Volume 13, Number 6 |
Epochal Tsukuba and Congress Center are two new phrases to add to the list of original English being added to our vocabulary. Both refer to the new convention center that has just opened in Tsukuba. Opening ceremonies were held June 1, with the U.S. ambassador to Japan and the Ibaraki Prefecture governor in attendance.
The new complex is quite impressive and is definitely worth a self-guided tour. If you go in the daytime when there is nothing going on, you can generally walk just about anywhere in the building.
As for the official English name of Tsukuba International Congress Center, it seems that Americans assume that this must be a British term, while those from the U.K. apparently assume it is an Americanism. Some people I asked said they had heard the term used in Africa, but other than that, no one seems to know where the term congress center came from.
Epochal Tsukuba goes right along with previous names for buildings in Tsukuba such a Capio Hall and Ars Library (ars, by the way, is Latin for art and not a certain English word some have mistakenly taken it to be and then made the butt of jokes!).
Among the main events planned for the complex are: The Japan Primary Care Society on June 26-27, with 2500 expected; The World English International Conference on July 28-31, with about 500 expected; The Tsukuba Science Festival on Oct. 9-10, with 1000 expected; The Science Forum with Nobel Prize Winners on Nov. 20-21, with 1000 expected; and The Year 2000 Acid Rain International Conference to be held Dec. 10-16, with 1200 expected.
The telephone number of the new complex is 0298-61-1206, with email received at office@epocal.or.jp
As part of its activities, the Tsukuba Information Center sponsors a bilingual discussion group the fourth Wednesday of every month from 2 to 4 pm, with invited guests giving a presentation from their area of expertise or experience. This month, we are pleased to have Mr. Devanand Maharaj, who comes from the island country of Trinidad and Tobago, located just north of South America in the southern Caribbean. The country is affectionately called paradise on earth, with people from all over the globe enhancing the multicultural, multiracial society.
Though its main resource is petroleum, there is also a natural asphalt lake and other supplementary industries such as agriculture and tourism. Trinidad is the commercial capital of the country and Tobago is the vacation paradise you’ve been waiting for; a garland of white sands, beautiful beaches and coral reefs. It is the perfect spot for relaxation and honeymooning.
Devanand will introduce the carnivals, where people dance in the streets to calypso and steel band music. It’s just one big family party, with no distinction made between race, color or creed.
The Coffee Hour is meant to be an informal exchange of information and opinions. English and Japanese are both used with efforts made to make sure those who can't understand one or the other are able to at least get the gist of the conversation. Likewise, you don't need to commit yourself to the entire two hours and can come and go freely. So drop by, whether for a short time or for the entire two hours, and enjoy some free refreshments along with the stimulating conversation.
IAWE Japan will hold a 3 day seminar July 28 to 30 at the Tsukuba Information Center. Founded in Hawaii in 1992, IAWE is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of the varieties of English used in international communication.
One will not find the word Englishes in the dictionary, and perhaps this is an example of the varieties of English being used that they are studying. Anyway, the card sent to the Alien Times only lists a fax number in Nagoya for information. It is 052-261-6834.
by Tokio Kenneth OHSKA
Recently I found a good Chinese restaurant. Most Chinese restaurants in Tsukuba are Japanese-version Chinese food and rather expensive for what you get. This small restaurant, Nakaichi, is located southwest of the Nishi-Odori Blvd and Tsuchiura-Gakuen Blvd intersection, 3 blocks south of Hotel Grand Shinonome. The chef, Mr. Chow, is from Shanghai, where he was a chef for a hotel restaurant. According to my good Chinese friend, the dishes are both of Shanghai style and of Beijing style. The best part is that it is not expensive. The best we found were: gomoku-okoge-gohan (fried rice with all sorts of nice stuff) at 780 yen, and shao ron pao (steamed meat dumplings) 500 yen for 4.
The restaurant is open between 11:00 AM and 2:00 AM, closed on Tuesdays. Address: 9-1 Higashi Arai, Tsukuba Phone: 51-4811/51-3585.
As the number of foreign researchers coming to work in Tsukuba continues to increase, the need for affordable housing has likewise increased. Short-term residents in particular face numerous obstacles in finding reasonable housing on the open market, and so the Science and Technology Agency has announced plans to build a large facility in Ninomiya just south of Minami Odori and east of Nishi Odori.
Plans call for 85 units for families and 115 units for singles. Construction will begin this year with completion scheduled for 2001. Short-term and medium-term people will have priority for the apartments, and this welcome addition is expected to significantly improve the housing options for foreign researchers coming to Tsukuba.
An English language interdenominational worship service is held once a month normally on the fourth Sunday of every month at 2 pm at the Tsukuba Gakuen Church near Daiei. The Japanese language congregation meets every Sunday morning at 10:30 am, and the service is translated into English over headphones. There is also a Bible Study in English every Tuesday evening at 8:00 pm in the Christian Center. For more information or help with transportation, call Tim Boyle at 55-1907.
The Tsukuba Catholic Church has an English mass at 8:00 am every Sunday and the Japanese masses on Saturday night (6 pm) and Sunday morning (10 am) are accompanied by a summary of the message in English. There is even a Spanish mass on the 3rd Sunday at 3 pm. On the last Sunday of the month, there is a coffee social after the English mass. For information, call the church at 36-1723. The Tsuchiura Catholic Church offers an English mass on the last Sunday of each month at 3 pm (tel. 21-1501). There is also a Portuguese mass on the 3rd Saturday at 7 pm.
The Tsukuba Baptist Church offers an English language Bible study before the Japanese service every Sunday from 10 to 11 am. It is located in Inarimae just east of Nishi Odori on the street closest to the meteorological observation tower. Tel. 58-0655.
The Megumi Church in Tsuchiura (489-1 Kami Takatsu) also offers English translation of their 10:30 am Japanese service over ear phones. An English Bible class is held every Sunday morning at 9:00 am. There is also an International Fellowship group that holds a monthly pot luck dinner usually on the third Saturday. For information on that, call Melissa Ishio at 38-1374. For more information, call the church at 22-2244 or e-mail LDN03144@niftyserve.or.jp (Also see their Tsuchiura Megumi Church Web Page at http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/ro/tmc/index.html).
The Tokyo International Church, Tsukuba Branch in Amakubo 3-3-5 (across from Tsukuba Univ.) offers a 10:30-noon Chinese (Mandarin) service interpreted into both English and Japanese. There is also an English language Bible study every Sunday evening at 7 pm. For information, call Rev. Huang at 52-6820.
The International Christian Assembly meets every Sunday at their new building just off of Tsuchiura-Gakuen Sen east of Tsukuba (just behind the restaurant with the dragon on the roof) from 10 am for Bible Study and 10:30 am for worship. For more information, call Richard Swan at 36-0993.
The Nozomi Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tsuchiura (23-27 Komatsu 3-chome) also offers programs in English, including a worship service Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm and a Bible class on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am. English Bible information courses are available any time. For more information, call Glen Hieb at 0298-21-3578.
The Tsuchiura Christian Church offers an English message translated into Japanese every Sunday morning at 10:30 am. For information, contact Paul Axton at 56-2167.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Tsukuba ward is located at Higashi 2-21-22 by Higashi Middle School between Doho Park and Tsuchiura Noda Sen. Services are translated into English over headphones. The Sacrament Meeting begins at 10 am followed by Sunday School at 11:10 am and Priesthood and Relief Society at noon. A Gospel Doctrine class in English is also offered. For more information, contact 52-6548.
The Jewish Community of Japan invites anyone of the Jewish faith in the Tsukuba area to feel welcome at any of their programs in Tokyo. Sabbath services each Friday at 6:30 pm followed by Sabbath dinner; Kosher Kitchen, Saturday morning, 9:30 am. Contact 3-8-8 Hiroo, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo 150; tel. 03-3400-2559, fax. 03-3400-1827.
A Japanese woman is looking for two female housemates for a very nice, furnished house with parking spaces and a small garage. The house is located in a quiet environment a few minutes west of Tsukuba University and about a 10 minute ride to downtown Tsukuba. The rent would be split at Y45,000 yen per month and an equal share of the utilities. One month bond and last month's rent are required in advance. For more information, call Michiko at 029-856-8178.
Qualified teacher (MA in Applied Japanese Linguistics/Japanese teaching proficiency test); experience teaching Japanese at a tertiary level in Australia and Japan; experienced at teaching students at a variety of levels (from beginner to advanced) and of different types (children, students, business people, etc.); experience in teaching Japanese for Japanese proficiency tests; from 2500 yen per hour. We can discuss textbooks, class schedules and other conditions before we start lessons. For more information, call Michiko at 029-856-8178.
By Tim Boyle
The unsolved murder of Tomomi Kawamata, a 19 year-old freshman at Tsukuba University, along with the apparent involvement of a foreigner, has been a hot topic of discussion for the last month. Approximately 100 local police and detectives have been working on the case since her body was found on May 3rd, and with all of the publicity surrounding the case, the rumor mill has been working overtime. As this has become an important issue in the foreign community, the Alien Times is devoting the June issue to the various issues surrounding this tragic event, along with related articles on such practices as random checks of foreigners and new legislation to improve the practices of the police.
As a good bit of misinformation and partial information has been circulating around Tsukuba, the first order of business is to give a brief overview of what happened and who was involved. The following account was gleaned from various articles in the Japanese press: Tomomi Kawamata was one of 6 women out of a total of 490 students admitted to the basic engineering program at Tsukuba University. She was from Fujisawa, Kanagawa and was the only daughter of a professional guitarist. People who knew her said she was a serious, quiet student who did not wear flashy clothes or use much makeup. Her high school classmates described her as being a person who simply wasn’t the type to go out with strangers at a whim, and so this aspect of her personality only adds to the mystery of what happened. She was athletic and participated in school sports as a distance runner. It was her dream to enter Tsukuba University, with its wide-open spaces. That dream, however, turned into a nightmare as her planned 4 years of campus life ended up being only 4 days.
Tomomi arrived on campus on April 6 to live in the Ichinoya Dormitory. Students come from a variety of places to live and study together, and so their first days at the university are usually taken up with becoming familiar with new surroundings and classmates. In this respect, things seemed to be going normally until the day she disappeared, April 10. An acquaintance said that she had spoken with Tomomi at about 5:25 pm on the phone. She had invited her to a konpa that evening (a word derived from the English word companion and meaning a gathering to mix with other students and get to know them). Tomomi declined the invitation saying she had been invited to dinner by a man who said he was Italian and who spoken in a combination of broken English and Japanese.
Other witnesses said they had seen her walking with a tall foreigner that afternoon, just before she disappeared. He was described as being in his late twenties, about 190 cm. tall, slender, with fairly short, dark brown hair. On the day of her disappearance, he was wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt with a horizontal, light blue stripe. Several witnesses also recalled having seen her with him several times in the preceding days after her arrival. In fact, several other girls reported having been approached by a man of similar description, and so police are operating under the assumption that the same person was involved in each instance.
A missing-person report was formally filed by her parents four days after her disappearance, but until her body was discovered on May 3rd, no one expected that she had been murdered. The partly decomposed body was discovered by accident in a thickly wooded area about 1 km north of Shuei High School. She was clad only in underwear and the marks around her neck indicated that she had been strangled. It appears that she was murdered somewhere else and then her body was simply dumped there. As it was close to a narrow road, one local resident mentioned that he recalled driving by one night shortly after her disappearance and smelling the strong odor of rotting flesh, but he merely assumed that it was a dead animal in the bushes.
With the discovery of the body and the revelation that she had been seen with this mysterious foreigner shortly before her disappearance, the police made a concerted effort to track down the suspect. There is no direct evidence that this person had anything to do with the murder, but since he has not made himself known and no one seems to have any idea who he could be, the suspicion that this man did commit the murder and has fled the area has grown stronger.
At this writing, the investigation has been continuing for more than a month, but without any significant progress. Within the first week, the police had interviewed 1450 people, including 220 foreign residents. Needless to say, the first people to be investigated were those from Italy, but no one could be found in Tsukuba or elsewhere in Ibaraki that matched the known characteristics of the suspect.
Police began to suspect that the suspect might be of some other nationality, and so the probe was expanded. Already, approximately 680 foreigners have been interviewed by police concerning what they might know about the case. One foreigner who fairly closely matched the description and who for personal reasons just happened to be dropping out of his program early came under particular scrutiny, but numerous people testified to his presence at another function at the time of the disappearance, and so it became clear that he was not the one. In a similar fashion, the police investigation has continued to produce few if any solid leads, and unless some breakthrough occurs, hopes are fading for a quick solution.
Concerning the difficulty of getting information from the international community, police chief Masao Aizawa was quoted as saying, Those from the same country tend to have strong bonds with their fellow countrymen, and it is difficult to get them to share information about such people. On the other hand, they tend to have few ties with people of other nationalities and simply don’t have any information to share.
It would be interesting to see how many Alien Times readers agree with such a statement. I observe quite a bit of camaraderie across national lines in Tsukuba with little country cliquishness, but then my experience is not necessarily typical.
As for some of the rumors I have heard, the one that seems to be most prevalent is that the police already have the suspect in custody but are continuing the investigation merely as a ploy to get more information on as many foreigners as they can. Likewise, another unsolved murder in Tsukuba of a Filipino woman on March 23, 1998 has been mentioned as a motive for the questionings that are perceived to be unrelated to the present case. One common complaint aired by those who have been questioned is that the police seem to want to know much more about them personally than any information they might have that is relevant to the case. Likewise, reports that the police frequently asked foreigners how to get in contact with other foreigners led to speculations that the police weren’t allowed to get that information from the city through the Alien Registration data.
As part of the preparation for this article, I talked with one of the detectives at the police station. All aspects of the above paragraph were specifically denied. The police have plenty of leeway to get information directly from other government agencies, and so perhaps the questions pertaining to how to locate others were only a questioning technique used to confirm truthfulness or something like that. (The detective, of course, did not elaborate on that point.)
Police denial of the rumor that they really already had the suspect in custody does not, of course, constitute proof that it is also a false rumor. If it were true, it is rather unlikely they would admit it. However, it is also quite likely, in my opinion, that the rumor is false. It is unfortunate that many in the foreign community look with suspicion on the local police. For some, experiences in their homelands have preconditioned them to distrust any police. For others, stories of corruption and incompetence in the Japanese police force (some of which may very well be true) have colored their perception as well. Language and cultural barriers no doubt also contribute to the problem.
Public relations are an important part of police work, for it is much more difficult for them to police a society that views them with suspicion than one that actively cooperates with their work. While it may be true that the Japanese police department has a lot of room for improvement (see article on new rules for police conduct), as long as you are in Japan for legitimate reasons and you are not involved in illegal activity, you should have nothing to worry about. Thus, it behooves us in the foreign community to be a responsible partner in the larger society and cooperate with police investigations as much as possible. If you have any information that may be helpful, please do pass it along. If you are afraid of getting yourself in trouble for some other reason, you can pass the tip along anonymously, either directly to the police at number 110, or you can send it to the Alien Times and we will pass it on.
The recent murder of a Tsukuba University student has heightened awareness of the possibilities of being victimized by crime. Among the comments in the Japanese press releases (found in the Yomiuri, Asahi and Sankei newspapers) is that while Tsukuba is blessed with lots of parks and wooded areas, there is also a price to pay in the cover this provides criminals. Tsukuba University students commented on how unsafe they feel because there are few streetlights and lots of dark areas among the trees. Several muggings have been reported in recent months, and this adds to the feelings of anxiety.
One rumor that was described in the Japanese press is that there are gangs from the outside who particularly look for incoming freshmen around the universities during April. Since they have just arrived in unfamiliar surroundings and are looking for companionship, they often don’t have their guard up and are easy prey for various ploys that are used. Whether this rumor has some truth to it or not, or even if it does, whether this has any relevance to the case at hand is unclear. It is, however, clear that newcomers with little experience and information are more susceptible to being victimized, and it is common knowledge that religious and pseudo-religious cults such as Aum Shinrikyo and The Unification Church (Moonies) are particularly active in their recruitment activities at this time of year.
So how justified is this perception of Tsukuba as being a particularly dangerous place? Naturally, it depends on what one is comparing it with. Clearly, Japan’s reputation as a crime-free (or at least low-crime) society has been tarnished in recent years. Nevertheless, I think most foreigners in Tsukuba would still say that Tsukuba is not any more dangerous and probably less dangerous than their own homelands. But safety is a relative term, and if you have been the victim of crime, it is pretty hard to feel safe and secure. Thus, while one should not be paranoid, it is also prudent to always take reasonable precautions, such as locking doors and avoiding obviously unsafe areas.
Newscasts on June 3rd reported that the National Public Safety Commission approved a set of revisions to the police guidelines on investigations. It is coincidental; of course, that this is taking place at the same time the investigations concerning the recent murder of Tomomi Kawamata has come under criticism. Whether or not the particular criticisms leveled by some in the foreign community here in Tsukuba are justified is difficult to discern, but there are some parallels between those criticisms and the factors that have led to these revisions.
In the June 4 Daily Yomiuri, it was reported that a thorough survey of the victims of the 1995 sarin gas attack by the Aum Shinrikyo cult was made. While most of the 1247 respondents made favorable comments, some also felt that they were treated as if they themselves were the criminals.
Specifically, the police guidelines, which go into effect at the end of June, contain 275 articles dealing with the treatment of victims and the responsibilities of police officers. There are four main revisions to the guidelines, including that police be required to consider the feelings of victims and their families, to respect their individual personalities and to question victims about crimes in an environment that minimizes their anxiety.
Likewise, investigators will now be required to explain investigation procedures and keep victims updated of progress if such information will help them get over the experience of the crime. Also, police will be required to take measures to protect the identity of victims from their victimizers so that it will be more difficult to take revenge on them at a later date.
The Yomiuri report also mentioned a nationwide victim-support group that had recently made a declaration of the rights of the crime victims. The seven specific rights of victims were not detailed in the article other than the right to receive fair treatment, but the report did say that victim’s rights have often been ignored by the police. The police are listening, and changes are promised.
In the first instalment of a three-part series David Aldwinckle examines how Japanese police are willfully targeting foreigners for spot identity checks.
My Instant Checkpoint at Haneda Airport
1) Monday. November 23, 1998
Location: Baggage check gate C (near the JAL domestic departure lounge), 1:45 pm
l had been on my way back from the JALT Conference in Omiya; it was the tail-end of a three-day weekend and Haneda was busy-so busy that lines were reaching Narita standards. Getting my seat assignment and finally getting up to the security check zone, I was in a hurry; I had only fifteen minutes before my flight to Sapporo. Passing my bags through the airport radar scanner, I received the okay to proceed from blue-uniformed Haneda Security when it happened.
A policeman - one of the Tokyo Metropolitan types with a white uniform and more swagger than regular Security - came up to me and asked for my passport. The following dialog ensued:
COP: May I see your passport?
ME: I don't carry one. I don't have to. I'm a Permanent Resident (eijuusha).
COP: Then let me see your gaikokujin touroku shoumeisho (Gaijin Card). By law you must be carrying that.
ME: Why should I show you? (By now Dave was dropping his politeness level. He simply said here Nashite?", or "How cum?" in Hokkaido dialect.)
COP: Because it's the law. All foreigners must show their Gaijin Cards to the police upon request.
ME: (getting surprisingly agitated) Not true. Am I under some suspicion of some crime? (Dave said something like "nanka hanzai no utagae ga arimasu ka?" in probably pretty rotten Japanese - he was then unaware of the exact wording.)COP: (politeness level dropping as well) Everybody else has shown me theirs so far. Show me your card now.
ME: (Looking at his watch - 1:47 - and realizing he
didn't have time to dick around) Okay, walk with me. (Cop follows as Dave pulls out his Gaijin Card and refuses to let it leave his hand. Points to the pertinent parts of the card and blurts:) See, it says here l'm a Permanent Resident. I live in this country. I do not like this treatment. This is gaijin harassment.
COP: (reads the pertinent parts). Okay. (summarily walks off with no thanks or apologies, which only adds to Dave's rage)
ME: (exclaims for the whole airport to hear as he hoofs it to his gate) Hijou ni fukai da! ("This is extremely discomfiting!"- sounds rather banal in translation but it's effective in Japanese.)
That should have been the end of it but you know me. By the time I reached the departure gate I was a mess - knees shaky and eyes flaming - one of the heaviest doses of culture shock l've had in years. l was worried this feeling might gel into a grudge of helplessness, but I got lucky: the gate had just opened and a huge line of Sapporo Bachelors had formed. I saw a window of about five minutes.
So without thinking or even blinking I actually went back to the cop to vent my rage! Risky, sure, but again, you know me. I approached the same cop as before and said, not mildly:
"Officer, give me your name, please." The policeman was a senior-looking fellow in his fifties and confident of his job. Without missing a beat he said:
"I am a policeman. I am not required to give out my name." [NB, This is technically not true. More on this in Part Five.] I checked for a name tag and saw none - typical for police in Japan. So I opened up full throttle to save time:
"Officer, why did you ask for my card? You cannot do that unless you suspect me of a crime. I live here permanently and this is the first time that I've been asked by the police for my card. This is extremely uncomfortable and constitutes gaijin harassment."
The cop was right with me on this. I mean it. Without pause to refresh he retorted: "Look, you are a foreigner in our country, and you must obey the laws. According to the Foreign Registry Law [Gaikokujin Touroku Hou], if I as a policeman ask you for your Card, you must show me it."
"Not true. Only if you SUSPECT me of something." (1 wanted to say "not without probable cause", but hell if I knew that in Japanese). You did not give me a reason. This is gaijin harassment."
He shook his head and smiled, as if the issues here were all so simple. "Look, you are a foreigner and you must obey the law."
"Look," said l, further incensed, "I Iive here. This infringes upon my rights and privacy (puraibashii no shingai). I am a Permanent Resident and will not tolerate this treatment."
"Well," said the cop (1 got a good one - he argued back reasonably and eloquently but unabrasively), "look at it from my point of view. There are 300,000 illegal foreigners in Japan nowadays (yes, he actually gave that statistic!). How would I have known that you were a Permanent Resident unless l asked? We need to check. It is my duty to ask you, and it is your duty to show."
"Yeah? Officer, the look at it from MY point of view. l have no connection to those illegals except that I am by chance a foreigner. This means you are only stopping me for racial reasons - because I look different from a regular Japanese. What if I naturalized? Would you stop me then? I wouldn't even have a Gaijin Card. What then?"
"I'd still stop you. And you could show me your Family Registry record on your driver license." It's true. A Japanese's koseki is noted there.
"Yes I could. But by law you cannot ask a Japanese to do that. And l, as a JAPANESE, would be being harassed in a way that no other Japanese would be. I won't stand it."
The officer was still keeping his cool, thank God. "Look, given that you are not a Japanese, why don't you just cooperate? Every other foreigner has cooperated. Nobody else but you has complained."
Time's up. I turned on my heel and headed for my gate. "Well, then it's time somebody started. Jinken ihan! ("Violation of Human Rights!")" I exclaimed for all to hear again, and got on my plane. It took me three hours before I could even focus on my Mitchner novel, and a week later I was still all a dither.
Why are you so agitated about this, kiddo? Indeed. nobody else seems to be complaining. Well, that's them and I'm me, and unlike many of them l'm here for good. After naturalizing, I don't want this sort of treatment for me, or for my westernesque children who are legally Japanese citizens. According to the Keisatsukan Shokumu Shikkou Hou (my translation: "The Police Execution of Duties" Law; all legal documentation and Japanese text will follow in INSTANT CHECKPOINTS Post (3)), *individuals* in Japan (nationality is never mentioned as a factor) may not be asked for identification unless suspected of a crime. Thus if a cop targeted and asked me to surrender identification when l am a Japanese citizen, that would be a matter of singling me out because I look different (Haneda officials themselves, as we will see below, admit they'd hardly ever demand ID from regular Japanese). It does not take a brain surgeon to conclude that race becomes a basis for suspicion, which will not do in either the public courts or the private sense of justice. The bottom line: I do not want to be legally treated like a gaijin if and when I am legally no longer a gaikokujin. And even with my current status as a gaikokujin, given my personality I could hardly just sit here and do nothing. I'd just wind up all embittered and unempowered, letting the Devil's Advocate inside of me gripe, "Why bother? The ones with the guns will make you a gaijin all over again".
So, despite the year-end crush (these things always happen at the most inopportune times), I decided to go into activist mode and do some research on this issue. I found out a lot of surprising things. The most important is that foreigners actually do have legally-sanctioned checks against police who arbitrarily decide to flex their power muscles. Unfortunately, they are not there for the asking yet - you have to know about and fight for from now on. I will show you how you can do that in a moment.
But first, the activism, to give you an idea what l do to get around the typical barriers and into informal channels of negotiation. I talk to those in charge and demand satisfaction: Bull Meet China.
l had an idea: "Why be categorized as a foreigner when I could take up the issue here from another angle - that of a paying customer? Japanese go all humble if the issue of 'customer relations' comes up, and hell, y'all, I use Haneda Airport around twenty times a year. Why should l, and basically only someone like I, put up with possible checkpoints every time I pay user fees to patronize the place? Why not give customer service a call at Haneda, tell them to stop the police from harassing their customers, and see what that avails?" Thus inaugurated the second part of this saga...
2) Tuesday, December 1, 1998
Lodging a Complaint with Haneda Airport
Preamble : Overcoming the Runaround
(I describe the process of negotiation in great detail so that people who want to consider lodging complaints themselves can get some ideas. No complain, no gain.)
I took the route l had on several other occasions (long-termers, remember the Kume Gaffe of 1996?) - I dialed Operator Assistance (104 - a fail-safe way of getting in touch with any public entity) and asked for any numbers they had for Haneda Kuukou. They could only give me one: Flight Information at (03) 5757-8111. I then dialed up and got a young lady who, predictably, didn't know what to make of me.
Says l: "I feel I was ill-treated at your airport. l would like to talk to your complaints department." ("kokyaku soudan kounaa" or "kujou banashi no uketsuke" in my Japanese) She said winsomely, "I'm sorry sir, we don't have that sort of service here."
"Well, could you transfer me to someplace that does?"
"Sorry sir, we don't have any window for that sort of thing here at Haneda Airport."
"Oh come now," I said, "what if one of your customers gets bilked by one of Haneda's stores? Surely there's somebody who would handle a customer complaint like that."
"Well, l'm not sure how we'd handle that. You'd have to talk to the store directly."
And now I knew l'd have to talk to someone else directly: "Look, could you at least connect me to your supervisor. You have one there, don't you?"
Yes, but...
"Well, then patch me through, please."
She did that, and l got another lady who was almost indistinguishable from the first. "What can I do for you, sir?"
"Hello, may I ask you for your rank (chii), please?"
"I'm a Sub-Leader (sabu-riidaa)."
"Not Kachou or Buchou class?" No, not that high.
"Well then, l'm sorry, ma'am. I'm not trying to be rude or disrespectful to you, but my story is long and important and I don't want it to end up only at your level (sabu-riidaa domari). I really want to be patched through to someone with a degree of authority. Or else l'll be wasting both your and my time."
"Okay, sir, would you please tell me your story and I'll see what I can do?"
So I did, in much the same way that I told you dear readers above. I made sure to throw in that I am a university lecturer (that REALLY matters here!). She grew increasingly sympathetic (as has every single Japanese person I've talked to about this issue), and within five minutes gave me the goods:
"Sir, I'm going to give you the number of the Trav-elers' Service Center (Ryokyaku Saabisu Sentaa) here in Haneda. It's (03) 5757-8505. Talk to the Kachou there, a Mr Koga. [NB, all numbers and names in this post are authentic] I think he will be helpful. l'll put in a good word there for you."
I said my thanks to the Sub-Leader and got her name just in case Mr Koga wanted to know how I tracked him down. Later that day I contacted Mr Koga, a very friendly gentleman, and we had a marvelous conversation. He had already been briefed on my situation from Flight Information, and offered condolences like any good store manager who takes personal responsibility for all actions. However, when he touched upon the issue of redress for police behavior, he stressed that since the police are employees of the State, not Haneda Airport proper, there was not a lot he could do. He was not their boss, after all. Metropolitan Tokyo was. So he could make no promises that even if he intervened, things would be any different in future.
I said I understood. But I didn't feel like letting it end there:
"Mr Koga, it just so happens I will be coming down to Haneda yet again in two days, on my way to business in Oita. I have a 90-minute layover between flights, so would it be possible to meet in person for a face-to-face?"
I told him my flight schedule and he looked at his. "Yes, Debito-san, l could squeeze about 30 minutes between meetings. Give me another call when you get into Haneda this Thursday and let's talk things over."
Bingo!
3) Thursday. December 3, 1998
Meeting Mr. Koga, Haneda Ryokyaku Sentaa Kachou, Noon at Haneda Airport
Mr Koga is a pleasant man in his late forties, slightly greying hair, and a disarming smile that indicates sincerity without unctuousness. He shook my hand and offered me lunch, but I said we should go back to where the incident occurred and replay it step-by-step. He agreed and as we walked the 300 meters ("out of the 1800 meters in Haneda Terminal as a whole") from the JAS gates to JAL, he played tour guide, rattling off all sorts of airport stats that I would have disregarded had my memory not been on full record mode. When we arrived at Gate C, the scene of the crime, I put my bags down on the post-X-Ray table and started getting brimstone in tone:
"Mr Koga, this is the very spot where I was standing, and said policeman came over here and did the deed. I said it wasn't necessary for me to carry a passport and then he. .."
You know the story. Since my voice can really carry when I get going, the X-ray people (no Police were there at this time-only Haneda Security) started getting really antsy and wondering what this 6-foot bloke in a bright red jacket was going on about.
A bit sheepishly, Mr Koga suggested we resume course to the JAL gates and talk where it was quieter (and I would be less conspicuously soapbox). Fine. Minutes later we were near Gate 12, and I finished up with my tale of road rage here, my return to Gate C, and my frank exchange of views with the cop. Now it was Mr Koga's turn to talk. And talk he would without interruption for a full twenty minutes. By design.
This is one of my little tactics in any serious negotiation - once you have made your position known (and I often make it known well in advance in order to receive well-deliberated feedback), shut up and let them say their peace. It feeds into the style of meetings over here: one very pleasant and potentially productive tendency in Japanese negotiations (especially when the two sides are constraint) is to let both sides speak at length and in turn-always calmly and never interrupting. Moreover, if you are bargaining from a position of inferiority (as I was here-technically speaking, Haneda didn't really owe me anything), you have only entreaty to power your wishes. The best way to get them receptive to your onegais is to let THEM jaw on until they have nothing more to say-running out of "commentary fuel", so to speak.
Then, notebook in hand (where you've jotted down a few of their points), you can quietly make follow-up comments. The point is that you should look like you're earnest and listening, extremely disarming in any culture. Ultimately, both sides tie should everything together with a warm conclusion, reaffirming each side's understanding and respect of the others' feelings; better is when you agree on palpable goals. Then everyone leaves the bargaining table feeling like they spent constructive time with earnest people. That afterglow is what gets things accomplished.
To be continued in the next issue
Here in Tsukuba, a flurry of rumors surrounds the murder of a Tsukuba University coed. As many AT readers may already know, the last person she was reportedly seen with was a tall dark-shinned, foreign male. Allegedly, the woman went on a dinner date with the man and subsequently disappeared. Her body was discovered several weeks later in rural Tsukuba. This much is clear. The growing controversy surrounding the investigation is somewhat murkier.
In an effort to solve the murder, the local police have been systematically interviewing two groups: Japanese language teachers and foreigners. Their rationale is simple. If the alleged killer was a foreigner living in Tsukuba, he might have studied Japanese, and could thus be identified by one or more of the teachers. Moreover, as a member of the foreign community in Tsukuba, foreign residents might have also come in contact with him. Given his fairly distinctive features, he should be easily recognizable.
There are, however, some problems. Allegedly, police have singled out a group of foreign business owners for multiple interviews, saying that their establishments appear likely to be haunts for the alleged killer. While most agree that the police have been perfectly civil, what disturbs some is that the line of questioning appears to have strayed from the alleged killer to other members of the foreign community in Tsukuba. Other foreign residents who have been interview report that the police wanted more information about them than about the alleged killer.
These interviews have lead some foreign residents to feel suspicious that there is more going on than just a murder investigation. These sentiments have been inflamed by other rumors that the alleged killer has already been caught, and that the police are covering it up for some unknown reason. Many believe that the police are attempting to assemble a database of sorts about long-term foreign residents in Tsukuba. More believably, others have suggested that the police are attempting to solve another murder; this one of a Filipino woman murdered in March of last year.
If any of these allegations were proved true, they would go far in deepening the contempt that most foreigners have for the local constabulary. Many speak in sarcastic tones about police effectiveness, sighting examples of the inability (or unwillingness) of the police to deal with the foreign community, or ineffective enforcement strategies such as safety driving week. Furthermore, confirmation that the police were collecting information, or covering up an investigation would also support allegations that Japanese police regularly commit human rights violations.
If, however, these allegations prove to be untrue what does it say about foreign residents in Tsukuba, or for that matter foreigners living anywhere in Japan? To what can we attribute our suspicion of the powers that be? Here are some possible explanations.
Naturally as foreigners, we tend toward cultural imperialism. We simply believe that many things in our home countries are superior to their Japanese counterparts. The criminal justice system cannot escape this type of comparison. We view the system and see fault after fault, saying how things at home are so different or so much better.
Another explanation is that, as foreigners, we already feel a heightened sense of being viewed as suspicious characters. Upon entering the country, we are greeted with the sign “Welcome to Japan. Please Obey the Rules." We are then required to submit a finger-print and to carry around proof of who we are and justification for our presence in this country. At any time the police can ask to see that proof. If you make a large purchase, or enter into a contract for service (such as a cellular phone or pay television) you are expected to show that proof and often your passport. It is true that Japanese often have to show identification as well, but no one checks their visas to see how long they intend on staying in Japan.
What about the daily stress that comes with living in Japan? On a day to day basis foreigners experience numerous forms of discrimination. We are stared at, ignored in stores, passed over for jobs, and even teased about being the alleged killer of a college coed; all simply because we are foreign.
I believe that a combination of the aforementioned factors is at the center of foreigner frustration with the police. All of those annoyances float around in our heads and we need a way to vent our stress, so we lash out at the system. Of course, the easy target is the system's ground-level representatives: the police.
I contest that this kind of police bashing is unfair. Unfair to the police, because most of them are just people trying to do their jobs and defend an imperfect system; and generally doing a job that, while needs to be done, they are disliked for doing. Unfair to ourselves because we are selling ourselves short and taking the easy way out. Indeed, it is much easier to bitch about a parking ticket that to make a critical self-analysis or systematic evaluation; however that latter pair is exactly what I am recommending.
This issue of the AT features an article on random gaijin-card checks by David Aldwinkle. People like him, Tony Lazlo (and his Issho mailing list majordomo@ml.gol.ad.jp in the body include subscribe issho-digest) and local crusader Tim Boyle are working hard to evaluate and understand the issues that surround foreign life in Japan. While they can all be critical of the Japanese system, their claims are usually well supported and followed with suggestions for change.
Next time you are feeling frustrated by living in Japan, I suggest that you think carefully about it. You'll probably discover that some of the issues you have are internal ones that you need to solve yourself. However, if you find genuine external reasons for you frustration, you can start to work through to a solution that could benefit all of us, both in the foreign community, and in the native community.