Complaint Against: Other

Complaint Against: Other

Complaint Against: Other

I lived 10 years in Toyota-shi, Aichi-ken and EVER experienced RACISM DEMONSTRATIONS everywhere I went! I never mind it! I know just one good japanese man who although is a patriot is against this ignorant racism. He's like a brother for me and I call him "ONISAN"(Old brother). I'm married with a japanese woman and have a 3 yo boy born in Japan but japanese people often say he's NOT japanese just because his father isn't too! Now I'm in California since June 1999 studing in a University. Since students can't work (while in F-1 status) my wife send MY money from my account in Tokay Bank. She ever used to send it in "money-orders" without problems from the Takaoka Post Office near our house in Toyota-shi. Last February while in a hard day of work she sent the money ( 5,000 dollars) from a different Post office agency, in Chiryu-shi near her factory job. It was sent in a registered envelop in February 24, 2000 and NEVER ARRIVED HERE IN CALIFORNIA (Today is April 14,! 2000)! 

When she come back to the Chiryu Post office to ask about what happened to the money they answered in a "cold" way just: "Ask to your husband"...! She told then: "it not arrived in California yet and my husband lost the right to re-apply for a new quarter in the University because he have no money"....and they answered back: Why you MARRIED A FOREIGN? This is YOUR PROBLEM NOW!!! "We know he should received the money and is lying to you to take all YOUR money....."! You'll see him asking for more money soon! FOREIGNS EVER USE TO ABUSE JAPANESE WOMAN! YOU ARE A FOOL TO BELIVE IN HIM!

When she become angry with then they just said they'll investigate about the money, BUT she'll need to wait 10 MONTHS FOR THE INVESTIGATIONS RESULTS....!!!

If someone knows any place in that country of racists where I can start a representation against the Japanese Post office please let me know. Where can I find help to have my money back? And indenization for all I loose with this? Who can help me in this case? The O.N.U.?
Any help will be very appreciated.

Complaint Against: Other

From: Rachel R. Rowden 

Subject: Discrimination by Nicos and Gateway Computers

Yesterday I attempted to purchase a computer at the Gateway store in Shinjuku.  After first confirming that I could purchase the computer via Nicos' installment plan ("As long as you have a valid visa and are employed."), I spent the next 45 minutes choosing options, filling out forms and ordering my computer.  The last stop was the Nicos desk where a very rude woman speaking 100-mile-an-hour Japanese refused my request based on my lack of Japanese language skills.  She refused to help me at all and said I could not be accommodated, even if I was accompanied by a Japanese speaker.  I have to speak Japanese.  This is blatantly discriminatory, especially since the customer before me was an elderly English speaker being helped by a Japanese woman!!  I have been in contact with Nicos and their inept representative merely grills me with personal questions, makes up new requirements for loan approval, and giggles when I point out that he is lieing and that Japanese people are not held to the same standard.  They are in partnership with an American company (Gateway) and sell English language component computers!!  If anyone has any ideas as to what I can/should do or if I have any legal recourse, I would appreciate your advice. I have lived in Japan for over a year, have a new three-year visa, pay all of my bills on time and speak some Japanese....

Thank you, 

Rachel R. Rowden

Complaint Against: Japanese Immigration

I am currently translating Immigration's case in defense to my claim (the second time around) for refusing to renew my spousal status. I am currently under "deportation investigation"because, I have been informed, I have overstayed my visa status. As working out a response to this mess and getting it all to and from Japanese is likely to see me engulfed with dictionaries for the next while, I will have to wait some before I send the diatribe on three years of bureaucratic hassles and court cases that have been set about based on my wife having filed a forged divorce document at the local Ward Office.

My wife and I are at odds because of this situation and I will not skulk back to her like some slave on a chain. I do not now how serious my wife is with her contrivance but I do know she is trapped now in her position because of what she has done. The situation has been made a mess by Immigration's gullibility having to use a document which was shown to be a forgery but had to be preserved, the Family Register, and the persistent effort to destroy the marriage in connection with the courts so that the forgery is made the truth and, voila, the records and the myth can be manitained.

Because of the forgery, conferring with colleagues, the case should not be in court in the first place and one cannot see how a magistrate could possibly provide a sound argument upholding a divorce aware that the whole affair was set under way by a forged document being processed and eventually leading to court, while setting one party at a disadvantage throughout. These are the bloody inequities with which I am and have been dealing.

Complaint Against: Japanese Immigration

From: Imtiaz A. Chaudhry

Subject: Human Rights Falling Through the Cracks in Japan

Do Japanese children who have a foreign parent divorced from the Japanese parent have a right for both parents to live in Japan? More importantly, how can a foreign parent provide food and other necessities for his/her Japanese-born child if they are forced out of Japan and repatriated to an impoverished developing country?

What follows is the story of a foreign man who has lived in Japan for the past 17 years and his struggle to continue living and working in this country where his two children are citizens.

Japanese immigration officials have turned this man’s life into a nightmare, forcing him to live in constant fear for the past three years and treating him like a criminal. Immigration, for its part, says it is only doing its job. But how is tearing a man away from his children part of the duties of the Japanese government?

This story begins in 1983, when 18-year-old Pakistani national Ken Massey entered Japan on a tourist visa. Ken traveled in and out of the country when necessary to avoid overstaying his visa. In 1984, Ken had a son with a Japanese national. A year later the two were married and they welcomed another child into the world soon thereafter. The marriage lasted 10 years until a divorce in 1994. That is when Ken’s visa problems started.

Upon his divorce, Ken did not make any plans for handling his visa situation. He could have very easily postponed his divorce another year and applied for a permanent residency visa. Such visas are generally granted without question to people who have been married and living in Japan for 10 years. But Ken did not know very much about visa issues and, at the time, he was more concerned about straightening out his personal life.

When applying for a new visa, Immigration officials asked Ken why his wife was not serving as a guarantor and Ken responded honestly and unwittingly that he was separated from his spouse and that they might divorce. Immigration responded by giving Ken a one-year visa; they said it would be less if he were divorced.

A year later in 1995, Ken had divorced and Immigration issued him a "long-term" visa of six months. It would be extended three more times for a total of four six-month visas.

On November 21, 1996, two days before his visa was to expire, Ken applied for his fifth six-month visa. His employer, Hiroyuki Murase, the owner of Journey Travel in Shinjuku, had filled out the guarantor form and affixed his registered stamp to it. Just as he had done each time before, Ken handed all the documents to Immigration authorities and received a slip of paper asking him to wait until he was notified by mail.

Unfortunately for Ken, he was fired from his job on December 6 following a dispute with his employer, Murase. Moreover, Murase phoned Immigration and attempted to withdraw his guarantorship, saying that the form had been forged by Ken and that he did not sign it. Later, when some of Ken's friends went to Journey Travel and demanded that Murase withdraw his untrue statements about Ken, Murase demanded a Y2 million bribe.

Immigration failed to notify Ken and advise him of the status of his visa application. Ken called Immigration to find out what was going on. He was told that there were too many foreigners in Japan. Then he was asked to wait a while longer. In February 1997, Ken was finally contacted by Immigration. He received a postcard in the mail, which asked him to come down to Immigration in regards to the visa. On March 3, Ken visited the Immigration office in Otemachi, where he had submitted the paperwork. At that time Immigration officials told Ken that he needed to go to Immigration bureau’s facilities in Itabashi Ward’s Jujo area, where the case had been transferred. Ken did not know it at the time, but Jujo is where the main Tokyo Immigration detention facilities are located.

Arriving at Jujo just before 1:00 p.m., Ken noticed that most of the Immigration officials were having lunch. They immediately said, "Oh you are very late." Ken apologized explaining that he had been busy. They said, "Okay have a seat anyway. We've been really waiting for you."

Ken was taken into a room just after lunchtime where he was interrogated by two Immigration officials for six hours. One man was writing everything down while the other yelled and screamed at Ken. He started, "You want to stay in Japan but you cannot? Did you bring your toothbrush? You are not going anywhere. You are going straight to Pakistan from now? You are deported."

Ken pleaded to be allowed to call a lawyer, but to no avail. The tough Immigration official yelled at him, "You have done very very bad things in Japan. We found out that your letter of guarantor was forged! Mr. Murase said he did not give you any letter!? You did it on your own!? It's your handwriting." Ken was incredulous and pleaded with the men that he had not forged anything and that he could prove it because the affixed stamp was registered with the Shibuya Ward office.

Until 7:00 p.m. that night, the angry Immigration official barked and ranted at ken asking his entire life history. They wanted to know the names of his parents, siblings and other relatives, where there were and what they did. They brought up several trips to Thailand that Ken had made with his girlfriend, to which Ken replied, "We went there on vacation. That's all." Immigration barked back, "So you spent lots of money on this and that and blah, blah."

After 7:00 p.m. Immigration concluded the grilling by locking Ken up, and he would not see his freedom for another 42 days. On April 15, 1997 immigration finally released Ken from detention but only after his Japanese girlfriend and several friends came to his assistance and only under some rather severe conditions.

Firstly, Ken's ex-girlfriend made a pledge that she would marry Ken. Friends had to raise a Y500,000 bail. Immigration initially demanded Y1,000,000 but later accepted half this amount when that was all that could be raised. Ken was instructed that he did not have a visa but rather he was on some kind of detention “furlough” and that he would have to report to that detention house once every month on the same day and at the same time. If he wanted to leave the city of Tokyo he had to get special permission.

Ken started living with girlfriend but things did not go so well as he felt she became overly controlling. After a while Ken moved out, and he described this as the best move for their relationship because he and his ex-girlfriend are still very good friends. Ken says she still helps him at every opportunity but not to the extent that she wants to go through a marriage to solve the visa problem, nor did Ken either.

Time went by and Ken made many visits to the Jujo detention facility each month exactly on the specified day and exactly at the specified time to receive a stamp on his card issued by Immigration. Then Ken retained a lawyer named Ogiue at the rate of Y100,000 a month with a total of Y300,000 paid. In the end Ogiue told ken, "You need to find a Japanese girl and get married, and then I'll get you a visa." He went on to say, "Your case is just too difficult; just get a girl, any girl, and get married, and I'll get you a visa. There is no other way."

Since the divorce Ken had sent money to help support his Japanese children who particularly needed help with the fees for the international school they attended. But as the pressure from Immigration increased and constantly interfered with his job and ability to find jobs, the amount of financial support to the children decreased.

In June 1999, Ken received a letter from Immigration asking him to come in and do a "final interview," and explain what are his "priorities" and "what he wants to do." Ken attended with his lawyer and so many of the same questions that had been asked during the past four years were asked again. His lawyer sat through the meeting quietly with his eyes closed half the time.

During the interview, Immigration accused Ken of committing a crime by violating Immigration laws. They said that he had lied about his place of residence after checking with his girlfriend's landlord and confirming that Ken was not living with her, which was partially true depending on how “live with” is defined. Ken had not said he was living there but his girlfriend had submitted a paper to Immigration saying this. Immigration accused him of lying and “doing bad things again.” It seemed that Ken's right to stay in Japan was mostly dependant on whether he were married to a Japanese and not related the welfare of his children, and Immigration had manufactured a “crime” to justify its desire to expel Ken from Japan.

At the end of the interview, Immigration demanded that Ken sign a paper saying that he would accept their judgement. Since he was out on "furlough" only by Immigration's benevolence, not signing did not seem like an option. Then Immigration said it was up to the ministry of justice and that they would let him know in a couple of months.

Ken continued to visit the Jujo detention facility each month diligently on the specified day and time to get his card stamped. He became more nervous in January 2000 as Immigration began asking questions during his visits.

Ken then managed to get an introduction to a member of Parliament named Imokawa who was assigned to Shinpanka in the Ministry of Justice (Tel. 03-3580-4111, Fax. 03-3592-7971, ext. 2772). After looking at Ken's case, Imokawa expressed disbelief in his government's handling of the case and said he would try to help the situation. A representative of his office subsequently took Y270,000 from Ken as some kind of "deposit" for Imokawa's office to look into the case.

But after several months had passed, no action had been taken. Then on June 16, 2000 when Ken visited the Jujo detention facility Immigration once again took him into custody and said his deportation would occur soon. When calls were made to ask about the situation, an official, Ms. Suenaga, said that the matter could not be discussed with anyone but Ken's guarantor. When asked, if foreign people divorced from Japanese spouses with children have a right to stay in Japan, or more specifically if those Japanese children have a right to have their parent nearby and working to support them, Ms. Suenaga said it was on a case-by-case basis. She would not elaborate further on this.

In Ken Massey's case, he has lived in Japan for 17 years, never once having overstayed a visa and never having committed any crime. He has two children who are Japanese citizens with their own rights under the constitution. Ken tries to provide support to his children that they need but his visa problems have severely interfered with his employment opportunities. At the time of writing of this story, he is unable to provide for his Japanese children because he is sitting in a Jujo detention facility like some kind of criminal.

In regard to his home country in Pakistan, Ken has not been there for over 20 years. He hardly knows the language and has no family in Pakistan. Ken has repeatedly said he feels like Japan, where he has lived for 17 years, is his home and where he belongs. This is the case as presented to Jujo Immigration officials who recently detained Ken for deportation out of Japan to Pakistan.

According a Mr. Takeda at the Ministry of Justice, the Minister of Justice, Mr. Hideo Usui (Tel. 03-3508-7223, Fax. 03-3502-5081) has issued an order of deportation for Ken Massey and the reason was that he has “committed a crime.” In spite of repeated requests, Mr. Takeda would not explain what crime had been committed, except to say that it was a violation of Immigration control laws. Ostensibly this is the issue that Ken may have been living in one place when he said he was living in another, but the Ministry of Justice will not confirm this, only saying that they have “informed Ken of his crime.” The detention facility has said that Ken is not allowed to talk to anyone but his guarantor, and will not explain why they are holding him.

Both Jujo detention facility and the Ministry of Justice declined to say who would be making the payments to take care of Ken’s children, who are Japanese citizens and whose rights are protected by the constitution of Japan. Deportation of their father can only be justified if he is a danger to society in Japan, and this criteria has not been met because Ken Massey has never committed any crime in Japan.

Short of any drastic changes from public opinion, Immigration seems close to using the constitution as toilet paper and achieving its goal of expelling Ken from Japan after living here for 17 years. The apparent reason for this severe action is that during Ken’s three-year period on a tight Immigration leash and life of fear, he did not obey all of their rules closely enough.

by Trent Moore

moore_trent@hotmail.com

Side bar:

This story is being circulated to create awareness of a great injustice and human rights violation occurring at the Ministry of Justice. All media organizations and individuals as well are urged to contact the Ministry of Justice, and ask them to explain and make public the governments actions against Ken Massey. There are no copyrights on this story.

Mr. Hideo Usui, Minister of Justice

Ministry of Justice

1-1-1 Kasumigaseki

Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0013

General Tel.

03-3508-4111

Mr. Usui’s direct contact:

Tel. 03-3508-7223, Fax. 03-3502-5081

Complaint Against: Health Department

 I recently wnet to the Ota Ward Office, where I have been living since last June (1999) to inquire about the National Health Insurance scheme. I planned on ONLY receiving some information about it, but got much more than I had Bargained for!

Without explanation, i was asked to fill out a blue-colored card before I could receive any info. My Japanese girlfriend was with me, so we thought it was just a standard registration procedure, NOT a commitment to join the scheme, as it turned out to be. After learning that i was now registered, I tried to politely tell the staff member that I was merely "inquiring" NOT "joining"! To which the reply was "Now that you have joined, you CAN NOT quit the scheme!" You see, I had signed the paper!

Needless to say, I was outraged!! What a total lack of respect for open communication this was! A binding contract being passed off as something of such little meaning like that. And then, to make matters worse, I was told that since I hadn't registered in June 1999, when I first moved to ota ward,(I was at the offices yesterday, November 3, 1999) that I was required to pay the entire backpayment from June 1999 to November 1999. My visa had expired last July, and I was awaiting a decision on it until November 2nd. But when I explained this to the clerk, he again laughed and said "Sorry, but those are the rules!"

I feel very helpless and taken advantage of! What can I do? I can't afford to pay the fees, which total upward of 300,000 yen from June, plus and additional 300,000 from December to next June (2000). I would appreciate any assistance I could get with this matter. I'm extremely frustrated with the beauracracy in this country that I otherwise love and consider my second home.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Shawn Newell

Complaint Against: Education Department

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap Tap Tap.
I looked down. His cane was sticking in the bicycle spokes. Seem to have gotten caught up.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap Tap Tap.

I looked around. Japanese businessman were pushing him over to get through him. He was in a suit and tie and so were they. They were crossing the streets. Everyone knew he was blind. About 5 or so businessman or should I say salarymen didnt want to know about it. They didnt care. Watch the blindman stumble and fall into the bicycles. I wish Bill Tottem had of seen it. Living proof of what good people the Japanese are to someone who is not in 'their group'. So Fukuzawa RIANS. What do you think of that one? No complaints just pure observation. I enjoyed it, committed it to memory and laughed a bit. So I asked him "Doko ni ikkou to shiteiru desu ka?" And he came back UERU AARU YUUU FUROMU. So I told him "Gaikokujin desu kedo." So I helped him across the street. He didnt seem to want to practise oEigo to that of which I was happily relieved.

Complaint Against: Education Department

Complaint Against: Japanese Government

After arriving into Nagoya airport, I was immediately checked for drugs, etc. They found porno magazines from the USA that didn't have screening for the lower female sex organs. They immediately ushered me to another room and lectured me in Japanese only. I don't know what they said or the consequences of such actions are. Can you please let me know. I am really frustrated because I never knew there was a law against brining in pornography nor was it fair that they didn't supply an English speaking person to converse with. Up to now I still don't know what they had told me.

Please don't publish my name or e-mail address
thanks...

Complaint Against: Labor Dept.

I don't want to worry You, but I have a real problem and don't know what to do. I hope You will help me. Any way, thank You very much for readying my letter.

I worked at the Japan company "ITS Japan Ltd." (Head office situated at the Dai-Ichi Nurihiko Bldg 2-9-2 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0031 Japan <Its@its-japan.co.jp>since April 1998 till March 1999 in a Yekaterinburg office. When I was dismissed, cause I don't wanted to forge documents, this company didn't pay my salary in full for January-April this Year. Could not You, please, to give me advice, to whom can I apply to receive my money?

Maybe in the Japan there is a public organizations, observing the labor law observance, or other establishments or organisations (maybe non-japanese) who can help me? Thank You very much.

Sincerely Yours
Yekaterina Vakhitova
620137, Russia, Yekaterinburg,
Sulimova Str. 6-18,
2457@dialup.mplik.ru

Complaint Against: Fukuoka Police Dept.

I have read with some attention given to the policy of discrimination at Otaru in Hokkaido the recent UMJ newsletters.

I do not think the conduct of such a policy is news to anyone with even the least bit of living experience in Japan. Living in Kyushu, and over the years, the use of disinformation (i.e. lying) to practise a policy of discrimination against foreigners has become part of the expected regalia of the Japanese experience. About ten years ago, before the 'gaijin invasion', I had the wonderful experience of visiting a local gymnasium to unchange in the change room, which was empty, to then have some Japanese walk in, respond with a slight shock and embarrassment seeing me, and then shunt out of the entrance mumbling about'gaijin'. The door punctuated this little interlude by actually shutting leaving me with my silence to then be thrust open with a bobbing Japanese head pushed round the corner of some authorative figure I assume, saying that "the change room was for Japanese only, that you have to get out because you are a 'gaijin'!" in wonderful, easily understandable Japanese.

Obviously, my mute silence was not broken until the powerful words of "where is the gaijin changeroom?" were uttered to be greeted once again with blissful silence. With Japan defeated, I continued changing. I left the room quizzical about the intellectual capacity of Japanese and with the decision not to allow their cultural backwardness have me hold them in contempt.

The years have moved me with the same certainty as quicksand and the whole question about discrimination against foreigners for being non-Japanese (or non-Japanese looking) has raised its ugly head again and again. Everywhere there are subtle cues or one has been educated about 'in that bar gaijins are not allowed' and the ilk that one has become numb to the policy of discrimination, one which is regarded as a reflection of Japanese culture highlighting their backwardness (despite their ostentation asserting some link to the sun-god or what have you and the richness of their history and lot). Out of the voluminous chronology comes this recent gem which is well-counterpoised, I think, to the Otaru experience highlighting discrimination with the implicit understanding that this is bad, should not be practised etc..

In town, Fukuoka, above a popular 'gaijin' watering-hole on the top floor of a somewhat narrow, back-street - but near main thoroughfare - type building a new club had opened. The signs were in pink with bold black lettering announcing, as with the illuminated sign at street level positioned to gain attention, that the new club was home for high-school girl entertainment. I had heard and read a lot about this type of 'loli-con' complex that was the fetish of Japanese businessmen with the wallets to match their desire for entertainment that I decided to pique my curiosity and check it out. Anyway, the 'gaijin bar' I wanted to visit was not open, so to idle away the moments, curiosity and time were adequate motivation. No sooner had I left the elevator and entered the empty room which was the club then the staff, a middle-aged Japanese part-time worker, moved toward me with arms crossed and the outspoken "Gaijin, dame!". Backed on to my experince over the last few years handling!

Japanese cultural backwardness as it has impinged upon my lifestyle here, in terms particularly by Immigration and legal battles, I was in no mood to cop this sort of rubbish. The first response was to deny the policy: 'I am not a foreigner, I am Japanese!' (even despite my anglo-celtic heritage). The quick rebuttal by the sharp staff was 'But you look like a foreigner'. My answer to this was 'So?'. He answered: 'The girls do not like foreigners'. I had no intention of partaking of the loli-con complex nor was I of the financial wherewithall to indulge it even if I were, but now I was in battle and I was not going to let this issue rest. He continued: 'You look like a foreigner'. I said that the policy was mistaken and that discrimination could not be practised by law (I was not 100% certain about this considering my experience with the legal system, but I was aware of the Japanese Constitution and articles in this connection). He then resorted to his failsafe, 'I am only a part-time worker','It is company policy'etc.. I then demande!
d to speak to the manager. He dodged the issue and then after my incessant recital of the issue of 'discriminatory policy' with other colourful adjectives, the manager was contacted by phone where I grilled him on the racsim etc.. In direct questioning, 'Why is there a policy of 'no foreigners'?', the manager said there is "no reason" it is just policy. I thought, how does one communicate with something so vacuous and perpetually elusive? The manager then responded that there was a sign on the door in English (considerate lot they are)_F "No Foreigners Allowed, Thank You". At which point rebutting the nonsense to the point of oblivion, I declared that the policy is rejected. I hung up the phone. I told the staff to call the police. At this point, I stormed out of the 'club' and spotted the sign in a concealed corner from the elevator exit and promptly ripped it off and took it as a sample to the local koban (police-box) where I stormed in and, being addressed by a constable, t!
ossed the crumpled cheap-metal sign into the corner of the office and proceeded to complain about the policy of discrimination practised at the club. As usual, the police did their best to restore calm. The head constable listened to me and then responded in a queer fashion.

He responded by saying he 'understood my feeling', but that 'Japan is a democracy' and all through this was the prosecution of the law whereby discrimination by club-owners or mangers or 'sekininsha' is quite acceptable and is protected by the law because Japan is a democracy. The actual piece of law abused from another experience is one where a person on entry to another's houshold must leave within three minutes of being told to leave or else be in violation of the law and subject to police deportation. So, according to the police, the policy is quite acceptable, would be supported by the force of the law, was part and parcel of democracy, that I should understand this and not visit the club again. In compensation because of 'your feelings', the police officer said he would have a chat to the club manager. It was implied at this point that the 'No Foreigners Allowed' sign would have to be removed from the outside of the club and plastered on a wall inside the club. At this p!
oint, I tried to collect the screwed up sign to destroy it further when the police resisted me 'protecting another's property'. The attitude by the police was condescending implying that as a stupid foreigner I did not understand the law - or for that matter - democracy. I complained with some disgust at their attitude, and stormed out of the koban.

As you can see, the whole vacuous policy of discrimnation in this country is supported by and processed by the law. We are 'gaijin' and we are dolts and we do not understand Japanese law and culture. Hence, it is implied or sometimes stated, (we should) go back to (y)our own country.

Hence, what is Japanese law on this topic? Are the Japanese so primitive that they deserve the contempt that these situations would have bestowed on them? Must we declare war to get rid of this second- or third-class person mentality? I am building up my stockpile.

 Complaint Against: Fukuoka Police Dept.

11 October 1999

Abuse By Police

To the Minister of Justice:

This letter is written after consideration of the behaviour of police at Maizuru koban (police box) in Fukuoka last night against my person.
This letter is written in response to the police hysteria directed at my person before and after the shocking episode of physical abuse directed at my person as described below.
This letter demands a response and an apology for the demeaning behaviour given by the police to my person in the name of practising the law.
In connection with my current status situation in Japan related to the numerous court cases against the Minister of Justice, I am very sensitive to policies of discrimination practised in Japan.
First, last night I ventured to a club in Tenjin to which I had visited once before. The policy of the club is one to ban foreigners.
I had complained about this at Maizuru koban before and I had been advised by the senior constable with whom I had been speaking that he would discuss the matter with the club owner. I visited last night to see if any change had been implemented.
No change had been implemented. As soon as I walked into the club, the same policy was implemented and I was asked to leave because I was a foreigner. At this point, I protested.
The manager then contacted the police at Maizuru koban to come to his aid. I waited wanting to complain. The police arrived and the second stage began.
Three police headed by "Nakashima" of Maizuru koban (10/10/99) came into the club. At this point, he spoke to the manager and turned to me and asked "What is your name?" and later "What is your nationality?".
I refused to answer on the grounds that I was complaining of the policy of discrimination practised by the management of the club. At this point, the police began to intimidate me. The police argued that as the club was private the policy could be practised. It was inferred the policy was not discriminatory because Japanese could be refused entry to the club as well.
The police then pointed to a sign on the wall that stated "troublemakers can be refused entry". It then became clear that 'foreigners' was a synonym for "troublemakers" and this legitimised a policy of discrimination.
I then called a constables attention to the "NO FOREIGNERS ALLOWED, THANKYOU" sign stashed now behind the counter. The constable refused to acknowledge it.
Nakashima then pressed with a raised, intimidating voice: "What is your name?", "Nationality?". I asked "Why?", "What wrong have I committed?", "Why are you avoiding the policy of discrimination?". I refused to answer on the grounds that that information had no connection to the policy of discrimination practised against myself by the manager. I demanded the senior-constable's name several times before a reply was forthcoming:
"Nakashima". I demanded his police number. This was refused numerous times. A false number was quoted and then another. I wrote the last number down on a slip of paper (77_c) which was latter taken off of me by the group of constables. I asked the other constables for their names and numbers, but these were also refused.
Nakashima thereafter tried to communicate with some other office by telephone. To what purpose, I could not gather. At this point, I declared I would leave the club and that floor of the building. I moved for the elevator, but the police refused my exit. I then moved for the stairwell where one constable declared "You are running away!". Thereafter, the third and most serious stage began.
As I moved down the stairwell in what initially was a controlled fashion, I found the pursuing police - first the lone constable, then the cohorts - pushing me and pummelling me down into a corner of the stairs, ripping at my clothes, punching and kicking my person. I have a bruise on my left arm. Nakashima, at this point standing over me withdrew his police truncheon and routinely clapped my face with it and prodded it into my throat.
After this, another, bigger constable arrived up the stairwell where I was herded away, pushed by the group of four police, to Maizuru koban. At no time did I raise a finger against the police. I was verbal in my complaints while refraining from coarse language. Herded up to the police box, the night crowd gathered to whom I complained about police harassment protecting and practising a policy of discrimination against myself because I was a foreigner. At the koban, the fourth stage began.
Inside Maizuru koban, the police demanded my passport or Foreigner Registration Card. I refused asking for what reason they wanted these details. The senior constable perpetually reiterated that that is the rule of law. After which, the law was shown to me.
At this point, I responded that the law was being abused. I had complained about a policy of discrimination used in the club, which the police said was a non-issue, and now the police were intimidating me. I questioned: "What have I done wrong?", "My Foreigner Registration details have no connection to my complaint about the policy of discrimination used at the club simply because I was a foreigner (now re-classified as a "troublemaker")". But the police continued to insist on my personal details. Two constables barred my exit from the koban.
The next stage began when I insisted on the "toban bengoshi" [legal representative on call]. The senior-constable responded I was not (yet) being charged so that I had no access to the toban bengoshi. At this point I commented that "If I am not being charged then I am free to go". Moving to the door, several constables (in total seven, who kept coming and going) prevented my exit not allowing me to open the door by standing in front of my person.
The senior-constable made more telephone calls. He then made a final demand for details. I refused wanting to know the reason and how this connected with normal procedural duties.
Another plain clothes constable pulled up out the front of the koban in his van. At the koban, I demanded that the police not touch me. In order to have me moved to the van which it turned out was to take me to Fukuoka Central Police Station, the constables opened the door and then gathered round me so that I could not move from the line taking me to the van.
The crowd outside and another foreigner looking on were astounded at the procession. In a loud voice, in English and Japanese, I informed the crowd I had done nothing wrong and that I was being treated this way because I was a foreigner.
The police pushed my person to the door with their bellies and nudging with their arms. At the entrance to the van, I refused to enter. At which point, the police physically pushed me into the van.
The next stage began at Fukuoka Central Police Station where, after I was coaxed from the van, I was again intimidated by demands for my Foreigner Registration details. I refused. More phone calls were made. Several constables barred my exit from the police station.
After some time, a senior detective who was the police captain arrived at the station. I was familiar with the detective.
I have had this experience several times and this was my third time dealing with the detective in connection to my Foreigner Registration Card ("Gaijin Card"). As my wife had filed a forged divorce document in 1996 which was accepted by Sawara Ward Office, I have ever since been in court contesting decisions made from the forgery as registered on the Family Register [koseki] which also is under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice. Immigration, a subdivision of the Ministry, had previously and is currently denying me status based on the counterfeit Family Register. Consequently, any temporary change of status has not been registered at the local ward office because this would on my part certify the forgery. My Foreigner Registration has not been updated since 1996.
On a previous occasion where a policy of discrimination against myself had been (and is still currently being) practised by the manager of Apetito Momochi (also in Fukuoka), police (in total 11 at one stage) from Fujisaki Police Station had been called in to have me removed from the premises. I gave no reason for the manager to call the police. He used the police to facilitate his own policy. At this point, the police demanded my Foreigner Registration Card details. Eventually, the card was provided and the police, seven standing around me at one point in the restaurant, used the fact registration was overdue as reason to bundle me off to the police station in the same manner as above by pushing me into a police car, driving me to the police station and detaining me while checking my details.
During this investigation, in a police interview room, a constable further intimidated me by use of a distantly relevant law that the policy of discrimination against myself at Apetito Momochi was legal and that I should not go back to the restaurant or else be charged. Hence, with demand for my Foreigner Registration Card at any point I am in a catch-22: I am damned if I do show it and damned if I do not.
I explained this situation to the detective at Fukuoka Central Police Station who was familiar with my case having twice before checked my details. I produced my card for him which was promptly checked.
While the card was being checked, to another detective waiting with me in the police interview room, I demanded that I be charged or be allowed to go or be allowed to speak to the toban bengoshi. All were refused. The police captain returned, gave me my Foreigner Registration Card and then proceeded to lecture on the law. I responded once more reiterating the catch-22 and also that the law was being abused.
I then left the station having to walk back to the other side of Tenjin for an engagement to which I was two hours late.
I am constantly reminded I am a guest in Japan. If so, I expect to be treated like a guest not as how the police at Maizuru koban conducted themselves, a vagrant criminal.
As a consequence of my quasi-status connected to my legal battles about decisions made by the Minister of Justice/Fukuoka Department of Immigration based on a counterfeit Family Register, also under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice, in connection with my Foreigner Registration Card, I have been trammelled into a corner and labelled a "troublemaker" in order to conceal a policy of discrimination.
The situation examined here where the police at Maizuru koban punched, kicked and prodded my person with a police truncheon is reprehensible. The cause for the situation was my protesting a policy of discrimination at a club. The police effectively defended the policy and conducted themselves in a manner that one associates with the likes of the Gestapo. The result was intimidation and physical abuse by police, the use of numerous police and police time in my regard, and use of my time and constricting my freedom of movement harassing me for several hours in connection with my Foreigner Registration Card which had no link to normal procedural duties regarding my protest.
Finally, this is not a political statement. The reprehensible conduct by Maizuru koban police is separate from my protest. Refusal to show my Foreigner Registration Card is connected to previous experience both dealing with police at Fukuoka Central Police Station and Fujisaki Police Station, and the continuous legal wrangle with the Minister of Justice over the use of a counterfeit Family Register in denying me status and my refusal to certify the counterfeit by registering the counterfeit details on my Foreigner Registration Card.
Hence, the conduct by Fukuoka police in my regard last night was reprehensible and reflects for me the discrimination enforced by law in Japan and conducted by police.
In this regard, I demand an apology for the physical abuse by Maizuru koban police last night. Where is this policy conducted by police to lead?
It is hoped the content of this letter is taken with as much earnestness as it is sent.

Yours sincerely,
Darryl R. McGarry

C.C.
www.ufj.gol.com (United Front Japan)