Rie's final essay

The Local Suffrage to Foreigners in Japan

Japan has seemed to be a homogeneous nation because of the small number of foreigners. There are 2,217426 foreigners living in Japan, it accounts for 1.74 percent of population in 2008. 41.1 percent of them are people who have the qualification which is able to residence permanently, and their population is increasing (Ministry of Justice, 2008). Compared with other developed countries, the rate of foreigners’ population in Japan is low. Non Japanese right does not seem to weigh an important part, but it has been discussed after the Cold War. This essay will discuss about the local voting right to people who have ‘special’ permanent residence. First, I will introduce general information of special permanent residents. Then, both ‘for’ and ‘against’ arguments will be written. Finally, I will analyze the situation which Japan faces now, and give some suggestion of the right which they should have.

During Japan had been colonizing East Asian countries; Korea and Taiwan, a large number of colonized people were brought to Japan. They and their descendants have been living in Japan although the WWII ended. These people are called Zainichi, given the special permanent qualifications, which are treated well than the normal permanent qualifications. The population of them was 492,056 in 2008, the people who have Korean nationality was 99 percentage points (Ministry of Justice). They still have some restrictions in society, the biggest concern is the right to vote, and they have been insisting that Japanese government should promulgate them the local voting right. And DPJ expressed their insistence by promoting the statement. In the next paragraph, the reason to have the suffrage to them will be mentioned.

One of the reasons why special permanent residents demand the local suffrage is because they have the obligation of paying taxes to the local authorities. The principle is called “no taxation without representation” (Takao, 2003), and they assert that people who pay tax should have the right to vote. The slogan; “no taxation without representation” was ordinarily come up when British colonists in the U.S. protested that the representatives couldn’t attend the British Parliament. This assertion is supported by not only for permanent Korean residents, but people from different potions. From the Canadian activist’s view, people have the right to choose the politicians who make decisions how to spend taxes unless they pay taxes (Day, 2009). And, Issei Kotobuki, who is a member of Kishiwada Municipal Assembly stated as a backer. He explained that foreign residents were the member of the community, which was showed by paying tax, so they have the right to commit the local politics. There are some prefecture governors such as Katayama in Tottori, and Hiramatsu in Oita expressed that support the foreigners’ local suffrage (Kalicki, 2008).
Secondly, special permanent residents have the common cultural backgrounds as Japanese have. They have been settled in Japan for over 60 years, and then their descendants have been born and grown up in Japan. They speak Japanese as first language, go to Japanese schools, and get jobs in Japan, not in Korea. New Komeito Secretary General, Tetsuzo Fujiyama mentioned ‘If the people who were born and raised in Japan and intend to spend the rest of their lives in this country wish so, they should be treated almost like Japanese citizens’ (Kalicki, 2008). Their culture, education, and thoughts which were cultivated have not big differences from these of Japanese. Also, third and forth generations foreign permanent residents can not know the national language. Their sense became more and more like Japanese, compared with first or second generations who had lived in Korea or Taiwan before they came to Japan.
Moreover, granting foreigners local suffrage is general from the view of international norms. It is not unusual that government give foreigners the suffrage in developed countries. For example, Sweden accepted foreign residents to have local voting rights, also stand for local authorities’ offices in 1975. After that, this trend have spread with Scandinavian countries, and in 1992, EU countries gave local suffrage to foreigners who are from other EU countries (Takao, 2003). People from non-EU countries still do not have voting rights, but UK and Portugal granted foreigners who are from the countries which were colonized by them (Kalicki, 2009). The situation which Japan faces to special permanent residents is similar with UK and Portugal cases. However the number of nations which grant foreigners voting right is few, but most of them are developed countries.

On the other hand, opponents claimed that paying tax is not the reason for granting the voting right. A Japanese American activist argued that foreigner residents should have the responsibilities to pay taxes to secure the society and grant the national health insurance (Day, 2009). Additionally, Setsu Kobayashi, a lawyer and professor at Keio University pointed out that the obligation of taxes is not connected with the voting right logically. He explained if this theory which all taxpayers have the suffrage would be accepted, Japanese who do not earn any incomes, or are receiving welfare benefits would had to be taken their suffrage (Kalicki, 2009).
Furthermore, there is an argument that foreign permanent residents should be naturalized as Japanese if they want the voting right. The members of Liberal Democratic Party state at this position. In 2001, PM Junichiro Koizumi eased the process of naturalization for special permanent residents instead of granting local suffrage directly (Day, 2009). They were exempted from submission of some documents at the naturalization. It is considered about their historical background and present social position in Japan. That is why, this solution is valid for only people with special permanent residence. Also, they can get accustom for Japanese nationalities easier and quicker because they have many common sense with Japanese.

The argument of voting right for foreigners in Japan is strongly connected with historical and political background. The Domestic Party has been trying to introduce the bill of local suffrage for all permanent residents from last year, but it hasn’t materialized. As time passed, national characteristics of special permanent residents became close to Japanese. And the idea that people are defined by their nationalities has been lost gradually by the globalization. It would take long time that Japanese government grant foreigners the local suffrage. However, as long as Japan is a domestic nation, the change of law should be necessary in accordance with the times and the environment.



Bibliography
Day, S. (2009), ‘Japan: the contested boundaries of alien suffrage at the local level’, Dmocratization,16:3, pp558-584.
Hawks, M. E (2008). Granting Permanent Resident Aliens the Right to Vote in Local Government: The New Komeito Continues to Promote Alien Suffrage in Japan’, Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal, 17:2, pp369-406.
Kalicki, K. (2008), ‘Voting Right of the ‘Marginal’; The Contested Logic of Political Membership in Japan’, Ethopolitics, 7:2, pp265-286.
Ministry of Justice (2008), http://www.moj.go.jp/PRESS/090710-1/090710-5.pdf [accessed: 01/March/2010].
Takao, Y. (2003). ‘Foreigners’ Rights in Japan; Beneficiaries to Participants’, Asian Survey, 43:4, pp527-552.