🚀 go-pugleaf

kenji@tom.astem.or.jp (Kenji Rikitake) writes:

>In article <2710@aegis.or.jp> davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane) writes:
> |I'm not sure what the difference between 'citizenship' and
> |'nationality' is. Some people use one, other people the other. Could
> |you elaborate on the difference: I'd like to know. 

>IMHO Japanese gov't doesn't care much about what citizenship is. They
>only care about nationality, and they think if you don't have Japanese
>nationality you are not a citizen so you are treated as something less
>important for the government. And in this sense re-nationalization
>doesn't mean much - you are still a second-class person because you
>were a non-Japanese resident. It's not whether you are a citizen or
>not that is important - whether you were born in Japan as a
>son/daughter of a Japanese parents is important. This is, of course,
>just my opinion based on my past experience - maybe I am exaggerating
>too much.

Well, you didn't exactly define the differene but I get what you mean.
I think you are saying that "nationality" is a social-cultural thing
while "citizenship" is a legal-paper thing. And I would agree that
that in Japan, social-cultural nationality is more important that
legal-paper citizenship.

>Even though Japan tries hard to emulate the system of other nations
>since 1869, the idea that the people are owned by someone who is
>superior (e.g. Shogun or Tenno) hardly fades away. The idea of
>citizenship is based on an assumption that individuals of a nation
>have independent contracts with the government, and this kind of
>assumption cannot be applied to Japanese society. So my question: are
>we (I am a Japanese so I use the term "we") really citizens?

I think it's even stronger than that: I think the idea of
citizenship is based on the idea that the individuals of a nation(s)
get together and chose/make the government to serve their ends.  But
as you point out, in Japan people think of themselves as being owned
by somebody superior to them so while they may appear on paper as
"citizens", I think they are aptly called "subjects".  Just a couple
of weeks ago a major politition (Kanemaru?) was quoted on the front
page of the Daily Yomiuri as saying he was only a subject of the
Emporer. 

Nobody responded to my article about who people like to ride in the
back seat of the car, but I think it fits Japanese culture very
well. It's very comfortable being a subject but of course when
something doesn't meet your expectation you can only complain, and
not too loudly or in public as this would upset the subject-master
relationship which is so very comfortable. 

When a "citizen" complains, it may well lead to action. When a
"subject" complains, it's only the wind whistling through the trees.... 

Dave

--
Dave McLane 
JUNET: davidg@aegis.or.jp (ONLY within Japan: post otherwise)
Nagaokakyoshi, Kyoto Japan Tel: +81-75-951-1168 Fax: +81-75-957-1087