Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

The debate about opening the polls to long time residents of Japan, who are not citizens has been raging in Japan for months now. The current discussion is focused on whether Japan should adopt legislation to extend voting rights to Permanent Residents, who are not Japanese Citizens.

The proposed Foreigner's Suffrage bill has divided the government. The call for voting rights for long-time residents of Japan is in large part being pushed by the South Korean government. There are an estimated 400,000 Korean citizens currently holding Permanent Residency in Japan. Under current voting laws they are not allowed to cast ballots in elections. These Korean citizens are in large part fully integrated into Japanese society, speaking fluent Japanese, owning businesses and property. Many of them are third and fourth generation residents. Japanese Citizenship is based on lineage and these Koreans are kept in a pseudo-citizen category. Some of the Koreans who were Permanent Residents, have married Japanese spouses and have become naturalized citizens. Many of them are not currently Japanese Citizens.

It is my contention that in order to vote in any country, you should follow the legal avenues to become a citizen of such a country and not be voting from the outside in. Although these Korean citizens and a great deal of other nationalities currently reside in Japan on a full time, permanent basis they should not be voting in Japanese elections, be they local or national.

“The government should not be hasty in submitting a bill to the ordinary Diet session to grant local voting rights to permanent foreign residents in Japan, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi said Saturday.” (1)

Haraguchi came out in support of the legislation back in the fall of 2009 and has since became a little more moderate on his stance as the above quote demonstrates. The Democrats have been attempting to open a more positive dialogue with Seoul on a variety of issues. The main focus of the DPJ has been to increase positive relations with the Asian community, and granting voting rights to non Japanese citizens seems to be another ploy to this end.
Prime Minister Hatoyama and Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa have been supporting the foreigner's suffrage bill and pushing for the proposed bill to make its way quickly through the necessary Diet sessions, so that it can be passed into law. The Democratic Party of Japan has been working towards Permanent Resident legislation since 1998, but due to staunch opposition from the Liberal Democrats they could not get the previous 12 bills through the house. (2)

Japan is often criticized by foreign residents as being slightly racist. Japanese citizens periodically look down on Korean Permanent Residents in Japan. Although granting voting rights to long time residents could alleviate some of these tensions, the vote specifically should only be granted to full fledged citizens of Japan.

(1) http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T100130005317.htm
(2) http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20091009a1.html

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa are under constant criticism by the Japanese media, regarding some allegedly sketchy financial deals and some questionable election funding. The continued probes are limiting the ability of the Democrats to govern effectively. As of Monday the DPJ will be beginning their first ordinary Diet session and will be under increased attack from the Liberal Democrats regarding the financial affairs of the both Hatoyama and Ozawa.

The Democrats have been battling with the problems for quite sometime now, and the subsequent investigations into some of the funding has led to arrests and ruined political careers inside the ruling party. Tomohiro Ishikawa a DPJ Lower House member was arrested on Friday in connection with financial irregularities, in connection with Ozawa's political funding. Ishikawa, is only the latest political victim of the Ozawa scandal. Two former Ozawa aides are facing the justice system over the 2004 Tokyo land deal when a reported ¥400 million changed hands without being registered. (1)

Currently, the members of the Democrat's coalition government are urging Ozawa to come clean on his financial dealings. According to an article on the front page of Saturday's edition of The Japan Times, the Secretaries General of both the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) are calling for an explanation from Ozawa. “I expect (Ozawa) to make efforts to dispel public doubts,” said SDP Secretary General Yasumasa Shigeno. (2)

Prime Minister Hatoyama's financial dealings are also under a cloud of suspicion, but the Prime Minister has demonstrated a better ability than Ozawa to rise above the criticism. Hatoyama's financial donations in the lead up to his campaign and election last summer are under scrutiny and will be viciously challenged by the Liberal Democrats in the coming months. Hatoyama faces questions arising from his list of campaign contributors. It has become apparent that the Prime Minister's secretary had attempted to spread Hatoyama's family donations to a larger base of individual contributors. Hatoyama's family is extremely wealthy, due to the fact that his maternal grandfather was the man behind Bridgestone Corp. The Prime Minister's secretary apparently took large family donations and attributed them to a broader base of individuals, thus appearing that Hatoyama had a broader support base than he actually did. Some of the listed contributors were in fact no longer physically able to make donations, as they currently reside in the grave-yard. “It was only with media reports that deceased people had been falsely listed in Hatoyama's political fund reports as funding donors, and subsequent accusations from a citizens' organization, that the murky flow of vast amounts of funds surrounding the prime minister came to light.,” (3) reported the Mainichi Daily News in December.

The funding issues surrounding two of the Democrat's biggest political names could possibly have negative consequences in the upcoming House of Councilors election slated for July. Both Hatoyama and Ozawa will have to successfully deflect growing criticism from the media, the Liberal Democrats, the public and coalition partners in order to take full control of the governance of Japan.

(1) http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100116a1.html
(2) Kyodo. "Come Clean, DPJ's partners tell Ozawa." The Japan Times [Tokyo] Saturday, January 16th, 2010 , 3rd Edition, Front: A1.
(3) http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20091225p2a00m0na014000c.html