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December 21, 2024
 

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Debito Arudou

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Debito Arudou
Debito is the Just Be Cause columnist for the Community Page and has been contributing to The Japan Times since 2002. Author of eight books, including "Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants and Immigrants" (2nd Ed.), "Japanese Only" and the novel "In Appropriate," his most recent work is "Embedded Racism: Japan's Visible Minorities and Racial Discrimination" (Lexington Books). He has been a naturalized Japanese citizen since 2000, and his daily blog and archive is at www.debito.org.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Dec 31, 2020
2020 was a watershed year for Japan's foreign residents
Increased discussion on the status of biracial Japanese, media misinterpretations of foreign communities and a bungled border policy made up our 2020.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 20, 2020
Remain calm when stopped by the police in Japan
Non-Japanese residents face a pretty high chance of being randomly stopped by the police. Make sure you know your rights ahead of time.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 6, 2020
'Low IQ' kids, parental rights and problematic terminology dogged Japan's international community in 2019
Of the issues non-Japanese had to deal with in the past year (and even the past decade), some were major news stories and some fell quietly into the cracks.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jul 24, 2019
'Love it or leave it' is not a real choice
When U.S. President Donald Trump told four congresswomen of color they could 'go back' where they came from if they weren't happy, some of us in Japan recognized the line as being one used here for far too long.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 17, 2019
Know your rights when checking in at an Airbnb
Last year, the government passed a law covering minpaku, which is when people rent out space on their properties to travelers (a la Airbnb). The law is part of an effort to regulate accommodations amid a tourism boom ahead of the 2020 Olympics.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 27, 2019
From new visas to a tourism backlash, the Top 10 issues that affected us in 2018 may forecast our future treatment
Every January, Just Be Cause takes a look at how things went for the non-Japanese residents of Japan (NJ) in the previous year.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 19, 2018
Warning to Naomi Osaka: Playing for Japan can seriously shorten your career
Naomi Osaka's decision to represent the country she left at the age of 3 may be good for her bottom line but not necessarily her longevity.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jul 15, 2018
What about we stop it with the 'whataboutism'?
These are troubling times for human rights activists.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Mar 7, 2018
White supremacists and Japan: A love story
Far-right fanboys see in Japan an ethnostate that gets a free pass on the world stage, but it's a reputation that Japan needs to shake for its own good.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 3, 2018
In 2017, Japan woke up to the issue of discrimination
The year saw a landmark human rights survey and action on hate speech and pensions — but conditions remain dire for foreign 'trainees' and other workers alike.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Oct 11, 2017
'Attach the evidence and wait for your day in court,' says Turkish plaintiff after Osaka victory
Ibrahim Yener discusses the lessons learned from his successful discrimination case against a used car dealership.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Aug 23, 2017
In wake of Charlottesville, U.S. should follow Japan and outlaw hate speech
Carnage in Virginia shows why America needs to limit expression that necessarily leads to violence.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 26, 2017
Time to act on insights from landmark survey of Japan's foreign residents
Government's attempt to understand the foreign experience of Japan produces valuable data despite some blind spots.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Mar 5, 2017
Government of Japan, survey thyself
Something landmark happened late last year. Japan's government undertook a nationwide survey of discrimination toward Japan's long-term non-Japanese (NJ) residents.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Feb 19, 2017
Media outside Japan must stop normalizing sumo as an ethno-sport
Foreign correspondents should not pander to stereotypes, passing overt racism off as 'tradition' practiced by those mystical, hidebound, inscrutable Japanese.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 8, 2017
Japan's human rights issues fared better in 2016
Welcome back to JBC's annual countdown of the top issues as they affected Non-Japanese (NJ) residents of Japan. We had some brighter spots this year than in previous years, because Japan's government has been so embarrassed by hate speech toward Japan's minorities that they did something about it. Read...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Nov 16, 2016
Trump's lesson: You can lie your way to the very top
As the Republican victory in the U.S. threatens to undo eight years of progress, a silver lining in Donald Trump's success proves hard to pin down.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Oct 30, 2016
U.S. and Japan elections: scary in their own ways
American political campaigns can be frighteningly tribal while fear of the foreign permeates polls here.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Oct 2, 2016
Comparing elections in the U.S. and Japan: the good, the bad and the ugly
I love elections. Anywhere. It's fascinating to see how politicians craft public appeals. No matter how flawed the process, it's how nation-states recharge their legitimacy and publicly reaffirm their leaders' mandate to govern.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 4, 2016
JBC marks 100 columns and a million page views
Column has been shining a critical light on issues affecting Japan's foreign residents since 2008.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
A year after going private, structural reforms bearing fruit for Toshiba
Toshiba's Corporate Senior Executive Vice President Koji Ikeya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
A screen shot from YouTube user @lagelda shows the simplicity of going viral in Japan in 2024: A cat dancing to EDM in front of a green screen.
With rare Asia carrier deployment, France seeks greater interoperability
The flight deck of the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier during a stop at Changi Naval Base in Singapore in May 2019

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

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