← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Julian the Apostate
Thread ID: 16484 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2005-01-29
2005-01-29 03:41 | User Profile
[url]http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=&id=326139[/url]
Ishihara hails ruling barring foreigners from being promoted
Saturday, January 29, 2005 at 08:06 JST TOKYO ââ¬â Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara on Friday hailed the Supreme Court ruling that says barring foreign residents of Japan from public service promotion exams for managerial posts is constitutional.
At a regular news conference, Ishihara said the top court took it into consideration that allowing foreign residents of Japan to exercise public authority runs counter to common sense.
Ishihara attacked the remarks Chong Hyang Gyun, the plaintiff in the case, made after the ruling.
"I would like to tell people throughout the world not to come to Japan," she added. "Working in Japan as a foreigner is the same as being a robot", said Chong 54.
Ishihara said, "I do not understand in what capacity she said such a thing. I can see she was emotional, but her remarks are very problematic."
Chong, a second-generation resident of Japan born to a Korean father and Japanese mother, had argued the metropolitan government's refusal to allow her to take the exam for a management post violates the constitutional principle of equality before the law and freedom to choose one's occupation.
But in handing down the ruling, the 15-justice Grand Bench, led by Chief Justice Akira Machida, said the metropolitan government's treatment of her "does not violate Article 14 of the Constitution" and justified Tokyo's move to "differentiate between Japanese and non-Japanese employees as based on reasonable grounds."
The latest ruling comes as more and more municipalities are easing nationality requirements on non-Japanese applying for civil service positions. (Kyodo News)