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Are the Japanese averse to mass immigration?

edogaijin

先輩
20 Feb 2014
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I was speaking with a group of foreign and Japanese friends, and the topic of the demographic matter came up. Myself and another new foreigner suggested that importing more foreign workers might be the most practical solution to Japan's economic woes. The long-term foreigner present and his girlfriend were both looking at us like we'd killed the canary, and when he translated I could tell the Japanese were not reacting well to it.

What's the deal here?
 
isolation
shame
homogeneity
mixing of bloodlines
loss of Japanese culture and language

And yes, this is 2014.
 
In truth there is no problem, so there is no solution, at least, at present.

There may well be in the future though.

Although Japanese refuse to see it, their culture is changing and has been changing. The changes over the past 40 years have not been all good ones. It seems to me that a major change has been to become less friendly than before and somewhere along the way, even the closeness and warmth of families and close friends got replaced by the cold facade you are supposed to reserve for outsiders. In other words, they began to believe the hype and the image and started to treat them as if they were supposed to be the reality. They believe their own lie now. And so, its hard even for Japanese to deal with other Japanese. So many are dead set against trying to learn to deal with foreigners. Some just can't do it. Some have found its so much nicer for them to deal with certain foreigners anyway and they cannot stand the formalities and coldness of this society.

IMHO, for Japan to deal with this future problem (because now, fewer kids is actually good thing) Japanese culture is going to have to lighten up with the formalities and expectations and laws too, so that it will be easier for men and women to get together. Also some active encouragement and training to steer young people toward romantic relationships may be required. School summer vacations need to be longer. Homework loads need to be lessened, as do after school activities. Parents need to talk to their kids about love and dating and encourage their kids to bring their friends to their homes and be especially gracious to those of the opposite sex without being condescending or judgemental. They need to be open and friendly. Teachers could even tell classes not to make fun of boys and girls who become extra friendly, and openly ridicule those who ridicule them. Such as it stands, its save for young people to ridicule boys and girls who get close. It should be the opposite.

Surgical masks need to disappear and especially women need to be disuaded from hiding behind the damned things. It was hard enough to find a girl you liked, make eye contact and start a conversation before they were everywhere. Now, cotton gauze may as well be a brick wall.

Even sex play should be encouraged, and parents should educate their kids how to initiate and handle it as well as ensure they have the time and the privacy to do it.

Families need to be made to be more fun and enjoyable so that people will desire to make families of their own in the knowledge that parents will die and they will be alone if they don't procreate.

It seems to me that this society has not given one thought to how they have made love, both romantic and familial, wither in this country, and the result has been the declining birthrate. But like I say, its not a problem now. It will be if Japanese destroy love and romance much further.
 
A decrease in the birthrate is advancing because the women who do not get married are increasing in number.
Democracy is just a root of decrease in the birthrate.
Bertrand Russell already mentioned it 70 years ago.
mass immigration would not solve it. (A job has even little present. and there are many unemployment)

Japan used to accept mass immigration because of empire though...

Those who do not use responsibility for environmental are welcomed.
There is a country which are more suitable for immigration.
in case of canada, she is a huge country. it needs more immigrants such like Chinese
It will not be necessary to come to a small country with decline
 
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It's a slow process .... but the number of foreigners has more than doubled over the last 20 years.
Add Dotanbatan to the list in 2014 too
: )

The rate looks like increasing and events like the Olympics will help reduce their fear and insecurites about things gaikoku.

I think the Japanese are entitled to feel worried about their language and culture ... what's wrong with that? A real cosmopolitan Japan is so far in the future however, we will all be wearing Babel Fish in ours ears by then.
 
Honestly I completely disagree. Fear of foreigners isn't understandable or merited in this modern era. It reflects a time long since passed. This is not the Edo era. Japan isn't entitled to treat foreigners any differently than they treat their own citizens, certainly not as a consigning nation to the universal declaration of human rights.

In my opinion the government needs to encourage more people to learn English, engage in foreign exchange and do more to promote a diverse, global and competitive Japan. If that isn't done, Japan's standard of living and reputation in the world is probably at stake. The "Japan is an island" excuse stopped holding water many generations ago. Moreover, legislation regarding racial discrimination and foreign labor rights should be endorsed by the government.
 
I agree with you EG - the fear of foreigners is unwarranted and discrimination is wrong but the Japanese (along with many other nations, most notably the French) are worried about the destruction of their language and culture by the Tsunami of English and Western (read American) influences.

In my opinion the government needs to encourage more people to learn English, engage in foreign exchange and do more to promote a diverse, global and competitive Japan. If that isn't done, Japan's standard of living and reputation in the world is probably at stake. The "Japan is an island" excuse stopped holding water many generations ago. Moreover, legislation regarding racial discrimination and foreign labor rights should be endorsed by the government.

You are just about spot on here though.
 
What's the deal here?

Your suggestion has long been on the table as a potential solution to Japan's demographic worries. Just recently Abe's cabinet released a calculation that showed Japan ought to accept 200,000 immigrants per year in order to stabilize the population at around 100M people (link below). It's not a novel idea. It is also not a universally well-liked idea. But I don't think the Japanese have a monopoly on fear of foreigners. Even in the US where there used to be "selective" mass-immigration, there is a very vocal segment of the population who dreads opening up to immigrants. The subject of citizenship for Mexican farm laborers (or the second generation of such) generates red-hot debate, so you could just as well ask "What's the deal" with our American cousins. The answer to that question might be the same answer to the question of why Japanese are nervous about mass immigration;

1. Fear of competition for jobs
2. Fear of loss of traditional community, language, culture, religion, etc...
3. Fear of foreign crime
4. Fear of friction or conflict with foreign neighbors

etc...

Probably all of these excuses were used to limit Asian immigration into the US in the last century, and they are probably still used as opposition to Mexican immigration. And, like Dotanban-san mentioned, the Japanese are worried about them as well. It could be a very irrational fear, but the fear of foreigners is not a particularly Japanese trait.

窶愿コ窶怒窶堙個人ナ津サツ「ヒ?壺?督ッ窶堙??啀窶ーツュツ人ヒ?崘スツ昶?ーテや?拿ツ」ツ ツ青ュ窶「{ツ、窶怒ナ?i窶ケcヒ彑窶堙 ツ(窶卍ゥ窶愿コツ新窶「ツキニ断ニ淡ニ耽ニ停?ケツ) - Yahoo!ニ男ニ停?ヲツーニ湛
窶愿?ナ?t窶「{ツ「ナ?Oツ坂?倪?堋ゥ窶堙ァ窶堙戸?壺?督ッ窶堙ー窶突??扼20窶毒督人ナステウ窶堋ッ窶愿シ窶堙ェ窶堙ェ窶堙篠、窶愿コ窶怒窶堙個人ナ津サ窶堙?窶ーツュツ人窶堙ー窶「テ帚?堙や?堋ア窶堙??堋ェ窶堙??堋ォ窶堙ゥツ」 ツ?ゥ 窶堋ヲ窶堙?? : 窶堙坂?堋ソ窶堙懌?ケNツ稿 (<blog discussing the above article. Almost universally anti-immigration).
 
1. Fear of competition for jobs
2. Fear of loss of traditional community, language, culture, religion, etc...
3. Fear of foreign crime
4. Fear of friction or conflict with foreign neighbors

USA is basically an immigrants country. as for native indian or
Indigenous peoples would fear it as a common sense .
it is not only in Japan
as a reality, it is just procrastinate because system of democracy is unchanged


Aging problem in Japan

Fear of increasing of welfare ...There are 45000 foreign welfare cases in japan
 
I mean it seems like a pretty cut and dry problem, from the outside looking in. Japan needs more people. Japanese people aren't having kids. If they don't have more workers soon, there is a massive economic problem due to the shrinking of labor force, and # of persons dependent upon social welfare. Yet most Japanese remain staunchly anti-immigration.

Honestly, sometimes it seems like Japanese people are delaying the inevitable here. Japanese must choose how to lose Japan,either let the country shrink and be super old, or let foreigners in and accept some changes? Sort of curious to you long-term foreigner types... what do you suppose they'll decide?

"1. Fear of competition for jobs
2. Fear of loss of traditional community, language, culture, religion, etc...
3. Fear of foreign crime
4. Fear of friction or conflict with foreign neighbors"

#1 is universal to all countries. But there are more jobs than people, I think this is irrational.

#2 seems like it is something Japanese must learn to accept. Race is not nation for most country except Japan. This attitude belongs squarely in the Edo jidai.

#3 This is just false. It can be shown Japanese people commit most of the crimes in Japan.

#4 Japan already has conflict with foreign neighbours. Ironically, by learning to live amongst foreigners, people can learn more about foreigners and therefore learn to stop fearing others irrationally.

Japan should probably open its borders, and frankly just learn to deal with the outside world. Or learn to accept a place in the waste bin of history.
 
1. Fear of competition for jobs
2. Fear of loss of traditional community, language, culture, religion, etc...
3. Fear of foreign crime

All of these are prevalent feelings, no matter how YOU feel.

1. If they can farm out work to people who accept lower wages/benefits, they will. It's just economics.
2. I agree that they need to learn to accept changes, not loss, of those things. Culture is not static. However, try explaining that to a culture that isolated itself for 200 years, who believes that it is a homogeneous society, and who prevented upon death the leaving of any local for a certain time. They can't even agree on when to start foreign language teaching, for fear (from some people) that it will create problems with learning their own language!
3. Yes, indeed. Police stats are twisted, but all you can do is try pointing them out as false. Arudou Debito has done his best to do that over the years.

Japan already has conflict with foreign neighbours. Ironically, by learning to live amongst foreigners, people can learn more about foreigners and therefore learn to stop fearing others irrationally.
Japan often instigates the conflict, yet just look at how poorly it deals with those sorts of things when called to task on them. Badly. Present administration is taking us all down a bad path. The country is not solely to blame, of course. There is the abduction issue with N. Korea and the influx of criminals from China. As for learning to live with foreigners, Japan has signed the treaty against discrimination from many years ago, yet refuses to enact any laws to enforce that. Just a show, some would say, to portray that they ARE successfully living with foreigners in their midst.
 
One of the things is that Japanese have been pretty well insulated from what the outside world (notably Korea and China) think of Japanese politicians and their actions. Recently, the NHK has been reporting more on this. Even on places like 2chan, I've noticed a lot more ネットうよ groups. Maybe it's the troll in me, but I really enjoy hassling the black van guys.

I may be the only foreigner in this country that understands the mindset and rules of Japan -- and then turns around and challenges Japan on it anyways. Gotta say most of you long-timers have a distinct "Uncle Tom" vibe, and the hints of self-loathing at that old gaijinpot forum. I mean heck, some of that stuff was pretty pathetic. People posting that they "felt inferior to the Japanese" or that "the Japanese do not see us as equals". I mean seriously, who gives a hoot?

Sure it's their country. So what?
 
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