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Re: Neighborhood association pressure 2020/5/18 17:56
Your response to Ken was inappropriate. To start talking about foreigners as being ill-treated smacks of being above the locals. I have lived in Japan and have confronted any issue with a tried and true method- a round table discussion with all concerned parties, which may mean a visit to one of their meetings. If you adopt an antagonistic approach don't expect smiles and a bunch of flowers!
by couldabeen rate this post as useful

Re: Neighborhood association pressure 2020/5/18 18:38
Hi. I dont speak with any experience of what happens in Japan but I am a lawyer and often get friends or clients having issues with community title situations or neighbor issues, in fact at the moment I have a few clients looking at relocating due to issues with neighbors and the exercise is going to cost them well north of $100K once transfer duty and commission is taken into account.

The only observation that I would make is that a lot of these situations are generated by pride, and in most of those occasions I think that the husband is not wanting to back down in front of his wife (quite a lot of the time the true beef is between the wives and the husbands want to be the hero for their respective spouses). I am not saying that describes you - it might describe the chairman instead, or neither of you. But once you identify that it is an issue on either side then maybe you can work out a strategy to give something to move forward.

Very rarely (read "never") have I seen these things resolved permanently by lawyers at 20 paces or educating the other party about provisions of by laws etc.

See how you go, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar
by Lazy Pious (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Neighborhood association pressure 2020/5/18 20:20
I can't speak at all to the legality of the neighborhood association blocking you from putting your trash out, and I also can't speak to your relationship with your fellow neighbors and the neighborhood association people, so I guess my comment may not come across as useful at all. All I can offer is some personal observations and my own experience with our local neighborhood association, as well as the year I spent as the "head" of the subset of neighborhood I live in. You can take it, or leave it, as you like.

We own our house as well, and joined the neighborhood association when we moved in. The 10000 was an initial one-time fee, and we then pay smaller several fees yearly, about 3500 yen combined into one payment. Before paying we were given a paper with the general breakdown of the costs of running the association, including the upkeep of the communal neighborhood building, and the supplies that go into cleaning the neighborhood and trash, as well as all the other fees. We are also given a paper every year detailing that year's finances and what the money is used for. You should have gotten this, and I think you should absolutely be able to ask for it to see where you money is going to whether you pay or not. (BTW, google translate has come a long way... if you DO get this paper, it should be able to handle it and give you a good idea of what is what, even if you can't read kanji well!)

That said, what is neighborly relationships worth to you? Are you willing to be at odds with your neighbors for the rest of the time you live in that house over 10000 yen? Joining the neighborhood association might seem like a pain, but it is an essential part of relations within the local community. Two years ago, it was my turn to become the "head" of my small (11 house) subset of the larger neighborhood. I was in charge of, among other things, collecting annual fees, distributing the kairanban and kouhou every 2 weeks to all the houses, and taking turns at overseeing garbage and recycling areas and helping to clean them.

I had one family that didn't have the money at the time I visited them, so I asked if coming back another day was ok, and gave a time I'd be there, which they confirmed. They ghosted me. I knew they were home, because their very young toddler and dog were peaking out the window, but they didn't answer the door. We all have video doorbells installed, so I know they knew who it was even if somehow they weren't home, and checked later. They knew what I was there for, and chose not to contact me, whereas everyone else in the neighborhood, if they weren't home, had come to me to ask what I needed. I felt a lot of frustration at them; everyone else had paid with no issues, but now here I have to stress about not getting the money from them, spend more time going to their door again, and finally reporting to the head that they hadn't paid. He asked me to try again, so about a month later, I did. They paid at that time with no problem, but also not acknowledging their earlier behavior or any sort of explanation of apology about it.

They moved out, and I'm no longer head anyway, so it's a non-issue. But I can see how something like that could be the start of resentment, since I always remember that frustration when I think of them. It seems petty (and maybe it is!), but it was really perplexing behavior at the time!

During that time, we were also given 2 months out of the year we were asked to help with the garbage. Well, one of those months we were traveling for basically the entire time. We asked what to do, and were told not to worry about it at all. As part of the association, there is understanding that people have schedules, conflicts, and things that they can't do. The fact that you're part of it, whether you're helping a lot or a little, makes all the difference. Not being part of it, I can see where they were stricter on you. I'm not excusing the behavior, but I can understand it.

I guess that wall of text is to say, maybe you should just consider joining. It seems like a point of pride with you at this point NOT to, but is it really worth the stress and anxiety to deal with it? You can see it as "giving in to bullying" OR you can see it as "mending and improving relationships with people you are STUCK with living near you for a long time and can clearly make your life just a little harder in small ways".

By the way, my neighborhood has multiple trash points, but of course we were assigned a main one based on where we live. However, it's the opposite direction of the way I take my daughter to hoikuen in the mornings, right during the time you're supposed to put garbage out. I asked one of the workers at the clinic where the other trash place is located if it'd be a problem if I sometimes dropped garbage at that spot instead, and the older lady gave me this "silly goose!" look; no, it was not a problem at all.

So if you are still unwilling to pay, and the situation escalates, maybe you can just put your garbage in a different spot for awhile? Or, if you've got a car, take them directly to the city dump if it's close to you. Then you can avoid the problem until the leader changes again. But do you really want to worry every time there is a change and a new person comes in, and constantly fight about your garbage?

I hope the situation improves for you, whatever you decide to do about it.
by scarreddragon rate this post as useful

Re: Neighborhood association pressure 2020/5/18 22:49
Ken is our one of the Best Friend. He always help thousands of new comers of Japan ,if not millions. So Don't be rude with him.
If this kind of mentality will continue,then one day ,you will be kick out from Japan. However, if 10000 yen is burden for you,or you are unable to pay.Then we Foreigners reside in Japan, can pay 10000 yen for you
Or on behalf of you.
by Jisan (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Neighborhood association pressure 2020/5/18 23:35
To be fair, the OP was nice and polite to a couple of Japanese posters including myself.
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: Neighborhood association pressure 2020/5/19 00:06
Uco that still doesn't excuse using Yoda as a joke to call a Japanese person., or to continue insisting not to cooperate with the neighbors and community. I am well aware of racial and demeaning ways of talking to East Asians.
by J. (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Neighborhood association pressure 2020/5/19 02:50
Okay. I send you lots of love.
by Uco rate this post as useful

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