Liberal Japan

In relation to the magazine I mentioned in my last entry, the name of the magazine is Foreign Crime File.

Japan Probe has launched a Boycott of Family Mart.

They even had a symbol for their boycott, which I would display here, but am not sure how to enter graphics into blog entries.

I think this is a good idea. Apparently, they’ve already got some partial results back. Good for them.

There are several other blogs that have added information about the boycott. Please see the list at Japan Probe.

There is also an update here at Debito’s blog, where apparently Family Mart has stated they will have the magazine removed within seven days.

Unfortunately, that might be the normal life cycle for such a magazine. Not sure.

Nick Ramsey had some interesting comments on this at his blog here.

Nick noted that :“I’m not going to boycott Family Mart, as they are simply stocking something that some of their customers obviously want to buy.”

Also, he wasn’t sure if the magazine was selling well.

I commented as follows:

I don’t know if boycotting Family Mart is the answer. However, if you shop at Family Mart you are indirectly supporting their decision to sell the magazine. In the grand scheme of things, maybe that’s not such a big deal. I only note this because you state:
“I’m not going to boycott Family Mart, as they are simply stocking something that some of their customers obviously want to buy.”
The reasoning would better be phrased as, if I shop at Family Mart, I indirectly support the sale of that magazine, so I won’t shop there. Just to be clearer, so long as Family Mart exists it will be able to sell the magazine. Therefore by supporting Family Mart, you support it’s ability to sell the magazine. You’ve no obligation to do that. It’s not your responsiblity to ensure others have an outlet where they can buy this magazine.
As far as sales, as best I can tell, for the publisher it’s their number one sales item at Amazon Japan. Could this just be foreigners snatching up copies … it’s possible, but I would guess in the current climate in Japan a tabloid magazine about foreign crime with lots of lurid stories would be quite popular. So if it’s selling fairly well, it shouldn’t be a surprise.
By the way, you have nice blog.

Ultimately, I applaud those who are taking action here and trying to make a difference. While several groups are stereotyped, the magazine seems mostly oriented towards Chinese and Koreans. Japan really needs workers from these countries, so attempting to create negative stereotypes of these groups aside from being a lousy thing to do has really negative consequences for everyone involved. I hope Chinese and Koreans living in Japan also get involved in protesting this magazine.