On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 20:41:44 GMT, Jason Cormier <fjlij@hotmail.com>
belched the alphabet and kept on going with:

>You're only a few hours away by car; se if you can enlighten him on the
>"anonymity" that Debito seeks.
>
>From the usual source of amusement...
>
>==============
>Fighting a worthy fight
>
>
>I was impressed by Debito Arudou's July 8 "Zeit Gist" article, "Watching the
>detectives," and his continuing fight for human rights in Japan. I've been
>aware of his voice for many years, as I lived in Otaru my first year in
>Japan and was intimately aware of the discriminatory practices he has spoken
>of -- and not just at an "onsen" (hot spring).
>
>As my Japanese wife and I have chosen the opposite course -- to leave the
>archipelago -- I am left mostly with admiration for someone like Arudou, who
>has committed himself to life and change in Japan. By renouncing his
>American citizenship largely in protest over the present course of U.S.
>foreign policy and becoming a citizen of Japan, he can no longer brush off
>the nagging little problems that many temporary foreigners face while in
>Japan. Having a family, especially children of a mixed heritage, engages and
>enrages in a way that the average American or Australian can't comprehend in
>whining about Japanese prejudice, all the while plotting his or her exit.
>
>I fully support everything Arudou is fighting for, but feel slightly sad for
>him because even sudden progress through legal channels may not bring him
>the anonymity 

============================================================================
To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] News Update March 10, 2003
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 12:14:18 +0900

(Freely Forwardable)
NEWS UPDATE MARCH 10, 2003
Hello All.  A number of things to tell you about:

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
1) NEWSWEEK JAPAN:  "SABETSU KOKKA NIPPON" ARTICLE
2) SEALION TAMA-CHAN NEWS, LINKS, JAPAN TIMES ESSAY ON
    FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY IN JAPAN
3) OTARU LAWSUIT:  APPEAL AGAINST CITY:  REASONS FILED
4) "THE COMMUNITY":  NEW PROJECTS:
        a) TAKAMADO PROJECT ("No foreigners in English Contest")
        b) KOKUTAI PROJECT ("No foreigners in Japan's largest sports
meet")
5) INSTANT CHECKPOINTS PT 5:  Response from Japan's Secret Police
6) UPCOMING SPEECHES, and
    PUBLICATION DATE FOR "JAPANESE ONLY" BOOK
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
<trim>


To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] QUICK ISSUE:  Getting better bank service
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 14:55:21 +0900

ONE CASE IN A NUTSHELL:
=================================================
Mission Impossible Part LXVII:
Getting better customer service from a Japanese bank
=================================================
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Book JAPANESE ONLY:  On Sale in Japanese
April 8
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 14:57:28 +0900

(freely forwardable)
Hello All.  News of a project come to fruition:

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"JAPANESE ONLY:
THE OTARU BATHHOUSE REFUSALS AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN JAPAN"
A new book in Japanese by Arudou Debito
Nonfiction.  272 Pages.  Published By Akashi Shoten KK, Tokyo
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
(From the book cover blurb)
--------------------------------------------------------
    "NO ASIANS ALLOWED".  If saw a sign like this overseas, what would
you
think?
    In Otaru City, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan, public bathhouses put
up
signs saying "NO FOREIGNERS ALLOWED", refusing entry to all
non-Japanese
based upon appearance.  Is this not racial discrimination?  Some
foreigners
began protesting this, garnering national and international attention.
After many years of Otaru authorities turning a blind eye to these
first
instances of overt discrimination, three people sued one bathhouse and
the
City of Otaru.  The case is still on appeal.  The author, Arudou
Debito,
writes as one plaintiff about the origins of this problem and the
present
situation, raising important questions:  What is the true state of
Japan's
internationalization?  Of human rights in Japan?"
--------------------------------------------------------

On sale nationwide from April 8, 2003 (Hokkaido from April 9)
Price:  1800 yen plus tax.
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Tama-chan:  Nishi-ku Ward Office responds
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2003 14:39:27 +0900

Hello all.  A quick update on the Tama-chan issue:
(freely forwardable)
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] UPDATE:  Iraq, J Courts, J Prisons
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 17:44:21 +0900

Hello All.  Some things outstanding you might find interesting.
(freely forwardable)
////////////////////////////////////
1) ASAHI SHINBUN HOKKAIDO on my views on war in Iraq
2) COMMUNITY PROJECT:  Language barriers in J courts unresolved
3) J PRISON SCANDALS:  Japan Times on deaths and human-rights abuses
////////////////////////////////////
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Thoughts on yesterday's Japan elections
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2003 14:27:51 +0900

Hello All.  For those overseas, you may not know that Japan had some
major
regional elections on Sunday April 13, at the governor,
prefectural-assembly, and town- and city-assembly level.  As a
Japanese
voter (it was my second time balloting since I naturalized), some
thoughts,
FYI:

THE 2003 ELECTIONS IN JAPAN:  PRELIMINARY IMPRESSIONS
By Arudou Debito (debito@debito.org), April 14, 2003
(all opinions herein are solely those of the author)

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
1) OF ALL PARTIES, THE LDP ACTUALLY GAINED STRENGTH
2) DISAFFECTION WITH PARTIES IN GENERAL CREATED MANY UNAFFILIATED
CANDIDATES
3) MORE FOREIGNER BASHING IS IN THE WORKS...
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] My opinion on Human Rights Survey (Japanese)
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 16:44:49 +0900

Hello All.  Just finished writing my opinions in Japanese on the
recent
Bureau of Human Rights survey
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] REPORT:  Running for Office in Japan Pt 1
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 12:21:48 +0900

REPORT:  POLITICS IN JAPAN
ON RUNNING FOR OFFICE, PART ONE
By Arudou Debito
April 23, 2003
(freely forwardable)
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] "Japanese Only" review in today's Asahi
(4/27)
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 15:31:13 +0900

Hey all.  Brief announcement.  Book "Japanese Only" was reviewed
nationally
in the Asahi Shinbun's "Dokusho" Column (page 8) today (Morning
Edition,
April 27).  Pick up a copy of the paper if you can and have a look!
To be
archived at http://www.debito.org/japaneseonly.html.  Elated Debito in
Sapporo
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Elections in Japan Pt 2:  RESULTS
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 15:01:43 +0900

REPORT
NANPORO ELECTIONS PART TWO
CAMPAIGNING STRATEGIES AND THEIR RESULTS
By Arudou Debito
April 28, 2003
(freely forwardable)

I sent out a report a few days ago talking about pre-election
activities in
a small Hokkaido town, particularly how attempts to increase
communication
between candidate and electorate are thwarted by too many election
rules
(http://www.debito.org/nanporo2003elections1.html).  This time I would
like
to take the reader on the campaign trail, as my wife, Sugawara Ayako,
runs
for town council (chougikai) office, and discover why so many Japanese
candidates simply wind up shouting slogans from sound trucks.

Section headings:
//////////////////////////////////////////////
1) TAKE YOUR MARKS
2) TAKING OFF
3) ELECTION RESULTS (including other international candidates in
Japan)
4) CONCLUSIONS AND LESSONS
//////////////////////////////////////////////
<trim>
(It is interesting that a Japanese woman married to a Japanese man
qualifies as an "international" candidate)

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Topics for May 2003
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Wed, 7 May 2003 12:37:29 +0900

Hello All.  FYI:  Here are some future articles I will be working on
this
month:

1) "JAPANESE ONLY" MAHJONG PARLORS IN JAPAN, INCLUDING SAPPORO
How I called one of them up and got them to rescind their rules.

2) INTERVIEW WITH HOUSE OF COUNCILLORS REPRESENTATIVE TSURNEN MARUTEI
Views of how two naturalized Japanese see their roles in Japanese
society.

3) "GOTCHA, YOU CLOSET AMERICAN"
Got a letter recently from the Ministry of Justice:  "We have reason
to
believe you still have two nationalities... If you ignore this
situation,
you may lose your Japanese citizenship."  Strange why they should
think
this, as my cancelled US passport is available at
http://www.debito.org/deamericanize.html.  Turns out they were lacking
a
form which they never told me was necessary.  But their letter's
arrogant
and threatening tone was enough to make me call and refuse to
cooperate.
Lodging a formal complaint, I even asked, "Did you send the same thing
to
former Peruvian Prez and instant naturalized citizen Alberto
Fujimori?"  No
answer, so I will be calling Tokyo's MOJ.  Ultimately, this report may
be on
how the elites get away with murder.  And I did get a nicely-rewritten
letter....

4) "INSTANT CHECKPOINTS, PART SEVEN"
An update on the administrative channels I pursued after being stopped
illegally by cops in Chitose Airport last December.  (No, ultimately I
didn't drop this topic.)  Following up last month with the Bureau of
Human
Rights, Sapporo, the BOHR claims it is not legally obligated to report
on
how they fulfilled their promises of "enlightening" (keihatsu)
discriminators.  And if you as the discriminated want proof that they
actually did anything in the name of human rights, you apparently have
to
claim it through the Freedom of Information Act (Jouhou Koukaihou).
Turns
out in later negotations that the FOIA is not in fact necessary,
catching
them in a lie.  Meanwhile, nearly six months after the event, no
information
on how the BOHR actually did their entrusted job has ever been made
available.  An ongoing case study of how Japan puts our taxes to no
work.

5) OTARU ONSEN LAWSUIT--APPEAL BY DEFENDANT YUNOHANA
This is the Appeal to the Sapporo High Court where the "Japanese Only"
bathhouse, by far the largest in Otaru (and growing), claims its
intentions
were "misunderstood" and is in fact the target of "troublemakers".
Date of
first hearing is set for June 3, 2003.  The date for hearing my Appeal
against the City of Otaru has still not been set--more than six months
after
being filed.
http://www.debito.org/otarulawsuit.html

6) "JAPANESE ONLY" BOOK SELLING WELL
Book reviews have so far appeared in the Asahi Shinbun, Mainichi
Shinbun,
Shuukan Kin'youbi, and Ronza (Japan's version of "Foreign Affairs"
magazine).  See them and more information at
http://www.debito.org/japaneseonly.html

Thanks for reading!
Arudou Debito in Sapporo
May 7, 2003
ENDS

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] "Japanese Only" Mahjong Parlors
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Thu, 8 May 2003 13:10:54 +0900

"JAPANESE ONLY" MAHJONG PARLORS
GETTING THEM TO CHANGE THEIR RULES
By Arudou Debito
May 8, 2003
(freely forwardable)
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] May 8 Chicago Tribune: Activism in Japan
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Fri, 9 May 2003 09:01:54 +0900

Hello All.  Sorry to bombard.  Just received this this morning.  May 8
Chicago Tribune on activism in Japan.  If you are reading this from
the
Great Lakes area, pick up a copy!  Bests, Arudou Debito in Sapporo.

Courtesy
(http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-
0305080196may08,1,5251990.story) (Viewable after free registration)

=============================================

CRUSADER-CITIZEN TAKES ON JAPAN

American-born activist seeks some semblance of equality for
non-natives in
tradition-bound society

By Michael A. Lev
Tribune foreign correspondent
Published May 8, 2003

CHITOSE, Japan -- There is nothing about American-born David
Aldwinckle that
seems Japanese, right down to his self-deprecating description that he
is
just a "loudmouth with an Internet connection." Being a loudmouth of
any kind
isn't typical in polite, group-oriented Japan.

Yet Aldwinckle is Japanese. He speaks the language, has taken a
Japanese name
and became a naturalized citizen in 2000 after living here more than a
decade.
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Essay:  Japan as tourist destination?
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 15:23:45 +0900

Hello All.  A little essay I did for the Research Institute of
Economy,
Trade and Industry (RIETI)'s "Miyakodayori" Online Journal.  Released
today.
Incorporates a lot of the themes we've been discussing for quite some
time
now.  Thanks for all your help.  Hope you enjoy.  Best wishes, Arudou
Debito
in Sapporo
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
<trim>

To: olaf@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Otaru Lawsuit: 1st Court Date Jun 3 10AM
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 16:25:43 +0900

(freely forwardable)
THE OTARU ONSEN LAWSUIT
APPEAL FROM DEFENDANT ONSEN YUNOHANA
FIRST COURT DATE TUES JUNE 3, 2003, 10AM
PRESS CONFERENCE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING

PRESS RELEASE for immediate use, May 26, 2003
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Asahi Shinbun June 2 Watashi no Shiten
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2003 08:55:46 +0900

(日本語は英語の後です）

Morning everyone.  If you can get your hands on a copy, please see
this
morning's (June 2) Asahi Shinbun.  In their Opinions Column (Watashi
no
Shiten), I have a 1300-ji piece in Japanese referring to some recent
blanket
foreign refusals at hotels afraid of SARS, tie it in to other forms of
racial discrimination in Japan, and conclude with Japan's underlying
need to
make an anti-discrimination law.

If you can't get a copy, please see
http://www.debito.org/asahi060203.jpg
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Japan Times on JCLU Antidiscrim Law Proposal
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2003 14:53:55 +0900

Hello All.  An article in the Japan Times today, critiquing the JCLU's
anti-racial-discrimination law proposal.  For those that can't get a
copy,
the text (with two additional sidebars, one unpublished) follows.
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Otaru Lawsuit Report by Olaf Karthaus
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2003 13:29:55 +0900

PRESS REPORT, immediate release
COMBINED FIRST HEARINGS OF THE "OTARU ONSEN" APPEAL CASES
ARUDOU VS OTARU CITY and YUNOHANA VS KARTHAUS, ARUDOU AND SUTHERLAND
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Report: J Human Rights Bureau shirks work
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 15:58:10 +0900

(As always, freely forwardable)
Hello everyone.  A pet project hopefully entering its endgame:

INSTANT CHECKPOINTS PART SEVEN
TAXATION, THEN EVASION
CASE STUDY:  How Japan's Ministry of Justice,
Bureau of Human Rights, shirks its work
By Arudou Debito
June 17, 2003
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] FCCJ BOOK BREAK on "Japanese Only" June 26,
2003
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 10:25:13 +0900

Hello All.  For those in the Tokyo area next week Thursday evening:

=============================================
Subject: Book Break: JAPANESE ONLY
Date Sent: Friday, June 13, 2003 4:34 PM
From: FCCJ NOTICE <tsushin@fccj.or.jp>

Book Break: JAPANESE ONLY
Jun 26 2003 6:30 pm
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan

By Arudou Debito
18:30-20:30
Thursday, June 26, 2003
(The speech and Q & A will be in English)
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Will be in Hiroshima & Kansai Jul10-27
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 09:56:59 +0900

Hello PALE and Life in Japan.  I just got back from a very eventful
trip
down to Tokyo last weekend, and am now planning a trip down to
Hiroshima and
Kansai.

I will be there between July 10 and 27, and would like to know if I
could
say hello (and have a beer, maybe a group meet, or even do a speech?)
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] NPR and Wash Post:  J activism & citizenship
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 08:51:59 +0900

Good morning all.  Two links you might find interesting:

NPR AND WASHINGTON POST ON ACTIVISM AND CITIZENSHIP IN JAPAN

National Public Radio aired the following story last week:
-----------------------------------------------------
"NPR : New Yorker in Japan"
Thursday, July 3, 2003
David Aldwinkle is a typically outspoken native of New York. But where
he lives
now, he's anything but typical. Aldwinkle -- also known as Aruduo
Debito -- has
become a citizen of Japan. It's a rare and complicated step for a
Westerner.
Hear his story on All Things Considered.

http://discover.npr.org/rundowns/segment.jhtml?wfId=1319816

(Just click on the headline or the audio icon to listen to the story.
You'll need an audio player to hear it and you can find the right one
for
your computer at <http://www.npr.org/audiohelp/audioplayers.html>.  If
you
have any problems, please visit the NPR audio help page
<http://www.npr.org/audiohelp/index.html>.)
<trim>

To: debito@debito.org
Subject: [LIFE IN JAPAN] Japan Times column:  police & human rights
From: Arudou Debito <debito@debito.org>
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 10:47:35 +0900

Morning all.  One more article that came out today you might find
interesting.  Bests, Debito in Sapporo

--------------------------------------------
Watching the detectives
Japan's human rights bureau falls woefully short of meeting its own
job
specifications

By ARUDOU DEBITO
The Japan Times  July 8, 2003
THE ZEIT GIST Column, Community Page, Courtesy
http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20030708zg.htm
<trim>

=========================================================================

Did they change the definition of "anonymity" when I wasn't looking?
Since when have people desirous of anonymity been in the habit of
issuing press releases every time they break wind?






--

Michael Cash



"There was a time, Mr. Cash, when I believed you must be the most useless
thing in the world. But that was before I read a Microsoft help file."

                                Prof. Ernest T. Bass
                                Mount Pilot College


http://www.sunfield.ne.jp/~mike/