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

Unpaid wages of bankrupt companies will be paid by Japan Labour Health and Welfare Organization, which is a government subsidiary, but only upto 80% of the unpaid amount.
http://www.rofuku.go.jp/kinrosyashien/miharai.html
(only in Japanese language)

I feel for the people in these videos and the other poor bastards who haven't been paid. But, wake up. You are in Japan.............and you are not Japanese. In this country that means you don't amount to anything. You are never going to see the money you are owed. You need to move on and put it behind you and realize that if you choose to stay in Japan this could very well happen to you again. I don't care who you are or where you work........if you are a foreigner in Japan you have absolutely no security and you never will. That is the way the society is structured here. As long as the rest of the population moves on fine it doesn't matter what happens to you. You don't even account for 1% of the population here. I love certain aspects of Japan but there is a deep and profound racism in this culture against outsiders.

This one time I was out for lunch and it took like 25 minutes for my food to get to me. Other people who had ordered way after me had already recieved their food. When I finally got my food it was burnt. I was pissed off. I just got up paid for it and never returned there again.

Ever see a "Japanese Only" sign. I have and I live 5minutes from Tokyo. Many foreigners are not obnoxious about this............they just want fare treatment. I would laugh if you saw an "Americans Only" sign on a restuarant in American and then complain..................that shit would be on CNN and every channel in the world. "Racism in America!" hahaha but guess what??? You can't find it. Why? Because we are civilized and have "LAWS."

JAPANESE ONLY!!! hahaha, it's not the kind of message you can see on convinience stores or restaurants, you know what I mean!...
It would be rather in these dark undergrounds...for a nice b.....b!

Japanese only signs usually only refer to the language the people in those establishments want spoken. If you speak Japanese you should be able to talk your way into one of those places easily

Truth hurts when it isn't what we want to hear- truth is what's right, not what is necessarily happening. Any foreigner who wants to be realistic about the situation here must see how the best-paying jobs with the best conditions are almost always reserved for the Japanese 'important people', whilst the 'outsiders' (the meaning of the unfortunate term 'gaijin') are supposed to be content with only doing specially defined temporary work or contracts, or even more recently are supposed to be content not to get paid at all. What absurd thinking!

What about after their job, or if they lose their job, if they want to stay longer or have a family? Now Japan has thousands of unemployed foreigners, many of whom will probably not want to 'go home', as either Japan has become their home, or they made a lot of sacrifices to come here and they certainly want their owed pay! (Though if they can't get a job, it would be better for them to go back, this is true, but ultimately they will make the choice).

In terms of equal opportunities (a feature of liberal Capitalism), I have yet to see a foreigner as a head of department, police-man, school principal, politician, etc, etc- but I suppose this is just my fevered imagination as actually Japan does follow it's CONSTITUTION and believe in equal opportunities for all. Even in English teaching, it is hard to find stable positions- this is 'liberal'? Give me a break! Japan needs to wake up to the reality that foreign people are just that, people- and not toys- and wake up to their responsibilities here. With a falling population and rampant corruption I'd say it's getting to the point where Japan needs foreign workers- but are they willing to look after their needs?

Where you do have a point is that the low job availability for English instructors and declining wages/conditions are related to classic liberal capitalist supply/demand issues and not because of discrimination. But in terms of having a level playing field for people of whatever race or national origin, Western countries are light years ahead of Japan (though of course not perfect and with a long way to go) and so Westerners here are at a noticeable disadvantage. Is is too hard to imagine that many will be therefor driven towards 'hostess'-type work, even dare I say it petty-crime, just to survive? If the labour market doesn't suddenly open up or more Eikawa positions get created this might happen. Is this acceptable to

Hiding behind notions like 'liberal Capitalism' won't help Japan's reputation if they are discriminating against some of the very people they need to have their great economy- the Western people who come here and help them to learn English. Get over your 'gaijin complex' and look after these people, they came here because of promises that have now been broken.

This kind of denial of responsibility and that of the Japanese government is creating an unprecedented situation. Like it or not, the best word for this crisis may turn out to be a 'refugee' crisis and Japan like anyone else has responsibilities towards refugees in their midst; 'gaijinism', 'nihonjinism', 'Capitalism', 'briberyism', or whatever- morality will not just go away because you find it inconvenient.

dear "not having a job got me thinking..."

i hope you jest!

but if not, i hope you can find it within yourself to reevaluate your views on life. anyone who believes that the only real purpose in living is acquisition (money/fame/offspring/whetever) is sure to be sorely disappointed.

what about love? what about friendship? what about making the world a better place with your presence?

granted, none of those things will directly put food on the table. but you might be surprised at how easily they can indirectly provide shelter and sustenance.

and all of those things will ensure that you ARE remembered and missed when you finally shed your mortal coil.

it's also important to remember that there are homeless folks in ueno park who have more fulfilling lives than rock stars.

maybe you ought to go into the woods for a while and learn how to love yourself. then come back to the world and spread the love.

whatever you do, you ought not jump in front of a train!

it's an ugly, messy and supremely discourteous way to go.

if you really need to end it all, you should take a rope with you when you go into the woods. go far, far away where only the crows can find you.

good luck.

seek help. seek love. let love in.

Well, you could possibly adopt a child. There are thousands of unwanted little girls across Asia who will eventually be dragooned into sexual slavery to satisfy the millions of Chinese men that won't be getting a woman due to the communists' 'One Child' policy. That might be a worthwhile thing...

all I am is a worker drone whose main purpose is produce and consume for people like Sahashi so they can live a life worth living

That is precisely what Saru and his contemporaries think - you're cattle; cultivated while you are useful and disposed of as soon as you aren't.

Cattle spend their humiliating lives wandering around their designated little pen, staring at the ground, eating and defecating. The most economical methods are employed to exterminate them - because they pose no threat to their masters.

A tiger, on the other hand... well, you get the picture.

Saruhashi and everyone else who profits from your suffering want you to take that walk, they want you to get a 4 line write up in the Mainichi saying you inconvenienced 30,000 other cattle... dead people don't collect their back pay and don't go on UI.

Or, you could think like the tiger...

Best of luck.

To the person talking about jumping in front of a train...................you have options. Talk to your fiancee. I'm sure you would ruin her life by killing yourself. You would only serve to hurt those around you..................stick around. Figure you got nothing to lose. Things will start looking up. You can always adopt a child. Better jobs are out there. And if your looking for fame...........who knows you might get it. If you need immediate help dial 119 for an amublence!

Of course racism is alive and well in Japan. Its not just my opinion its also the opinion of the United Nations special envoy who came to Japan to investigate the issue last year.
Saying it happens in other countries may be true but that doesnt make it right.
Defending racism here because it happens elsewhere makes little sense.

Japanese girls aren`t even that good looking. For every one good looking Japanese girl there are 999 ugly ones. What are the odds that one good looking girl speaks the slightest amount of English. Probably 1:50. So why do people assume that guys come here for the girls. If I wanted to travel some where for women I would go to the Ukraine or eastern European country.

Thanks, that made me laugh. It's funny because it's true.

I actually think he did commit suicide. My husband said there is about a two hour delay for the Shonan Shinjuku line. We all know what the delay was for. If not because of this guy another poor soul.

... bald and fat men.

.....the mice can play..........

Just as a kind of counter-argument to this (my own comment) - on the whole, I've found people here to be unusually kind and friendly and almost never experienced discrimination (except of the positive kind, of people actually being nicer than usual to me). The problem is really with a system that isn't designed to be flexible to 'outsiders'. Certainly, this isn't the intention of the average Japanese person, who is happy if you take an interest in their culture and show respect for your surroundings. Japan is a bit of an isolationist country- it is hard to say that this is really 'racism', as we understand it- though I think in relation to other Asian countries this has often been the case.

This debate could go on for some time and even I am unsure. I think on balance we are more seen as outsiders than consciously looked down on for racial differences. In terms of workplace discrimination this can amount to almost the same thing- but I'd stress the almost. I have just had too many good experiences to really call it a racist society. Yet the government is certainly self-centered on the majority 'Nihonjin' ethnic group here and in breach of international laws on many such issues. That is just a fact revealed in the UN-report, whatever anyone thinks on the matter (though I suspect it is more to do with the treatment of Asian immigrants than Westerners, not that makes it in any way acceptable).

Certainly, keeping to the current topic, the neglect shown to Nova teachers is a shameful thing, with no real excuse. People will feel and say it's racism, but it might actually be mis-management and officials trying to avoid the (now international) issue.