William An update on Kumamoto City’s conundrum regarding citizenry for non-Japanese (Google translate of a Kumanichi article - I guess this means we can ignore garbage regulations):
On the 7th, the city of Kumamoto decided to remove the wording from the revision of the city’s basic ordinance on self-government, stating that the definition of “citizens” includes foreigners. reported. The decision was made based on the fact that there were many opposing voices in the public comment period.
The current ordinance stipulates that “citizens” are residents of the city, commuters to work or school in the city, business operators, local groups, and civic activity groups in the city. Until now, the city has said that foreigners will also be eligible if they meet the requirements, but the aim was to create an environment where foreigners can easily participate in urban development as “regional leaders” by stating it in the ordinance.
At the city council’s Education and Citizens Committee that day, several members pointed out, “If foreigners are included in the definition of citizens in the current ordinance, there is no need to dare to specify it.” Kenichi Yokota, the director of the city’s culture and citizenship bureau, responded, “If the local community is going to be confused, it is premature at this point to stipulate it.”
Public opinions will be solicited for one month until January 18th. A total of 1,476 people (457 of whom were residents of the city) submitted 1,888 opinions (588 of them), most of which were against the revision bill. There was also a series of misunderstandings such as, “It will give foreigners the right to vote.”
In response to this, Mayor Kazufumi Onishi emphasized, “The revision will lead to antipathy towards foreigners, and it won’t do anything if it creates friction.” He has postponed the submission of the revised bill to the regular city council as originally planned.
After the committee meeting, Director Yokota clearly stated that he was “moving to delete the wording from the article.” He explained that he would reconsider the contents of the revised bill.
