Moved from the Gaijin term discussion thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wasabista
Further to Ronin's point about race vs. nationality, notice how the two are skewed in Japan. There are Koreans living here, whom I insist on calling "kankokukei nihonjin" to the bewilderment of my hosts, who are here because their grandparents were abducted and forced to work here. Born in Japan, born to parents born to Japan, they are unable to get Japanese nationality or passports. This situation would never arise in another advanced country. So these people are fingerprinted because they are "foreigners," but really they are nothing of the sort, or would never be so considered if any kind of sense prevailed.
Racial discrimination with a fig leaf of nationality.
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Okay - I`ll hop into this one.
How many of these Korean nationals have you directly spoken to about their nationality situation? Because, you know what, I have spoken to quite a few - one of my best friends in high school was a "Korean-Japanese" of the sort you refer to, and did not have Japanese citizenship. He was MORE than happy to talk about it to no end.
Japanese Immigration PUSHES CONSTANTLY to give these people citizenship. There are huge drives, all fees waivered, instant approval, Japanese passport within the WEEK.
But you know what, most of them choose NOT to take Japanese citizenship. Why? Because they would lose the massive benefits given to them for being Koreans in Japan. You know, the free housing, government paid trips to Korea, specialized subsidized schooling, government benefits (think full paycheck) for everyone over 12, automatic company placement, reduced taxes, completely subsidized health care.... I could go on and on and on. The Japanese government would LOVE to have them all take Japanese citizenship. But I think it`s pretty clear why a large number of them won`t, don`t you think? If I made 250,000/month and got free housing, healthcare, schooling, etc on top of it - I wouldn`t want to give it up either.
The "Japan won`t give them citizenship!" is a big myth. It`s more like "The Japanese government can`t make them take Japanese citizenship".