Bomb shots... what a great idea...

Photo and text from The Japan Times, 5/6/23.

In between talks on security and technology, the leaders of South Korea and Japan plan to unwind over a drink.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is preparing to share a "bomb shot” with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida over a casual dinner Sunday. The concoction, a combination of beer with South Korea’s national spirit soju, is a mainstay in K-dramas and often shared among colleagues and friends in the country to bond.

The meal is part of an official two-day summit in Seoul — the first in 12 years — meant to strengthen ties between the U.S. allies. Seen as a chance to restore shuttle diplomacy, the visit takes place ahead of a trilateral meeting between the U.S., South Korea and Japan during the Group of Seven meeting in Hiroshima later this month.

The relaxed dinner at Yoon’s presidential residence in Seoul will showcase Korean cuisine. Yoon intends to serve charcoal-grilled meat, according to people familiar with the event. Korean rice wine, called Cheongju, will be offered throughout the meal, and high-level officials from Yoon’s ruling People Power Party suggest that bomb shots are "most likely” to follow.

...

Last month, South Korea added Japan back to its "white list” of trading partners, and Japan later announced it would do the same.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/05/06/national/politics-diplomacy/kishida-yoon-summit-dinner/?utm_source=pianoDNU&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=72&tpcc=dnu&pnespid=pe_Vg5oO5qqeo.O5rU.zuKYJuh4ZqDZzylEwR1Iuo0WVLLZhY3qQBVdOnQ5Juilu4zgHNA

New Resource: Behind the Camera

Introduction (from the source):

Behind the Camera is an open-source website that creates new critical directions on the history of photography, feminist art history, and the history of modern Japan. It is a pedagogical tool for the growing global investment in diverse and expanded histories of photography and gender studies.

Part database, part teaching module, the website’s primary resource is a series of short lecture videos created by experts in the field, each re-examining an aspect of the history of photography from a feminist lens. The videos are a part of exploration modules that include translated primary source materials, annotated bibliographies, and high-resolution images that make research opportunities available to a wider audience. These resources are linked to an interactive timeline that charts the activities and accomplishments of women photographers alongside major events in Japanese and photo history. The result of five years of collaborative information gathering from libraries around the world, these resources bring together disparate information on women and photography in Japan, so that scholars and students can use it to draw connections and produce new scholarship on this important, understudied subject.

Cushman, Carrie and Kelly McCormick, eds. Behind the Camera 1.0: Gender, Power, and Politics in the History of Japanese Photography. 2022. https://behindthecamerajapan.arts.ubc.ca/. Accessed August 11, 2022.

URL: https://behindthecamerajapan.arts.ubc.ca/

See also (less academic): Rare Historical Photos - Photographs that document the Japan’s transformation in the 1950s

URL: https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/japan-photos-1950s/

Japanese Communist Party Local Center Bazaar (see what I bought for only 200 yen!)

"Reiwa Shinsengumi makes splash in Japanese election debut, giving voice to people with disabilities"

Text and photos from The Japan Times, 7/22/19.

This article is fascinating for the important issues it raises - disability, diversity, barrier-free, alternative politics... But wait a second before you read it. The story itself has been reported in many ways and with headlines like this:

"Two disabled candidates win seats in upper house election" at Japan Today, 7/22/19. URL: https://japantoday.com/category/politics/Two-disabled-candidates-win-seats-in-upper-house-election

Some headlines read "severely-disabled." The Japan Today article, although brief, is interesting because of the reader comments. Many feel a disabled person isn't qualified to be a member of the government because they are simply disabled. Some claim it will be more expensive to make the government facilities barrier-free and to make arrangements for their care-givers. Some object that the disabilities might get worse. (I think all of these are ridiculous...). Some commenters bring up the issues of electing more women and even foreigners (I think these are more valid but for the immediate time, distracting...). I hope we continue to hear about these new diet members in terms of their policies and experiences. And congratulations and good luck to them!

OK, here the TJT story:

A new anti-establishment group led by actor-turned-politician Taro Yamamoto made a surprisingly strong showing in the Upper House election Sunday, reflecting a sense of stagnation and growing public frustration with vested interests in the country.

Reiwa Shinsengumi candidates Yasuhiko Funago, 61, who has Lou Gehrig’s disease, and 54-year-old Eiko Kimura, who has cerebral palsy, won Diet seats by priority in the group’s proportional representation list.

In an unusual twist, Yamamoto, 44, won more votes than any other candidate in the proportional representation segment of the election but was unable to retain his seat in the House of Councilors because the group only won two seats.

“Taro Yamamoto may have lost his parliamentary seat, but Reiwa Shinsengumi made a huge advance,” a smiling Yamamoto said at a news conference early Monday, noting the grassroots group now qualifies as a political party eligible for subsidies as it won at least 2 percent of the votes cast nationwide.

It is the first time since the current electoral system debuted in 2001 that a group unqualified as a party has won a Diet seat via proportional representation.

Yamamoto couldn’t stay as the two seats Reiwa Shinsengumi did win went to Funago and Kimura, who were given top priority by the group under a special new candidate quota for proportional representation lists.

In the election six years ago, Yamamoto won a seat in Tokyo with 660,000 votes.

“I am full of emotions that this moment has arrived,” Funago, who uses a wheelchair, said in a statement read out by his helper. “I may appear weak, but I have more guts than others as it has been a matter of life and death for me.”

Funago, the first person with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to be elected to the Diet, was diagnosed with the progressive neurological disease in 2000 while working at a trading house. After completely losing mobility in his limbs in 2008, he started using a special sensor that detects biting motions to control a computer to help him communicate.

Kimura has been disabled since she was 8 months old. She is a longtime activist who has called for integrating people with disabilities into society.

“Each and every vote from people with disabilities in harsh conditions has pierced my heart, and they have made me feel I must work hard,” she said from her wheelchair.

The Diet must now modify its facilities and rules to accommodate the pair, who require the help of assistants, because the chamber has never had members with disabilities so severe that they cannot press the voting buttons on their own.

In 1977, the chamber altered one of its seats to accommodate the wheelchair of new member Eita Yashiro, 82.

It has also prepared documents in Braille for lawmakers with weak eyesight.

“The people wanted someone to breathe new life into politics,” said Yamamoto, who has been described by some political analysts as “Japan’s Bernie Sanders.”

“Nothing will change unless ‘bothersome’ people join the Diet,” he said.

Making active use of social media, Yamamoto drew more than 970,000 votes — the most by an unsuccessful candidate since the new system took effect in 2001. The previous record was the 445,000 votes won by Komeito candidate Tomoko Ukishima.

Reiwa Shinsengumi drew large crowds during the campaign as Yamamoto stumped in a T-shirt and jeans, calling for abolition of the consumption tax Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party plans to raise in October. He also called for increasing the minimum wage to ¥1,500 ($14) nationwide.

The group raised about ¥400 million in donations after its launch in April and at least 3,500 volunteers helped it campaign.

Advocating the creation of a “society that doesn’t cut anyone off,” it fielded candidates deemed among the overlooked in society, including sexual minorities, single parents and part-time workers.

“We will win big in the Lower House election. We aim to win the leadership,” Yamamoto said, adding that he himself would also run. “We will create a society in which no one is cut off.”

Yamamoto became known for his anti-nuclear activism after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis. As an independent Upper House member in 2013, he was reprimanded for handing a letter on the Fukushima disaster to then-Emperor Akihito at a garden party, triggering criticism that he was attempting to politically exploit the monarch.

Toru Hasuike, 64, the brother of former abductee Kaoru Hasuike, who was returned from North Korea in 2002, also ran for Reiwa Shinsengumi but did not win a seat. The former employee of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., which manages the disaster-hit power plant, told reporters in May that he shared Yamamoto’s stance against atomic power.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/07/22/national/politics-diplomacy/anti-establishment-group-reiwa-shinsengumi-makes-big-strides-japanese-politics/

G-20 in Osaka: Japan has already used young idol groups and cute mascots to woo and welcome politicians - what is next? -OR- yesterday it was monsters, today it's Osaka obachans...

'Here is Osaka wonderful city!': Granny group releases English rap video to welcome G20 summit

From The Japan Times, 6/22/19.

An Osaka-based “idol group” made up of women whose average age is 66 has released a rap music video in English to welcome the Group of 20 summit that starts in the city on Friday.

The video for “Oba Funk Osaka,” uploaded to YouTube, shows the obachan (older women) dancing through the streets and singing that the locals are “the funniest people in the world.”

Osaka obachan are known for being loud, witty, talkative and friendly. In the video they play on this stereotype, even offering candy they’re said to always carry with them.

“Up to now, we moved like we were undergoing rehab. But this time we nailed it,” said Eiko Funai, a 71-year-old who along with other members of the group performed in tiger-patterned outfits that Osaka women of a certain age are said to favor.

“We hope that people all over the world get energized after watching the video,” she said of the music with a James Brown-like intro and lines such as “Let’s talk! Let’s dance! Here is Osaka wonderful city!”

The release of the video by the group, Obachaaan, which formed in 2011 and now has seven regular members, came ahead of the two-day G20 summit to be hosted by Japan for the first time.

URL: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/06/22/national/lets-dance-osaka-granny-group-releases-english-rap-video-welcome-g20-summit/

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Society for East Asian Anthropology

More recent stuff that indicates my article is current and relevant...

Illustration borrowed from National Geographic.com.

Soya Mori recently posted about a National Geographic article published a few days ago about the so-called origins of sign language.

"How monks helped invent sign language. (subtitled) Vows of silence and humanist beliefs led European clerics to create new communication methods for the deaf 500 years ago." BY INÉS ANTÓN DAYAS. National Geographic.com. May 28, 2019.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2019/05-06/creation-of-sign-language/?fbclid=IwAR3pJg5dpANNRpRTZfaTj0t3wlFia5cz8T9411N1AtVIl-C-60tSxc2mV5M

The article, simply put, is strangely biased and greatly uninformed.

On the one hand: Bonet criticized some of the brutal methods that had been used to get deaf people to speak: “Sometimes they are put into casks in which the voice booms and reverberates. These violent measures are by no means to the purpose.”

And then in conclusion: Thanks to the development of formal sign languages, people with hearing impairment can access spoken language in all its variety.

The author confuses sign language with manual alphabets (fingerspelling) and signing system for educating the hearing impaired. Thank goodness there were early Europeans to invent these systems for the benefit of the deaf. There is no discussion about natural sign language or Deaf communities.

I hope more people read my article.

Fedorowicz, Steven C. 2019. "Performance, Sign Language, and Deaf Identity in Japan." Anthropology News website, June 5, 2019. DOI: 10.1111/AN.1182

http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2019/06/05/performance-sign-language-and-deaf-identity-in-japan/

Perfect Timing? It would seem my article is current and relevant...

On the day my article went live, members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Japan went to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to present a proposal to help support deaf children (as reported in the following source):

難聴児のシームレスな支援を 自民党議連が文科相に提言 [The Liberal Democratic Party Parliamentarians propose to the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology the seamless support of deaf children] in 教育新聞 [Education Newspaper], June 6, 2019.

URL (article in Japanese): https://www.kyobun.co.jp/news/20190606_04/?fbclid=IwAR3eKSaqvaqXH-dZxOT3v6bqrBszCw-AwIbUAREU6gNqffHULlCG3gPYPIg

Thanks to Soya Mori via Facebook for the heads-up on this. https://www.facebook.com/1Language2Disability/

These LDP members make up a group which can be translated in English as the "National Federation for the Prevention of Deafness." Their proposal included improving neonatal and early childhood hearing testing for all children (early screening). And for deaf children the proposal promotes better medical treatment, early implantation of cochlear implants, better support and training for speech therapists, better placement at special needs schools and the like.

As Mori noted in his comments there was nothing about promoting Japanese Sign Language and the focus was on medical aspects. There seemed to be no Deaf participation in this proposal.

Here it is again (still?). Hearing people are making decisions for the deaf, what I refer to "small-d deaf" orientations in the article. In the article I did not have the time to get into the academic and social welfare models of disability and deafness, namely the deficit/medical model ("small-d deaf") and the cultural/social model ("capital-D Deaf"). For an excellent discussion of these models, especially in the Japanese context I suggest Carolyn Steven's Disability in Japan (2013, Routledge).

So why I am disappointed (although not surprised) by this political development, I am happy with the timing. It would seem my research is current and relevant. I hope more people read my article.

Fedorowicz, Steven C. 2019. "Performance, Sign Language, and Deaf Identity in Japan." Anthropology News website, June 5, 2019. DOI: 10.1111/AN.1182

http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2019/06/05/performance-sign-language-and-deaf-identity-in-japan/

"Complaint filed against police in Oita over hidden cameras"

From Japan Today, 8/13/16.

The administrator of a building used by opposition party supporters and a labor union chapter filed a complaint against the Oita prefectural police on Friday for trespassing and secretly installing cameras on the premises in June.

The police vowed to “thoroughly investigate” the incident, which took place around the time official campaigning for the House of Councillors election got under way.

Last week, they admitted that on June 18 two of their officers had installed two cameras in the grounds of the building in Beppu city in Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan, without the permission, for the purpose of monitoring the actions of certain individuals.

The police have yet to reveal why they felt it necessary to install the cameras, which were in place through June 24, and who they were monitoring.

The building is home to a support group for the Social Democratic Party, a small opposition party, and a regional body linked to the Oita chapter of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo.

The cameras were set up at two different locations—one covering the building’s entrance and another monitoring the parking lot, local labor union members said. The cameras were discovered after official campaigning for the upper house election began on June 22.

“We want the prefectural police to explain the purpose of their probe,” said Kenji Ishimoto, secretary general of the Oita labor union branch.

According to the union members, the cameras captured “images of an unspecified number of people entering and leaving the building,” a move they said constitutes a “violation of privacy.”

So far, police have said two male officers from their criminal affairs section installed the cameras on the night of June 18, but said the pair did not think the outdoor areas where they installed the cameras were privately owned.

The police acknowledged it was inappropriate to enter the premises without permission and install the cameras. They have apologized to those affected, but declined to say whether their surveillance activities were linked to the election.

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/complaint-filed-against-police-in-oita-over-hidden-cameras

Fewer Coerced Confessions with Videotaping Interrogations?

Diet passes legislation to revamp Japan’s criminal justice system

From The Japan Times, 5/24/16.

The Diet on Tuesday passed an amendment mandating for the first time the recording of police interrogations as well as changes to the existing wiretap law and the adoption of a plea bargain system, in reforms representing a significant turning point in Japan’s criminal justice system.

The measures are an attempt to revamp the nation’s notoriously opaque judicial process. Under the new requirements, police and prosecutors will be obliged for the first time to videotape certain criminal interrogations in a bid to prevent the authorities from eliciting coerced confessions.

Investigators have been recording interrogations at their own discretion.

Subject to the new requirements, however, are only those interrogations in extremely grave cases, such as murder, arson and kidnapping, that will be tried under the lay judge system, as well as cases specially investigated by prosecutors.

Together, they account for a mere 3 percent of all criminal cases, spurring concerns the revisions will likely have little impact in preventing coerced confessions.

With the introduction of the plea bargain system, the authorities will be allowed to offer those accused of drug trafficking and white-collar crimes, such as bribery and tax evasion, special deals to encourage them to divulge information on accomplices, including ringleaders, in exchange for lighter sentences or dropped charges.

Included in the new laws are penalties that can be applied if a suspect provides false leads and a requirement that such negotiations take place in the presence of the suspect’s lawyer.

The wiretap law, previously limited to cases such as those related to drugs and weapons, has expanded to cover crimes including fraud and theft in an attempt to rein in organized crime.

The revisions were submitted based on recommendations made by the Justice Ministry’s Legislative Council in 2014 in response to the wrongful arrest and indictment of welfare ministry official Atsuko Muraki, who stood accused of fraud.

In the 2009 scandal, prosecutors altered evidence against Muraki and extracted forced confessions from the suspects involved, igniting criticism over the lack of transparency in the criminal justice system. Muraki was eventually acquitted.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations released a statement Tuesday hailing the videotape mandate as a step forward. But the group cautioned that plea bargaining may result in suspects giving false information, raising the risks for miscarriages of justice, and the expanded wiretap law could infringe on privacy rights.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/05/24/national/diet-passes-legislation-revamp-japans-secretive-judicial-system/

Click here for previous VAOJ coverage of this issue.

"Filmmaker wants Japan to remember the ‘comfort women’"

Photo borrowed from "Kioku to Ikiru" website.

Excerpts from The Japan Times, 7/4/15.

…[J]ournalist Toshikuni Doi unpacked 100 hours of videotaped interviews he conducted with seven Korean comfort women in the mid-1990s and edited it into a 3½-hour film titled “Kioku to Ikiru” (“To Live With Memories“) that has just been released theatrically. Doi is famous for his reporting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and nuclear-related issues. In a long post on his blog, he explains that he became aware of Korean comfort women in the early ’90s while corresponding with Hatsuko Tominaga, a hibakusha (atomic bomb victim) whose activism extended beyond anti-nuclear matters to address victims of Japanese aggression, including sex slaves, whom she wanted to meet. However, she was not well enough to travel, and Doi offered to go to South Korea to meet with former comfort women and record their interviews for her.

He started the project in 1994, and ended up devoting three years to it, traveling back-and-forth between Japan and a house in Seoul where the women lived communally, slowly trying to gain their trust so that they would open up about their experiences, which they were reluctant to do, especially in front of a Japanese man. However, Doi’s nationality and gender had one advantage.

While he was conducting the interviews, a Korean filmmaker, Byun Young-joo, was doing the same thing and the women seemed more comfortable with her. Byun’s documentary has since become one of the most famous in the history of Korean film, and Doi admires it but says his is different because, as an interlocutor, “I am a man representing the oppressor country.” He believes Byun, because she is Korean and a woman, drew a line in her interviews over which she would not step, but Doi could get at the core of their pain because their anger was directed at what he represents, and he admits that he exploited this situation.

“Perhaps it was cold of me,” he writes, “but I felt I had to convey their experiences to Japanese people,” and that meant pressing for detail, no matter how uncomfortable it made them feel.

…

All the subjects are dead now, so no one gleaned any personal justice from their participation in Doi’s film. Some of the footage was shown on NHK in the late ’90s, but Doi says he wasn’t sufficiently motivated to revisit the tapes until Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said that the comfort stations were “necessary” and a gallery in Tokyo cancelled an exhibition by a South Korean photographer about sex slaves left behind in China. Doi’s purpose is to supply “real faces” to the comfort women controversy. Without individual stories the issue remains an abstraction, and thus easier to ignore and deny. Nevertheless, the premiere, held in early June, was covered by only one Japanese national daily, the Asahi Shimbun.

“Kioku to Ikiru” is now playing at Uplink in Tokyo. It will open in various cities nationwhide in coming months. In Korean and Japanese with Japanese subtitles.

Read the whole story: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/07/04/national/media-national/filmmaker-wants-japan-remember-comfort-women/#.VZjTGKZZG2x

Film website: http://doi-toshikuni.net/j/kioku/

"Universities asked to raise flag, sing national anthem at ceremonies"

Text from Japan Today, 6/17/15:

State-run universities were urged on Tuesday to raise the national flag and sing the national anthem at entrance and graduation ceremonies, as well as other events.

Education minister Hakubun Shimomura made the suggestion at a meeting of the presidents of national universities in Tokyo.

Shimomura said hoisting the Hinomaru flag and singing the “Kimigayo” have long been customary at public schools and are widely expected by the public. However, universities have been divided on the issue.

Shimomura added that his request does not impinge on a university’s freedom and that it is up to each institution to make an appropriate decision.

Some critics say Japan’s anthem amounts to a call to sacrifice oneself for the emperor and celebrates militarism. Numerous battles over the years have seen teachers clash with school administrators over the issue.

In April, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in the Diet that public schools and universities are funded by tax money and that raising the national flag and standing to sing the anthem at ceremonies should be done.

Last month, the Tokyo District Court awarded 537 million yen in compensation to 22 former high school teachers who were punished for refusing to sing the “Kimigayo.”

The group said the city refused to rehire them under a scheme that extends employment past the retirement age, because they disobeyed orders to stand and sing the anthem at graduation ceremonies.

In 2012, the supreme court ruled that penalising teachers for not standing to sing the anthem was constitutional, but it warned administrators to exercise care in going beyond a reprimand.

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/universities-asked-to-raise-flag-sing-national-anthem-at-ceremonies

Read the extensive comments by readers of this article.

And please see the film, Against Coercion, and this VAOJ post, for context that goes greatly under-reported in the media.

Two deaf women win seats in local assemblies in Sunday's elections

Photo borrowed from Mainichi on-line, 4/28/15.

This is great news, especially within the bleak world of Japanese politics. It is also very good that this news is being widely reported in Japan's newspapers. Here's a sampling:

With local government elections overwhelmingly remaining a man's domain, numerous women took on the challenge of declaring their candidacy for the second half of the nationwide race on April 26. One victory in this regard was Atsuko Yanetani, 55, from the city of Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture -- an independent newcomer who is also completely deaf.

Yanetani, formerly a company employee, began working as a volunteer following the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake -- at which time she realized that the level of support offered to people who are vulnerable in times of disaster was insufficient.

Working through the office of an association for the deaf in Akashi, Yanetani began getting involved in initiatives to support disabled persons -- becoming a consultation officer for the Akashi Municipal Government in 2007 to work on their behalf.

Yanetani began to be drawn closer toward politics in October 2013, when Tottori Prefecture passed an ordinance recognizing sign language as an official language, and guaranteeing opportunities for learning it. A committee was convened last autumn to discuss the passage of a similar ordinance in the city of Akashi -- for which Yanetani worked tirelessly to promote, while outlining the existing needs therein. The ordinance was subsequently put into force this year in April.

Deaf since birth, Yanetani decided to enter the recent election race under the slogan of promoting similar recognition of sign language within the political sphere. Erecting a sign that read "speach presently being conducted in sign language," she began speaking in places such as in front of train stations and supermarkets.

Her younger daughters Tomomi, 28, and Akemi , 20, stood at the microphone interpreting their mother's sign language into spoken word, including messages calling for a framework wherein disabled children can study in local schools, as well as Yanetani's desire to enhance the system for providing information to disabled individuals during times of disaster.

Yanetani said that she was extremely disheartened when some of her constituents said things to her such as, "Are you sure you'll be able to work as an assembly member?"

"I decided to enter the election in order to help people understand that disabilities do not prevent people from engaging in activities (such as working as assembly members)," Yanetani commented. She added, "Sign language is also a proper language."

Support for Yanetani's campaign began growing -- and she reports being gratified when a woman came up to her and said "good luck" in sign language -- a phrase that she had just learned how to sign.

Recalling how such instances helped her to keep going on the campaign trail, Yanetani mused, "I hope that my efforts now will provide hope for those who come after me."

After hearing the late-night news of the election results at her campaign office, Yanetani hugged her supporters and signed numerous times, "This victory is due to the support of many individuals. I extend to you my greatest thanks."

Yanetani also expressed her determination as she signed through tears, "I know that there will be obstacles lying ahead, but I want to do my best to overcome them."

According to the Tokyo-based Japanese Federation of the Deaf, a woman who is hard-of-hearing, and able to speak, was elected in 2001 to the local assembly in the village of Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture, before going on to serve for four years. Yanetani is the first completely deaf and non verbally-speaking assembly member to be elected anywhere in the country, the federation said.

Since there is no precedent for deaf assembly members in the city of Akashi, the assembly secretariat is looking into measures such as employing sign language interpreters and summary scribes for its plenary sessions.

Source: "Woman wins local election to become Japan's first deaf assembly member" at Mainichi on-line, 4/28/15.

Link: http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150427p2a00m0na007000c.html

Photo borrowed from The Japan News, 4/27/15.

The second and final wave of unified local elections Sunday brought mixed results to candidates trumpeting minority issues, while highlighting systemic shortcomings in reflecting the diverse opinions of the nation’s voters.

Rie Saito, a 31-year-old deaf mother of two who ran for Tokyo’s Kita Ward Assembly as a Nippon wo Genki ni Suru Kai (Party to Revitalize Japan) candidate, won with 6,630 votes, the most received by any of the 50 candidates.

Saito, who lost her hearing at age 1, is known for having worked as a hitsudan hostess, using writing to communicate with her customers.

“I still cannot fully believe (my victory), but I’m appreciative of everyone’s support,” she told The Japan Times by email Monday.

Her campaign, however, was riddled with difficulties. Because the Public Offices Election Law prohibits candidates from distributing fliers or showing placards during campaigns, all Saito could do, apart from blogging her thoughts daily, was approach voters on the streets and appeal for support by shaking their hands and making physical gestures.

“The ban on fliers means people with speech and hearing impediments are excluded right from the very beginning,” she said. “We must come up with new ways to hold elections.”

Source: "Unified elections help diversify representation in Tokyo" at The Japan Times, 4/27/15.

Link: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/04/27/national/politics-diplomacy/unified-elections-help-diversify-representation-tokyo/#.VT7-y2bduPU

Here's some more from another source:

After her victory became certain just after 2 a.m. Monday, Saito smiled and thanked her supporters using sign language.

Using an electronic tablet to respond to reporters, she wrote, “I still can’t believe it.”

Saito lost her hearing when she was 1 because of a meningitis infection.

Though she couldn’t speak fluently, she found a job at a high-end hostess club in the Ginza district of Tokyo at 23. She quickly became popular for her style of communicating through writing.

After quitting her hostess job, Saito is now a lecturer raising her 4-year-old daughter as a single mother.

She decided to run for a ward assembly seat last winter. The upcoming 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games gave her a strong desire to “create a world where people with disabilities can actively be involved,” she said.

During her campaign, a supporter delivered her stump speeches as she handed out name cards and communicated using body language.

There are some concerns her disability could prevent her from fully participating in the assembly. Analysts said she could take part in assembly deliberations by using speech recognition software.

Saito said she wanted to discuss policy matters with ward residents using social media.

“I’d like to be a voice for minorities and help realize a barrier-free society,” she wrote.

Source: "2 hearing-impaired women win assembly seats in Sunday’s polls" at The Japan News, 4/27/15.

Link: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002110663

Other resources:

Yanetani's blog (in Japanese): http://ameblo.jp/yanetani-atsuko/

Saito's blog (in Japanese): http://ameblo.jp/saitorie/

"Interrogation audiovisual recordings set to expand"

From The Japan News, 20 June 2014:

The Supreme Public Prosecutors Office said Wednesday it will expand the test interrogation audiovisual recording program from October.

Currently under the program, public prosecutors record the questioning of criminal suspects in cases with lay judges, as well as suspects with mental disorders.

The recording is conducted as part of prosecutors’ three-year efforts to restore credibility that was undermined by evidence falsification and cover-up scandals at the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office.

Now that the program has proved the recordings’ effectiveness in helping the court determine whether suspects gave confessions to interrogators voluntarily and whether they are credible, the nation’s top prosecutors office plans to record the questioning process for bribery suspects, sexual violence and child abuse victims, and spouses of murder suspects, the office said.

Source: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001364503

"Govt to OK use of anonymous personal data"

Graphic and text from The Japan News, 20 June 2014:

The government plans to allow companies to provide personal data they own to third parties without consent from the individuals the data pertains to if the data is scrubbed of identifying details, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

A study panel of the government’s IT Strategic Headquarters has compiled a draft for an outline on the utilization of data concerning personal information, such as browsing history and smartphone location tracking. The draft was to be presented at a meeting of the headquarters’ study panel on personal data on Thursday, and shortly to be adopted by the headquarters.

The government will then seek opinions from the public with the aim of revising the Personal Information Protection Law at an ordinary Diet session next year. The government reportedly aims to realize the plan in 2016.

With more and more companies utilizing so-called big data, a blanket term for huge quantities of digital data accumulated through information and telecommunication systems, there are growing calls for the protection of individual personal data such as Internet browsing history.

The government believes consumer concerns must be dispelled by establishing rules on such data to realize its plan to revitalize the nation’s economy through the utilization of big data, which was incorporated in its growth strategy.

The draft proposes that companies be allowed to offer without consent from individuals data that was scrubbed of identifiable information . Regarding how such data will be rendered anonymous, the draft hypothesizes that personal information would be made vague—for example, ages would be stated as “in his or her 20s” or “in his or her 30s” and addresses would be kept to prefectures, excluding municipalities.

Companies will use such data in accordance with voluntary rules to be compiled by relevant industry organizations and others.

The draft also calls for the establishment of a third-party organization tasked with inspecting and supervising companies to prevent exploitation of the rules and to ensure personal information is made anonymous. The envisaged watchdog will be granted authority to make on-the-spot investigations and issue recommendations for relevant companies, according to the draft.

Regarding such information as fingerprints and other biometric data, the government is to decide whether such data could be offered to third parties without consent from the relevant individuals by the time the bill will be compiled.

The draft regards such information as race, belief and social position to be sensitive information and prohibits companies from dealing with them in principle.

Regarding the utilization of personal data, many consumers are concerned that their preferences and behavioral patterns, as well as their names and addresses, will be exposed. Last year, East Japan Railway Co. suspended the selling of records of train and bus use by Suica card holders. JR East claimed it would be impossible to identify individuals from the data, but the firm reversed its position due to stronger than expected criticism from users.

Source: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001365808

"Law change would tape interrogations"

VAOJ has been covering this issue of visualization for some time now. Here's the latest from The Japan News, 5/2/14:

Chart borrowed from The Japan News, 5/2/14

Proposed changes to the criminal justice system are likely to require investigative authorities to record audio and video of the entire interrogation of suspects, according to Justice Ministry sources.

The proposals advanced by the ministry call for the entire process of interrogation by police and public prosecutors to be recorded in what has been called the “visualization” of questioning in Japan. Every stage of interrogation, from the arrest of a suspect to his or her indictment, would be subject to recording.

The proposed system would also authorize plea bargaining, an agreement between the defendant and prosecution in which the accused agrees to plead guilty in exchange for concessions from prosecutors.

On Wednesday, the ministry submitted its proposals to a sectional meeting of the Legislative Council, an advisory panel to the justice minister. Most of the proposals were approved by the council’s special committee on the establishment of a new criminal justice system, the sources said.

However, the committee is still divided over whether recordings should be limited to criminal cases subject to trial by the lay judge system, or whether the proposed method should be applied to all crimes. This will likely make it difficult for the committee to reach a consensus on the issue, according to observers.

Another change advocated in the proposals is an expansion of the scope of cases in which investigators may be authorized to use wiretaps as part of their investigations.

The special committee is scheduled to draw up a final report as early as this summer, and then submit it to the justice minister in autumn. The ministry will seek to submit bills aimed at translating the proposals into action to next year’s ordinary Diet session, including one designed to revise the Criminal Procedure Code.

Read the whole story: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001249839

Click here for previous VAOJ coverage.

"Fake" Sign Language Interpreter Update: 'We made error over Nelson Mandela sign language interpreter – government'

The "fake" sign language interpreter at the Mandela memorial has been all over the news. This morning on Fuji Television's Tokudane show there was extensive coverage, including an interview with Deaf linguist Soya Mori.

Here's the latest on the South African government response to complaints about the "fake" (from The Guardian, 12/12/13):

The South African government has admitted that the sign language interpreter accused of gesticulating nonsense during the Nelson Mandela memorial service lacked qualifications and that the company who supplied him had a history of substandard services and in this instance, "cheating".

Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, the deputy minister for women, children and people with disabilities, conceded a mistake had been made, but denied that Thamsanqa Jantjie was a fraud and refused to rule out employing him again.

"It was bad. Was he a fake? No. Does he have the training? He has only the introduction to the training. That's like a lot of South Africans," Bogopane-Zulu said.

"It is the first time I've seen complaints come to my office from the deaf community about him. It was the first time yesterday that the deaf community had brought it to my attention."

Millions of TV viewers saw Jantjie, 34, interpreting speeches by Barack Obama and other global leaders at the FNB stadium in Johannesburg. His gestures baffled and angered deaf people around the world, with experts saying he did not know even basic signs such as "thank you" or "Mandela".

The African National Congress, having previously pleaded ignorance, said on Thursday that it had used Jantjie's services over the years, but was not involved in the organisation of the memorial service, and was therefore "not in a position to offer a view on how his services were secured by the government".

Jantjie claimed on Thursday that he is qualified but was hallucinating and hearing voices during the service, and that he is receiving treatment for schizophrenia.

"There was nothing I could do," Jantjie told South Africa's Star newspaper on Thursday. "I was alone in a very dangerous situation. I tried to control myself and not show the world what was going on. I am very sorry. It's the situation I found myself in."

Jantjie said his episode meant he was seeing things and hearing loud voices in his head, impairing his ability to hear and interpret the speeches. But he could not leave so he persevered. "Life is unfair. This illness is unfair. Anyone who doesn't understand this illness will think that I'm just making this up."

He did not know what triggered the attack, he added, saying he took medication for his schizophrenia.

Bogopane-Zulu argued that South African sign language had more than 100 dialects, making it impossible to be understood by everyone. "Unless there's something I'm missing, I don't think we as a country should say we're embarrassed. The issue of sign language has always been about where you live, what school you go to and what language you speak."

Pressed on whether South Africa should be embarrassed, she insisted: "I don't think it's the right choice of word. I don't think he was just picked up from the street. He went to a school for the deaf; I went to a school for the deaf."

Jantjie's first language is Xhosa, one of 11 official languages in South Africa, the minister continued. She said: "He was not able to translate from English to Xhosa to sign language. He started well and then in the middle he got tired and lost concentration. That did not mean he is a bad sign language interpreter."

Asked if anyone understood Jantjie's gestures at the memorial, she said only: "We will find someone who understands him, who requested his services, but we're not going to do it now."

Another interpreter at the event was similarly unable to participate when host Cyril Ramaphosa spoke in the Zulu language, Bogopane-Zulu said. She also said South Africa was well ahead of many other countries in providing sign language services for presidential speeches.

She admitted, however, that SA Interpreters, the company that provided Jantjie, had a poor record and had now "vanished into thin air. Over the years they have been getting away with this. They have been providing substandard services to clients. The company has been in existence for a while but it looks like they have been cheating."

Whereas the standard fee for an interpreter is 1,300 to 1,700 rand (£76-£100) a day, she noted, Jantjie was being paid just 800 rand a day.

She denied Jantjie had been a security risk and declined to comment on his state of mind. "I don't think it will get us anywhere to get into his health, his violence, his schizophrenia. I don't think other service providers or journalists there on the day had their health profiles discussed."

An investigation was ongoing, Bogopane-Zulu added. "Will we invite him to big national events in future? It's not for me to stand here and say yes or no."

One journalist asked if Jantjie would be "brought to justice". Bogopane-Zulu replied: "Why? What crime has he committed? Why should he be brought to justice? Yes, he did not sign as well as expected, but what crime has he committed?"

Bogopane-Zulu reiterated that sign language in South Africa lacked a universal standard and was the subject of disagreement among academics. "There is a battle between black and white sign language people. Urban and rural. Whose slang takes priority? What unit should be used to measure it?"

On Wednesday South Africa's leading deaf association denounced Jantjie as a fake, saying he was inventing signs, and described the episode as an insult to deaf people and Mandela himself.

Asked in a radio interview how he felt about being the centre of such scrutiny, Jantjie said: "It is very sad at this present moment because I believe that it was an issue that had to be dealt with earlier. If the Deaf Federation of South Africa have an issue with my interpreting it was supposed to be in clarity a long time ago, not during this crucial time for our country."

He added: "If I interpreted wrong, why is it an issue now? Why wasn't it an issue when I was doing interpretation at MaSisulu's funeral and many big events in South Africa?"

Jantjie claimed he worked for a company called "SA Interpreters" and when asked if he has a formal qualification, he replied: "Yes, absolutely."

The controversy has marred South Africa's 10-day farewell to Mandela, whose remains were lying in state for a second day on Thursday at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where he was sworn in as the nation's first black president in 1994.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/12/nelson-mandela-sign-language-interpreter-error-south-africa-government

Check out the other Guardian links at the end of the story, especially "The Mandela sign interpreter has done deaf people a favour"

Poor quality sign language interpreting is a common problem. I hope the media focus on Thamsanqa Jantjie goes some way to solve it.

Link: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/12/nelson-mandela-sign-language-interpreter-deaf-people-antjie

Communist Party Campaigns at Kyobashi Station in Osaka

Sunday is election day in Japan with seats in the upper house up for grabs. Party heads have been traveling throughout Japan to support local candidates. I happened to be at the Kyobashi station in Osaka when Japanese Communist Party President Kazuo Shii was lending his support for local candidate Kotaro Tatsumi. A large crowd had gathered to hear the speeches and show their discontent for the majority coalition (Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito) and the Japan Restoration Party. It was encouraging to hear sane voices and see so many people concerned with politics. If you are eligible to vote in Japan please don't forget to do so on Sunday.

See how the event was covered on Kotaro Tatsumi's web site (in Japanese): http://www.tatsumi-kotaro-jump.com/activity-report/post-2162.html

"Aso says elderly should be allowed to 'hurry up and die' "

I think this is a quality of life issue similar to the recent story about the deaf twins in Belgium being euthanized.

Story from Japan Today, 1/22/13:

Finance Minister Taro Aso said Monday the elderly should be allowed to “hurry up and die” instead of costing the government money for life-prolonging medical care.

Aso, who also doubles as deputy prime minister, said during a meeting of the National Council on Social Security Reforms: “Heaven forbid if you are forced to live on when you want to die. You cannot sleep well when you think it’s all being paid for by the government.

“This won’t be solved unless you let them hurry up and die,” he said.

“I don’t need that kind of care. I will die quickly,” he said adding he had left written instructions that his life is not artificially prolonged.

During the meeting, he reportedly referred to “tube people” when talking of patients who cannot feed themselves.

Read the whole story and reader comments: http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/aso-says-elderly-should-be-allowed-to-hurry-up-and-die

 

Osaka Mayor Hashimoto Does It Again... And Again. He's Cutting Funding to Human Rights Museum, Korean Schools, Bunraku, etc....

Those living in Osaka, Japan or anywhere else need to know what the current mayor of Osaka is doing based upon his own preferences and desired images of Japanese culture. This is especially true as his power grows and his local group becomes a national political party.

Hashimoto is cutting funding to Liberty Osaka, the only human rights museum in Japan. Why? Tessa Morris-Suzuki writes in her recent Japan Focus article (9/3/12):

The Osaka city government has until now provided a crucial part of the museum's funding, but the current city government, headed by mayor Hashimoto Tōru, has decided to halt this funding from next year, on the grounds that the museum displays are ‘limited to discrimination and human rights’ and fail to present children with an image of the future full of ‘hopes and dreams’ (Mainichi Shinbun 25 July 2012).

See the whole article: "Out With Human Rights, In With Government-Authored History: The Comfort Women and the Hashimoto Prescription for a ‘New Japan’"

Link: http://japanfocus.org/-Tessa-Morris_Suzuki/3818

Hashimoto has cut funding for Korean schools in Osaka. Why? Among other reasons, according to a recent Japan Times article (9/2/12), he doesn't like Korean schools displaying portraits of Kim Jong Il:

In March 2010, then-Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto announced the prefecture would stop paying subsidies to Korean schools that refuse to meet four criteria, including the removal of portraits of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

The Osaka Prefectural Government stopped paying subsidies to one of the corporation's high schools in the 2010 academic year after determining it did not meet the provisions. It ended payments to most of the operator's elementary and junior high schools in the following school year because Kim's portrait adorned faculty rooms. For the current fiscal year, the prefecture didn't even allocate a budget for the subsidies. Meanwhile, the Osaka Municipal Government cut off subsidies to the schools when Hashimoto became mayor in 2011.

See the whole article: "Osaka faces Korean subsidy suits"

Link: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120902a7.html

Hashimoto is cutting funding for Bunraku puppets (an art form originating in Osaka). Why? According to a recent Mainichi article (7/27/12), he didn't like the performance:

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who recently declared he would freeze subsidies to an association for Bunraku, a centuries-old form of puppet theater, expressed his dissatisfaction with a Bunraku show he saw on July 26, describing the performance as "unsatisfactory."

"I understood that this is an art that should be preserved as a classic (art form), but the last scene was plain, and lacked something," Hashimoto told reporters after watching "Sonezaki Shinju" (The love suicides at Sonezaki), a classic play based on the work of renowned 17th-18th century dramatist Chikamatsu Monzaemon, at the National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka's Chuo Ward on the evening of July 26.

"The staging was unsatisfactory," the mayor added in his comment on the play, which has not been changed since it was reintroduced to the public in 1955. "Does it really have to follow the old script that precisely?"

See the whole article: "Osaka mayor Hashimoto calls classic Japanese play 'unsatisfactory'"

Link: http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120727p2a00m0na006000c.html

Granted, Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City have terrible budget problems. But these cuts and others seem to be done by the whims and personal views of Hashimoto. These budget cuts, along with his witch-hunt for city employees with tattoos and his insistence of standing for the Japanese flag and national anthem provide insight into this man and the kind of changes he wants to do in the creation of his image/view of Japan.

Journalist Hiroshi Iwaisako provides more information about Hashimoto and perhaps his rationale for budget cuts and other actions in a recent article at Nippon.com (7/24/12); his report/perspective is more serious/formal than other descriptions of Hashimoto that have appeared in other sources.

See the article: "What to Make of Hashimoto Tōru?"

Link: http://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a01103/

See also: "Hashimoto sets new national party, names it Nihon Ishin no Kai" by Eric Johnston (9/9/12)

Link: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120909a1.html

As for tattoos, Hashimoto might benefit from reading this article: "Top Arizona court rules tattooing is protected speech" (9/7/12)

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48948732/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/#.UE1RGxhhNFQ

People need to know what Hashimoto is doing along with his so-called rationale. Is this what we want for the future of Japan?

Link to Liberty Osaka Human Rights Museum: http://www.liberty.or.jp/topfile/human-top.htm