Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance

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United Nations Special Rapporteur Doudou Diène’s report on his official mission to survey racial discrimination and xenophobia in Japan has been published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. His recommendations include:

94. The Government should adopt appropriate measures to guarantee that foreigners are treated equally in Japan. It should avoid the adoption of any measure that would discriminate against them in the fields of employment, social security, housing, etc., as well as in the exercise of all their rights and freedoms, in particular their freedom to move, to access public places and their right not to be persecuted and perceived as potentially more dangerous than the Japanese. Situations such as blatant refusal to foreigners for them to access public places are totally unacceptable in a democratic country and should not be allowed.

Advance Edited Version (.doc)

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Female on throne could marry foreigner, Hiranuma warns

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[LDP lawmaker and former trade minister Takeo Hiranuma] warned the reform could corrupt the Imperial line, which he said has been the supreme symbol of Japanese national and ethnic identity for centuries.

“If Aiko becomes the reigning empress and gets involved with a blue-eyed foreigner while studying abroad and marries him, their child may be the emperor,” Hiranuma told about 40 lawmakers, academics and supporters at a Tokyo hall. “We should never let that happen.”

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060202a2.html

Court rules English language school Nova billed student illegally

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English language conversation school operator Nova Co. illegally billed a student when it refused to refund her the full price she had paid for classes she didn’t take, the Kyoto District Court ruled. Presiding Judge Mizuho Ebi ordered Nova to pay the student the 176,672 yen she had sought when suing the company.

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20060131p2a00m0na011000c.html

Settling labor disputes promptly

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In April, Japan will introduce an “industrial tribunal system” to settle individual labor disputes, such as those involving dismissals, working conditions and reassignments. The purpose of this system is to settle disputes expeditiously by limiting the number of trial sessions to no more than three.

The number of disputes involving labor relations has increased markedly in recent years, reflecting the prolonged business slump. In fiscal 2004, labor-dispute “counseling corners” throughout the country, including prefectural labor relations bureaus, received 820,000 complaints and inquiries. Of these, 160,000 cases involved individual labor disputes. Both numbers represent more than three times the figures for fiscal 2001.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20060130a1.html

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Kosei Gakuen Girls High School Protest

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Many thanks to Nambu members who made it all the way out to Chitosekarasuyama at 7:40am on Christmas Eve to protest the non-renewal of a member at Kosei Gakuen Girls High School. The high school has only one entrance, which made it very easy to hand out leaflets to the students as they arrived. The student population is about 500, and we handed out over 400 leaflets, so the majority of the girls, and their parents, will now be aware of the administration’s arbitrary approach to hiring and firing.

Begunto Trick-or-Treats with Berlitz in Omiya

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Flash Demo at Berlitz Omiya Branch

Teachers Disciplined For Trivial Reasons

The disrequest system at Berlitz is just one example of threats to job security faced by teachers in the eikaiwa industry. HR representatives claim that a pattern of complaints concerning any particular instructor can lead to discipline, and that six to eight official disrequests over a period of two years is enough to constitute a pattern.

Given that teachers may meet hundreds of students and teach thousands of lessons over the period of a year, added to the fact that complaints can be based on anything from the teacher?s facial expression (?she didn?t smile?) to completely subjective judgements (?we weren?t a good match?), the unfairness of this standard is immediately apparent.

The union cannot allow teachers to face discipline, and potential threats to their livelihood, based on such standards. BEGUNTO will continue to fight for job security both at Berlitz, and throughout the industry.