Petition to Abolish Mandatory Fingerprinting in Japan
From BAD IMPRESSIONS: Japan's new policy of fingerprinting foreigners is cack-handed and callous by Arudou Debito, Metropolis Magazine, October 26, 2007, Issue #709
If you haven’t heard about the new immigration procedure coming into effect next month, it’s time you did. It will affect not only tourists and frequently traveling businesspeople, but also long-term residents. You will be targeted by a useless and xenophobic system, treated as fresh off the boat no matter how long you’ve lived here.
From November 20, 2007, all foreigners crossing the border into Japan will have their fingerprints and mug shots taken. Their biometric data will be stored for 70 years, and shared with other governments just in case of—well, just in case.
What can you do?
Sign the petition. (There is also a Facebook cause page.)
Print bilingual protest letters and hand them in as you clear Customs.
Any other ideas?
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No Age Restrictions on Job Ads
The Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare recently made it illegal to put age restrictions on jobs. I am relieved to learn this, as it always bothered me to see age limits such as "under 35" on job descriptions in Japan. I can't prove that there is a direct connection, but it seems like specifying that you want a younger employee means that you can justify keeping the salary low, and that makes it easier to keep salaries low for women in contract positions. Anyway, I think this new law is a good step towards making hiring practices more fair. I'm not sure whether it is still okay to specify whether you want a male or a female employee, as I have also seen a lot of ads like that here. Hopefully that will be outlawed soon too, if it hasn't already been.
Information in Japanese about the new law
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New Wonder Goo in Tsukuba
A new Wonder Goo store opened on Kita Odori (the street that Kenkyu Gakuen Station is on) last week (October 25 to be precise). It sells books, DVDs, CDs, and some stationery supplies and also includes a Tsutaya where you can rent movies and music. I went there today to see what it was like and found that like other Wonder Goo stores, it was EXCEEDINGLY NOISY. I think that if I had to work there, I would go crazy after about 3 minutes. I can't spend any time browsing there because the overlapping sounds from all the sections make me want to rip my ears off. (And I can't possibly be the only one who thinks that.)
I was disappointed to learn that they have no foreign books at all (other than foreign books that have been translated into Japanese). I think we should all go into the store and ask them for a foreign books section. Even the Tsutaya has a few shelves of English books, so it's not unprecedented.
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Roots of Manga
Nowadays, the culture of "manga" (= Japanese comics) has spread all over the world. "Manga" has already become an English word. They say that a national treasure called "Cho-ju-giga (鳥獣戯画)", a set of picture scrolls drawn in 13 century, is the root of manga. An exhibition of these famous picture scrolls will take place in Tokyo. If you call yourself a manga maniac, don't miss this opportunity to learn about the origin.
National Treasure, Choju-Jinbutsu-Giga-Emaki: A Special Exhibition Celebrating the Home of the Suntory Museum of Art
Period:
November 3 to December 16, 2007
Place:
Suntory Museum of Art (Tokyo Midtown side)
Time:
10:00-18:00 (Sundays, Mondays)
10:00-20:00 (Wednesday to Saturday)
* Enter at least 30 minutes before the closing time
* Open until 20:00 on November 3 and November 23
Closed:
Tuesdays
Admission fee:
1,300 yen for adults
1,000 yen for students
Free for junior-high school students and under
See:
National Treasure, Choju-Jinbutsu-Giga-Emaki: A Special Exhibition Celebrating the Home of the Suntory Museum of Art(English)
鳥獣戯画がやってきた！－国宝「鳥獣人物戯画」の全貌 (Japanese)
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Mailing List Recommendations for People in Tsukuba
There are a number of good mailing lists in Japan. Some of these lists are mainly for discussion, others for buying and selling things, and others for asking for help. It can be hard to find out about these lists, as many of them do not have websites, so I thought I would compile a list of some of the ones I know about.
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FOR PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN TSUKUBA
International Women's Network
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/intlwomen
Information from and for women in Tsukuba
Tsukuba Area International Residents Association (TAIRA)
http://eve.bk.tsukuba.ac.jp
Information, sales, events -- with over 800 members, this is THE email list to belong to in Tsukuba.
Tsukuba Insight Forum (TIF)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tsukuba_insight
Discussions and information about Tsukuba on a smaller scale than TAIRA.
Tsukuba International Students
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsukubastudent/
Information for university students in Tsukuba
Tsukuba Walking and Mountaineering Club (TWMC)
http://eve.bk.tsukuba.ac.jp/twmc
Learn about TWMC and its activities.
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FOR WOMEN IN JAPAN
Married in Japan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MarriedinJapan/
For women who are married or in a relationship with a Japanese man
Association of Foreign Wives of Japanese
http://www.afwj.org/index.html
This website is also for women married to Japanese men. It is somewhat similar to MIJ but it has more events and there is an annual membership fee.
Digital Eve Japan
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/de-japan/
IT issues for women
International Women in Communications
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iwicjapan
Discussion and information for women who work in communications.
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MONEY, BUYING AND SELLING USED ITEMS
Freecycle Japan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecyclejapan
Give things away for free. Ask for something for free. Perfect for sayonara sales where you don't really care about getting 1000 yen for your toaster. Buyer generally pays for shipping (COD).
Frugal Japan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/frugaljapan
Learn how to live frugally in the world's most expensive country.
Tell and Sell Japan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TellandSellJapan
Buy and sell things within Japan. Perfect for sayonara sales. Buyer
generally pays for shipping (COD).
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BUSINESS, POLITICS
Community in Japan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/communityinjapan
Discussion group about the rights of foreign people in Japan. Debates can get quite heated on various topics, but people are generally well-behaved. You can learn about new laws and legal cases involving foreign people in Japan.
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PETS
Angels with Fur
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AngelsWithFur
Discussion group about having pets in Japan.
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