Perhaps it’s the lack of sleep this past week, but I’m getting pretty upset with the xenophobic attitudes of some people in Japan.
I pay my bills. I follow the laws. I obey (most) of the rules. Heck, I left my home, friends, and everything I knew back in Canada to call this my new home and start a family with my wife. So why, after forfeiting everything to come here, am I not permitted to vote in elections? Why am I forever excluded from the most basic of rights in this country?
The Cold War ended almost 20 years ago. It's time for Japan to grow up.
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I pay my bills. I follow the laws. I obey (most) of the rules. Heck, I left my home, friends, and everything I knew back in Canada to call this my new home and start a family with my wife. So why, after forfeiting everything to come here, am I not permitted to vote in elections? Why am I forever excluded from the most basic of rights in this country?
The Cold War ended almost 20 years ago. It's time for Japan to grow up.
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While the stated reasoning behind not allowing permanent residents to vote may suggest xenophobia, the fact is that it's pretty standard around the world for permanent residents to not be able to vote. Not in Japan, not in Canada, not in the U.S., not in most countries.
Comparing Japan's stance on this issue to the Cold War is fairly off the mark.
You might be surprised how many countries allow non-citizens to vote under certain conditions. As for the U.S., Wikipedia says this:
"More than 20 states or territories, including colonies before the Declaration of Independence, admitted foreigners' right to vote for all elections. Some voting rights at a local level have been granted to non-citizens by State governments from 1968 onwards."
Just browse through the list...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_foreigners_to_vote
I'm aware that non-citizens have been granted voting rights in many places. But it's still far from the norm, and I feel like this article is rather unfair in its presentation of the issue. Seriously, asking Japan to "grow up?" What about the rest of the world?
If you want voting rights, I vote you become a citizen. I'd urge the same for foreign people in my country. Citizens should have the rights of citizens. I think suffrage counts. Don't you?
God who would want to waste their time voting anyway! I agree with "Migimaru" and the "Cold War" statement is a little off the mark.
Yeah it is not perfect in this country but geez it is a lot worse in many other countries. Talking about basic rights is also a bit tough because "Basic rights" should include the right to have access to clean water, food, medicine and peace and I know many countries that do not have these!
C'mon let's fight the real fights and not be so trivial about things that are quite common in many countries. There is always going to be "Us and them" attiude with Japanese society but all-in-all, it is a reasonable country to live in. (Not perfect but very reasonable!)
Keith
Did not mean to offend anyone here and is only my small insignificant opinion!
Whether it's a waste of time or not, I wish I could vote here. As a Brit, I can vote almost anywhere in the EU, and if I had chosen Korea instead of Japan, I'd be voting there by now, too. I don't think it's unreasonable for a permanent resident to have voting rights. I honestly think it would be strange to allow me to vote in the UK! Why should I be allowed to vote in the UK? I don't live there, I don't own property there, I don't pay taxes there, I'm not enrolled in any health or pension plan in the UK... I do however own property in my name in Japan, I do pay taxes here, I do pay for national health insurance here, I am enrolled in the Japanese pension program, my wife and son are Japanese, and from April I've been made the neighborhood "leader", organizing meetings and distributing fliers about local news and events! I've been here for over 10 years, and the bank trusts me enough to give me a 35 year mortgage. Can the government not compromise and allow long-term permanent residents to vote?
Of course you can vote if you take on Japanese citizenship, but should citizenship be a requirement to vote? I don't think so. It's not like permanent residents are going to pack up and leave if we accidentally elect an idiot. Now before anyone says "if you really want to vote, just become a citizen!", I urge you to read post #11 by "SacredBlue" in this thread about how to become a Japanese citizen:
http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=55416#post55416
Just to clarify, I have no problem with the concept of non-citizens voting, and I support anyone who actively wants to vote (unlike so many people who have the right to vote but don't exercise it). It would indeed be nice if permanent residents were granted suffrage.
My objection is with the tone of the article and the way it unfairly attacks Japan for the issue and tries to boil it all down just to xenophobia - which I would guess is a partial factor, but hardly the only reason that governments don't extend voting to everyone.
The article was too strong, I agree, but I've felt the same way about Japan after overdosing on Debito's blog
Writing blog posts are similar to emails, in that both involve computers and both can reach far beyond the expected audience. This post was no different.
The rules for knowing when to press 'Publish' are the very same as knowing when to press 'Send', and I clearly ignored it. We should never release our thoughts in anger.
Hence the four day break.
I agree with several of the comments both here, and submitted on my site. Most countries do not permit permanent residents to vote in most elections, regardless of whether they're local or federal. My biggest beef wasn't truly with the fact that I can't vote Fukuda out of office the next time the feds are up for re-election, but with the tone of the editorial from the Daily Yomiuri. To say that permanent residents should not be granted suffrage because it's neither common or completely necessary in the world could be tolerated so long as it's done in taste. To say that foreigners shouldn't be granted the right to vote because we're a threat to national security, however, is insulting.
I was raised in a very 'white' part of Canada, but was taught from a very young age to never judge a person by the colour of their skin, their sexual preferences, or what set of genitals they happened to be born with. None of us are given a choice in the matter beforehand and, although it plays a huge role on who we are, it doesn't mean that someone is a threat or inferior from others just because they're different.
I realize that many people in the world are not raised that way, and it's a shame. But to read this kind of foolishness in a newspaper that is targeting the foreign residents in the country is just madness. Was the editor looking for a fight? Was the editor completely unaware of how his comments could be interpreted by foreign residents and international community?
I came to this country to call it my home. Hopefully for the rest of my life. Will I be going for Japanese citizenship in the future? Most likely. Will I be able to get it before 2020? Probably not.
However, if foreigners are already permitted to take out millions of Yen in loans, pay into the pension fund, collect unemployment, apply for national scholarships and a whole host of other benefits, why hold back on suffrage?
The Japanese government loves statistics, regardless of their accuracy. Even the most biased reports of voter turnout shows that most countries that are not at war typically get a 20% - 40% turnout. Multiply that by the number of permanent residents, and maybe throw in a requirement that you have to have lived in Japan for more than six years before voting and you're left with what ... 50,000 foreign voters spread out between Sapporo and Okinawa? This is hardly a threat to national security.
Ozawa is pushing hard to get this so that his party looks better in the eyes of voters, because he knows that this is the only way they'll win more seats in the lower house. Fukuda and his motley crew could have easily accepted the issue (or offer to "look into the matter"
The "us vs. them" mentality helped us survive the first 10,000 years of civilization, but it's time to move on. If people can't accept each other for who they are rather than where one might come from or what we look like, then perhaps they shouldn't leave the safety of their homes.