Hell yeah, kills me to see people calling news services or watching the weather channel to figure what the weather is. Just stick your head out the window you dumbass.Gary’s weather forecasting stone.
via tinypic.com
WOW! I’m clearly impressed with the sheer number of great new laws being passed in Japan this week. Let’s hope this continues as a trend. Sex-change has always been a sticky issue in Japan.
Though I’m still puzzled by the last part of the statement in the first paragraph (“but for now their offspring must be adults” — *boggle*), everything sounds great! More power to Japanese lawmakers if they keep this up.
Diet set to let parents change sex on registry
Kyodo News
Having no children has been a condition under the sex-change law enacted in July 2003 to enable people with gender identity disorder to alter their sex in their family registries.
The Judicial Affairs Committee voted in favor of the latest legislation without deliberation, as the committee chairman proposed.
The bill basically reflects a proposal made by the Liberal Democratic Party in April in response to demands from parents with the disorder wishing to change their registered sex.
The Democratic Party of Japan proposed that any parents with the disorder — regardless of whether their children have attained adulthood — be allowed to change their registered sex.
The LDP and DPJ, in a bid to iron out differences over the condition, agreed to attach a supplementary provision to the revised sex-change law, calling for the revised condition to be further reviewed if necessary.
The proposed legislation is expected to be enacted by June 15, the last day of this Diet session.
The relaxation of the “no-child” condition would give impetus for Japanese society to accept a biological male becoming “a mother” and a biological female becoming “a father.”
The 2003 law was enacted with the backing of the ruling and opposition camps to help remove the social obstacles that people with gender identity disorder encounter in daily life, including in employment, voting and overseas travel.
The law allows people to change their sex registration if at least two doctors have identified them as having a psychological makeup different than their biological sex and a desire to live as the opposite sex both physically and socially.
The current law says applicants must have no children, be 20 or older, unmarried, and have reproductive organs no longer functioning as a result of sex-change surgery.
The “no-child provision” was included after heeding concern from lawmakers that a change of sex on the part of people with children may cause family life disruptions.
I’m happy to see that the Japanese are continuing to question their own laws. Every country should be compelled to check on its own laws often enough that it ensures that the majority of its citizens feel the current disposition of the people of the land is being properly served. Note, I said ‘majority’ because, let’s face it, no one can be pleased all of the time. That’s just a fact of life. This time the good guys won.
Nationality Law unconstitutional / Says out-of-wedlock children are Japanese
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Ruling in favor of all 10 plaintiffs in two cases, the top court found it unconstitutional that Japanese citizenship was denied to children who were born out of wedlock to Japanese fathers and Filipino mothers, even though the fathers later acknowledged paternity. The plaintiffs currently hold Philippine nationality.
The Supreme Court’s Grand Bench ruled a clause of the Nationality Law requiring parents be married before their children are granted Japanese citizenship violated Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality under the law.
Ten of the 15 justices, including presiding Justice Niro Shimada, ruled the plaintiffs should be granted Japanese nationality.
The ruling marks the eighth time since World War II that the Supreme Court has found part of a law unconstitutional. Wednesday’s ruling is expected to pressure the government to revise the Nationality Law.
Tens of thousands of children of foreign nationality in a similar situation as the plaintiffs are said to live in Japan. The ruling is expected to lead to a rush among those affected to obtain Japanese nationality.
The plaintiffs are boys and girls aged 8 to 14, mostly living in the Kanto region. They originally applied to the justice minister for Japanese nationality, but their requests were turned down. They then filed suits seeking Japanese citizenship between 2003 and 2005.
A particularly contentious point in the suits was whether the clause of the Nationality Law that bars children born out of wedlock to foreign mothers, but who later were proved to have been fathered by a Japanese, from obtaining Japanese citizenship is discriminatory.
The Tokyo District Court and the Tokyo High Court issued split rulings.
In its ruling, the top court said that in 1984, when the law was revised, “There may have been compelling reasons that marriage between a Japanese father and foreign mother was used as a measure of their child’s ties with Japan.”
The top court argued, therefore, that at the time the law did not violate the Constitution.
However, the number of children born out of wedlock has been growing, while family structures and lifestyle have become more diverse. Given that, the top court said, “The provision does not necessarily match today’s reality, if diversity and changes of attitudes toward family life and the parent-child relationship are taken into consideration.”
The top court ruled the denial of nationality for children who have Japanese fathers, and are acknowledged by their fathers, based only on the fact their parents are not married irrationally discriminates against them.
However, three justices—Kazuko Yokoo, Osamu Tsuno and Yuki Furuta—offered dissenting opinions, saying: “In a case of children born out of wedlock, the naturalization system determining an individual’s ties with Japan is rational. Thus, making [their parents’] marriage a requirement is also rational.”
(Jun. 5, 2008)
Frankly, I’m impressed at how well Mr Hoffman has not only captured the Japanese in character, but how well he has captured the Japanese style of writing fiction as well. This is very well done.
Sonoko (3 pages)
THIS IS LOVE PPL
Giles Bowkett: Ghost In The Shell Pics
two newsworthy items:
1) A new seatbelt law goes into effect. ALL passengers in a vehicle, no matter where they are seated, must wear a seatbelt while on the toll highways. This includes buses, taxis, limos, and other transportation vehicles as well.
2) Japanese gas prices rise to AT LEAST 170 yen per liter for the next six months. Most gasoline stations seem to be setting their price at 172/173 yen per liter. 1 gallon = 3.78 liters, thus 1 gallon costs approximately $6.60.
‘gender’
Illustration by Kristen Caston.
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I would buy this and put it in my house. Maybe over my bed.
wonderful
