[Nasional-e] There is no room for discrimination in any form.

[Ambon]

EDITORIAL: Opening our society

There is no room for discrimination in any form.

Asign at an onsen in Otaru, Hokkaido, triggered a court fight with the
Japanese-language notice ``Entry by foreigners not allowed,'' with two words
in English: ``Japanese only.''

A recent Sapporo District Court ruling found the onsen's refusal to admit
``foreign-looking people'' constituted racial discrimination, and ordered
the operator to pay 1 million yen in damages to each of the three
plaintiffs-a German, an American, and a naturalized Japanese of American
extraction. They had claimed the onsen policy violated the Constitution's
guarantee of equality before the law, as well as international conventions
that ban racial discrimination.

The ruling was a natural result of fundamental tenets. We must not tolerate
any form of discrimination.

Some public bath houses refuse people with full tattoos or those who are
roaring drunk. But that is another matter. People wear tattoos or drink of
their own volition. Restricting them because of their tattoos or drunken
behavior could be justified in some situations. But discrimination on
account of race, sex or other attributes of birth is not acceptable in any
circumstances.

Problems and feuds resulting from businesses refusing foreigners have been
reported nationwide. A jeweler in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, was also
involved in a suit after denying a foreigner, and was ordered to pay
damages.

There are countless bars and restaurants that post ``no foreigner'' signs,
and apartments refuse to accept foreign tenants. The central government
program to encourage foreign students is being undermined by this persistent
discrimination. It makes finding an apartment both difficult and distasteful
for foreign students, and naturally makes a very bad first impression of the
nation.

Japan signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination in 1995. In the seven years since then, there is as
yet no domestic law against racial discrimination.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
urged Japan last year to adopt such a law to ensure enforcement of the
international treaty here. The government should prepare such legislation
immediately.

One question is whether such a law should provide punishment for violation.
But there is no question that the present abnormality, in which foreigners
must go to court whenever they are barred from a shop or a public bath, must
be addressed now.

An important first step toward greater public awareness of the issue would
be to define what constitutes racial discrimination, even if there are no
penalties for violating the law.

People of different cultural or ethnic backgrounds may have different
bathing and eating customs. Such differences should not be made an excuse,
however, for barring foreigners. It is important to try to help non-Japanese
understand Japanese customs and rules through clear explanation. After such
explanation, foreigners could be rejected if they refuse to follow the
rules.

The plaintiffs in the Hokkaido onsen suit acknowledged the need to follow
local custom and said they had been barred in apparent racial discrimination
before violating any rule. Nongovernmental organizations might provide help
in introducing our customs to help foreigners understand them.

Japan needs to try harder to be a more open society in which people of
varied cultural backgrounds can live without encountering discrimination in
public baths or onsens, restaurants, offices or schools. Our closed society
should become history as soon as possible.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 18(IHT/Asahi: November 19,2002)