Dear Friends,

I can't remember if anyone has already mentioned this, but tomorrow is
an important day in the long legal struggle of the two Kendai gaijin
sensei who were fired from their jobs at Kenritsu Daigaku basically
because they were gaijin.

As you probably know, two foreign teachers at the Prefectural University
lost their jobs because they tried to get equal working rights with
their nihonjin colleagues. In their original employment agreements, the
university promised them such rights, but later refused to honour those
promises. The teachers tried to negotiate with the university, but were
eventually fired. Last year, as a result of labour arbitration, the
university agreed to rehire them, but last month it fired them again.
The two teachers - Sandy and Cynthia - are now involved in a court case
to get their jobs back.

This case has received a lot of support from the people of Kumamoto:
more than seven thousand people have signed a petition demanding the
teachers' reinstatement. There is a strong support group (a mamorukai),
and supporters include many Japanese university professors, doctors,
business people, lawyers, journalists and even some political figures.
Both local TV and newspapers have given a lot of coverage to this case.
The story has also featured in many national newspapers, and even on the
front page of the New York Times! This is an important issue which has
shown that while there is still a lot of racial discrimination within
Japanese organisations, the people of Japan (in particular, the people
of Kumamoto) are willing to fight against discrimination.

Tomorrow (Wednesday 17 May), at 4.30 in the afternoon, there will be a
short legal hearing at the Kumamoto courthouse (behind Kumamoto Castle).
Even though the hearing will only take a few minutes, it is very
important to get as many supporters sitting there in the courtroom as
possible. A large number of people in the courtroom watching the hearing
will make the judge take the case more seriously: it is very, very
important that the judge realises that many local people (both gaijin
and nihonjin) care about this case.

As this is an e-mail group for local people who are interested in
international issues, I hope that many of you will be able to take some
time tomorrow afternoon to visit the courthouse and show your interest
and support. Personally, although I am not directly involved in the
case, I have decided to take an hour off work to give my support.

We will be meeting at the Kumamoto courthouse at about 4.15 in the
afternoon. Please join us if you can: this is a very, very important
matter for everyone who lives in Kumamoto. It is not just about the
future of two teachers, it is also about the future of all foreigners,
and of all democratic freedoms and civil rights, in Kumamoto and
throughout Japan.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for your time.

my love and best wishes,

alec

Dr Alec Charles, Dept of English Literature, Bungakubu, Kumadai