Journey to Warabistan, Part I
Please watch the following one-minute clip:
It’s one of those Rorschach videos that people interpret differently. My reader, presumably free of context in this case, will just see Japanese police arresting a man of foreign appearance for unknown reasons.
Japanese nationalists see righteous Japanese officers of the law heroically cracking down on Gaijin crime, a desperate rearguard action in the face of reckless immigration policies.
The local equivalent of woke Japanese see brutal fascists choking and abusing the human rights of an innocent man purely for the crime of driving while foreign.
With those preliminaries out of the way, here is context as partially provided by the Kurdish Cultural Association of Japan (quote taken from YouTube comments):
To the Government of Japan, the Diet, the National Police Agency, and all related parties, and to the people of Japan
We would like to take this opportunity to announce our views on the Kurdish demonstration in front of the Shibuya police station on March 30, 2011. It has taken us a long time to confirm the facts with the relevant authorities, and we apologize for the delay. First of all, we would like to make it clear that we do not support the demonstration and are not involved in any way. The actions of the Kurdish national who started the disturbance cannot be defended in light of Japanese laws and customs. If he had obeyed the traffic rules and properly responded to the police request, it is doubtful that the police officers would have taken such action. We have often organized protests against the oppression of the Kurdish people by the Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi, and Syrian governments. The demonstration in front of the Shibuya police station this time had a majority of Japanese participants, but we have confirmed that they were all people who do not usually participate in support activities for the Kurdish people. It seems that the demonstration, which could not be said to have a legitimate reason, instead promoted prejudice against Kurdish people living in Japan.
Kurds in Japan respect Japanese laws and customs. We will continue to guide Kurds so that they will not cause any friction in Japanese society. Some people are spreading misinformation about Kurds in this case, and we ask you to refrain from doing so.
Unfortunately, the Kurdish community has not been interviewed by the Japanese media, academic institutions, or other organizations regarding our views on this matter, but we would like to express our views here.Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Here is further context: 1. Immigration has been increasing rapidly in Japan, with the number of foreign residents creeping up towards 3%. In 2000, that figure was 1.3%. 2. The biggest groups of foreigners are Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese, but as we saw there is also a small group of Kurds. They are the topic of today’s article. 3. At some point there was a loophole that allowed Kurds easy entry to Japan, which is why they are there. 4. There is a Japanese equivalent of white guilt whose clumsy English name is Anti-Japaneseism. Social media comments indicate that ideology still exists, but it is a much smaller movement than woke, with politics in general taking up a very small amount of headspace among the local population, as it should.
Now to the Kurds. Please note that I compile these reports as a curious outsider and this post is not intended as a polemic.
First, here are extracts from a DeepL-translated article that fills in a lot of details:
Kawaguchi City Council’s “Kurdish” Opinion, which Reiwa also supported, not reported by the media
( . . . ) The city council of Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture [just north of Tokyo] has passed a petition calling on the central and prefectural governments to “strengthen the crackdown on crimes committed by some foreigners” in response to friction between some Kurds, an ethnic minority group from Turkey, and local residents in the city. Although they did not refer to “Kurds” by name, the majority of the city council members revealed that the discussions were held with them in mind . . .
. . . parking spaces . . . had been vandalized, . . . they had trouble putting out their garbage, and so on . . . The city council leader himself was a victim of rash driving.
According to a man, 35, who lives in a Kurdish residential area, it is a daily occurrence for modified vehicles to run amok through residential areas, playing Middle Eastern music at high volume, and he said, “The sound of explosions passes in front of my house late at night. Some of them even upload their photos on their Instagram pages, which I can only assume is for fun,” he said.
In October 2021, a 19-year-old Kurdish boy drove a truck on a prefectural road, hit and killed a 69-year-old man who was crossing the road, and fled the scene. The boy did not have a driver’s license in his possession. After the incident, the boy was arrested as he was leaving the country.
However, apart from major incidents such as this, it is rare for the police to actually act due to the language barrier and other factors. According to the officials, there are many cases of traffic accidents in which the owner of the car is not even known, and the driver cries himself to sleep. The police are also unable to fully grasp the reality of crimes committed not only by Kurds, but also by [other?] foreigners . . .
“While Kurds have a habit of gathering in large numbers with their families and relatives, which can cause unnecessary misunderstandings among residents at night, there are also numerous cases of actual lawbreaking, such as theft, assault, and hit-and-runs.
“We have no intention to discriminate or confront the Kurds. However, the existence of some Kurds who cannot abide by the laws and rules of our country is unfortunately even causing fear among local residents.” ( . . . )
Japanese authorities sometimes give up on prosecuting cases due to a lack of interpreters for rare languages.
Japanese also commit crimes.
On the other hand, four members of the Communist Party, two members of the Constitutional Democratic Party, and one member of the newly elected Reiwa group opposed the vote on the opinion letter . . .Meanwhile, the Communist Party has a district office in the city’s Kurdish residential area, and according to the official, a car believed to be driven by Kurds once ran into the parking lot where a street car was parked and broke a block wall.
A city council member of the same party said, “Violent behavior and crimes are not limited to some foreigners. There are Japanese people who commit crimes as well. In aiming for a symbiotic society, we cannot agree with an opinion letter that singles out foreigners in particular,” he said.
This sounds like what you’d expect a Communist Party member to say but in truth, Saitama did not have a sterling reputation before the immigrants arrived.
In response to the opinion letter, the Saitama Prefectural Police have actually strengthened patrols. On the 19th of this month, a man in his 50s, a Turkish national living in the city, was arrested by the Kawaguchi Police Department on suspicion of indecent assault for groping a high school girl in a park at night in the city.
On the other hand, the press, including the local media, has reported little about this opinion letter, perhaps because it is a sensitive issue concerning “foreigners and human rights”. Okutomi visited the press room of the city hall and appealed to the reporters present, but they only responded ambiguously, saying, “Yes, that’s true,” or “It’s difficult, isn’t it?
Further articles:
Japan is young Kurd’s only home, despite challenges of ‘illegal resident’ status
Ramazan is a Kurd, who moved to Japan from Turkey at age 9 with his parents and younger brother, then 1 year old. His family made the move as their circumstances had turned tense after his relatives were convicted and imprisoned for a political crime . . .
Ever since Ramazan and his family arrived in Japan, they have repeatedly sought protection as refugees, but no matter how many times they have applied, the Japanese government has not granted them refugee status. As they have no residency status, they are not allowed to work or join the national health insurance scheme, and the family is not even allowed to leave Saitama Prefecture unless authorized by immigration officials . . .
The 23-year-old can speak Kurdish, Turkish, and Japanese proficiently. He said, “Making my way around the world was my dream, but I feel that’s impossible as I’m not even allowed to go outside Saitama Prefecture. I thought that despite this, interpreting is something I could do. I also wanted to learn English, so applied to vocational schools with English programs, but…”
He was rejected by eight schools because he has no residency status. Eventually, Ramazan found a vocational school for vehicle maintenance. “When I explained my situation, the school told me, ‘We don’t discriminate against individuals, so please join us. Although we can’t make an enemy of the national government, we’ll do what we can do.'” He recalled thinking, “Ah, this is the place I was searching for,” and felt touched by the lengths the school went to for him.
After studying for two years, Ramazan obtained a car mechanic license. As his peers began working, he was left behind with a lot of time on his hands. This was not totally unexpected. But he went to the school anyway, in the full knowledge that his efforts could be wasted.
KURDISH RESIDENTS OF KAWAGUCHI CITY IN MEDIA SPOTLIGHT FOR THE WORST REASONS
Kawaguchi City, population six hundred thousand, is Japan’s municipality with the highest percentage (6.7%) of zainichi-gaikokujin (在日外国人), or foreigners living in Japan. The city also has Japan’s largest population of Turkish nationals, the majority of Kurdish ethnicity.
Approximately two thousand Kurds live in Kawaguchi City. Many of them work at the 170 demolition contractors either owned by or run with Kurds. Contractors like KURDISTAN Ltd. make up nearly 60% of the City’s demolition contractors.
Such contractors are not fussy about checking residency status. Japanese who take such jobs are often homeless.
The article goes on to explain residents’ complaints about the noise and dust from construction storage sites.
Hunting for the big boss of Saitama’s ‘Warabistan’
Over the past several decades Kurds have gravitated to the Saitama cities of Kawaguchi and Warabi, enough to warrant the latter’s having been nicknamed “Warabistan” by the locals.
On July 4, an incident flared up in Kawaguchi by which a hospital emergency ward was effectively shut down for five and a half hours — said to be the result of a brawl involving some 100 Kurds. In response to the ruckus, riot police had to be summoned to quell the disturbance.
“It’s believed that the fighting was was triggered by a dispute over a woman,” a locally based news reporter tells the magazine. “Two Kurds suffered severe injuries requiring hospitalization, and a total of seven were arrested on suspicion of interference of official police duties, attempted murder and other charges . . .
In the course of his investigation, Shukan Gendai’s reporter heard stories of the existence of a “big boss” of the Kurds, supposedly residing in Warabi. Employing charisma, business acumen and a network of personal contacts, he assists new arrivals to Japan in finding work and helps support their livelihoods . . .
“What about that brawl that occurred last July?” was the first question asked . . .
It seems that a Kurdish woman had left her husband to live with another man in Kanagawa, in open defiance of religious taboos. In the end, the woman was left with no choice but to return to Turkey. But her paramour brazenly returned to Kawaguchi, infuriating the woman’s relatives, who went looking for him with knives. Aside from the romantic aspects the dispute also involved money. Nevertheless, most of the Kurds who turned up at the “brawl” came not to fight, but in the hope of mediating the dispute. Or so the reporter was informed . . .
Yes, Mr T concedes, some Kurds have broken the rules and made trouble.
“But I want people to know they are a small minority. Most of us are hard workers and I always urge everyone to absolutely obey the law in Japan,” he says.
“My life’s goal is to see the creation of a nation for the Kurds. I’m willing to give everything I have to that end.
That’s all for today. Next week your intrepid narrator emerges from his dacha in Kazakhstan and makes the trek to see Warabistan for himself.