Debito Arudou - The Japan Times

December 22, 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.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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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