Racism surfaces over bid by foreigner to buy land, settle

06/29/2007
The Asahi Shimbun.
Source: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200706290148.html

FUKUROI, Shizuoka Prefecture-- Fearful that they would be inviting
crime to their neighborhood, residents blocked an attempt by a
Japanese-Brazilian man to buy land on which to build a house. 

The local regional legal affairs bureau said their actions constituted
a "violation of human rights" and told the parties involved that if a
similar situation occurred in the future they should handle it better. 

In the end, the man was forced to purchase property elsewhere. 

The 30-year-old factory worker had his heart set on purchasing a
200-square-meter plot through a realtor in the nearby city of Iwata in
April last year, said sources familiar with the matter. 

The third-generation Japanese-Brazilian had planned to build a
detached house on the plot in the Nagamizo district of Fukuroi. 

But before he could sign the contract, a group of local residents who
are members of the Nagamizo community association raised objections to
the purchase after they learned from the realtor that the buyer was of
Brazilian ancestry. 

The group, which at the time comprised 12 households, notified the
real estate company of its intention to stop the man from moving in,
the sources said. 

One resident, citing a perception that Brazilians are prone to
committing crimes, said, "I feared that something might happen." The
woman alluded to a number of reports about Brazilians fleeing Japan to
avoid prosecution for crimes committed in Japan. 

An official with the civil liberties division of the Shizuoka Legal
Affairs Bureau, a regional branch of the Justice Ministry, refused to
discuss the case, citing the need for confidentiality. 

But the official noted that in general the approval of neighborhood
residents is not necessary for a real estate transaction. 

"As long as the seller and the buyer agree on the terms, the deal goes
through, regardless of opposition from local residents," he said. 

In the end, the Japanese-Brazilian was unable to buy the land because
the realtor failed to fulfill its obligation to act as an
intermediary. The man took his case to the Fukuroi branch of the
Shizuoka Legal Affairs Bureau in May last year, contending that a
"violation of human rights" had occurred. 

The bureau agreed with the man after studying the case and talked to
the community association group and the president of the real estate
company about ending local opposition to the man's quest to build a
home. The meeting took place some time before June 6 this year, the
sources said. 

The Shizuoka Legal Affairs Bureau official said that even if the
residents and the realtor had committed what the bureau deemed to be a
violation of human rights, there were no provisions to punish the
parties. 

"The bureau's function is to educate the public about human rights
issues by pointing out what constitute violations of human rights,"
the official said. 

The head of the Nagamizo community association stated bluntly that
non-Japanese are not welcome in the neighborhood.  "Honestly speaking,
we don't want (Brazilians) to move into the neighborhood if possible,"
the person said. "We need to think about how we should deal with
similar situations if a Brazilian wants to buy a plot of land here in
the future." 

The Japanese-Brazilian acknowledges that the overall image of
Brazilians is not good, but he urged people to look at them individually. 

"I hold down a job and I am able to speak Japanese," he said.
"Although I had planned to meet those residents in person, I was told
'not to bother.'" 

The man bought a 160-square meter land in a different section of the
city and built a house on it.(IHT/Asahi: June 29,2007)