From: fester@island.COM (Mike Fester)
Subject: Re: Getting Japanese citizenship (was: finger....)
Organization: /usr/local/rn/organization
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 17:19:49 GMT

In article <1992Nov20.073401.27656@leland.Stanford.EDU> underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe) writes:
>In article <1ehtv2INNl3m@uniwa.uwa.edu.au> keis@psy.uwa.oz.au (Keis Ohtsuka)
>writes:
>>... To my knowledge, the Japanese government has not admitted the fact that
>>they were brought to Japan against their will
>
>This is extremely regrettable, but I thought that someone uncovered Japanese
>military records proving that the women were forced into prostitution.
>Yes, I agree that this too should be recorded in Japanese history books
>taught to school children in Japan.

They ("Koreans") were also forced into serving in the military, and when the 
war was over, they were summarily stripped of their citizenship, denied all
penions, medical benefits, etc.

>>let alone the payment of compensation for their ordeals.
>
>I disagree with this.  The compensation was given in the form of
>the multi-billion dollar grant (in 1993 dollars) given to Korea in the
>'60s as part of the normalization of relations.

The amount paid by the Japanese was $500 million dollars, none of it to any
individual, and none of it to the "Koreans" who were, after all, Japanese.

>Japan did do a proper and moral gesture in the context of its culture
>and the rest of East Asian culture.  Any compensation owed the
>women should be obtained from the compensatory grant given to the
>S. Korean gov't.

Actually, no, they did not, and the right-wing violence surrounding the recent
trip by Akihito to China should attest to this. The right-wing was afraid that
the Emporer might "apologize" for Japan's actions in that country.

>If Northeast Asians should miraculously believe that individualism
>and not groupism is the proper conduit of behavior at the time
>that Japan and N. Korea normalize relations in the future, then
>it's multi-billion dollar compensation should _not_ be given to
>the N. Korean gov't but should be dispersed among the survivors and
>children of the victims of WWII.

Actually, as pointed out above, it was not "multi-billion", it was less than
half a billion.

>>[interesting comments deleted]
>>Even countries that define the citizenship by a place of birth (jus solis)
>>such as UK or USA do grant a citizenship derived by a blood if an applicant
>>proves that he or she was born with a parent that holds the citizenship.
>>If Korea defines the citizenship based on a blood line (jus sanguinus) like
>>Japan or Germany do, an applicant with a Korean parent should have easier
>>time than an applicant with no Korean parent. DJ's criticism of "preferential"
>>treatment should be extended to all countries that define citizenship by 
>>jus sanguinus, which by the way includes Japan and Germany.
>
>No, my criticism should not be extended to the USA and Japan.  Germany, yes.
>USA, no.

??? Both the US and Germany recognize 'inherited' citizenship, as does Japan.
As pointed out, non-Japanese of Japanese descent have an easier time obtaining
various visa statuses than other foreigners in Japan. Germany grants citizenship
to anyone who can prove they are of German descent. The US grants citizenship 
to someone who can make a claim to US citizenship, even if a) that person was
never in the US b) that person's immediate ancestors do NOT currently have
US citizenship and did not at the time of the person's birth (see the example
of Simas Poskaitis).

>The children of Koreans who were themselves born in the USA and who
>_never_ _once_ held Korean citizenship (are called Korean-Americans) are
>given priority in becoming Korean citizens over Japanese-Americans,
>Thai-Americans, etc.  That's the way in which the Korean immigration
>laws are written.  Ethnicity, not prior citizenship of the parents,
>is what counts.

Same in Japan.

>That really is discrimination on purely racial and ethnic grounds.

So why criticise it in the case of Korea, but accept it in the case of Japan?

(BTW, many Americans of Japanese descent who were visiting Japan at the time
of the outbreak of Pearl Harbor found out they did not really have a choice
about accepting their citizenship).

Mike
-- 
Disclaimer - I'm only doing what the little voices tell me to do. 
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA