From: kenji@tom.astem.or.jp (Kenji Rikitake)
Newsgroups: fj.misc,fj.soc.law
Subject: Re: law works or not[English]
Date: 28 Sep 92 01:43:48 GMT
	<INAGAKI.92Sep22170751@aclab1.resrch.anritsu.co.jp> <2734@aegis.or.jp>
	<INAGAKI.92Sep24192410@aclab1.resrch.anritsu.co.jp>
	<CLAUDE.92Sep25144011@tokyo.trc.mew.mei.co.jp>
Followup-To: fj.misc
Organization: RCAC Project, ASTEM RI, Kyoto, Japan
In-reply-to: claude@trc.mew.mei.co.jp's message of 25 Sep 92 05:40:11 GMT

In article <CLAUDE.92Sep25144011@tokyo.trc.mew.mei.co.jp> claude@trc.mew.mei.co.jp (Claude Huss) writes:
 |I don't see how the japanese society is trying to "implement human
 |rights" without relying on the law. At first, because nothing would
 |become your right if not assured by law and secondly because the
 |japanese society hasn't shown considerable improvements to minorities
 |living here. Almost all improvements here were result from South
 |Korean government's pressures. 

Before talking about specific issues, let me write something on
recognition of legal systems by Japanese people. (Note: contents in
this article obviously contains my assumption and sarcasm so don't
treat them too seriously :))

The idea of legal system itself is still foreign to most of Japanese -
because those established the legal system in Meiji era were actually
"studying and learning" from European (mostly German) society - and
most of Japanese still put their preference and values prior to the
law. People hate law enforcement bodies (e.g. police and courts)
because they usually put law prior to what people feel. The response
of mass media to Kanamaru's fraud and legal bargaining shows a good
example - those media uses the rhetoric of law-says-blah-blah-blah-
but-we-feel-blah-blah-blah-so-we-will-not-accept-what-the-law-says to
get attention of audience. :) So all legal implementations are done
based on implementator's values; if the person who implement the law
says yes it will be implemented, but if he/she says no it won't. 
Fortunately most of basic govermental services are provided without
bribery, but money talks when you have to get approvals of as many
individuals as you can such as in a election - you must buy them.

On racial discrimination: alas considerable portion of Japanese people
(not me, don't get me wrong) still do not want ethnic minorities to
exist in The Land of Rising Sun, although the so-called-law says those
minorities should be treated equal. So those discriminative people
will have very perplexed mixed emotions to the minorities; the gov't
will punish them if they treat minorities unfair, but they don't want
to treat them fair. So strong feelings of resentment to the gov't may
emerge.

 |People here will wait for the agreement come "from the up". Then, some
 |people will complain, like in the case of "SHOHIZEI" ($@>CHq@G(J), and after
 |a while everybody will be very tired to complain about it and leave 
 |everything as it is.

Well about the Shohizei or consumption tax very few actually complain
because the tax is not explicitly shown on retail price lists, so very
few think they are paying something they do not want to. This is
completely different from the implementation in the United States.

And I find many people still feel unseen "threats" from the government
or "national polity" (Kokutai) - the polity is officially banned after
1945 when Japan lost WWII. The polity will punish people who say
something against it. The wound of autocratic imperialism hardly
disappears in Japan.


 |You should know how much the japanese society is $@41N=2=(J...

Because that's the only way to get people together in a single policy;
carrot-and-stick method is most effective to the individuals who do
not obey law and act only by what they feel, NOT what they think.

Just murmuring what I feel :) (well I see most of fj newsgroup writers
are saying only what they feel :))

// Kenji