Kumustaka (http://www.kumustaka.org/English/index.html) will submit a formal letter of protest to Higo Bank and then hold a press conference tomorrow (Wednesday, Dec. 27th) beginning at 11:30 AM. The venue will be the Kisha Club (記者クラブ) room on the 5th floor of the Kumamoto Shiyakusho（市役所）, downtown. I would like to attend but unfortunately I will not be able to be there tomorrow. If any of you who are interested in the issue can be there, I think it will help show that the foreign community is paying attention.

There are five main points that Kumustaka’s three page letter makes. Here’s a brief English-language summary.

  1. Most foreigners in Kumamoto are from Vietnam and China. An important message like this should have been prepared in languages that the recipients can understand.

  2. Please do not follow through on your threat to freeze the accounts of people who have not complied by the Dec. 29 deadline.

  3. Make it possible to provide the requested information online.

  4. Make it possible for foreigners who leave Japan but plan to return to maintain accounts. Japanese people are not required to close their accounts if they move abroad for a period of time so foreigners should also be able to maintain accounts, particularly when they plan to return.

  5. The letter cites the government’s guidelines on the prevention of money laundering but, in treating all foreigners as equally suspect, Higo Bank fails to follow those guidelines, which clearly state that the risks posed by permanent residents should be assessed individually, just as the risks posed by Japanese citizens must be assessed individually.

I sent a message to Kumustaka about some other points that have come up on this page, such as the way the letter makes it seem as though it is being sent to Japanese citizens as well as foreigners when, in fact, that is not the case. But, even if the letter does not contain all possible points regarding this issue, I think it’s very, very good.

It looks like there will be lots of press there tomorrow. If you can attend, you may have an opportunity to add your voice to the conference and be quoted in the media. Or, it will be fine to remain silent and merely witness the conference. In either case, if you are interested and have time, please consider attending.

I’ll add the addresses of other related posts in comments to this post.