From: underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe)
Subject: Re: Fingerprinting Gaijin
Organization: Miners for a Heart of Gold
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 02:49:25 GMT

In article <HARKCOM.92Nov19091904@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp>
harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom) writes:
>In article <1992Nov18.060308.27770@leland.Stanford.EDU>
>   underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe) writes:
> =}>	TOKYO (UPI) -- Japan's Supreme Court on Monday upheld the government's
> =}>authority to fingerprint alien residents of Japan in a case that has
> =}>kept an American woman living in the nation from traveling abroad for
> =}>10n years.
> =}
> =}I won't comment on the morality of finger printing, but I wish to point
> =}out the following.  The Japanese gov't has been, in general, fairly unbiased
> =}in its treatment of foreigners, regardless of ethnicity.
> =}(Note that Kathleen Morikawa is a Japanese by ethnicity but is an
> =}American citizen.  I applaud UPI for referring to her as an American.)
>
>   So you know the woman?  If not then don't assume by her name that she
>is ethnic Japanese as it might not be her 'real' name...

The statistical probability that she is ethnically Japanese is very
high because the marriages of Japanese-ge men+European-ge women is
much higher than the marriages of European-ge men+Japanese-ge women.

(-ge = ethnically speaking).

> =}Most Koreans have made a huge issue out of fingerprinting and
> =}citizenship.  For years (and very loudly) they have complained and whined
> =}about how the Japanese gov't is discriminating against them specifically.
> =}That was and continues to be a lie.  Koreans who do not have Japanese
> =}citizenship are treated in just the same way that other foreigners have
> =}been treated.
>   Not quite.  Koreans must change their names to get citizenship...

This is not correct.  There is no written law that says that a person
must change his name, but the immigration office might put pressure 
on you do so.  In that case, this is no different than the pressure that
non-Korean foreigners get.

My Taiwanese coworker was pressured to change his last name; he did so.
Some foreigners managed to get Japanese citizenship while retaining their
non-Japanese last name.

> =}In particular regard to citizenship, most Koreans do not want citizenship
> =}but do want the rights that are associated with it.
>
>   I have seen no statistics saying that "most" Koreans do not want
>citizenship.  Many Koreans want citizenship but don't want to have to
>give up their identity to do so...

Too bad.  Like I said, the Japanese gov't has not discriminated against
Koreans; they are confronted with exactly the same rules that every other
foreigner must face.

> =}The Koreans have never
> =}once presented a case of a specific person who was denied citizenship by
> =}the Japanese gov't and who (1) wanted citizenship and (2) met the terms of
> =}citizenship.
>   That (2) is the hanger.  Meeting the terms of citizenship is not as
>easy as it sounds.

Again.  Too bad.

Too bad.  Like I said, the Japanese gov't has not discriminated against
Koreans; they are confronted with exactly the same rules that every other
foreigner must face.

> =}The Koreans have to meet the same requirements for citizenship and residency
> =}that all the other foreigners must meet.
>   How many Americans had to change to Japanese names to attain citizenship?
>The soccer player Ramos still gets his name, why can't someone named Park???

Japanese laws are different from American laws.

Too bad.  Like I said, the Japanese gov't has not discriminated against
Koreans; they are confronted with exactly the same rules that every other
foreigner must face.

> =}It's too bad that they can
> =}not bear to pledge allegiance to Japan and not Korea. 
>
>   There was a TV drama about a young Japanese of Korean ancestry who
>wanted citizenship.  The drama was produced to teach Japanese people
>what problems such people face.  Changing names was a major hurdle to
>overcome for most.  For those that did jump the hurdle, rampant
>discrimination in hiring practices (perfectly legal) made it hard to
>get a decent job.  Discrimination amongst some Japanese made it difficult
>to keep previous jobs also.

This is a separate issue.  Yes, there is discrimination in Japanese
society.

But as far as getting Japanese citizenship, the Koreans are not
being discriminated against.  They should stop whining.  The Japanese
gov't has not singled them out.

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Jinsei no imi wa nan desu ka.                Sister, can you      |   \|  |`
Shitte itara oshiete kuremasen ka.           spare a coin?        |    | -+-
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Copyright 1992.  Disclaimer:  1 + 1 = 3                           |
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