The Parade for Peace and Rights Held by Foreign Residents

　On Sunday July 13th, we held a parade for peace and human rights in the streets of Shibuya. 120 participants from 10 countries-Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burma, the Philippines, India, Nepal, Iran, Korea, and Italy-were present.
As people began gathering at Miyashita Park at 2 o'clock, we held a short introduction before the parade began. First, APFS Representative Yoshinari spoke with energy, saying "Amerika is right now trying to push its way of thinking on other countries. To do this, it is now continuing its war. We know that this is wrong. We are here for peace and equality. Also, we are here for the great number of illegal foreign citizens who have made their lives in Japan. Let's make our appeal so they, as well as us all, can continue to live peacefully in Japan!"
Then, representatives of the Factory Workers Union of the Burmese Citizen, Pakistan Association of Japan, and Japan-Bangladesh Society all gave their powerful appeals as sponsors of the parade. Furthermore, there was a terrific call from the Joint Committee for Migrant workers in Korea (JCMK), who came to Japan for the symposium the day before. They said, "Migrant Laborers Rights must be protested to the utmost! Let's make this parade happen with the best of our spirits!" The Oji Labor Administration Office and many Japanese supporters of APFS gave their statements of unity, and then we all adopted our declaration. APFS's Co-Representative Tsugawa read it aloud and, by the applause, it was firmly voted into place. Then, APFS Staff Shiratori gave a Sprecht Call for all, and the parade began.
The course was a circle, starting down Meiji Street to Tokyo Electricity, past the Shibuya Ward Office to Shibuya Station and back to Miyashita Park. The streets were filled with people on this Sunday afternoon in Shibuya. In the crowds, APFS's orange flags and calls made quite an impact. "Foreign Residents for Equality!" "Foreign Residents for Peace and Justice!" "Stop Discrimination Against Foreign Residents!" "Recognize Our Right to Live in Japan!" The parade continued as we gathered attention and looks of interest from people in the streets. For about 40 minutes, we continued to march in high spirits. Many people we passed gave us strange looks ("what are those people with the orange flags doing?") but soon they were clapping when they heard our calls for peace and justice.
We returned to Miyashita Park and Tsugawa closed with "Let's continue the fight to protect the rights of foreign citizens and illegal residents in Japan!" and the parade was over. We all ate Birani (Bangladeshi Rice) and then made our way home.

“外国籍住民による平和と人権を求めるパレード”を開催しました！

The "Building a Multi-Cultural Society-from Tokyo" Symposiuma

　On Saturday, July 12th, we had the "Building a Multi-Cultural Society: Thinking from the Frontlines of Immigration Issues in East Asia" Symposium at the Itabashi Cultural Center.
Over 100 foreign and Japanese citizens gathers to discuss issues such as: "how can we build a healthy and safe multi-cultural society?" and "what problems do foreign residents in Japan face?" Our talks were centered on the experiences of immigrants in South Korea, Japan, and East Asia.
After an introduction from APFS's Representative Yoshinari, there was a keynote speech from Hiroshi Komai, a Professor at Tsukuba University, and the symposium began. Professor Komai spoke of the importance of social action to secure a just society for all persons, centered on his knowledge of immigration in East Asia.
Next, our guest, Eun-Jong Sok, the Co-Representative of the Joint Committee for Migrant workers in Korea, gave a report on problems in immigration policy and troubles migrant laborers have in Korea. Following that, APFS Staff Shiratori reported on the experiences of single foreign residents who have lived in Japan for a long time, based on his interviews. Even though so many people came to Japan when they were young and worked so hard for so long, they must now still live in insecurity. The time has come for us to think seriously about how, as a society, we can establish guarantees for their security. Then, there was a short break and we moved to a panel discussion.
First, our coordinator, Ichiro Watado, a professor at Meisei University, stated, "Currently, people are regularly moving across the world and, within that, a number of problems are surfacing. We are here to talk about these issues today together." Next, Eriko Suzuki from Fujita Future Management, spoke in greater detail about the problem using papers she brought. She gave an easy-to-understand explanation for us all about multi-cultural living and some problems regarding the acceptance of immigrants. Then, Masatoshi Yorimitsu (Hitotsubashi University Professor), Apichai Shipper (University of Southern California Professor), and Katsuo Yoshinari each gave their own opinions and ideas on this subject. After the panel discussion there were many questions and comments from the audience, and we all had a lively exchange.
This symposium looked at a greater variety of issues in greater depth than any symposium before. Everyone wished we had more time to continue. It is wonderful that everyone's interest was sparked. After the 4 hour symposium we had an informal, friendly exchange where we all spend a wonderful time talking, sipping drinks, and conversing.（Tomoyuki Yamaguchi）

シンポジウム
「東京発　多文化共生社会に向けて」開催

The Serial Report（５）
Some Misunderstandings at Consultations

Tsutomu Tsugawa

When people come for consultations, there are some common subjects of misunderstanding. I explain the facts many times, but sometimes, even then, people do not understand. I will write about these mistakes in understanding and the facts here.

1) When You Do Not Receive Overtime Pay
There are many people who want to ask their company for overtime pay and late-night shift pay from the past, when they leave their job. However, legally, you are not guaranteed to receive pay for all the hours from the whole period of your past work. This is because, by law, you cannot ask for any unpaid wages from over two years before (this limit is called a "statute of limitations"). For example, let's say you started work at a company ten years ago. Then you left the company one year ago. At this point in time, you can only ask for the unpaid wages from your last one year of work at the company. You have to give up on the unpaid wages from the first eight years. Of course, in this case, we can still ask for all unpaid wages for nine years but that will only be a technique for putting pressure on the company. The truth is, nine years of unpaid wages usually become a large amount, and so the company will talk to a lawyer and avoid paying. Regardless, we should all remembe!
r the 2 year statute of limitations on unpaid wages.

2) When You Are Dismissed From Work ("Kubi")
Some people who come to APFS for consultations think that when they are dismissed from work, the company will give them 3 months wage compensation (=extra money). However, the fact is, by law, when a person is dismissed from work suddenly, they can only receive 30 days or more wage compensation. The misunderstanding of "three months" probably started when one person won three months compensation and many people told others about it. Of course, because the law says "30 days or more" you can ask for 3 months if you want to, but, with the bad economy, it might be impossible to receive from a company. Most cases for wage compensation after dismissal are successful when they go to a small court and make a special negotiation with the company (usually the amount of compensation becomes a little less than 30 days wages).

3) When You Want A Return Of Taxes
Almost 100% of people in consultations think that, because they send money to their families, they will receive a return of all taxes taken from their pay. However, the truth is a little different. The Tax Department records the money you send home in one year as an "Allowance for Dependants" (this means "family support"). They subtract this money you sent from the wages you received. Then they look at the amount of your wages after and calculate your taxes again from that. The return in taxes you will receive will be the difference between the taxes you paid from your wages and the new lower calculation of your taxes. You will not receive a 100% return.
But you must know, when you tell the Tax Department about money you send home, you must show paper evidence. You can get these papers from the bank when you send money. However, you must send the money in your name (not a friend's name) and you must send it to a place with your family's name (not a bank account in your name in another country). If you do not send the money from your name to your family's name, the Tax Department will not believe you.
Next time, I will explain the termination (=stop) of compensation money for vacation because of a work injury.

連載　労働相談の解決まで�D
相談者が誤って理解していることについて

津川　勉

　相談を受ける際、相談者が往々にして誤解している事柄があります。何度も説明しますが、なかなか理解してもらえない時もありますので、今回はこの点について書きます。

（１）残業割増代などの未払いの場合
　よく、退職後、入社日にさかのぼって全部の残業割増代や深夜労働割増代を請求したいという相談があります。しかし、法的には全部が全部を請求できるとは限りません。法律上、未払賃金の請求権は２年を過ぎるとなくなる制度（これを時効という）があるからです。例えば、10年前に入社、１年前に退職した場合、法的には、現時点で退職前の１年間の分は請求できるが、入社からの８年間の分はあきらめるしかないということです。もちろんこの場合、要求じたいは９年分を要求してもかまいませんが、それはあくまで交渉テクニックの１つの手であって、実際、結構な高額になる場合が多く、不況下の小・零細企業相手にこの要求を飲ますのは非常に困難と言わざるをえません（高額な場合、相手も弁護士などに相談します）。いずれにしろ、この時効のことは頭の中に入れておいてほしいと思います。

（２）解雇予告手当の場合
　相談者の中には、時々、解雇されたら給料３ヵ月分がもらえるものと誤解している人がいます。しかし、これも法律上は即日解雇の場合に平均賃金の１ヵ月分（30日分）以上となっています。誤解については、たぶん、以前に３ヵ月分を勝ち取った例があり、それが口コミで広がったのではないかと思います。もちろん、30日分以上ですから３ヵ月分を要求してもかまいませんが、不況にあえぐ小・零細企業相手では現実的に無理な話です。結局、解雇予告手当の場合、少額訴訟裁判での和解（要するに30日分より少し減額して妥協）で決着するケースが多いのが実情です。

（３）所得税の還付の場合
　この場合、相談者の100％近くが、母国の家族に送金していれば、給料から差し引かれた税金（所得税）の全部が返ってくると誤解しています。仕組みを簡単に説明すると、こういうことです。税務署がその年に母国の家族に送金した金額を「扶養控除」として、その年の給料全体から差し引き、その上でもう一度、所得税を正しく計算し直します。そして、実際に納められた所得税のうち、納め過ぎた所得税を本人に返すということです。つまり、基本は給料の税金（所得税）は全部返ってくるのではなく、あくまで納め過ぎた分のみが返ってくるということです。

　ちなみに、税務署で手続きをする場合、母国の家族に送金したことを証明するため銀行の送金写しなどが必要になります。よく見受けられるケースとして、その書類の送金者名が本人の名前ではなく友人の名前であったり、送金先が家族の名義ではなく本人名義の口座であったりします。これでは、本人が家族に送金したことを証明できず、受付でけられてしまいますから注意が必要です。

　次回は労災の休業補償打ち切りの場合の「誤解」と「問題」に絞って書く予定です。

Listening to Stories From Single People Who Have Been in Japan over 10 Years

　Over the past 5 months, I have been listening to stories from single foreign citizens who have been living in Japan over 10 years.
　The earlier people came in 1987, the later people came in 1993. Over half of them have been in Japan over 15 years. In the late 1980's, when more and more people were coming to Japan from Asia to work and save money, Japan stopped its system of free entry (a system where no visa is needed to enter Japan) for certain countries. However, most of the people I have been talking to came to Japan when free entry was possible.
Almost all of the people I interviewed came to Japan in their mid- to late-20's and they are now in their mid-30's or 40's. When I listen to them, I really feel that they have supported the development of the Japanese economy by using their physical strength and labor when they were younger. Also, most of them have been supporting their parents, brothers and sisters as well. If they have a chance to stay and live legally in Japan, this chance may only be through Special Residence Permission.
Each person has many feelings about going to Immigration to ask for Special Residence Permission. There is a big possibility that they will not be granted permission, or, in the process of the trial, they may be placed in Immigration Detention. There are some people who want to try for Special Residence Permission at Immigration, but there are also people who are worried about the risks even though they hope to stay in Japan longer. However, everyone wants to live safely in Japan, and therefore wish to receive legal residence permission.
There are several reasons why they wish to continue living in Japan.
First of all, if they went back to their country now, it would be hard to find a job because of their age. "Even if Japan has a bad economy, there is so much more work here than in my country." "There are more possibilities for my future if I continue to live in Japan." Also, many of these people are highly depended on by their companies at work. One such person said, "I feel really rewarded in my work. I don't think I can find this kind of work in my country, and even if I did, I probably could not live well on the wages."
Next, many people feel that, because they are supporting their family, if they went back to their country, their family would also have trouble. Some people support brothers or sisters who cannot find work. Some people also have extra responsibility because their fathers have died and no one else can support the family.
Also, most people have been in Japan many years and are used to the lifestyle here. It's "easy to live here" and a "safe country." "After living here for 15 years, Japan has become my country." Some people came to interviews with Japanese acquaintances. Many spoke of how their countries have changed in the time they were here as well.
There is talk of the aging population in Japan and how more labor power should be brought from foreign countries. However, I believe that before that, we should think of how we are treating and living together with foreigners in Japan now.

日本滞在が10年以上になる単身者たちから話を聞いて

ASIAN PEOPLE'S FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY(APFS)