Besides making the freeways here actually "free" -- a policy that's received surprisingly little support once people realized the horrific traffic jams that would likely ensue -- Prime Minister Hatoyama's government appears to be moving ahead with a plan to give foreigners in Japan with permanent residence status the right to vote in local elections. The idea is to make foreigners who embrace living permanently in Japan feel more like a part of society as the country comes to grips with its new role in the 21st century. Much as I'd enjoy being able to vote for local politicians then blog about it, I don't think for a moment that this plan will actually go anywhere due to Constitutional and other concerns, and everyone from a group of prefectural governors to the Capcom game company (go figure) has come out against the idea. For the record, this proposal isn't really about gaijin like me at all, since 91% of the "foreigners" holding permanent residence status here are zainichi Koreans, descendents from the Koreans who lived and worked in Japan mostly from 1910 through the end of World War II. Nearly all of these people were born in Japan and often don't speak Korean, yet for historical and cultural reasons that are difficult for me to fathom go through life holding a passport from South or North Korea, despite the fact that they can become Japanese citizens very easily. It speaks volumes of Japan's society that they could have a national discussion about a topic like this without actually naming the group that the legislation is really about.
Should foreigners here have the right to vote? The DPJ says yes.
7 comments:
LOL, i wonder why the mexicans are pictured with a big o' sombrero ??
And if i ever get to live in japan (permanently) i would like to vote ^^
Yes, although it's so easy to get citizenship if it comes to that. What I'd like is for Japan to finally recognize dual citizenship, that would solve all the problems. Currently you have to become Japanese "only" (although I understand that might be a tatemae, a rule that isn't actually followed).
So, is it easy to become a Japanese citizen? I heard it was kinda difficult. I would need more learning ability of the language anyway before I even think of that, LOL. I only took two years of Japanese in my old high school so I'm still a newbie... -_-;
My understanding is that if you've lived here 5 years consecutively, have paid your taxes, speak at least minimal Japanese and want to become a citizen, that's all you need to do. One previous requirement that you had to take a Japanese name -- which was something that Koreans and Chinese were largely not willing to do -- is no longer in effect. Although that would be kind of cool, changing my name to a Japanese one.
That doesn't sound hard at all! I was reading a website that claimed it was "very difficult" which I think was a load of BS. Thnaks for helping me with that. I wonder, can you basically just choose a Japanese name that you want as long as it is appropiate? But yeah, you're right. I wanna use this name "Iron Arrow" and "Grass Slashing", I think. I need to double check the Kanji which I fail horribly at. Other than that, my spoken Japanese is fairly good it's just my horrible writing of it sucks... But I really would be willing to have a Japanese name. My American name sounds so boring and corny, hahahaha. :)
The tale I heard was that the Japanese law forbidding dual nationality was fairly recent, and that some dual nationals who were born before a certain date, such as Keiko Fuji's daughter, were allowed to keep their childhood dual nationality even as adults. Was I given erroneous information?
Hm, not sure, I just know that the Japanese side officially requires you to turn in your other passport when you take Japanese citizenship, or so I've been told. In practice, they don't actually require this, at least of kids who have turned 20, which means there might be a "de facto" policy in place, which would be so frigging like Japan.
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