Japan’s new amended immigration laws (改æ£å…¥ç®¡æ³•) kicked in today, making it the second country in the world after USA to implement a compulsory fingerprinting system for foreign visitors.
Image shamelessly stolen from Stippy.com
This is a particularly unpleasant development in my opinion, not because I am a strong advocate of individual privacy (I am not), but because it really brings out the uglier, nationalistic, racist and ignorant side of Japan.
As of today, all foreigners entering Japan above the age of 16 have to have their fingerprints and photos taken or face immediate deportation. The interesting thing is that fingerprinting a Japanese citizen is specifically prohibited by law unless the individual is suspected of having committed a crime.
Supposedly this is done to fight terrorism, but can you really think of any instance of a terrorist attack in Japan that was executed by foreigners? The high profile sarin gas attack was perpetuated by the Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese cult. Japan’s infamously closed society already makes it next to impossible for any Islamic fundamentalist groups to operate there with any success, so this new measure is clearly an overkill in fighting terrorism.
Apparently, the fact that a high-ranking Japanese official claims to have friends in al-Qaeda who managed to enter Japan with various passports is enough justification for tighter immigration measures. This would have been just a really terrible joke if it were not actually true.
The reality is that all this talk about terrorism is just for the foreign media. The real reason for this measure is because foreigners are perceived as the cause of crimes and social problems in Japan. This racist attitude is so pervasive in right-leaning media outlets that it legitimizes itself and influences the thinking of people in a way that is not immediately apparent and very, very sinister. For example, magazines supposedly detailing the criminal acts of foreigners can find shelf space in regular convenient stores.
Hive of Villainy
One look at Itai News’ article on the latest fingerprinting scheme gives you a glimpse into the mindset of xenophobic Japanese who have probably never interacted with a foreigner in their lives. Most of the comments are along the lines of:
- Japan needs to maintain its good public safety records
- Most crimes are committed by foreigners
- Only criminals would complain about being fingerprinted
- America is doing it too
Itai News does coverage on the latest hot topics on 2ch, so you can say that it’s not that reflective of mainstream Japan. But still, it’s mind-boggling just how ignorant some people can get when they refuse to see beyond their immediate surroundings.
Discrimination
In Japan, foreigners can be stopped for questioning for the “crime” of riding a bike. Bicycle theft is a very common offence and foreigners are likely to be criminals, right? Police officers are also known to randomly stop foreigners to ask for identification and detaining people who do not have the proper papers with them. How do they tell that you are a foreigner? By looks of course! Permanent residents, naturalized citizens and Japan-born citizens with foreign parents are thus screwed both ways. Not only do they pay taxes, they still get treated as foreigners. Of course, there are the ever-infamous no pets no gaijin signs.
Once again, it seems that my post has become too tangential. Let’s go back to fingerprinting.
Fingerprinting can be good
As mentioned, I am not a huge fan of over-emphasizing on individual freedoms. I think that a nationwide fingerprint database can probably do wonders for crime-fighting, provided that the right instruments are put in place and they are properly scrutinized for potential abuse. For example, I won’t advocate such an implementation in a country suffering from rampant institutional corruption because it would just be another tool for mid-level bureaucrats to profit off.
But I think that if proper procedures are followed, there is really no harm in a central fingerprint database. It would certainly help solve a lot of serious crimes where fingerprints actually come into play. (I doubt that they get any prints to work with in the case of a bicycle theft.)
What I do have problem with is the current implementation. Why is the fingerprinting of Japanese citizens restricted by law? Clearly the existence of such a law implies that there is something unpleasant about being fingerprinted. And yet we have a bunch of racist Japanese net commentators saying “only criminals are afraid of getting fingerprinted”. Well, if that is true why not fingerprint everyone then? This is just pure discrimination, nothing more and nothing less.
We didn’t start this!
And the argument that the USA is already doing it is even more laughable. Firstly, it implies that foreigners “deserve” it for starting this whole thing. Well, newsflash! Not all foreigners are American! Moreover, I don’t think the US is that great an example to follow right now.
According to Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek, the number of Japanese tourists travelling to the US each year dropped from 5 million in 2000 to 3.6 million in 2006 and the number of Britons travelling to the US decreased by 11% but increased everywhere else.
Declines in the number of tourists since 9/11 cost the US $100 billion in spendings and taxes. Overall, global travel is experiencing continuous healthy growth, except to the US. Why? I think the possibility of being anal probed at the customs may have something to do with it!
Clearly, today’s United States of America is a shitty example to follow as far as immigration policy is concerned. I don’t think Americans are any safer today than before 9/11, just a whole lot less free (and less rich thanks to the spiralling dollar). If al-Qaeda really hated freedom (and not years of being screwed over by America’s asinine foreign policies), then they have really succeeded in a big way. But I digress again.
To conclude…
I guess that in the end, getting fingerprinted isn’t that big of a deal. But what is disgusting is how discriminating against foreigners is taken as a given by so many Japanese, and how valid concerns like security are used to manipulate public opinions for such an insidious agenda. It’s the vile combination of ignorance and protectionism that paved the way to Star of David badges more than sixty years ago.
Fingerprint everyone or fingerprint no one!
Ultimately, I just hope that I don’t have to wait for an hour to enter Japan when I fly there next month. (More details about that at a later date.)
Considering it was already next to impossible to immigrate to Japan in the first place – who cares ?
Also, there are decent countries in Americas, not only MassMurder States, so its really not fair to call one small country with the name of the whole two continents.
Oh fine. I will change the name. *grumbles*
Hilarious that a guy from Russia, a country that routinely butchered its own citizens in the 20th century, fought a 20 year quagmire in Afghanistan, and goes on internation assasaination campaigns, would call the US the MassMurder States. Roflcopter.
I’m coming back to Singapore this Friday to attend Animation Nation, so I guess I’ll be unfortunate enough to experience this procedure first hand. :[
Darkmirage, hi there again, just a few thoughts.
I’m from Hong Kong, but study in US, so I go thru the same fingerprinting and taking pictures shit every time I enter US. Before (now defunct), student visa holders need to go to this automatic kiosk to do the same thing (no person inside, it’s all automatic, just put finger prints and swipe visa) to get a receipt saying: “OK I’m leaving US for vacation/summer and will come back later”. I also often fly to Japan often with family for shopping and food. I have yet to try the Japanese version of fingerprinting. I don’t think US citizens are fingerprinted during entering US also.
So that now Japan is doing it, and it definitely is not a welcome sight. It really is a form of discrimination to just fingerprint foreigners. Japan definitely has a thriving of tourism business and I’m pretty sure fingerprinting foreigners does not necessarily mean crime and terrorism in Japan(terrorism in Japan? haven’t heard any for ages…) will go down.
There are two ways you can look at the scenario.
One, since less foreigners are going to Japan, it helps to keep their peace of minds. Now that less foreigners are in Japan, everyone can now focus on the next target to group. As we have seen, already otaku enclaves are being swiped out.
And, as evident in the Myanmar debate, where do we draw the line between foreign interference and moral support? If we are to demand that Japan is to stop the fingerprinting, any nationalist will play the “who are you to dictate our cultural norms?” card.
On the flipside, Japanese had already this proverb to strengthen their cause: “Any nail that sticks too much get hammered.” […”If the nail is difficult to hammer in, it is removed.”]
Looking at a globalization scale.
This is the result of the resistance to change in globalization. I think many countries are adopting the resistance to having too much change in their society. Looking at Britain, Germany, France, a majority of South-east Asian nations, South Korea, Canada, United States and many multiculturalist nations, most newspapers around the world seemed to hype the failures of multiculturalism, and bring to light the need to “protect their interest against economic imperialism.”
As a result, many nations are also adopting this “nationalist” approach of ensuring that not too many foreigners will take away the native citizens’ jobs and means of living, but at the same time attracting those investments.
Welcome to the uncertain 21st century. So, what are the voices of the New Silent Generation? (God I love sociology!)
“Considering it was already next to impossible to immigrate to Japan in the first place – who cares ?
Also, there are decent countries in Americas, not only MassMurder States, so its really not fair to call one small country with the name of the whole two continents.”
MassMurder States? Perhaps you should look up some of your own country’s heritage. Try hitting up Wikipedia for post-WWII Russia and the Great Purge for greater massacres than anything you can claim the U.S. participated in. And when people say America they mean the US, if you want to refer to North and South America you say The Americas.
As for fingerprinting, yeah it’s unfortunate, but I kinda agree that fingerprinting itself is not really that big of a deal. It’s not that intrusive, and can be used to fight terrorism. Like you said though, the way they have justified it in Japan seems to reinforce a lot of the inherent racism and misunderstandings about terrorist.
Dude, chill out, man. Every nation has a skeleton in their closets. The Russian guy is probably enticing a trap joke here.
In the case of Japan, unless you can device a method to alter your fingerprints (why should you, for that matter?), if you’re going to be there, not visiting the brothels (it seemed the argument — that being in the vicinity of a brothel doesn’t mean you intend to solicit a prostitute — is now changed to “guilty until proven innocent”), then what do you care about? If you’re a tourist, give them what they wanted. This is one move for nationalism for them, anyways. Welcome to New Sakoku Policy.
I will just enjoy the whole world contradict and fight each other. I, on the other hand, will sit down, somewhere in the figurative “lone island with a volcano”, looking at the screen, displaying the world map, and icons depicting the situation in each region. With my Persian cat on my lap, I caress my staff as an evil laughter emanates between my lips as I plan the next plan for world domination………
There is no way I would ever travel to a country that treats my like a criminal instead of treating me like a guest. For me this means that the USA has been a no-go-area for a few years and I guess I will add Japan to this list as well, even through there are a few places I’d like to visit once, but I won’t betray my ideals just for that.
Over here it’s the other way around. Since the beginning of this month we have do give away our fingerprints if we want to get a passport. These fingerprints will be saved on the passport using an RFID-chip. Of course, this is all in the name of terroris..err..fighting terrorism. (I’ve yet to see a terrorist through and I still think that it’s far more likely to be killed by a drunken driver or even a piano falling off someone’s balcony than being killed by a terrorist attack.)
“only criminals are afraid of getting fingerprintedâ€
*lol* I’m terribly familiar with this kind of argument. “Only those having something to hide care about their privacy!” is one of the most popular arguments our right-wing politicians and their followers put on the table to get unconstitutional laws passed. Maybe we should just ask these people to show us the contents of their porn stash as well as their current account balance to find out if they really don’t have anything to hide. Following their reasoning they would be criminals if they refuse.
A lot of dumb laws have been passed in the name of fighting terrorism like a law that prohibits pilots to overfly the government district in Berlin. (I’m sure al-Qeada is screwed now, because they can’t crash their plane into the parliament without breaking a law! *lol*)
It looks like fighting terrorism is an argument that makes people putting their brains on standby-mode. Sometimes I ask myself what to fear more: The terrorists or the government that sells out everyone’s rights in the name of fighting them.
Looks like the societies shifting toward right-wing attitudes is global threat since 911 and this trend scares me way more than al-Qeada (etc.) ever could. We throw our freedoms and ideals down the drain in the name protecting them.
Hence, the mind thought shift.
Looks like the societies shifting toward right-wing attitudes is global threat since 911 and this trend scares me way more than al-Qeada (etc.) ever could. We throw our freedoms and ideals down the drain in the name protecting them.
This is what the Al-Qaeda trap wants the Western world to believe in.
Don’t anybody see? It might be far-fetched, but it’s not impossible that because of restrictive policies many Western or developing nations are increasingly adopting, many are beginning to see Al-Qaeda in a more positive light. The bloody 1984 cycle begins:
Government restricts citizen rights further
People feel despaired and disillusioned
Al-Qaeda (through their innovative propaganda) spreads the message of hate against said government
People rejoiced, fights back
Government fights back (sometimes with brute force), whole cycle begins
Ah, guys, I hate to say this, but ever since George Orwell coined the “1984” effect, reality seemed to adopt such actions more and more.
Time to buy ourselves a new volcano island and begin our global preparations. My new name is Dr. No. [/bond-joke]
@TP
I’m pretty proud of my country, I really don’t think it’s wrong for me to get offended when it’s referred to as “MassMurder States.” I could care less if he was trolling for a response or not.
I guess the comments on this article will run and run, what with this proposed renaming of the US, not to mention the controversial subject of the original blog entry.
Every nation has its more unpleasant quirks. This fingerprinting initiative slots neatly into what little I know about the quirks that Japan has.
I would like to point out that “Only those having something to hide care about their privacy!†is not an argument unique to the right wing – plenty of left wing governments say similar things. It’s more an authoritarian/liberal axis, which operates nearly independently of the left/right spectrum (just as there are left- and right-wing thinkers who advocate an unregulated economy, and left- and right-wing thinkers who advocate economic protectionism).
In my honest opinion, Japan has always been a very “secluded” state because of it’s rather stubborn policies. Though it is not as disgusting as the Juche idea, the idea of being just plain selfish towards foreigners already puts many travellers off.
With the advent of ideal privacy, personalised protection and image maintainence, we have become more fearful of each other because we are just simply scared of opening up and getting cheated. Being a little too overprotective doesn’t sound good.
Besides, it is not fair to justify that foreigners commit crimes. It is no different from the “no blacks allowed” signs placed up a century ago in America. Besides Eugenics have been debunked again and again by modern science, so there is absolutely no reason to say that one race is superior to another.
In 1996, Japan has effected International Convention Of Elimination Of Racial Discrimination, and 11 years down the road, they still haven’t kept their end of the promise.
I believe that Japan is going to close up its trade doors soon, live in seclusion, until some superpower come along with a trade-or-else indictment. Then Japan rapidly modernises, and suddenly starts WWIII. If this same old bullshit is going to happen every century, I would gladly take up a religion, go to heaven, and stay right there.
P.S DM when are you going to Japan?
Japan, you morons.
I’m for Israel. maybe the most active place in the whole world in terms of terrorism. and I will tell you what we to with fingerprints. we collect them from the dead corpses of the terrorists who just blew themselves up and killed a dozen of people.
Taking fingerprints in the name of fighting terrorism is bullshit. it will not stop terrorism. if terrorists would really want to attack japan, I’m sure they will find a way to succeed. there are other ways to stop terrorism, and in my country they work well. what does the fingerprint of a person helps if you don’t know who he is? nothing. If you wish to stop someone, you need intelligence. and intelligence IS the most effective tool to fight terrorism. fingerprints identification is just a lame measure, which I’m sure no terrorist will be caught with.
Damn it. before reading your article I thought that I want to travel to japan some day in the near future. now I’m rethinking it. Japan, terror, what do they have in common? absolutely nothing. the Japanese government is just pure racist.
And speaking of foreigners. Does the Japanese economy need the rest of the world? oh yes. so please japan, stop doing these stupid racist acts. it’s for your own good.
Did you think that Progress brings freedom? I think it’s the other way around. and japan are not all alone in this. welcome to the 21st century :)
Why are people kicking this around like it’s ground-breaking OMG news? Japan’s debate on fingerprinting foreigners and subsequent revisions has been going on since the 1950s. It’s unfortunate but it isn’t exactly new.
@arcanes
Let’s fix Israel’s racism problems first and not just towards the arabs before complaining about another country’s racist immigration measures.
On the net every Israeli is a che guevara type but when you walk down the street, you see it’s just Israel.
@LikesGames
We have our own problems that’s for sure. but not every citizen shares his own country/government thoughts. why can’t we join the discussion even if are own country is racist? I’m a person for myself, and my thoughts on the matter are my own. it’s like not every Japanese is racist( I sure hope so :) ).
The bottom line is this: we are not perfect, they are not perfect, but in the open internet, we should always say what we think. even if it doesn’t help, we know we said what we thought, and that is what matters. I’m not a racist, I think every one is the same human being, and every time I encounter racism, it piss me off. come on, what is all the stupid conflicts about? they are all just meaningless fights. yeah, the world sucks, but at least you know you can be good :)
I don’t really have any problems with this system. I have nothing to hide and i’m not a criminal so go ahead and finger print me, retinal scan me and take my picture for all i care. The only problem i can see is longer lines at immigration. Hopefully they can overcome this cause the lines at LA Airport were terribly long and very slow, although maybe it’s always been like that…
Hmm… I’m just offended that I am not accorded the protection of the Consitution and law of Japan just because I’m not a citizen YET.
I’m for national fingerprinting anyway. Not that it’s going to deter a determined criminal, but it does seem sort of efficient.
@ griever
This issue significant because Japan stopped with these sorts of measure for many years, so this newest incarnation seems to many like a big step backward.
It’s also because a lot of the tension caused by day-to-day experiences with racism in Japan lies just below the surface for many expat gaijin, and something like this is more than enough to cause all that frustration to boil over.
Besides, it’s always relevant to point out recent and significant events, regardless of whether they represent a big change or not.
Also, while I believe it’s a bit anal to complain about referring to the United States as “America”, I also think the Americans who responded need to wake up and realize that the reason people make those complaints is because the U.S. has a pretty deservedly shitty international reputation. There’s a reason people don’t want to be associated with the country.
Fingerprinting, schminterprinting. The whole foreign debate has been in Japan for pretty much their entire history.
Next thing we know, they’ll want to examiine all foreigners ANALLY, and beat them with Japanese phonebooks :P
I have wanted to go to Japan for many, many years now but I haven’t been able to do so thus far. I have looked forward to it for a long time but on the other hand I have also heard from people that have been there before that the Japanese are pretty xenophobic, which kind of disappointed me. After reading this, I think those people that told me that might be onto something after all. Not that I’m a fan of my country’s practices by a long shot either though…
Ahh. Not good. Especially with my heighty ambitions.
I am a strong advocate of personal privacy.
I also have no problem with border fingerprinting by itself. A nation’s first priority is toward its own citizens, that obligation to their citizens trumps the respect offered to others. They don’t have to make any one else happy. Nonetheless, what they’re asking isn’t so bad: Fingerprints and photographs are a small personal cost.
I do have the same problem with it you do: The racist platform it is based on.
The proof that it is racist isn’t just in that citizens are exempt. That’s a practical issue. The proof of the racism lies in the fact that there are special classes of permanent residents that are exempt, namely ethnic Chinese and Koreans. Yes, the only thing a racist Asian person hates more than people from other Asian countries are people from non-Asian countries. (Singaporeans don’t count. You guys are Asian-Lite.)
TempestGarden:
Actually, travelling to Japan is fine. You will only see the uglier side of it when you live and work there.
Whether out of good intentions or bad, Japanese people feel compelled to treat foreigners differently. It’s actually a good thing for a tourist because you get a lot of help, but if you are living there semi-permanently it does make you feel excluded.
Ryuko_Hikaru:
My flight there is on the 23rd of December.
@ Mac
“The proof of the racism lies in the fact that there are special classes of permanent residents that are exempt, namely ethnic Chinese and Koreans. Yes, the only thing a racist Asian person hates more than people from other Asian countries are people from non-Asian countries. (Singaporeans don’t count. You guys are Asian-Lite.)”
I think you’ve got things a bit backwards there. First of all, “special permanent residents” is just a nice politically correct way of referring to the descendants of Chinese and Korean slave prisoners the Japanese brought over during their various territorial conquests in Asia. Regular Chinese and Korean residents are still subject to these new policies.
Second, in my experience the racism is rather the other way around. If you’re white looking it’s ok to be foreign and different; Koreans and Chinese on the other hand, are often discriminated against even more so. Many of them take on Japanese names and try to blend in and look Japanese so as to keep a low profile.
I don’t have any statistics or real solid proof, but my general experiences and the experiences of others I’ve talked to seems to indicate that if anything, non-Japanese Asians have far more racism directed toward them than immigrants from Western countries.
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Actually I couldn’t agree more with what Orion had said. This was just a huge step backward, back to the days of the crusades and clanship in which there is the ultimate pure race which will inherit the earth. Alexander the Great killed many on the battlefield for such ideals for racial purity, and so did those (A)SS MIBs who slaughtered the Armenians and Jews.
In fact, we are already pure, consider the fact that we are the only possible living entity within infinity light-years radius (the only extraterresial I believe in is STITCH!!!). And even if they/we are racially pure, what is the big f***ing use of being genetically pure when our hearts are tainted with such unfairness and hatred (I don’t believe in a pure mind xD)?
Also I have taken up a Japanese name in order to prevent myself from being “gaijinised” on BBSes and forums. It is a sad thing that most young people have taken this up as a form of trend. And lol no Orion I don’t think we Singaporeans are Asian-lite, we are just so diffused that it is difficult to accurately pinpoint our ethnicity anymore.
@ DM
I just finished my ‘A’s and I wanted to take a first time trip to Japan to buy some stuff and do sightseeing, but I don’t exactly know how much money I need (financially independent ‘A’ levels students are always poor), and I don’t even know how to speak a single word of Japanese. Is it possible if you give me some advice, or if possible, can we travel together?
I wonder if Japan really is afraid of terrorist attacks…
While Japan is a known ally of the United States, Japan’s pacifist constitution prevents Japan from giving military aid to the US.
In fact, their congress/diet recently blocked legislation preventing the renewal of the oil refueling mission Japan used to provide to Afghanistan forces.
I suppose that due to Japan’s decision to halt the mission, Al-Qaeda decided to reward japan by sending an envoy there to buy some anime products to boost Japan’s economy…. and certainly not to conduct terrorist attacks…
The point is… if al-Qaeda wants to bomb somewhere, they should choose to bomb the surging American forces in Iraq right now, bomb America, or bomb Britain or any other NATO allies which are actively involved in the war.
Of course security is a good thing, and you can never guess what those terrorists are thinking, but it is more likely that the Japanese government is also hoping to do something – which is to hype up anti-foreigner sentiments so as to eventually get rid of their pacifist constitution.
Think about it, any leader with any knowledge of realism will know that a strong military is needed to pursue the country’s interests or to even ensure its own survival…..Much less Japan is so near China an emerging power.
The pacifist constitution came into existence because the US coerced such a humiliating deal, in an effort to cripple Japan’s prospects of becoming a military power.
Right now, Japan is already trying to break its pacifist policy, the most obvious of it is the upgrade of the defense agency into a ministry.
And Japan also has to hype up nationalistic sentiments in order to achieve such a change… this can be reflected in Japan’s policy…
Why do you think Japan refuses to do anything about its textbooks even when it is used as a pretext by China to block Japan’s bid for a permanent Security council seat? Why do you think that ex-prime minister continue to visit that shrine amidst condemnation? And why Japan only admitted about the slaves issue now?
It is simply to prevent their own citizens from ever fully realizing the atrocities Japan committed so that eventually Japanese people won’t protest when Japan build giant Gundams and conquer the world again
We (Vietnamese people) all had to register our fingerprints when we apply for UK Visas.
2nd country in the world after USA? Maybe not…
@0rion
I’m not saying this is an insignificant issue or shouldn’t be pointed out, but the type of responses that you mentioned in your blog regarding this are a prime example of what happens when the full picture isn’t given. IMHO.
This doesn’t mean that even with the full picture, the anger and resentment would disappear and everyone would be rebooking their flights. People, rightly so, would probably still be just as angry. But at least people will be angry at the entire problem and not just the newest aspect of it. (But then again, I’m biased as I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading up on the minority treatment here.)
Ryuko_Hikaru: There is a bunch of us going actually. Have you already booked your flight? If not, it might be too late.
ipridian: This has nothing to do with visas though. I don’t even need a visa to enter Japan.
De-lurking because, well just because.
The bicycle issue is one of the small but extremely significant examples of how deeply rooted these attitudes towards foreigners are. My friend, who was on an exchange trip to Japan, was actually pull-over by the police twice while riding his host family’s bicycle, and even got hauled over to the police station once. Ironically, the bicycle that he was riding was actually stolen (but donated to the host family, so he obviously had no clue). The thing that got to me was how he was nearly made to sign a confession-of-theft despite his host mother’s explanations simply because he was a foreigner and well, foreigners + stolen bicycle = the Japanese police are going to hunt you down.
Anyways, have fun in Japan DarkMirage and I’m looking forward to lots of phots! :D
By the way, how did the EJU go?
*photos. =A=;;
@Ryuko_Hikaru: As for how much you’ll need… How long are you planning to go, are you just going to Tokyo, and what sort of trip are you planning to take – e.g. predominantly sightseeing, total otaku-shopping trip… etcetc? Otherwise, how much you’ll need will just equate to “a lot of money”. I just took a trip in April after my As were over, so maybe I’ll be able to give you some advice or tips?
Ryuko_Hikaru:
I agree with all that you have typed, except this Alexander was NOT a racist. He fostered Greek-Persian ties, yes he razed Persepolis, but that was more of a political-religious thing, to reduce the power of the Zoroastrians. He took Asian (Persian, Bactrian) wives and encouraged his men to marry Asians too.
Of course the Greeks after him all called him a Hellene but in his father’s time the Macedonians were still regarded as barbarians and I daresay he faced more than a bit of racism in his youth from the Greeks (rebellions after Philip’s death). What he did was to give a common lingua franca and system of government to the ancient Middle and Near East. (Granted, Aramaic was sort of an in-between language in the Achaemenid Empire but it was used more for administrative purposes in writing; the common people still spoke various Iranian languages)
He never did promote Greek hegemony over the Ancient world. In fact, more important scientific advances took place in Alexandria and other parts of Asia Minor than in Greece herself, as a result of increased trade and development after his campaigns. (E.g. the Chandragupta empire which developed shortly after his death) Greece was fairly backward 200 years after him (Sparta was a tourist attraction, Athens was where rich Romans went to study), while Alexandria was one of the most prosperous cities of the time.
Alexander conquered for power and glory, plain and simple, and he just as well admitted it. He certainly did not act out of any “racist impulse”.
Soshi:
I was going to ask how you managed to go off on April after your A levels, then I realized you were a girl.
@ DM
Nope I haven’t book my flight. I haven’t been out of this country for a long time. Damn.
Maybe next time. I have got till April before my NS intake. xD
@ Quen
I didn’t know that. Thanks for correcting me……most of the sources I have read from said that he was Aristole’s student and his teacher told him that the Greeks are the greatest in the world. I guess that is looking from another POV.
@ Soshi
Most likely otaku shopping. I am not really an otaku, maybe a hikikkomori. Most likely I will be there to buy BeForU stuff and a IIDX controller, maybe some weird Yuki figurines. I won’t consider staying for more than 3 days, unless there is a need for me to hunt around for Kamen Rider NEXT’s DVD. Right now I am going to spend the remainder of my savings at SITEX on pointless stuff. >_<
Back again to the topic, I don’t think the airport security aren’t going to have alot of trouble, but being so stiff, I think they are going to shoot anyone holding a styrofoam beam rifle at the next anime convention.
Btw I predict DM is going to return with lots of Haruhi stuff. Anyway when is the 10th book out for the light novels?
The word of the day is “insular”. Everyone repeat after me, “insular”. Racism is not the issue here, it’s not just discrimination based on race. It’s clearly more of Xenophobia that gets in Japanese policymakers. But lets not forget that this is certainly not a recent phenomena, and neither is it’s following’s anal practices. Historically, Human Rights were not an issue in the execution of Japanese Policies. Japan’s unit 731 massacred swarms of foreigners. The idea of ethnic superiority works especially well, and is amplified by the fact that the country has a nearly pure ethnic population (>99% Japanese). Ignorance breeds stupidity. One, however, wonders who the real Native Japanese are when Indigenous Ainu and other minorities are discriminated against in modern times.
This reminds me of the story of the Demons and Dogs. Japanese paint the easy target of foreigners(Demons) as the cause of problems, when it is actually their own social cracks(Dogs) that create trouble.
In a sense, the policies flesh out what academics have been saying for years. Japan, insular, biting it’s own ass, being anal, etc.
I leave for Japan on Sunday, and I am reminded why I hate the large part of Japanese culture(the exception being otaku culture)
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Just wanted to say that racism towards foreign immigration isn’t only something Japanese and US.
Well, only that the Japanese got it done on a much higher scale (to every foreigner) instead.
@ DM
Actually, travelling to Japan is fine. You will only see the uglier side of it when you live and work there.
I’m wondering what if your parents were from some Asian country like China, Korea, or Taiwan and your parents speak near fluent Japanese and you could speak near fluent as well. Would you still be treated differently?
Do the Japanese got some special power to distinguish any Asian that isn’t Japanese?
before you know it, the sakoku mentality might just come back again. but then again, nagasaki is somewhat unlike the other japanese prefectures because all the housing advertisments i saw never had that “no gaijin” sign. gaijins are, not say aplenty here, but its common to see one or two a day.
@exalt dragon
consider pre-modern japanese culture and history. those post meiji restoration mentality/culture/history are pure shit i say.
@Night
somehow gaijins see all yellow-skinned Asians as the same, but Japanese can always sniff out non-Japanese Asians even if you speak near perfect or perfect Japanese. Strange.
n i agree with u saying one will only see the uglier side of Japan when one stays or works there. can’t agree more though i think certain aspects of Singapore is uglier.
@|c3^sNoW :
I think they both(pre-meiji and modern) can be used to explain the current stance. It’s just a matter of the examples I picked. XD
For your info, I just got back from Bangkok a few weeks back and they took my photo at the immigration point. So I don’t think it’s that big of a deal for countries to require foreigners to have their photos/fingerprints taken.
And if you want to scream about discrimination, when I was visiting certain temples in Thailand they have certain entrances for THAIs ONLY (Tourists have to enter by an entrance further away) and to add on to that they even have different shoe racks for foreigners when you enter the temple. How come nobody seems to be complaining at this?
To me, basically, it’s their country, thus you live by their rules. It’s like going to the US and complaining that people there don’t wanna learn to speak your language.
ï¼ p7m13
That’s precisely what Spanish-speaking immigrants are doing in the USA. The older generation show little initiative to learn English and expect government services to be offered in Spanish for them. Spanish-speaking schools run in neighbourhoods, where the kids are exposed to little to no English. In fact, more people now speak Spanish in Los Angeles than in Barcelona.
I personally don’t think this is a good thing; on the other hand, the xenophobic attitudes to immigrant shown by racists the world over is no good alternative, neither is the preferential treatment of foreigners as exemplified by Singapore. But for now at least, I believe Singaporeans’ attitudes to foreigners are among the best in the world.
lol.. so, any Japanese-wannabes wanna go migrate to Japan now?
Well, you may not care about people invading your privacy, but what about people who do? I canceled my trip to Japan when I heard about this. I was planning to visit with my wife so we could enjoy a lovely country, with a wonderful people and language. But we didn’t want to be subjected to a degrading invasion of privacy that has no real warrant (as if foreign terrorists are going to invade Japan, and as if fingerprinting everyone would ever stop that).
Its just Fucking Racism, thats it really,.. its outrageous
i guess when you’re visiting their country you go by their rules, nothing else to it. with that said, I’m going to visit Japan this summer with a few friends.