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Immigration Journal: August 15, 2000 (No.11)

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Zengeiren PROPOSED Ministry of Justice TO reCONSIDER THE criteria

Zengeiren President Joji Imai submitted the proposal to Yukio Machida of Immigration Bureau, the Ministry of Justice, to request changing the criteria set by the Immigration; the bureau will only authorize a promotion company when it passes six months after its company registration.

He also requested that the artist quota that one promotion company can invite overseas performing artists. Now it is 10 artists per staff member who has been employed at the same company for more than six months.

His request is to change this clause to "10 artist quota per staff shall be given as long as the staff has more than six month experience for inviting overseas artists".

Present criteria for authorizing a promotion company are as follows:

1.    The employer or manager must have at least 3 years of experience of inviting foreign artists.

2.    The company must have at least five full-time staff members.

3.    The number of overseas artists staying in Japan must not exceed 10 per full-time staff working in the same company at least 6 months.

4.    The employer or manager never has violated the laws of "the Anti-Prostitution Law" or "the Entertainment and Amusement Trades Control Act".

    However, the Immigration Bureau has never authorized a new promotion company if six months has not passed after it registered, even if the company meets all the requirements above.

   Therefore, a new promotion company can not actually start business for six months after the registration. How can the new company run as long as six months without any income while it keeps paying five full-time staff members?

    The Immigration says the reason of the "six months criteria" is because it invokes the ordinance for authorizing existing promotion companies.

    Imai says it is absurd to apply "six month criteria" after applying another criteria: the management of a promotion company must have at least three-year experience. Therefore he appeals "six month criteria" to repeal.

    On the other hand, there are some different interpretations of "six month criteria" among Immigration bureaus. Zengeiren has found that one regional Immigration authorized a new promotion company only one month after it was established and immediately applied for authorization.

The proposal submitted by Zengeiren president Imai to Toshio Inami, the section chief of Immigration Bureau of the Ministry on June 5, 2000 is as follows:

TO: Mr.Yukio Machida , the director of Immigration Control Division, Ministry of Justice

FROM: Joji Imai, Zengeiren

　

PROPOSAL

    There is some confusion for interpretation of the "entertainment" passage stated in the article (3) of 1-2 of the separated sheet in clause 2 of the article 1 in Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act.

1.  HOW SHOULD WE INTERPRET THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE?

"Each full-time staff member including the applicant is allowed to invite maximum 10 artists but he must be employed more than six months by the company. However, this is not applied if the entertainment is held at the establishment provided under Clause 2 of Article 1 of "the Entertainment Act (Law No. 137, 1948)".

For explaining Zengeiren's interpretation, let us break down the view into two cases as follows:

CASE 1: One staff member working for five years in a legitimate promotion company has recently become independent to set up his own company. When will his company be able to start applying visa to invite artists?

    Our view on this question is that he is an employer" and not "an employee". We interpret that the 6-month criterion binds only employees, not employer. Therefore, as long as he himself is concerned, he can immediately start applying visa up to ten artists.

CASE 2: The staff (a) belongs to the legitimate promotion company "A" for 10 years. Since he was a talented person, he was job-hunted to another legitimate company "B".

After working in "B" company as a full-time member, the "B" company bankrupted and the staff (a) returned to the company "A".

Mr.(a) worked in "A" for 10 years, "B" for four years, so he worked for 14 years in total as a promoter of inviting overseas artists. When will he be able to obtain 10-artist quota?

CASE3: A limited company (B) has dealt the miscellaneous goods for 10 years. Since it is a trading company, the staff members have rich experience of negotiating with foreign businessmen. Therefore, the company has decided to participate in overseas artists inviting business.

To start the business, the company hired a person of three-year experience in entertainment promotion business as the executive. Then when will the company be able to start applying the artist visa and be examined for a legitimate promotion company?

2.  WHY we Submit this proposal

We have noticed that there are some contradictions in the ordinance revised in August 1996. One of them is that: a promotion company that has been just established meets all the requirements, but it shall not be admitted as a legitimate promotion company unless six months have not passed after the company registration.

The present ordinance says;

1.    There must be a management or manager who has more than three-year experience of inviting overseas artists.

2.    There must be five or more staff members.

3.    The company must have at least three million yen for the capital.

4.    The staff never have violated "the Anti-Prostitution Law " or "the Entertainment and Amusement Trades Control Act".

    Our view is as follows.

    Presently any company satisfying 1 to 4 above never have been authorized as a duly legitimate promotion company unless six months has not passed after the registration.

    The authority explains that "the company can invite 10 artists per staff member employed by the company ". We interpret "staff member employed by the company" designates "only employees", not the "employer".

    The ordinance revised on September 3, 1996 said, "each full-time staff member can invite up to 10 overseas artists ". Therefore, any person of no inviting experience could obtain quota of 10 person once he enters the company as one of the staff.

    However, the investigation held in 1995 found that the actual status of promotion companies were worse and then the clause was added; "new staff must have at least six month working experience before he starts actual inviting job". I remember that this clause was added because the authority believed that it would take at least six months to master the skills required for managing overseas artists.

    The present requirement sets the conditions for starting a new promotion company with:

1.   at least five full-time members;

2.   at least capital of three million yen; and

3.   at least the staff must have three year experience of inviting foreign artists.

    However, even if these are satisfied, new promotion company may not be examined by the authority if six months has not passed after setting up the company, thus the company can not get any business profit. It is absurd because the promotion company has to keep hiring "at least five full-time members" - the ordinance requires - without any profit.

    Generally it takes following time period to obtain the artist visa after setting up a promotion company:

1. For 6 months - from the waiting period after setting the company till examined as the promotion company by the authority

2. For 2-3 months - from the examination started till the result announced

3. For 1 month - from the visa issued to the artists landing Japan

In total, at least 10 months are necessary for a new promotion company until the artist lands in Japan. In other words, hiring five full time members to be paid, the company has to run without any profit for 10 months. If calculating at least 200 thousand yen be paid per staff,

5 staff members × 200 = 1,000,000 yen (per month)

1,000,000 yen times × ten months = 10 million yen

Ten million yen is necessary before actually gaining the sales. Considering the expense required for maintaining the office, about 20 million yen will be required before actually gaining the profit.

  We are very much embarrassed by the requirement - "up to 10 artists per staff who are continuously employed by the company" - set by the Immigration authority.

3.  Proposal

(1)  When the representative or the executive director already has more than three year experience:

    Any company meeting the requirement above surely has at least one staff of more than three-year experience as a staff member for inviting the artists. Therefore, another requirement - we must wait six months after setting up the company - is absurd.

    If we must have a president or manager of more than three-year experience to set up a new company, we request that all the president or manager be given quota of 10 artists.

    "Six months" requirement was made from the point of view that managing 10 artists is difficult without experiencing a six-month training in the same company, therefore the president or manager of more than three year experience as a promoter has already trained himself to be a professional promoter, as a matter of course.

    We believe that just literary interpreting the ordinance would easily lead an interpreter to forget original intention and purpose, thus producing this kind of contradiction.

(2)  Our proposal for how "more than six months" be interpreted

We propose that "six months" clause must not be limited to the same promotion company, but any company as long as he has experienced inviting artists for six or more months in total in any promotion companies.

Difference in Interpretation between the Industry and Ministry - How "Six Months" BE Calculated

    When an existing company starts the business of inviting artists, on what day does the six-month waiting period should be started to calculate from?  Does it start from the date when the change of the company article is resolved? Or the date the additional business is registered?

    Commercial Act in Japan regulates that the company meeting must resolve the change of the company article and it takes effect at the moment that the change is resolved. Therefore, we believe that the calculation generally should start from the resolved date.

    However, the Immigration bureau does not take this interpretation. It interprets that the calculation starts from the date when the registration is accepted. The reason to think so is, according to Mr.Toshio Inami, the chief of Entrance and Residence Section of Immigration bureau, "It is difficult to check true date of resolution, and there might be some bad companies manipulating it. Therefore, it should be calculated from the date of registration".

    Zengeiren will keep requesting to set the proper criteria as it requested against the "six month period" problem.

Mr.Takeo Amino, Zengeiren's consultant lawyer, discusses his interpretation on this matter.

Nagoya Immigration ALERTED Illegal Activity - INDUSTRY SHOULD BE SELF-RESTRAINT

    Saying the information is obtained from a citizen, the document is requesting the promoter that the citizen was doubting to never will have been doubted again.

    The document also points out that this citizen is doubting that the venue is also forcing unjust act as well as illegal work.

INTERVIEW

Calculation Should BE "the Date of Resolution",

ATTORNEY Mr. Takeshi Amino, Zengeiren's legal advisor says

"Date of Registration" or "Date of Resolution"?  When an existing company starts the overseas artists promotion business by changing the company article, which date is relevant?

We interviewed this question to Attorney Amino, the Zengeiren's legal advisor. 

Q: Which do you think is the right interpretation?

Amino: I think the Immigration bureau's judgement - the date starts from the registered date - is wrong. The Commercial Act says that it takes effect when changing of the article is resolved in the company meeting..

Q: Then you say the judgment of Immigration is wrong according to Commercial Act?

Amino: The Article 12 of the Commercial Act says, "it can not resist the third person of good will unless it is after the registration". It takes effect even before the registration but it is difficult to notice the fact to a person of good will. The law takes this interpretation to protect a person who does not know the registration has take effect but just trust another person.

Q: Do you mean that this problem is very delicate to judge?

Amino: No, I don't think so. "A person of good will" matters only when it is a business dealing and not matters in the case like this. Since it is about a procedure of legal administration, Article 21 of Commercial Act can not be applied. The Supreme Court also has judged so before.

Q: So you say our idea - the calculation starts from the date of resolution at the company members' meeting - is right?

Amino: Yes, I do.

Q: Let us ask you a case like this. A Zengeiren member whose former business was importing miscellaneous goods and he wanted to start business of inviting overseas artists. He changed the company's article at the company meeting. Since he also had to change the address of the company and change the directors, he did not register immediately and register when all of them were done. Therefore, it was a half-year later after the company meeting when he actually changed the registration. In this case, can we regard the waiting period set by the Immigration has already finished?

Amino: You have to clearly show when the resolved date was. But I think this case should be accepted at least.

INSTRUCTION OF IMMIGRATION ACT

What's the difference OF

"Illegal Entering " and "Illegal Landing "?

Q: In Immigration Act, there are similar words - "Illegal entering" and "Illegal landing". What is the difference?

A: Generally, they are the same. However, the Immigration Act defines the two words as follows:

"Entering" ----Entering the territory of Japan including territorial waters and airspace

"Landing"---- Landing the territory of Japan

    Since Japan is an island nation surrounded by the sea, you must enter the territorial waters or airspace before landing the territory of Japan. Therefore, "Entering" and "Landing" are different.

    Immigration Act defines "Illegal Entering" and "Illegal Landing" as follows:

"Illegal Entering"

1.Entering Japan without holding valid passport; and

2.Trying to enter Japan without being authorized by a Immigration officer.

"Illegal Landing"

-         Landing Japan without being authorized his/her landing.

For the case of the latter, there was a person holding a valid passport, but he did not want to be examined by the officer and tried to go through the route for the officer only. It can be called "Illegal Landing".

    Any foreigners committing the above deeds will be deported from Japan and be subject to be punished by the Criminal Law. He/she must serve up to three year servitude or imprisonment or up to 300,000 yen fine (Clause 1, Article 7).

ZENGEIREN AND CALEA JOINT MEETING HELD

-         Consulting the health control of the artists discussed

    The members participated were, Joji Imai of President, Ryoichi Tsugawa of Vice-president, and other four directors from Zengeiren. From CALEA, Jing Rang Gomes of President, Nieva of President of PEEPA, Gawan of Vice President, Mangawang of Vice President, and five other directors.

    After Jing Langomez explained MOA and the policy of Philippine government on the entertainment industry, health management and non-qualified activity of artists were discussed. During the discussion, there was a proposal of program for health management for artists. Zengeiren answered that the association would tackle the problem to solve. For non-qualified activity, Zengeiren's President Imai promised that Zengeiren would completely inform all the members not to do it.

CONGRESSMAN KANEDA Congratulates at Zengeiren's meeting - expecting active role in international society

    "I am expecting all the Zengeiren members to play an active role in the global world."

Mr.Katsutoshi Kaneda, the member of the House of Councilors of Japan, addressed the congratulate at Zengeiren's fourth general meeting held this spring.

    Mr.Kaneda, entering the political world after serving as an officer of the Budget Bureau of the Ministry of Finance, has played an active role, with his career and rich personal relationships. Particularly after inaugurated as the parliamentary undersecretary of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries last October, he has addressed number of speeches at the Diet. Since the system of Government Committee was abolished and the rights of the parliamentary undersecretary were strengthened, it is hard to imagine how busy he was.

    When Mori cabinet was set up in July 4, Mr.Kaneda passed his job of parliamentary undersecretary to another as other undersecretaries also did.

    However, the central departments will be revised in January next year, and the cabinet will be reformed again at around the end of this year. Then new Vice-Presidents and parliamentary secretaries will be set up. Mr.Kaneda, a congressman of specialty, might be appointed to the jobs, which will make him the busiest person again.

PEEPA 20^th year celebration held

    PEEPA, one of the associations of entertainment agencies in the Philippines, held the 20th year celebration party on July 14, 2000 at Manila Hotel.

    Numbers of attendees including, President Nieva, the Minister of Labor Department of the Philippines and other government officials were there.

    From Zengeiren, President Imai and Vice-President Tsugawa joined the celemony to address the congratulations.

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