Martti Turunen: Profile of Naturalized Citizen

弦念丸呈／ツルネン・マルテイ {TSURUNEN Marutei} né Martti Turunen

Thanks for your service,
Councillor Tsurunen
His path to his Councillor's seat in the Japan Diet was a long one. Like many other politicians, he began by running for election as a local city councilman in his small mountainous 神奈川県 {Kanagawa-ken}足柄下郡 {Ashigarashimo-gun}湯河原町 {Yugawara-machi } (town of Yugawara, Ashigarashimo county, Kanagawa Prefecture) in 1992 as an independent. With a town size of 26,149 people, he got 1,051 votes, which is 4th place, which got him a seat as at least four seats were vacant.

He resigned from his seat in 1995 to run for the 17th House of Councillors election in 1995 as a direct constituency representative (選挙区 {senkyoku}) for 神奈川 {Kanagawa}. He got 339,484 votes, which was just shy of 371,889 votes that 斎藤勁 {SAITŌ Tsuyoshi} of the 日本社会党 {Nippon Shakaitō} (SDPJ) from 神奈川 {Kanagawa} got, losing to him.

He tried again in 1998, running for the 18th House of Councillors election as a direct elect. His 502,712 votes put him in 3rd place, losing again to 千葉景子 {CHIBA Keiko} of 民衆党 {Minshūtō} (DPJ) and 畑野君枝 {HATANO Kimie} of the 日本共産党 {Nihon kyōsantō} (JCP).

In the year 2000 he ran not for the House of Councillors, but for the House of Representatives (衆議院 {shūgiin}) in their 42nd election, not as an independent, but as a member of the DPJ (民衆党 {Minshūtō}). He lost to LDP (自民党 {Jimintō})'s 河野洋平 {KŌNO Yōhei}.

In 2001, he ran as a proportional representative for the DPJ. He just barely lost, coming in in 9th place.

HOWEVER, in 2002, the DPJ elected candidate 大橋巨泉 {ŌHASHI Kyosen} retired unexpectedly. He benefitted from the new "open list" (非拘束名簿式hi-kōsoku meibo-shiki) system implemented in 2001.

He was re-elected in 2007, coming in 6th place in PR with 242,742 votes

Unfortunately, due to the success of the LDP's "Abenomics" and the DPJ's falling out of favor with the public, 丸呈 {Marutei} lost in 2013 due to his association with the losing party.

弦念 {TSURUNEN}'s main personal achievements while in office were:
  • was a member of the Diet's environmental committee (環境委員会 {kankyō iinnkai})
  • 2003: opposed the construction of the Shizuoka Airport (静岡空港 {Shizuoka kūkō})
  • 2004: joined the nonpartisan group 有機農業推進議員連盟 {yūnō nōgyō suishin giin renmei} (alliance of Diet members for the promotion of organic agriculture)
  • 2008: supported DPJ politician 白眞勲 {HAKU Shinkun} (né 백진훈 {BAEK Jinhoon}), born with ROK nationality and naturalized to Japanese, in his efforts to grant local election voting rights to Koreans and other permanent residents of Japan.
  • 2010: served as the committee chair for the 災害対策特別委員会 {saigai taisaku tokubetsu iinkai} (Special Committee for Measures Dealing with Disasters)
  • As he used to be a missionary, he joined the Aliance of Japanese-Korean Christian Diet Members (日韓キリスト教議員連盟 {Nikkan Kurisuto-kyō giin renmei})
  • 2013: was called upon to speak out in the Diet during an assembly regarding foreign and racial discrimination in public demonstrations

Fun fact

Daruma dolls (達磨 {daruma}) aka Dharma dolls are a common old fashioned toy with loose ties to Buddhism. The are hollow and made of papier-mâché, with a flat heavily weighted base and a rounded body. This design means that when a Daruma doll is knocked over, it gets back up, symbolizing perseverance and optimism.

The dolls come with two white eyes without pupils. The tradition is, you make a secret wish, and paint one of the eyes black when you do so. If/when your wish comes true, you paint the other eye black, signifying that your wish has been fulfilled.

Japanese politicians make the daruma doll part of their campaign ritual; they often buy a huge one (they are normally 5cm to 10cm in size; politicians will get one as big as 1m tall for photographs) and make the painting of the second eye a photo event during the victory celebrations.

ツルネン・マルテイ {TSURUNEN Marutei}, in a nod to his western European racial ancestry, painted the eyes on his Daruma doll blue.

No second eye in 2013 ☹

Popular posts from this blog

How much did it actually cost to naturalize?

Image
Pennies, compared to most other developed countries In 2010, an article was published here about how much it costs to apply for naturalization. It was true then, and it's still true now in 2022: The application itself is free . ¥0, nada, zilch. Compare that to the US ($725) , UK (£1,330) , Germany (€255) . However, there are many things throughout the process that can cost money: getting your civil documents both in Japan and your home country, tax documents, driving record, etc. You will also to make personal appearances to your local Legal Affairs Bureau. Here I will talk about how much it cost me personally, including the cost of gathering all documents, photocopying, travel, etc. List of Expenses Below is the list of my naturalization-related expenses. All told, it cost me about ¥18,500 to make a successful application. It is worth repeating: There is no application fee . Everything in the list above are expenses related to getting documents I need to submit with my naturaliza...
Read more →

Types of Japanese Passports

Image
The vast majority of people that naturalize will probably apply for a "red" Japanese passport after their 戸籍 { koseki } (family register) is created — which takes about a couple weeks followed by a few weeks for the passport to be issued. It is not necessary to apply for a passport. Just like the United States, the vast majority of the populace never actually travels outside of their country for their lifetime. However, realisticly speaking, it's very likely that a naturalized person would have a Japanese passport as they most likely have family ties overseas. Language The passport is in two languages: English and Japanese. Very old passports, similar to my U.S. passport, also had French, the language of diplomacy. My oh my, how the French empire's influence has faded. My last U.S. passport added Spanish. My oh my, how South, Central, and Latin America's influence has increased! ☺ On current Japanese passports, the message from the Minister of Foreig...
Read more →

All about Japanese personal inkan/hanko/chops/seals

Image
"signing" a payment slip at a bank In Japan (and other Asian countries), it is traditional practice to use an 印鑑 { inkan } ( aka 印章 { inshō } ) — colloquially called a 判子 { hanko } in Japanese or "chop" in British English — instead of a signature for acknowledging / signing / accepting documents. Pedantically speaking, a 判子 hanko is the actual stamping object, and an 印鑑 inkan is the ink impression that is made, but many native Japanese use the two words interchangeably. In the 21st century, Japanese recommend having three types of seals: one for casual informal acceptance: 認印 { mitomein } one for your bank accounts: 銀行印 { ginkō-in } the "real" registered one: ( 実印 { jitsuin } ) While it's perfectly possible to use just one seal for all of these functions, most people use at least two or three for the same reason that people should use different passwords for different services on the internet: in the case of a compromised s...
Read more →