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- 25 Apr 2002
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Otaru Onsen Lawsuit: Defendants' Testimony and Two Updates on Settlement Discussions
OTARU EXCLUSIONARY ONSENS LAWSUIT
DEFENDANTS ONSEN YUNOHANA AND OTARU CITY ORAL TESTIMONIES
AVAILABLE IN JAPANESE AND ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Otaru Onsens Lawsuit: Hearing Eight (April 15, 2002): Defendants' Oral Testimony and Cross-Examination
The two Defendants in the landmark Otaru Onsens Case, where a German, an American, and a naturalized Japanese brought suit against 1) an exclusionary bathing facility for racial discrimination, and 2) the City of Otaru, Japan, for doing too little to resolve it, appeared in Sapporo District Court on April 15, 2002, to give sworn oral testimony.
These testimonies are now available in Japanese and English at the above site. They are worth reading not only because they offer rare insights into the mindsets behind racial discrimination and Japanese bureaucratic stonewalling, but also because they present courtroom drama at its finest. For those who think that Japanese courts must be dry and boring, read in thrall as Plaintiffs' lawyer Itou Hideko dissects and utterly destroys Otaru City's arguments in particular.
(If you want to plunge into the drama, skip to
Otaru Onsen Lawsuit: Oral Testimony of Mr Takeuchi Kazuho, Head of Otaru City's International Desk)
Highlights of both testimonies below for those interested.
Thanks for reading.
Arudou Debito
One Plaintiff, on behalf of Plaintiffs Karthaus and Sutherland
(full background on the case at www.debito.org: THE OTARU LAWSUIT INFORMATION SITE, by the Plaintiffs)
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ONSEN YUNOHANA TESTIMONY:
Mr KOBAYASHI Katsuyuki, Manager, stated for the record the exclusionary measures taken, the reasons why, and the ways in which the City of Otaru in his view refused to help resolve the situation. Mr Kobayashi also made clear that he in fact supports the passage of a local anti-discrimination ordinance (jourei), which Otaru City has for years refused to do.
Link to JAPANESE ORIGINAL (26 jpegged pages)
小樽外国人排斥温泉訴訟 小樽温泉「湯の花」代表 小林勝幸氏 の尋問・反対尋問 2002年4月15日、札幌地裁
Link to ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Otaru Onsens Lawsuit: Oral Testimony of Defendant Kobayashi Katsuyuki, Manager, Onsen Yunohana
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OTARU CITY TESTIMONY:
Mr TAKEUCHI Kazuho, contemporary Head of the Otaru City International Relations Desk, made clear in both his examination and cross-examination what measures the Otaru City government refused to take (such as drafting an anti-discrimination ordinance), even consulting the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Legal Affairs (Houmukyoku) to find out what it was NOT legally obligated to do. This even though Otaru City, he explicitly stated, was aware of the problem as a matter of racial discrimination from 1993 (!!) Thus Otaru for the record clearly took insufficient measures against the problem for the better part of a decade--in incontrovertible violation of Article Two of the UN Convention on Racial Discrimination (http://www.debito.org/intlconvention.html), which Japan ratified in 1996. Moreover, Plaintiff lawyer Itou Hideko rends asunder the City's arguments that it "legally had no power to do anything".
Link to JAPANESE ORIGINAL (36 jpegged pages)
小樽外国人排斥温泉訴訟 小樽市代表竹内氏の尋問・反対尋問 2002年4月15日、札幌地裁
Link to ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Otaru Onsen Lawsuit: Oral Testimony of Mr Takeuchi Kazuho, Head of Otaru City's International Desk
////////////////////////////////////////////
ENDS
OTARU EXCLUSIONARY ONSENS LAWSUIT
DEFENDANTS ONSEN YUNOHANA AND OTARU CITY ORAL TESTIMONIES
AVAILABLE IN JAPANESE AND ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Otaru Onsens Lawsuit: Hearing Eight (April 15, 2002): Defendants' Oral Testimony and Cross-Examination
The two Defendants in the landmark Otaru Onsens Case, where a German, an American, and a naturalized Japanese brought suit against 1) an exclusionary bathing facility for racial discrimination, and 2) the City of Otaru, Japan, for doing too little to resolve it, appeared in Sapporo District Court on April 15, 2002, to give sworn oral testimony.
These testimonies are now available in Japanese and English at the above site. They are worth reading not only because they offer rare insights into the mindsets behind racial discrimination and Japanese bureaucratic stonewalling, but also because they present courtroom drama at its finest. For those who think that Japanese courts must be dry and boring, read in thrall as Plaintiffs' lawyer Itou Hideko dissects and utterly destroys Otaru City's arguments in particular.
(If you want to plunge into the drama, skip to
Otaru Onsen Lawsuit: Oral Testimony of Mr Takeuchi Kazuho, Head of Otaru City's International Desk)
Highlights of both testimonies below for those interested.
Thanks for reading.
Arudou Debito
One Plaintiff, on behalf of Plaintiffs Karthaus and Sutherland
(full background on the case at www.debito.org: THE OTARU LAWSUIT INFORMATION SITE, by the Plaintiffs)
////////////////////////////////////////////
ONSEN YUNOHANA TESTIMONY:
Mr KOBAYASHI Katsuyuki, Manager, stated for the record the exclusionary measures taken, the reasons why, and the ways in which the City of Otaru in his view refused to help resolve the situation. Mr Kobayashi also made clear that he in fact supports the passage of a local anti-discrimination ordinance (jourei), which Otaru City has for years refused to do.
Link to JAPANESE ORIGINAL (26 jpegged pages)
小樽外国人排斥温泉訴訟 小樽温泉「湯の花」代表 小林勝幸氏 の尋問・反対尋問 2002年4月15日、札幌地裁
Link to ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Otaru Onsens Lawsuit: Oral Testimony of Defendant Kobayashi Katsuyuki, Manager, Onsen Yunohana
////////////////////////////////////////////
OTARU CITY TESTIMONY:
Mr TAKEUCHI Kazuho, contemporary Head of the Otaru City International Relations Desk, made clear in both his examination and cross-examination what measures the Otaru City government refused to take (such as drafting an anti-discrimination ordinance), even consulting the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Legal Affairs (Houmukyoku) to find out what it was NOT legally obligated to do. This even though Otaru City, he explicitly stated, was aware of the problem as a matter of racial discrimination from 1993 (!!) Thus Otaru for the record clearly took insufficient measures against the problem for the better part of a decade--in incontrovertible violation of Article Two of the UN Convention on Racial Discrimination (http://www.debito.org/intlconvention.html), which Japan ratified in 1996. Moreover, Plaintiff lawyer Itou Hideko rends asunder the City's arguments that it "legally had no power to do anything".
Link to JAPANESE ORIGINAL (36 jpegged pages)
小樽外国人排斥温泉訴訟 小樽市代表竹内氏の尋問・反対尋問 2002年4月15日、札幌地裁
Link to ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Otaru Onsen Lawsuit: Oral Testimony of Mr Takeuchi Kazuho, Head of Otaru City's International Desk
////////////////////////////////////////////
ENDS
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