亀井静香金融相は２７日、テレビ朝日の番組で、自身の提案した借金返済猶予策の検討が銀行株の売りを誘っていると指摘されたことについて、「私が言ったから株が下がるほど脆弱（ぜいじゃく）な銀行は、銀行業を営んでいる資格がない」と述べた。金融相は銀行への幅広い監督権限を持っており、あいまいな基準で銀行の「資格」を論じる発言が適切かどうか、議論を呼びそうだ。

“If a bank is so weak its stock price falls on account of something I say, maybe it isn’t fit for business”.

Also, regarding the letting foreigners vote issue, is it just me or is there not really a stark Pro DPJ / Anti LDP breakdown?

In the runup to the election I looked at those profiles of the candidates where they asked them all the same 5 or so questions, and I noticed that many DPJ said they were against it, while many LDP said they were for it?

What would be the major factors in influencing a politician’s view on this issue?
Is it more complicated that just a Traditionalist, Conservative versus Internationalist, Liberal viewpoint?

I also think allowing dual citizenship would be the best thing to do in this case.
It would also deal with the problem of all the illegal dual passport holders, children of Japanese and foreign parents who didn’t choose one citizenship but continue to hold both passports.

The stats lacks many things.For example what’s been represented as “Chinese” are Chinese with Korean or Mongolian ethnic origin.There are about 20000 Inner Mongolians living in Japan.I don’t have the number on ethnic Koreans,but their numbers are far bigger.

Actually there are.Nagoya is the Pachinko’s home town.

Yet another surprise – reasonable sized Vietnamese community in Japan but not on the list at all.

NZers tend to be overrepresented in Japan in all sorts of areas when you do per capita calculations. I think we have the highest number of JETs on that basis, for example. When you are stuck at the bottom of the world, bombarded by television programmes from elsewhere, its natural that you would want to get out and experience the “world” for a year after school or university. Britain used to be the main attraction (I blame Coronation Street) but Japan is a fairly convenient (it is a direct flight, and discounting Australia and Singapore, I believe it is the closest developed nation to New Zealand as the crow flies, despite the fact it takes 11 hours to get there), safe place to go and do a bit of work for a year. And Working Holiday visas, the JET programme and the MEXT scholarship make it all the more easier to stick around longer.

Or maybe we are just quicker on the make.

I wonder whether the zainichi Koreans are more likely to marry westerners than Japanese citizens. “International marriage” is trickier to count because, by definition, a zainichi Korean marrying a Japanese national is classified as an international marriage. I only ask because I have a vague feeling, completely lacking in any supporting evidence, that the average zainichi Korean has better English skills than the average Japanese citizen.

Although most Japanese companies will deny using the infamous “Black Book” when recruiting today, there’s no doubt many did use it so Western firms often made more attractive employers for zainich Koreans. That makes one environment where couples would have met.