A great interview coming up! Why this rocket scientist needs your support

On September 19, 2007 in Uncategorized

Our next interviews here on Daily J will be with an aerospace engineer, a marathon runner, an English teacher, an adventurer, and an activist for foreigners’ rights in Japan.

Believe it or not, that is ONE person!

Turner from KeepingPaceinJapan.com.

So stay tuned for all of the exciting details!

But first,

Find out why he needs you:

Daily J: I noticed your recent post about fingerprinting (click to read full). Do you mind telling us a little about it here and also about your efforts to counter it?

Turner: Certainly. Beginning in November 2007, all foreigners entering Japan will have their fingerprints taken and stored by immigration. The reason cited? Terrorism. Ironic, since most major “terrorist” activities in Japan have been committed by Japanese themselves.

Naturally, I heard the story from Debito first, but after browsing the blogosphere, I noticed there wasn’t any resistance other than written dissent. I thought back to the days when the Gaijin Ura Hanzai File was still on the shelves of Family Mart, and just what we did exactly to get it removed. The answer: present a request written in Japanese to managers of Family Mart across Japan, a calm approach that used logic over anger, and resulted in the eventual removal of the magazine.

I’m proposing the same action here. When immigration authorities begin scanning foreigners’ fingerprints in November, we should present them with a similar letter in Japanese, stating that although we will comply with this action condoned by the government, we do not agree with it, and are only going along with it to reenter the country; hopefully this will at least give the matter greater attention in the press, or bring to light the ignorance surrounding the cause.

Check out Turner’s site for more information about fingerprinting. And be sure to join us tomorrow for some more Q and A!

Here on Daily J

Comments (4)