In corporate monitor, a well-paying job with unknown results

NY Times article on corporate monitoring

Fraud expert and former monitor discusses the issues from his specialist perspective here:

John "Fraud Guy" Hanson's response to NY Times article

 

( ? )

@StevenDavidoff gives us the inside scoop on what we can really expect from Toyota's "Independent" monitor. Answer is, not much.

@FraudGuy John Hanson says the DOJ has fixed its own practices, but other issues remain.

Toyota's monitor has not yet been appointed. Let's guess. He will be a former federal prosecutor with some old ties to Debevoise & Plimpton....and that is "normal" because when a monitor is needed, the target company, not the DOJ, supplies the pool of candidates, and in the normal course of these things, they are  people personally and professionally known to the defense counsel...
Paycheck at least $30 million.
Staff of 20, none with auto engineering experience or Japanese language.
No docket for public submissions of examples of actual corporate practices in the field.
And the icing on the cake-- moving to Texas scrambles things and people.

As they say in Hebrew, ad matai? 
[Until when will this continue?]

Is Toyota meeting its obligations to the Justice Department under its Deferred Prosecution Agreement?

Here is the Deferred Prosecution Agreement clause for disclosures by Toyota.
Anyone with relevant information that they think Toyota has not disclosed voluntarily, be in touch with the FBI. It is very easy to submit a "crime tip."

There is still no public announcement of the identity of the Independent Monitor.

About this, Dr. Antony Anderson had this to say:
Toyota’s US division chief Bill Fay says: “we paid the fine and we’ve moved on. “ In his desire to avoid fighting “these things that are in the rear view mirror” hasn’t he forgotten the very large electronic elephant under the hood? Should he not also have told the US Attorney General about Toyota’s long term denial of the possibility of electronic and software malfunctions and about the company’s misleading attempts to claim that sudden acceleration incidents are often caused by driver error? Even now Toyota continues to cover up the deficiencies in their electronic throttle software identified last Fall by Dr Michael Barr in the Bookout v. Toyota case. Shouldn’t the US Attorney General be calling Toyota to account for concealing deficiencies in electronic functional safety of the electronic throttle system that may have considerable bearing on the lives of millions of motorists and others? Dr Barr’s 800 page expert report has remained under lock and key since the Bookout trial, presumably as part of the settlement agreement. But why should Dr Barr’s report remain under lock and key? Surely the proper place for the report is in the public domain where it can be subject to thorough peer review so that all, especially software and electronic engineers, may learn from it? In my opinion, keeping the Barr report under wraps is against the best interests of public safety. It sets a very bad precedent for failure investigations if the results are allowed to be suppressed and in this case does Toyota’s reputation a great deal of unnecessary harm. Imagine if this kind of suppression of safety-related information were to happen following an aircraft crash, a train crash or a ship disaster. Nobody would ever learn anything. If Toyota were now to take active steps to ensure that the Barr report were placed in the public domain this would be a powerful indication that they had indeed “learnt a lot in the past couple of years.” One would hope that the incoming monitor overseeing the deferred prosecution would encourage Toyota to remove their block on the Barr report if they had not done so already. It would signal that the monitor meant business.

See the original article comments here.

For whom the bell trolls

Here is a compilation of comments by a person calling himself DisqusX. I finally seem to have quieted him by telling him (sort of) how much he is loved and respected. I suppose that was not the response he has been looking for. I'm waiting to see what his next move will be.

Another old lady who got the gas pedal confused with the brake, just like all the other cases...

Yep another idiot who got the gas pedal confused with the brake.

Keep drinking the crazy juice, moron.

You're clearly unstable and can't accept the truth.

You've taken the short bus to crazy-town long ago

Your little head must be spinning....

the moderators don't like gratuitous self-promotion of junk science

Looks like nobody's listening to your garbage.

Ignoramus, have you read any other  report besides the fraud Barr's?

A few "slow" people may buy into your drivel, but the majority do not.

your error-prone and self-congratulatory post..

most rational people will trust the actual facts from the folks who engineered the vehicle

The actual factual results from folks not paid for by plaintiff's attorneys are right here.

When you start supposedly factual sentences (that aren't) with, "In my opinion..."  it takes away from whatever little credibility you may have.

No need for your opinions.

He’s as dumb as you, Ignoramus.

He's also paid for by scumbag, greedy plaintiffs’ attorneys

The quote in my comment above is pretty solid.

The fact that you're nuts indicates that you aren't playing with a full deck.

Please, for the safety of others, turn in your car keys!

Don't forget your crazy pills tonight!

Toyota should sue you for defamation.

Stupidity should be illegal

Desperation stinks, Ignoramus.

Wikipedia is nice isn't it?

How much are the shyster lawyers paying you?

EE times, embedded gurus, and whatever other garbage you cited is only useful for birdcage lining [1]

you seem like you have a habit of ignoring relevant facts and replacing them with fantasy. By process of elimination, that leaves DUN DUN DUNNNNN: driver error.

You guys are too much fun!

More fear-mongering garbage from X and his inept cronies.

We know who you are, and you have ZERO credibility.

I couldn't make it even half-way through your lunatic rant.

Just because you ignore the facts and don't know what you're talking about doesn't mean ya gotta cry about it.

Regarding your question of can EDR data be relied upon: Yes, NHTSA, among others, has put this fear-mongering theory to bed long ago

It helps to have facts

Maybe you should do some research before commenting on things you don't understand. This is fun, let's keep going...

Can you even explain how an ETC works? Let's start with an easier question: can you tell us what ETCS-I stands for?

You didn't comment on the size of the floor mat because you seem like you have a habit of ignoring relevant facts and replacing them with fantasy. By process of elimination, that leaves DUN DUN DUNNNNN: driver error. You guys are too much fun!

More fear-mongering garbage from Y and his inept cronies..

You clearly are no software engineer. I'm sure the millions of Toyota drivers that have had zero problems with their vehicles are quaking in their boots.

Let's forget for a moment all of the overwhelming scientific evidence that you've inexplicably chosen to ignore and that runs contrary to your misguided theory.

Let's put the multiple, independent, thorough engineering studies that found no defects aside for a moment.

Let's entertain your little conspiracy theory for a moment and see if you can answer a few seemingly simple questions, shall we?

Why doesn't this "defect" of yours affect manual transmission cars?

Why does this "defect" predominantly affect older, female drivers? Perhaps this "defect" knows how to discriminate against old ladies? Or maybe, just maybe, old people don't have the reflexes and spacial awareness they had when they were younger.

How is it that most of the "victims" of this "defect" are located in the United States?

After all the extortion attempts (including that big DOJ extortion that still found no defect in the cars), trials, frivolous lawsuits, media speculation, fear-mongering, congressional hearings, overkill-recalls (that would not have been considered "recall-able defects" just a few short years ago), and just basically having the company's reputation dragged through the mud, what possible, plausible reason does Toyota have for not fixing the "real problem"?

Why would they go through what they've been through and deliberately choose to not fix the "defect"?

Why would NHTSA and NASA lie about the findings of their thorough, respective studies? What's in it for them?

How did all these engineers decide to trick us all and spend all that time and money on the wrong fix?

Perhaps you can explain how an Electronic Throttle Control system works and how this "defect" not only made it through the multiple, independent failsafes undetected AND simultaneously made the braking system of these cars inoperable

(all cars, no matter the make, are engineered so that the brakes overpower the engine, even an engine at wide-open throttle)?

There's a principle known as Ockham's razor stating that the simplest solution with the fewest assumptions and variables is almost always the right one. In this case, driver error is the right one.

You can't and won't convince me of your fear-mongering, erroneous, disproven theory. It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself and others though.

Fortunately, the vast majority of people along with Toyota have moved on, and brainwashed folks like yourself are few and far between and won't slow down this company one bit.

I won't be sucked in by you or your kind who have no idea what you're talking about. But I can agree to disagree. Can you?

Y to X: I love how these people avoid answering your questions. Just shows how little they know. X to Y :I know. I should really stop using them for entertainment and go do something productive...

Wow, you really have no idea how cars work. What you just said about brakes is dumber than a bag of door knobs....

The truth hurts sometimes, doesn't it? I used to think people who ignore hard facts were anti-social trolls too, but increasingly I'm inclined to believe they are paid for by plaintiff's attorneys with ulterior motives--just like Barr was...

I used to think people who ignore hard facts were anti-social trolls too, but increasingly I'm inclined to believe they are paid for by plaintiff's attorneys with ulterior motives--just like Barr was...

He's right. There indeed is no evidence of the gibberish you speak of. It's been backed up many times by actual scientists and engineers.

Your comprehension skills are lacking. Brakes over power an engine even without brake override (which I doubt you understand how that even works).

Convincing a jury of something is not the same as the truth. But if that's what you base your conclusion on, Toyota still wins as they've won all trials but the Oklahoma one that have been decided by a jury.

The brakes do slow down the car--the trick is that you have to actually APPLY them.

Surprisingly, some people just don't understand that. It seems every time something is made idiot proof, the world just creates a better idiot...

anyone reading Barr's garbage (who was paid for by the shyster lawyers) will see he simply manipulated a car to do what he wanted and in no way represents anything a car would experience in the real world.

I'm guessing you were disappointed that the Easter bunny didn't actually show up yesterday, since you believe in imaginary things. ……Yes, millions of people continue to drive these cars WITH NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER.

Your argument is based on someone paid for by plaintiff's lawyers who admitted to introducing external software to a car, and that car still always triggered failsafe systems, which is why most rational people don't buy into his crap.

Yep, that software is so evil it knows how to target little old ladies...

---

[1] Question: Are the gurus embedded  in the EE times or in garbage, or within both and then processed for use as birdcage lining?

Another old lady who got the gas pedal confused with the brake, just like all the other cases...

Yep another idiot who got the gas pedal confused with the brake.

Keep drinking the crazy juice, moron.

You're clearly unstable and can't accept the truth.

You've taken the short bus to crazy-town long ago

Your little head must be spinning....

the moderators don't like gratuitous self-promotion of junk science

Looks like nobody's listening to your garbage.

Ignoramus, have you read any other  report besides the fraud Barr's?

A few "slow" people may buy into your drivel, but the majority do not.

your error-prone and self-congratulatory post..

most rational people will trust the actual facts from the folks who engineered the vehicle

The actual factual results from folks not paid for by plaintiff's attorneys are right here.

When you start supposedly factual sentences (that aren't) with, "In my opinion..."  it takes away from whatever little credibility you may have.

No need for your opinions.

He’s as dumb as you, Ignoramus.

He's also paid for by scumbag, greedy plaintiffs’ attorneys

The quote in my comment above is pretty solid.

The fact that you're nuts indicates that you aren't playing with a full deck.

Please, for the safety of others, turn in your car keys!

Don't forget your crazy pills tonight!

Toyota should sue you for defamation.

Stupidity should be illegal

Desperation stinks, Ignoramus.

Wikipedia is nice isn't it?

How much are the shyster lawyers paying you?

EE times, embedded gurus, and whatever other garbage you cited is only useful for birdcage lining [1]

you seem like you have a habit of ignoring relevant facts and replacing them with fantasy. By process of elimination, that leaves DUN DUN DUNNNNN: driver error.

You guys are too much fun!

More fear-mongering garbage from X and his inept cronies.

We know who you are, and you have ZERO credibility.

I couldn't make it even half-way through your lunatic rant.

Just because you ignore the facts and don't know what you're talking about doesn't mean ya gotta cry about it.

Regarding your question of can EDR data be relied upon: Yes, NHTSA, among others, has put this fear-mongering theory to bed long ago

It helps to have facts

Maybe you should do some research before commenting on things you don't understand. This is fun, let's keep going...

Can you even explain how an ETC works? Let's start with an easier question: can you tell us what ETCS-I stands for?

You didn't comment on the size of the floor mat because you seem like you have a habit of ignoring relevant facts and replacing them with fantasy. By process of elimination, that leaves DUN DUN DUNNNNN: driver error. You guys are too much fun!

More fear-mongering garbage from Y and his inept cronies..

You clearly are no software engineer. I'm sure the millions of Toyota drivers that have had zero problems with their vehicles are quaking in their boots.

Let's forget for a moment all of the overwhelming scientific evidence that you've inexplicably chosen to ignore and that runs contrary to your misguided theory.

Let's put the multiple, independent, thorough engineering studies that found no defects aside for a moment.

Let's entertain your little conspiracy theory for a moment and see if you can answer a few seemingly simple questions, shall we?

Why doesn't this "defect" of yours affect manual transmission cars?

Why does this "defect" predominantly affect older, female drivers? Perhaps this "defect" knows how to discriminate against old ladies? Or maybe, just maybe, old people don't have the reflexes and spacial awareness they had when they were younger.

How is it that most of the "victims" of this "defect" are located in the United States?

After all the extortion attempts (including that big DOJ extortion that still found no defect in the cars), trials, frivolous lawsuits, media speculation, fear-mongering, congressional hearings, overkill-recalls (that would not have been considered "recall-able defects" just a few short years ago), and just basically having the company's reputation dragged through the mud, what possible, plausible reason does Toyota have for not fixing the "real problem"?

Why would they go through what they've been through and deliberately choose to not fix the "defect"?

Why would NHTSA and NASA lie about the findings of their thorough, respective studies? What's in it for them?

How did all these engineers decide to trick us all and spend all that time and money on the wrong fix?

Perhaps you can explain how an Electronic Throttle Control system works and how this "defect" not only made it through the multiple, independent failsafes undetected AND simultaneously made the braking system of these cars inoperable

(all cars, no matter the make, are engineered so that the brakes overpower the engine, even an engine at wide-open throttle)?

There's a principle known as Ockham's razor stating that the simplest solution with the fewest assumptions and variables is almost always the right one. In this case, driver error is the right one.

You can't and won't convince me of your fear-mongering, erroneous, disproven theory. It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself and others though.

Fortunately, the vast majority of people along with Toyota have moved on, and brainwashed folks like yourself are few and far between and won't slow down this company one bit.

I won't be sucked in by you or your kind who have no idea what you're talking about. But I can agree to disagree. Can you?

Y to X: I love how these people avoid answering your questions. Just shows how little they know. X to Y :I know. I should really stop using them for entertainment and go do something productive...

Wow, you really have no idea how cars work. What you just said about brakes is dumber than a bag of door knobs....

The truth hurts sometimes, doesn't it? I used to think people who ignore hard facts were anti-social trolls too, but increasingly I'm inclined to believe they are paid for by plaintiff's attorneys with ulterior motives--just like Barr was...

I used to think people who ignore hard facts were anti-social trolls too, but increasingly I'm inclined to believe they are paid for by plaintiff's attorneys with ulterior motives--just like Barr was...

He's right. There indeed is no evidence of the gibberish you speak of. It's been backed up many times by actual scientists and engineers.

Your comprehension skills are lacking. Brakes over power an engine even without brake override (which I doubt you understand how that even works).

Convincing a jury of something is not the same as the truth. But if that's what you base your conclusion on, Toyota still wins as they've won all trials but the Oklahoma one that have been decided by a jury.

The brakes do slow down the car--the trick is that you have to actually APPLY them.

Surprisingly, some people just don't understand that. It seems every time something is made idiot proof, the world just creates a better idiot...

anyone reading Barr's garbage (who was paid for by the shyster lawyers) will see he simply manipulated a car to do what he wanted and in no way represents anything a car would experience in the real world.

I'm guessing you were disappointed that the Easter bunny didn't actually show up yesterday, since you believe in imaginary things. ……Yes, millions of people continue to drive these cars WITH NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER.

Your argument is based on someone paid for by plaintiff's lawyers who admitted to introducing external software to a car, and that car still always triggered failsafe systems, which is why most rational people don't buy into his crap.

Yep, that software is so evil it knows how to target little old ladies...

---

[1] Question: Are the gurus embedded  in the EE times or in garbage, or within both and then processed for use as birdcage lining?

Text of @embeddedbarr Michael Barr's censored blog post after Bookout trial win...could @Toyota have forced it down?

This is a blog post by Michael Barr, the leader of the embedded systems experts who examined Toyota's source code under conditions of tight security imposed by Toyota to protect the secrecy of the software it called its "Crown Jewel."
After the failsafe was described by Barr as a "house of cards," I think Toyota has ceased describing its software with those words. Not a queen of diamonds there.

I am posting this because I have a (likely futile) hope that the prosecutors of the U.S. Department of Justice, Southern District of New York, and their associated FBI investigation team, will pay careful attention to the yawning gap between what Mr. Barr is saying and what I imagine you may have heard from Toyota defense counsel Debevoise & Plimpton, and their client, Toyota GC Christopher Reynolds.

Here is Michael Barr's blog post:

An Update on Toyota and Unintended Acceleration
Saturday, October 26th, 2013 by Michael Barr
http://embeddedgurus.com/barr-code/2013/10/an-update-on-toyota-and-unintended-acceleration/
(downloaded on 29 October 2013)
Michael Barr
Michael Barr is an expert on the design of software-powered medical
devices and other embedded computer systems. (full bio)

In early 2011, I wrote a couple of blog posts (here and here) as well as a later article
(here) describing my initial thoughts on skimming NASA’s official report on its
analysis of Toyota’s electronic throttle control system. Half a year later, I was
contacted and retained by attorneys for numerous parties involved in
suing Toyota for personal injuries and economic losses stemming from incidents of
unintended acceleration. As a result, I got to look at Toyota’s engine source code
directly and judge for myself.
From January 2012, I’ve led a team of seven experienced engineers, including three
others from Barr Group, in reviewing Toyota’s electronic throttle and some other
source code as well as related documents, in a secure room near my home in
Maryland. This work proceeded in two rounds, with a first round of expert reports and
depositions issued in Summer 2012 that led to a billion-dollar economic loss
settlement as well as an undisclosed settlement of the first personal injury case set
for trial in U.S. Federal Court. The second round began with an over 800 page formal
written expert report by me in April 2013 and culminated this week in an Oklahoma
jury’s decision that the multiple defects in Toyota’s engine software directly caused a
September 2007 single vehicle crash that injured the driver and killed her passenger.
Don’t be misled by much of the mainstream coverage of the Oklahoma verdict. While
it is true this was the first time Toyota has lost an unintended acceleration case in
court, it is more significant that this was the first and only jury so far to hear any
opinions about Toyota’s software defects. Each of the earlier cases either predated
our source code access, applied a non-software theory, or was settled by Toyota for
an undisclosed sum.
In our analysis of Toyota’s source code, we built upon the work that NASA had done.
First, we looked more closely at more lines of the source code for more vehicles for
more man months. And we also did a lot of things that NASA didn’t have time to do,
including reviewing Toyota’s operating system’s internals, reviewing the source code
for Toyota’s “monitor CPU” (which even Toyota hadn’t ever done before! (!)),
performing an independent worst-case stack depth analysis, running portions of the
main CPU software including the RTOS in a processor simulator, and
demonstrating–in exemplar Toyota Camry vehicles–a link between loss of throttle
control and the numerous defects we found in the software.
In a nutshell, the team led by Barr Group found what the NASA team sought but
couldn’t find: “a systematic software malfunction in the Main CPU that opens the
throttle without operator action and continues to properly control fuel injection and
ignition” that is not reliably detected by any fail-safe. To be clear, NASA never
concluded software wasn’t at least one of the causes of Toyota’s high complaint rate
for unintended acceleration; they just said they weren’t able to find the specific
software defect(s) that caused unintended acceleration. We did.
Now it’s your turn to judge for yourself. Though I don’t think you can find my 800
page expert report outside the Court system, here’s the trial transcript[*] of my expert
testimony to the Oklahoma jury in Bookout, et.al. v. Toyota.
Note that the jury in Oklahoma went with the software defects and found that Toyota
owed each victim $1.5 million in compensatory damages and also found “reckless
disregard”. The latter legal standard meant the jury was headed toward deliberations
on additional punitive damages when Toyota finally called the plaintiffs to settle (for
yet another undisclosed amount). I understand there are about 500 personal injury
cases still working their way through various courts, including one set for trial in
November in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California.
***********************************************************
2 Responses to “An Update on Toyota and Unintended Acceleration”
1. Miro Samek says:
October 28, 2013 at 4:49 pm
Hi Michael,
Thank you for posting the link to your court deposition. I found it fascinating
and couldn’t stop reading late into the night…
There is no doubt in my mind that exposing the inadequacies in the Toyota
firmware is a very important development for the whole embedded software
profession.
It is also interesting to see old mistakes repeated time and time again. For
example a timed task degenerating into a kitchen sink.
I also bet my shirt that there were no assertions in the Toyota firmware.
Assertions in software work like fuses in electrical systems and beyond
certain density of assertions in the code all failures (including hardware
failures) manifest themselves as assertion violations. I’m sure that this could
have saved the day (besides making software development so much faster).
Anyway, there are tons of valuable lessons to learn here. From now on I will
imagine that all my software is on trial…
–Miro
2. David W. Gilbert, Ph.D. says:
October 28, 2013 at 10:25 pm
Dear Mr. Barr,
Nicely done! I found your testimony very interesting, and while I am not a
software expert, I can certainly verify the inability of Toyota vehicles to detect
certain malfunctions in the electronic throttle controls. And few malfunctions
are more apparent than tin whiskers growing inside the APP sensors!
Since my 2010 testimony in the Washington Toyota hearings, I have learned
much. Your testimony certainly adds to that knowledge and I am pleased that
it has received much needed media attention.
Maybe our paths will cross someday.
DWG
***************************************************
[*] Trial transcript is available on the Safety Research & Strategies website

Crash: 2006 Lexus crashes into church at Easter concert; 18 injured--driver says brakes failed

The driver of a 2006 Lexus says she was parking her car in the church lot, pullilng into a space, when the car brakes failed and the vehicle smashed through the church wall and into the sanctuary, where an Easter concert was underway. Heavy wooden pews and, congregants say, the grace of God, saved them from death. At least 18 were injured.
Police have not blamed the driver, at least, not yet.

Reporter: she said she "tried as hard as she could to pound on the brakes, but they just did not work."

Link to news--2006 Lexus crash into church

"Reputation management" best practices (?)

Surveillance video of apparent Toyota SUA in parking garage, Korea

Link to video

OPEN KIMONO - Corporate transparency in functional safety matters

Meaning, there is a need for continuous transparency in companies that make products upon which lives depend.

KIA SUA dashcam video

Here's a reminder to myself of what these dry papers are all about, in the real world. There are few Toyota dashcam SUA videos, I wonder why, but clearly that is not due to a lack of incidents.

Here's the link:

KIA SUA dashcam video

Update on Toyota's Kimono book proposal campaign--Good news!

All,

The Toyota's Kimono book proposal campaign on Indiegogo is heating up!

Indiegogo campaign page here

• Lots and lots of visitors. People are learning that the SUA story is certainly not over.
• Some big donations. $400 has come in just within the first two days and I hear from a supporter that hundreds of dollars more are in the works. People who know me and the inside story quite well are trusting me to write a good book.
• There is a new "Anonymous" contribution category for anyone who wants to keep mum about their identity
• One day very soon I plan to add some video to introduce myself and the project.
• My audio recording of the story is going on now behind the scenes, preparing for transcription and writing.

Please visit the campaign page and contribute to help defray the out-of-pocket expenses involved in producing the book proposal. Your contribution can make a difference!

Help support planning for "Toyota's Kimono," a page-turning thriller about my whistle-blowing struggle. Campaign page is on Indiegogo.

Toyota's Kimono: Revealing the truth about SUA

The inside story of the causes of deadly runaway cars, how they were covered up, and how I struggled to reveal them.

Link to Indiegogo campaign page

Dear blog readers:

I am finally gearing up to write a book to chronicle my struggles with the global auto giant. 

The book proposal is already underway and should be ready to go within a matter of one or two months after being funded.

Please go to the Indiegogo campaign page and donate as much as you can, and also share this with your friends and colleagues.
Anyone with information, either who experienced SUA, or who knows something about the story, is welcome, too. I will consider including it in the book proposal/book. Please contact me via the Indiegogo campaign page or at toyota.kimono@gmail.com.
For every $100 donated, I offer a kind of reward of posting 3 more documents here, at least until some force majeure may stop me.

Thank you.

Betsy.

Racism? "Japanese only" sign at soccer match

Link to article "Japanese Only" sign hung at entrance to soccer match

Debito Arudou writes: "The developed world sees Japan as their bulwark of democracy in Asia, and is willing to overlook one very inconvenient truth: that a racialized narrative in Japan is so commonplace and unchallenged that it has become embedded in the discourse of race relations. Foreigners are simply not to be treated the same as Japanese.

"People often blame this phenomenon on legal issues (foreigners are not treated exactly the same as citizens anywhere else either, right?) but the pachyderm in the parlor is that the practical definition of “foreigner” is racial, i.e., identified by sight. Anyone “looking foreign” who defied that Urawa banner and entered that stadium section would have gotten — at the very least — the stink-eye from those (still-unnamed) xenophobes who put it up. What other purpose could the banner possibly serve? 

"Make no mistake: “Japanese only” underscores a racialized discourse... [media should not] kid-glove it as some kind of cultural misunderstanding. 

....

"By always denying racism’s existence, Japan preserves its self-image of civilization and modernity, and that’s why calling out this behavior for what it is — racial discrimination — is such a necessary reality check."