I agree with all of Debito Arudou's Dec. 1 article, "A level playing field for immigrants." It's sad to see Japan, which is supposed to be one of the leading countries, falling short. The article should have included a section on how to teach Japanese society to be less fearful of non-Japanese people, and something different. Just the other day my wife (who is Japanese) and I went to a new gym to register for membership. Everything was going great until the part where I had to check off personal items; one of the questions was, "Do you have any tattoos?" I do. After that, all politeness disappeared and I felt very uncomfortable.
Japan needs to enforce the nondiscriminatory laws that it has. I know there is this huge fear of yakuza, but I'm American and have no ties with them. Needless to say I would not now join the gym; thus its loss of a business opportunity. What about all the onsens that do not allow people with tattoos? A lot of people around the world have them, so how can they come and enjoy "Japanese tradition" if the people and the government — by not stopping these practices — don't welcome them?
I live and work here in Japan. I am a schoolteacher and really enjoy my job working with kids. One of the first things that I teach them is that it is OK to be different, that they shouldn't judge people by their looks or where they are from, and that they should question the way some places treat non-Japanese people.
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