Arudou Debito
Arudou Debito (有道 出人) is a naturalized Japanese citizen born in the United States as David Christopher Ardwinckle. "Arudou Debito" is the Japanized version of his name, which he chooses to write in kanji, and has, according to Arudou, the figurative meaning of "a person who has a road and is going out on it."Arudou is a teacher, author and activist who is known for fighting for human rights and the rights of foreigners -- residents and visitors alike -- in Japan.
Arudou was born in California in 1965. He first visited Japan as a tourist in the 1980s, and returned later to teach English. In 1989 he married a Japanese woman and moved to Japan, and in 1993 he began working at a private university in Sapporo where he still teaches today.
Arudou became a permanent resident of Japan in 1996, and renounced his American citizenship and was naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 2000, whereupon, as required by Japanese law, he took a Japanized name.
On his website, Arudou states that
to me naturalization is just an obvious extension of what somebody in my
position would desire anyway--the right to vote and to LEGALLY
participate in society the same as any other citizen . . .
Moreover, naturalization has . . . benefits that suit a person with my
personality. It will enable me to stand on my rights . . . with renewed
vigor--because I will indeed HAVE more rights, as well as a firmer ground
to demand even more . . .
In sum, it will empower me to contribute and change society for the
better, by demonstrating that it is possible for a Nihonjin [Japanese
person] to exist without having a drop of Japanese blood. That
Japaneseness is a matter of legal citizenship, not race.
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Arudou has written a book about a particular incident of discrimination he faced, in which he and his family went to a hot spring and Arudou and one of his daughters were refused entry on the grounds that they were "not Japanese" (his wife and other daughter were invited in). Arudou sued the hot springs and won. The book, written in Japanese, is called Japanese Only--The Otaru Onsen Refusals and Racial Discrimination in Japan.
Arudou has also written several textbooks on business English and debating in addition to many journalistic and academic articles.Publications