granted local-level suffrage under the administration led by the Democratic Party of Japan, which has signaled a willingness to pursue such rights. Foreign nationals at present can’t vote in national or local-level polls, and changing…
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Agency for foreigners called for
Representatives from municipalities with a large number of foreign residents are calling for the central government to set up a new agency aimed at improving their livelihoods. The proposal made Thursday by a group of 28 municipalities in seven prefectures said they have recognized the need for the government to create such an entity so…
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No. of immigrants applying for repatriation aid hit 16,000 by mid-Nov.
The number of immigrants of Japanese descent who had applied for government repatriation aid since the program began in April had reached roughly 16,000 by mid-November, welfare ministry officials said Monday. http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=472071
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Foreigner vote not reciprocal
The Democratic Party of Japan is likely to give local election voting rights to foreigners with permanent residence status and who are from countries or regions with diplomatic links or other ties to Japan, sources said Monday. They include South Korea, which has diplomatic ties, and Taiwan, which lacks diplomatic links but has a strong…
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Bill eyed to give vote to foreigners
The Diet affairs chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan said Friday that DPJ lawmakers were planning to introduce a bill to grant foreign nationals with permanent resident status the right to vote in local elections. Kenji Yamaoka also said the current extraordinary Diet session may have to be extended beyond its scheduled end…