Japanese politics takes a huge turn

[MMM]

There were two discussions of this topic going, which I have now merged.

[seiki]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I`m a bit disappointed on how one sided this is.
Japanese government tends to work best when there is a level of balance between parties - not when 95% one party. Different parties being up there keep the other in balance and make it harder for abuses to occur.

I don`t really trust the DPJ (the one that won - I always forget the English abbreviations for them.) because they offer great sounding plans with no firm explanations of how they intend to actually do any of them....
And I particularly don`t like their policy of "We`ll do anything the rest of Asia tells us to!!" up until now. That leaves a really bad taste in my mouth, as they have so far aimed for "Economic growth in Asia at the cost of Japan!" ... Which isn`t good for Japan. You can`t bow to the whim of other countries and expect them to tell you to do things that will be good for you.



In what way? Free immigration? Just what Japan needs to tax an already struggling system!

I believe he was a democrat??

[GTJ]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

ETA;
I`ll apologize for putting words in your mouth. I didn`t even notice it was you.
I was just tired of seeing the overwhelming response everywhere around the net being "Well, I hope they make it easier for me to go to Japan!", or "Hopefully they will make it easier for us to send our companies and workers over there to take advantage of the country!" on news sites... With no one giving a crap about what the party will do for JAPAN, and what the actual advantage will be for JAPAN.

That's okay, immigration isn't even what I was thinking about when I said it. Sure, it would be nice to not have to go through this hell to get a visa, but it's the same--and sometimes worse--for every other country. It's to be expected. What I was thinking of was more the process of living in Japan, like how the government treats/doesn't treat us. One example is the new gaijin cards with a scannable computer chip so a policeman can pick out all the gaijin in a crowd. Another example is police being taught that gaijin commit up to 90% of all the crimes in any given area, and are trained to go out and stop random foreigners for questioning/harassment.

Actually... the only problems I think I have is with the police. Hm. I've experienced this first hand, so when I see the cops roll by I can't help but feel my lip curl a bit. There's a lot of power tripping going on, in all levels of government in Japan.

Other than that there doesn't seem to be much going on in regards to foreigners in Japan in a positive light. It's all just about punishing the illegal immigrants and all that. And how about that new law about national health care and renewing visas?

We're now required to pay into national healthcare AND pension. Plus, if you've been in Japan however many years or so, I'm not sure, but don't you have to pay BACK pension? On top of that, foreigners are only entitled to withdrawl 3 years' worth, if you apply for it two years ahead of time. So it only really helps you if you plan to stay in Japan the rest of your life, and completely screws you out of a large portion of your salary if you don't.

So in a way I guess foreigners coming to Japan to live and work DOES help out the national coffers..

[Ryzorian]

Japan has limited space/resources, so I can understand Nyororin's point about Immigration controle. It's also true that Japan has a very low birth rate, wich should be a concern as well. An organisim that isn't growing, is dieing.

Governmental changes of high magtitude have happened across the globe it seems. Wether anything grand will come of it or not has yet to be seen, it takes years for a tree to gain any size.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by GTJ

That's okay, immigration isn't even what I was thinking about when I said it. Sure, it would be nice to not have to go through this hell to get a visa, but it's the same--and sometimes worse--for every other country. It's to be expected. What I was thinking of was more the process of living in Japan, like how the government treats/doesn't treat us. One example is the new gaijin cards with a scannable computer chip so a policeman can pick out all the gaijin in a crowd.

That is fear mongering. I am THRILLED about the new cards. Why? Because gaijin are being taken out of the separate system, and put into the SAME one everyone else is in for juminhyo. With the new system in place - which, by the way uses the SAME cards and SAME IC chip system as the Juki net... nothing special for foreigners. Japanese ID cards are the same. - Foreigners won`t be tied to the pain of doing all their government transactions at the place they first registered or be fined etc for forgetting to change residence information.

But somewhere along the line somebody out there say IC chip in the works and jumped to assume it was to single people out in crowds. Sure, it could be used for that... The thing is it`s a system wide thing. All the Juki cards will/already have it.

Another example is police being taught that gaijin commit up to 90% of all the crimes in any given area, and are trained to go out and stop random foreigners for questioning/harassment.

Official documentation they are taught by is 50% for certain types of crime, which is actually correct and WAY outweighs the normal amount you`d expect. Asian crime rings have a huge presence in Japan, Nigerian and Middle Eastern gangs are also prevalent... and they DO commit a pretty hefty chunk of *the type of crimes that they could tell by stopping you on the street*.
When 50% of street drug dealing, pick pocketing, and the like are committed by a tiny slice of the population... Unfortunately racial profiling happens. A good thing, no. But a policy that isn`t as founded in nothingness as a a lot of people would like to think.

Actually... the only problems I think I have is with the police. Hm. I've experienced this first hand, so when I see the cops roll by I can't help but feel my lip curl a bit. There's a lot of power tripping going on, in all levels of government in Japan.

I`ve never had a negative run in with police. In fact, I had my very first contact with police quite recently when they came by to gather emergency contact information from everyone in my building because a new koban had been built... So I can`t comment on any negative behavior, as I`ve not witnessed any first hand.

We're now required to pay into national healthcare AND pension. Plus, if you've been in Japan however many years or so, I'm not sure, but don't you have to pay BACK pension? On top of that, foreigners are only entitled to withdrawl 3 years' worth, if you apply for it two years ahead of time. So it only really helps you if you plan to stay in Japan the rest of your life, and completely screws you out of a large portion of your salary if you don't.

You were ALWAYS required to pay it. I was legally required to pay it back 10 years ago. They`re just pushing it as they didn`t follow up with employers about it when it came to short term residents.
*sigh*
People in Japan for short term do not contribute much of anything. They usually get by on close to free health care for the first year (as it`s calculated on the last year`s paid taxes - the first year you`re here there are none.) and most people dodged paying pension. In a country where the pension system is in a terrible state and there are too few children... The money has to come from somewhere if not from kids, right? In this case, it`s foreign residents in Japan.
I thought this was kind of what everyone wanted when they went on about foreigners needed in Japan to help pay for the aging population?

By the way, you are required to pay 25 years into the pension system in order to collect. This is between 20 and retirement. However, if you have lived abroad for any period you are entitled to an "empty period" allowing you to receive credit for that number of years. So if you`ve lived 25 years of your life outside Japan between 20 and retirement - you can still receive without having contributed. If you have lived in Japan straight and don`t want to do the exemption, you will need to pay back payments to make the 25 years before you retire... The SAME as regular Japanese recipients. Something you COULDN`T before because you were a foreigner. You also no longer have to start from zero if you take Japanese citizenship, which was true in the past. You`d be "reset" as a person, and have to start over.

Anyway though - I`m quite HAPPY with the changes *gasp*, because it is the beginning of a process of putting "gaijin" on the exact same playing field as regular Japanese. No special treatment, no exceptions, etc. The Juki net move is a HUGE step toward putting gaijin on regular juminhyo, and it is something a LOT of long term residents pushed for. The government made the excuse that because the systems were and always had been separate there was no way to unite them - then the Juki net came along and they had to move a chunk of Japanese over into that anyway... And are now going for a nationwide electronic system for juminhyo, starting with those who registered for Juki. Putting foreigner info in the Juki system is a huge step in the right direction. Unfortunately because the cards are the same as all the other national ID cards that come with an IC chip, it`s become "OMG!! It`s for oppression of foreigners!" while somehow forgetting this is what a bunch of foreigners have been pushing for since god only knows when - being put into the same system and being treated (system wise) as native Japanese.

[MMM]

Thank you for an insider's perspective, Nyororin. It's nice getting an educated gaikokujin perspective.

[Sangetsu]

The election results aren't as "ground-shaking" as the world media is making them out to be. It must be a slow week for news, so something has to be made of it.

It's no surprise that the current government got voted out. With unemployment as high as it is, and with those who are still employed facing cuts in hours and pay, it was bound to happen. The national debt for last year came out to $64 billion (minuscule in comparison to American debt, but big trouble in Japan). The new party's plan to "improve" the economy and erase this deficit is to spend $150+ billion on various programs... it sounds a lot like America's plan in a way.

Anyway, the more things "change", the more they stay the same. The new government will not be able to make good on the majority of it's promises, Japan's export-driven economy depends on the well-being of foreign trade partners. Unless America and Europe staring buying Toyotas, televisions, and Playstations, there is not really much that can be done. After the new government shows that it can't really do any better of a job than the former one did, the LDP will win many of their seats back.

The only good thing to come of all of this is that the election proved to many politicians that their positions are controlled by the people, and that they are answerable to them. America should do the same thing with it's current crop of senators and congressmen.

Japan's negative birthrate is little different from that of Europe. A lot of Europe has a negative birthrate, except for minority populations, which are, as always, exploding. Japan values their culture and their national identity, I don't see them doing anything to change or ease up immigration in the near future. If anything, they will enact measures to encourage more Japanese to have children.

[komitsuki]

Originally Posted by Sinestra

You are assuming that they are going to do a good job and do whats best for the people.

You could read more carefully. I said I am very happy about essentially because the LDP being out of power.

LDP out of power = extremely good for Korea in the long run

So far, I expect there will be a huge turnout in Seoul in 6~9 months after Lee Myeong-bak's "sugar daddy" called LDP is out for good.

[Sinestra]

Originally Posted by komitsuki

You could read more carefully. I said I am very happy about essentially because the LDP being out of power.

LDP out of power = extremely good for Korea in the long run

So far, I expect there will be a huge turnout in Seoul in 6~9 months after Lee Myeong-bak's "sugar daddy" called LDP is out for good.

um yea i read it correctly and my comment still stands but i will put it another way. How does you talking about South Korea have anything to do with how DPK with handle the country of Japan i repeat not South Korea but Japan.

[komitsuki]

Originally Posted by Sinestra

How does you talking about South Korea have anything to do with how DPK with handle the country of Japan i repeat not South Korea but Japan.

Chinilpa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I told the similar thing two months ago and frankly you forgot all of them.