As the global recession hits Japan’s export-driven economy, temporary workers at plants producing auto parts and electronics have been among the first to lose their jobs, with the 320,000 Brazilians living in Japan particularly vulnerable to the layoffs.
More than 800 Brazilians and their supporters took to the streets of the central Japanese city of Nagoya on Sunday, raising their green and yellow national flags and calling for secure employment, proper schooling for their children and an end to layoffs.
Paulo Kanashiro and Minoru Nishizawa, both Brazilians who have Japanese ancestry, brought their Brazilian coworkers from a Toyota subsidiary to the demonstration to demand from the Japanese government the same rights granted to Japanese workers.
“We are also paying taxes here,” 33-year-old Nishizawa of Sao Paulo said. “Why are we not eligible for the same rights?”
In December, nearly 500 Japanese temporary workers who lost their jobs because of production cuts flocked to a Tokyo park to receive free lodging and food. About 300 of them were able to receive government subsidies and temporary lodging before they began their search for a new job.
But the situation is different for Brazilians.
Often called dekasegi, or migrant workers, they are considered only temporary residents who will eventually return to their homelands.
Brazilians and other South American nationals began migrating to Japan in large numbers in search of higher paid work in 1990 when the immigration law was revised. Since then, they have dominated the manufacturing workforce.
Some still plan to return to Brazil, but for many other Brazilians, Japan has become home. Kanashiro and Nishizawa, who have lived and worked in Japan for 16 years, can’t imagine leaving Japan just because they are jobless.
Kanashiro moved to Hekinan in Aichi Prefecture from Campo Grande in Brazil with several members of his family.
“Even if we had a choice of returning to Brazil, we’d have to start from scratch there,” the 29-year-old Kanashiro said.
Workers at the Hekinan factory of a Toyota subsidiary suffered an almost 70 percent cut in their pay, Nishizawa said.
Brazilians there have worked overtime and on weekends and during holidays when their Japanese colleagues wanted off, he said.
The Brazilian migrant workers said they “contributed to the prosperity of the Japanese economy and society for more than 20 years” and to building a strong foundation for Japan’s manufacturing industry.
But the government does not see Brazilian migrant workers as deserving certain rights, Nishizawa said.
“We are treated like tissues in that we are destined to be thrown away when our job is done,” he said.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79
MARITIME SECURITY: Of the 52 vessels, 15 were rated a ‘threat’ for various reasons, including the amount of time they spent loitering near subsea cables, the CGA said Taiwan has identified 52 “suspicious” Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience that require close monitoring if detected near the nation, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday, as the nation seeks to protect its subsea telecoms cables. The stricter regime comes after a Cameroon-flagged vessel was briefly detained by the CGA earlier this month on suspicion of damaging an international cable northeast of Taiwan. The vessel is owned by a Hong Kong-registered company with a Chinese address given for its only listed director, the CGA said previously. Taiwan fears China could sever its communication links as part of an attempt