mytest
DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER JULY 3, 2024
Hello Debito.org Newsletter Readers. Let me open with my most recent SNA column, on the “overtourism” debate going on in Japan. Probably not surprisingly, I argue there is a racialized component to it. Hear me out:
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Debito’s SNA VM column 57: “Overtourism as racism” (July 1, 2024)
Excerpt: “Overtourism” has become a trendy word to describe Japan attractions (e.g., Shibuya Scramble, Hachiko, Ginza, Kyoto, Senso-ji, Mount Fuji) being overrun by tourists. But in Japan the word is specifically associated with “foreign tourists,” i.e., mobs blocking traffic, disrupting local businesses and mores by littering and chattering away in their foreign languages.
I don’t dispute that “overtourism” can happen. Too many people crowding into a place can produce problems of noise, pollution, disruption, and property damage. But be careful about associating it with “foreigners.” As evidenced by a Karen-esque confrontation at Yasaka Shrine last May, it’s giving license to Japan’s busybodies, bullies, and xenophobes.
This column will argue that “overtourism” is not only becoming the latest incarnation of racialized bullying, it’s also producing reactionary public policies that are actually worse than the “Japanese Only” signs of yore!
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https://shingetsunewsagency.com/2024/07/01/visible-minorities-overtourism-as-racism/
Anchor site with sources for commentary at:
https://www.debito.org/?p=17482
Now on with the rest of the Newsletter:
Table of Contents:
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1) Robert Whiting on “Slaughter in Saitama adds to list of foreigners murdered in Japan, shines light on social issue”, on the Bishop Family Murder Case, an underreported event in 2022 that I consider to be a hate crime
2) Incidents of confrontationalism toward NJ are on the rise. Debito.org argues that this is standard social bullying of foreigners being disguised as a reaction to alleged “overtourism”. Push back at it.
3) My SNA Visible Minorities column 56: Addressing Japan’s Child Abduction Problem (on the recent bill passed to allow joint custody after divorce (May 27, 2024)
4) After decades of international exposure, embarrassment, broken treaty promises, xenophobic and racist tropes, and deprived children, Japan finally changes its laws to allow joint custody of children after divorce, taking effect in 2026.
5) Reuters: Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia (May 2, 2024). Bravo Biden!
6) My SNA Visible Minorities col 55: “From Dancing Monkey to Symbol of Hope”: Interview with Ibaraki Prefectural Assemblyman and naturalized Canadian-Japanese Jon Heese (May 2, 2024)
7) Debito cited in article, “Japan is becoming more diverse. Will its government?” Christian Science Monitor, April 12, 2024. As are several other naturalized and elected Japanese citizens originating from Canada, Uzbekistan, Syria/Egypt, and Bolivia.
8) My SNA Visible Minorities 54: “Non-Japanese Residents claim political power” (Mar 31, 2024), where I argue the power of the vote matters whether you are a candidate or part of the electorate; the J Govt tries hard to make sure neither happens for Japan’s Immigrants.
… and finally…
9) Kyodo: “Record 3.4 million foreign residents in Japan as work visas rise” in 2023. Only a brief reference to foreign crime (i.e., overstaying) this time. Fancy that.
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By Debito Arudou, Ph.D. (debito@debito.org, www.debito.org, Twitter @arudoudebito)
Debito.org Newsletters as always are freely forwardable
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1) Robert Whiting on “Slaughter in Saitama adds to list of foreigners murdered in Japan, shines light on social issue”, on the Bishop Family Murder Case, an underreported event in 2022 that I consider to be a hate crime
Whiting: Tokyo was stunned in late December by the news of the brutal killing of longtime Japan resident William Bishop, a 69-year-old U.S. national, his 68-year-old wife Izumi Morita, and their daughter Sophianna Megumi Morita, 32. All three were found dead outside their residence in Hanno, Saitama, with multiple wounds early Christmas morning.
Later that day, prefectural police arrested the Bishops’ neighbor, a 40-year-old Japanese man named Jun Saito, at his residence around the corner believing he had bludgeoned the Bishop family to death with what was believed to be a hammer. Saito had barricaded himself in an upstairs room, and the police had to force their way in to apprehend him. […]
Although all the facts are not yet in, the suspect appears to be part of a troubled generation suffering from mental disorders, who dropped out of school and work in droves in the ’80s and ’90s, when Japan’s economic bubble burst, Japanese firms retrenched and downsized, and jobs were not readily available. The Japanese government has identified over half a million of these, so-called hikikomori, social recluses, who live at home, passing their time on the Internet — the rise of which has contributed to their continuing isolation, remaining economically dependent on their parents, who, in turn, do not know what they can do to help their offspring find their footing outside of the household and try to hide what they view as an embarrassing situation. Hikikomori have failed to develop necessary social skills and are unable to adjust in a society that is very structured and sensitive to social stigma, one which fails to provide for social resources and professional treatment for mental illness, primarily because parents are too ashamed to seek it for their offspring. […]
Murder is rare in Japan compared to other countries. Social civility and strict hierarchical codes of conduct are often cited as reasons for the low incidence of violent crimes in Japan. However, Japanese assaults on foreigners are not new in in the long history of Japan’s relations with the West. […] The most prominent such incident was the murder was of British citizen Charles Lennox Richardson in 1862…
https://www.debito.org/?p=17465
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2) Incidents of confrontationalism toward NJ are on the rise. Debito.org argues that this is standard social bullying of foreigners being disguised as a reaction to alleged “overtourism”. Push back at it.
We’ve had plenty of reports in recent months of people being confrontational towards NJ (Resident and Tourist), or people who look like NJ, accusing them of all manner of cultural slights and faux pas. In recent weeks, we’ve had a confrontation at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, and enough tourism in Kyoto and Mt Fuji to warrant bans on people going to certain places — even the recent overkill of a local government putting up a screen to block a view of Mt Fuji around a convenience store, with predictable accusations that foreigners are spoiling everything. Halloween in Shibuya even became a target, with drinking in the street made out to be a foreign-imported problem (seriously?!).
Some of this is inevitable. For quite some time now we’ve had grumbles about Chinese consumers’ spending habits in places like Ginza. And whenever foreigners are about, they tend to be the first people blamed for any problem due to “cultural differences” that are automatically at odds with Japan’s putative “uniqueness”. They’re a soft target. And “overtourism” is now being used as a means to empower bullies who want to push foreigners around.
It even happened to me yesterday in front of Tokyo Station, when some ojisan decided to jump the line in front of me for taxis and then curse me out for saying something. Mayhem ensued…
https://www.debito.org/?p=17447
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3) My SNA Visible Minorities column 56: Addressing Japan’s Child Abduction Problem (on the recent bill passed to allow joint custody after divorce (May 27, 2024)
SNA: It has been one of Japan’s worst-kept secrets. It has shattered lives and caused enormous international embarrassment to Japan’s reputation as a nation of laws. It has caused untold misery to countless children and families worldwide. And amongst all the G7 “developed” nations, it only happens like this in Japan.
I’m talking about Japan’s issues with child custody and access after divorce.
Japan has something called the Family Registry (koseki) system. It serves the important purposes of not only conferring Japanese citizenship, it also prioritizes the family unit over the individual. A throwback system unamended for more than a century, the Family Registry has a major bug: If you get divorced, the bureaucracy forces the couple as a registered family unit to cleave back into two unconnected individuals with completely severed family ties.
The problem is that children are likewise forced into one severed family registry or another, This means they lose all legal ties with one parent, and that parent (usually the father) has not rights of joint custody or child visitation. This means that divorce in Japan completely disappears a “Left Behind Parent’ (LBP) from a child’s life. This invisibility is enforced by the rest of society too…
Anchor site with sources for commentary at:
https://www.debito.org/?p=17443
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4) After decades of international exposure, embarrassment, broken treaty promises, xenophobic and racist tropes, and deprived children, Japan finally changes its laws to allow joint custody of children after divorce, taking effect in 2026.
Debito.org has been quiet on these developments until they actually came to fruition, and now that they have, it’s time to cheer. Japan has finally gotten around to fixing one of its worst-kept secrets: Child Abductions after divorces. After years of international pressure (and all manner of racist justifications of the status quo, including even the Foreign Ministry accusing foreigners of being naturally violent, and Japan offering safe haven for international child abductions despite signing an international treaty against it), the Diet has just passed legislation allowing for joint custody after divorce. Meaning both parents now have the ability to have a say in raising a child even if the relationship falls apart. It comes into effect in 2026 and will be reassessed five years later.
Debito.org has talked about this issue for decades (since I too lost all contact with my children after my divorce, which is in fact the norm in Japan, thanks to the Koseki Family Registry system forcing split couples to sever all legal family ties and thus all rights to any contact). Not only because NJ are particularly vulnerable to becoming “Left Behind Parents” in intercontinental relationships (since the J spouse can either make off with the child back to Japan or deprive you of a Spouse Visa), but also because this situation affected ALL divorces in Japan, regardless of nationality. It left all children in Japan vulnerable to being used a pawn used to punish one parent out of spite. And that would often carry on into adulthood, with the adult offspring hating the LBP parent without ever hearing both sides of the story or knowing the LBP cares about them. This is not normal even in peer countries. As the Mainichi notes below, “Japan had been the only country among the Group of Seven industrialized nation with no joint custody system, according to a Justice Ministry survey of other countries released in 2020.”
Anyway, this is an extremely positive and long overdue development, and it’s another example of Japanese domestic law not changing without international shame and pressure. It’s just a shame it couldn’t have happened decades ago when it would have made a difference to me and my divorced friends. Let’s hope this brings more reality to future relationships. Divorces are complicated. Adding more child abuse into the mix (and by this I mean the child abuse that is inherent in an automatic severance of custodial ties) just made it worse.
https://www.debito.org/?p=17432
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5) Reuters: Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia (May 2, 2024). Bravo Biden!
Reuters: U.S. President Joe Biden included ally Japan along with rivals China and Russia in a list of countries he called “xenophobic” on Wednesday, in a speech at a campaign fundraising event in Washington. Biden reiterated remarks he made last month linking China’s economic woes to its unwillingness to accept immigration. […] “You know, one of the reasons our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants,” Biden told Asian American and Pacific Islander donors Wednesday. “The reason — think about it — why is China stalling so bad economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia, why is anyone? Because they’re xenophobic, they don’t want immigrants.”
COMMENT: Debito.org says “Bravo Biden!”, for obvious reasons we’ve covered on Debito.org since its beginning back in 1995. For generations now Japan has gotten a free pass on its racial discrimination (about which I’ve written entire books) simply because it’s an ally. It’s about time somebody in leadership chided things in the right direction, Unfortunately, geopolitics and human rights do not mix, and the latter has taken a back seat to the former for too long. The reaction will be predictable and obvious. There will be the handwringing from the diplomats and media, and the knee-jerk reactions from the ethnostatists defending Japan’s putative ethnic purity or sovereignty in various comments sections (although human rights supersede pat claims of sovereignty if you’ve signed the CERD, which Japan did nearly 30 years ago and still has not passed any laws against racial discrimination). Whatever. It’s long overdue to state the fact that Japan as a polity simply will not keep its international promises, and Debito.org agrees with Biden that Japan’s lack of any official immigration policy hurts Japan as a society both economically and demographically.
https://www.debito.org/?p=17409
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6) My SNA Visible Minorities col 55: “From Dancing Monkey to Symbol of Hope”: Interview with Ibaraki Prefectural Assemblyman and naturalized Canadian-Japanese Jon Heese (May 2, 2024)
BIO: Jon Heese is becoming an old hand in Japanese politics, having served 13 years at various levels of government. He is presently one of five councilors representing Tsukuba (60 km NE of Tokyo) in the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly—similar to a state or provincial legislature. After winning four terms at the city level, Mr. Heese leveled up in December, 2022. He is the first foreign-born politician to ever serve at the regional level. He sat down for an interview with Debito Arudou for his Visible Minorities column in April 2024.
SNA: Let me open with an argument: I make the case in one of my recent columns that we don’t see enough former Non-Japanese running for office because the Japanese government doesn’t want them to. With no immigration policy, the GOJ doesn’t just encourage NJ to become voters and citizens, they make it hard to graduate up to Permanent Residency and citizenship. Would you agree with that assessment?
Heese: No immigration policy? Do you mean “no policy to import labor willy-nilly à la every western country?” The question is already loaded. As for policy to prevent naturalization, thereby enfranchisement, I do not see any active policies intending to keep NJ from getting citizenship. Overall I see their immigration policies as an attempt to ensure that only contributing foreigners are allowed to stay beyond the 90 day tourist visa by obtaining a longer visa. Many countries try to keep out deadbeats. Japan is no different. By deadbeats, I mean people who are only coming to take advantage of our rather generous social services.
SNA: Hang on. Point of order. We’re still falling back on those boilerplate arguments we see in the chauvinistic media that some foreigners are freeloaders. Not so… [And the conversation gets warmer from there…]
Anchor site with sources for commentary at:
https://www.debito.org/?p=17416
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7) Debito cited in article, “Japan is becoming more diverse. Will its government?” Christian Science Monitor, April 12, 2024. As are several other naturalized and elected Japanese citizens originating from Canada, Uzbekistan, Syria/Egypt, and Bolivia.
CSM: A former swimming instructor from Egypt is helping revive the sleepy mountain town of Shonai, Japan. About 200 miles away, a Canadian polyglot is singing the praises of Tsukuba city. And Orzugul Babakhodjaeva is standing onstage at a food festival outside Tokyo, decked in a traditional Uzbek dress, expressing her desire to “create a society where diversity is accepted.”
The first-term city councilor in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward – who does not use her family name, and campaigned simply as “Orzugul” – is one of a small but growing number of foreign-born local government members bringing fresh perspectives to an island nation long known for its homogeneity. These lawmakers are often multilingual and have rich international work experience. Their platforms have resonated with many Japanese voters, as well as with a growing population of non-Japanese residents.
The number of non-Japanese residents jumped 10.9% from 2022 to 2023, reaching a record 3.4 million, as the country struggles to address a chronic labor shortage driven by its aging population. Last year, 8,800 residents were naturalized as citizens, allowing them to vote in elections.
Shifting demographics are challenging Japan’s reputation as a homogeneous society – and creating unprecedented openings for immigrants to participate in local government. Arudou Debito, author of the book “Embedded Racism: Japan’s Visible Minorities and Racial Discrimination,” says the election of immigrants to local government is “very important” for Japan’s democracy.
“Non-Japanese residents’ viewpoints are woefully unseen in Japanese society. They’re treated as ‘guests,’” explains Mr. Arudou, who is a U.S.-born naturalized citizen. “The fact that former non-Japanese residents are getting elected means they aren’t ‘guests,’ meaning Japanese society can trust immigrants with public policymaking power.”
https://www.debito.org/?p=17422
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8) My SNA Visible Minorities 54: “Non-Japanese Residents claim political power” (Mar 31, 2024), where I argue the power of the vote matters whether you are a candidate or part of the electorate; the J Govt tries hard to make sure neither happens for Japan’s Immigrants.
Intro: I teach Political Science at the university level. In my first lecture every semester, I try to convince skeptical students why they should bother studying Political Science at all. I argue that understanding how power flows through political structures will help students enfranchise themselves in a democratic system. Because if they don’t, other people who understand the system better will use it to their advantage instead. But this assumes one major fundamental: that they can participate in the democratic system at all. Fortunately, most of my students are citizens, so they can vote. Given how abysmal youth voter turnout generally is, I consider it a major educational outcome if they bother to. Persuading people that their vote matters is the bare minimum a civics class can accomplish.
If I have the opportunity in higher-level classes to proselytize further, I encourage them to engage in community building, such as organizing into interest groups and consolidating power into voting blocs. My real converts consider running for local office, thereby embedding themselves within the very power structure itself. Because political power, especially for minorities in any society, is rarely surrendered without a struggle. We need more diverse views in office as demographics change the makeup of future majorities.
That’s how democracy is supposed to work. Unfortunately, this is a lesson that Japan’s Non-Japanese (NJ) Residents and Visible Minorities still have trouble grasping. As a result, they are letting the Japanese government deprive them of their potential as a political force in Japan…
Anchor site with sources for commentary at:
https://www.debito.org/?p=17392
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… and finally…
9) Kyodo: “Record 3.4 million foreign residents in Japan as work visas rise” in 2023. Only a brief reference to foreign crime (i.e., overstaying) this time. Fancy that.
Kyodo: “The number of foreign nationals residing in Japan hit a record high of over 3.4 million in 2023, government data has shown, with employment-related visas seeing significant growth amid the country’s efforts to address its acute labor shortage. As of the end of December, 3,410,992 foreign nationals resided in Japan, up 10.9% from the previous year to mark a record high for the second consecutive year, the Immigration Services Agency said Friday.
“The number of specified skilled workers jumped 59.2% to around 208,000, while trainees under Japan’s technical internship program grew 24.5% to around 404,000 to approach the record high level marked in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, the data showed. The specified skilled workers visa, which allows the holder to immediately take on jobs in designated industries without the need for training, was introduced in 2019 in response to Japan’s severe labor shortage resulting from its declining birthrate, with the aim of attracting foreign workers.
“Meanwhile, permanent residents, who made up the largest group by residential status, stood at around 891,000, up 3.2%. Engineers, specialists in humanities and international services, including foreign language teachers, rose 16.2% to around 362,000. By nationality, Chinese accounted for the largest population of foreign residents at around 821,000, followed by Vietnamese at around 565,000 and South Koreans at around 410,000…”
COMMENT: So the foreign labor imports have resumed, and how. Also interesting is that Kyodo doesn’t seem to feel the need to shoehorn in foreign crime statistics this time (just a brief allusion to overstaying at the very end). I’ll be incorporating these stats into my next SNA Visible Minorities column, out shortly, and argue how this influx can translate into political power.
https://www.debito.org/?p=17390
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That’s all for now. I hope the summer is going coolly for those reading in the Northern Hemisphere, and the winter is pleasant for you in the Southern. Thanks for reading!
Debito Arudou, Ph.D.
(debito@debito.org, www.debito.org, Twitter @arudoudebito)
DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER JULY 3, 2024 ENDS
43 comments on “DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER JULY 3, 2024”
Japan will have a shortage of 970.000 foreign workers in 2040. Well like we all predicted on debito.org, the gig is up. Even poor Chinese and Vietnamese people don‘t want to come anymore, because they‘re more than educated enough to use the internet and read about all the horror stories of „trainees“.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Japan-immigration/Japan-headed-for-shortage-of-970-000-foreign-workers-in-2040
“However, the company says that while it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract trainees, especially from Vietnam, which is seeing economic growth”
Code for, Japan isn’t seeing economic growth, so who is desperate to come here?
Well, there are always former Soviet Central Asian Republics.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240202/p2a/00m/0bu/026000c
Hardly revolutionary though…they started this process in 2016 with a language school. “The company’s agency has so far sent about 10 people to the Kanto and Kansai regions in eastern and western Japan, and about 30 people are waiting to go to Japan.”
Wow, 40. I suppose that doesn’t disturb the”wa’ or lead to “fuan” because “I feel I am not in Japan…”
Pay is too low here https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Society/20-000-annual-pay-Japan-s-weak-yen-drives-away-Asian-talent
Interestingly, the pay mentioned is 3 million Yen, which was exactly the minimum salary visa requirement for an Engrish teacher back the early 90s.
It has not risen. Just, the Yen has lost a lot of venue it is a pittance.
Trainee abuse is mentioned in passing
https://asiatimes.com/2023/09/why-vietnamese-workers-dont-flock-to-japan-anymore/
It notes that although the fall of the Yen means Vietnamese can make on average 5 times the salary compared to Vietnam, it is costly to live in Japan….four times higher. Thereby cancelling out any take home pay.
I don’t think they’re here for the Sushi and Cherry Blossoms so that PR won’t work.
The article recommends following S. Korea’s lead (oooh, bitter pill) and eliminate the (abusive) middle men/recruiters who are taking a million yen in fees.
Some good news to report:
Osaka court grants refugee status to African man persecuted over homosexuality / アフリカ出身の男性に難民認定判決 「同性愛で迫害」訴え 大阪地裁
Court orders refugee status for gay African who fears family / 同性愛で家族に殺されかけた男性、難民と認める 「空を飛ぶ気持ち」 (Japanese language paywall version)
‘Becoming family’: African refugee applicant, elderly couple in Japan make most of mutual help / 町中華の元店主、難民申請者と「家族になった」
World System Consultant = Yoshinoya of 2022?:
Japanese job-seeker applicant rejected because of foreign name / 「留学生は採用しない」名前だけで拒否、日本人なのに…就活生の涙 (Japanese language paywall version) / 海外ルーツの就活生 外国籍と一方的に判断、門前払いのエントリー
From the article:
A multinational volunteer firefighting squad has been launched in Aikawa, Kanagawa Prefecture
to help supplement the shortage of firefightersserve as interpreters and translators for foreign residents at evacuation centers and elsewhere in times of disasters.Multilingual firefighter squad launched in Japan town to help foreign residents / 多言語消防団、愛川で発足式 災害時の不安解消 ／神奈川 (Japanese language paywall version)
Only 98%?:
98% with mixed Japanese heritage experience microaggressions: survey
Mos Burger is going full-in so that it can secure NJ labor for its franchisees, but how many takers are there going to be for long working hours and low wages?
Mos Burger chain operator to start recruiting foreign workers
Vietnamese? Its been a massive success, with 37 workers. lol.
-has been offering training and jobs to people in Vietnam since 2019, when Japan launched the specified skilled worker program, leading to the employment of 37 workers currently
Vietnam, with one of the few growing economies during and post Covid, is probably looking OK for many Vietnamese, unless they somehow missed that boat.
Plus there’s sushi, 4 unique seasons, and anime. (Yes, I am going to keep saying this, especially when I praise Japan’s achievements to Japanese I meet).
The wajin population sees its biggest drop on record for 15 straight years.
Meanwhile, foreign residents are increasing in the Kyushu region, Yamaguchi, and Okinawa. (Japanese language version here: 九州や山口、沖縄で外国人の増加率平均上回る 労働力不足背景に)
This event was well attended!:
2,500 attend event at Tokyo park to support refugees, migrants / 食や音楽で文化交流 難民・移民フェスに2500人 練馬 ／東京
Years ago Dr. Debito wrote an article about the unrealistic nationalist expectations put on Japanese Olympians and the negative effects that had on their mental health, such as the suicide rate (searched, but can’t find it this evening).
[It’s right here: https://www.debito.org/?p=17175 Also stats on the shortened lifespans of Japanese athletes here: https://www.debito.org/?p=12130— Ed.]
Anyhow, was reminded of this article after Japanese Olympian Judo-ka lost her bout this week in Paris, leading to about 1:50 of screaming on the mat after the bout finished, causing a late start for the next bout.
No doubt this was caused by the pressure Japanese society always places on high-profile Olympians. In this case Ms. Abe Uta hadn’t lost a competition bout in 5 years, won gold in the Tokyo Olympics, promised to win gold again ‘for her dead mother’, and has a brother competing in Paris too.
Her spectacular public breakdown was sad, but also embarrassing for Japanese nationals who took to social media to criticize her for letting Japan down by losing and also for acting out after the bout.
Sharing responsibility for having built her up with unrealistic nationalist expectations, the Japan Olympic Committee is now threatening to find and prosecute people who are critical of Ms. Abe on the internet using the laws recently introduced in the wake of the suicide following internet bullying of the lady who appeared on the Tokyo ‘Share House’ TV show;
https://japantoday.com/category/paris-2024-olympics/Japanese-delegation-warns-against-defamatory-online-posts
Wouldn’t it just be better if Ms. Abe had been able to avoid publicly embarrassing breakdown due to the cognitive dissonance of racial superiority myths + national sport expectations = entitlement crashing into reality in the first place?
Or maybe it’s just better to threaten to prosecute people who criticize this practice in the first place…🙄
Remember, TIJ! So #1 priority is to protect superiority myths, even when the side effects are such traumatic public self-humiliation.
Sad news: Brazilian school operator in east Japan to go bankrupt with $1.4 million in debt / ブラジル人学校運営「大泉日伯センター」破産 負債2億円 群馬
From the article:
Oh, you mean that economic slowdown and resulting exodus due to the GoJ shutting its doors to the rest of the world during the pandemic??
It would have been nice if Mainichi Shimbun had dug a little deeper so they could report on *why* the school was accredited by Brazil’s Education Ministry, but not mombushō!
OMG, foreign tourists are leaving bills unpaid after getting medical care in Japan / 訪日外国人、医療費未払いの懸念 値切られることも「日常茶飯事」, have they no decency?
Oh, wait…so maybe it’s not just tourists skipping out without paying, but possibly also resident NJ??
So, all this fuss when NJ deadbeats make up <2% of the total # of defaulters?!
Dear Asahi Shimbun, please revise the article title of this article to the following:
“Japanese leaving bills unpaid after getting medical care” / 「日本人、医療費未払いの懸念」
More migrant workers are heading to South Korea instead of Japan (「縮む社会」での生き残り、待ったなしの日韓 「連携」提案する識者), why is that? From the article:
Ah, good old teikachingin (low wages)!
OK, so if you can’t / won’t match the wages, what’s your plan?
LOL! Your plan is to sweeten the deal with omotenashi in the form of a foot bath-equipped prayer room?
Actually, this shouldn’t come a surprise — stores in Japan are beginning to set up prayer rooms as Muslim visitors increase.
Meanwhile, over in Korea, the government is taking a different approach to recruiting and retaining foreign labor:
Wait a minute, in South Korea, there’s a path from being a migrant laborer to a permanent resident?
Mind = blown. Why did the government enact such a big change?
I wonder: will the GoJ ever come to the same realization?
OK, I’ll bite: why is Daito city recruiting NJ to cosplay as Miyoshi Nagayoshi?
City near Osaka asks foreigners to apply for warlord role in parade
Oh it finally happened to a famous person! I wonder how the police will try to spin the story this time.
https://x.com/mrjeffu/status/1828051543502794795?s=46&t=IzAIE8zz8O3iUXFc2Hpuew
According to the results of a recent private survey (Japanese language link here), 71.8% of auto repair shops in Japan say they are understaffed (up from ~50% in 2020).
To the surprise of nobody, NJ have become the go-to stopgap measure to fill the void: in 2024, 17.4% of auto repair shops employ NJ compared to 7.7% in 2020.
Yet 68.1% of survey respondents said they “have no plans to hire (foreigners)”; back in 2020, only 50.5% responded this way!
The survey didn’t ask the obvious question of why, despite being understaffed, are shops which are not planning to hire NJ opposed to doing so. As such, we’re left to speculate on the reasons.
-shops which are not planning to hire NJ opposed to doing so. As such, we’re left to speculate on the reasons.
Its the usual self defeating non logic loop that grew up in the abundance of the Bubble Era, but they no longer have that luxury.
Thus, “We need workers”—> Foreigners are the only ones available—> “We will not hire foreigners”—> “We need workers..” (repeat ad infinitum)
Plus The “Shoganai” Factor. A wild card. It could go to
either a. Shoganai. Hire a foreigner reluctantly on poor conditions while constantly complaining and belittling/bullying them.
OR
b. Shonganai. Downsize or manage on less workers till they all quit/die of exhaustion/do less.
I am dealing with the same thing with a Japanese student because the school is going out of business.
Him: ” I want a refund”
Me: “They have no money, going out of business.”
Him: “So, I want a refund”.
KEY TAKEAWAY They just know what they WANT in a perfect world (80s era) and just KEEP PUSHING for this only possible outcome, regardless of how impossible the changing reality has made it.
I could list countless other examples of this thinking.
Op-ed posits that foreign workers need access to public jobs for a better society (Japanese language link here and here (paywall)), argues that the prohibition on NJ exercising public authority / shaping public (e.g. volunteer firefighters, teachers and not just “lecturers”, etc.) needs to be re-evaluated.
First non-Spanish female Flamenco dancer to win top prize at dance competition booed by audience during award ceremony;
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/japanese-dancer-booed-winning-spanish-123903227.html
I actually saw video of the award ceremony viewing on BBC World News this evening (no link to be found on their website), and I have to say it was horrendously poor behavior. I feel deeply sorry for Junko who should have been enjoying her triumph, since she is also a qualified flamenco teacher who has lived in Spain for 20+ years.
Then I remembered Ariana Miyamoto…
Then I remembered Karolina Shiino…
Then I remembered Fiona Graham…
Then I also remembered Rina Sawayama…
And finally, I remembered that Europe is undergoing a wave of Russian sponsored popular-nationalism led by US alt-right groups behind Trump and MAGA, whose prime-movers and initiators were (as documented here at Debito.org !) inspired by Japan’s ‘racial homogeneity’.
So, whilst I think the booing was deplorable (😉), I can’t help but think it’s what’s happens when Japanese ‘racism as culture’ gets exported.
Kind of like California roll sushi or hamburger sushi; when you set your cultural standards loose in the world, you can’t control what they become (not even with official ‘sushi police’! Remember that?).
So, it’s a kind of karma, and everyone looses. Because the people behind the racist nionjinron giron narratives never imagined when they othered NJ as part of their ‘culture’ that a Japanese would ever want to leave Japan, that NJ would ever adopt their cultural norms, and then use them to persecute a Japanese person living abroad.
There’s literally a PhD in this case study for someone.
@JDG, you make fascinating points but give Japan way too much credit:
-Russian sponsored popular-nationalism led by alt-right groups,
it is Russia that might be doing this, though of course Japan is the “ideal” homogeneous country for these alt-right fanboys.
-I can’t help but think it’s what’s happens when Japanese ‘racism as culture’
The alt-right groups do use Japanese xenophobia as a model. Trump liked Abe.
Remember, “Abe was Trump before Trump”.
And I have always maintained that culturally Japan has more in common with Russia than it cares to admit.
Uncertainty Avoidance is near identical
https://www.theculturefactor.com/country-comparison-tool?countries=japan%2Crussia
I would also argue before Putin clawed back the powers from the Republics (except Chechenya), the Power Distance score was also very similar and its still true that all the economic power is centred in a bloated Moscow and sprawling Tokyo. (Soon to be crippled in an earthquake which they live in denial about)
ok, QUIZ TIME. Which of the below 2 statements are about Tokyo, and which is about Moscow? Not so easy to tell…
“all the decisions must be confirmed by each hierarchical layer and finally by the top …………..”
2/3 of all foreign investments go into ………….. where also 80% of all financial potential is concentrated.”
OK, I’ll bite: The former is Tokyo and the latter is Moscow, right?
Correct
“When I dance, I don’t think I am a foreigner, that I am Japanese. It doesn’t occur to me. I am simply on stage, I listen to the guitar, the singing, and what I feel I express in my dancing,” Ms Hagiwara told local newspaper La Opinión de Murcia.
“I consider myself to be a purist of the genre. True flamenco purists don’t think about where I come from.”
This is how art should be. At least she isn’t bleating on about Team Japan is #1 and how she represents her country blah blah, unlike a J dance troupe that recently featured inexplicably on “Britain’s Got Talent”. Instead it seems she has shed the Nihonjinron brainwashing in favor of her art. Well done.
There should be more stateless athletes at the Olympics too, or Eurovision. Take the Nationalism out of art, music and sport. A lot of artists hate politics anyway.
I reported around the time of the Paris Olympics that J-Gov announced a plan to seek to prosecute those who bullied on-line (ostensibly as a reaction to the ‘Share-House’ tragedy, but I posited at the time that it was to protect an J-Olympian from criticism over her public meltdown).
But now I think the real reason is this;
https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2024090600018/
Too numerous to list reputable foreign news media are reporting that the next in line to the throne – Prince Hisahito – is a remarkably ‘poor student’, scoring close to zero on some high school tests.
There is even a Change.org petition asking him to be barred from entering Tokyo University;
https://www.change.org/p/we-oppose-prince-hisahito-s-abuse-of-the-university-of-tokyo-s-entrance-examinations
Making baseless accusations against certain protected persons prosecutable- same as what is happening in the UK now, which arrested ten times more people than Russia for social media “crimes”.
Similarly, in China dissidents are often arrested first under the catch-all “Spreading gossip and making trouble”
Shame on Japan (and UK) for going down this undemocratic path.
No, it’s not the same as what is happening in the UK now.
You are (obliquely) referencing UK right-wingers (and those who incited them) who tried to burn down mosques and refugee accommodation with people inside, and violence against the police.
All of which was directly the result of UK ‘Internet influencers’ spreading disinformation to destabilize UK society because Russia is financing them to do so.
This isn’t the first time you’ve come to Debito.org where you routinely criticize Japanese racism (and even Trump/MAGA) but have defended/promoted the Russian FSB narrative about the UK and Brexit, leading me to wonder who you really are and if this site has been targeted.
I’ll be leaving Debito.org now, because I’ve exposed to all readers the Russian narrative you are pushing about the UK and I’m not going to give anymore oxygen to that.
I have never ” defended/promoted the Russian FSB narrative about the UK and Brexit” I often compare Japan to Russia, in a recent post culturally using Hofstede’s data, and it is not a good thing that Japan resembles Russia rather than the G7 norms it should be adhering to.
I am not even sure what Russia’s narrative is about Brexit as I turned against Russia completely after the invasion of Ukraine. The last time I thought of them favorably was under Gorby.
– leading me to wonder who you really are and if this site has been targeted.
I am someone who is concerned that Japan, like the UK, and Russia, is becoming more oppressive. This is nothing new, these three are all police states to some degree. The UK needs a proper First Amendment and it would be a disaster if the UK left the ECHR. The current problem with the UK police though, seems to be disinterest in solving real crime instead “preferring to sit at a desk with a digestive biscuit and scroll for offensive tweets online”. (Douglas Murray).
More to who I am is simply a free spirit, a Churchillian Liberal who takes from both left and right, but finds far too much wrong with Japan and Japanese society which is utterly dysfunctional and ridiculous in its tiny, narcissistic attention to small differences in a myopic Postmodern Theatre of the Absurd.
And Japan should be the focus of this website, so a tangent into Russia and the UK should just be that, a passing tangent.
In fact JDG, this comment is so unlike the JDG we know, I wonder if someone is impersonating Jim Di Gris to stir up trouble?
And the JDG I know would never say they were leaving Debito.org.
Don’t give up. Fight the good fight.
Not pushing a Russian narrative. I often compare Japan to Russia and I am certainly not ever pushing a Japanese Govt narrative either.
I wrote a lengthier riposte but it hasn’t been posted yet.
I think the FSB would be too busy to care about a website about discrimination in Japan.
Uniqlo CEO get’s it and other CEOs seem to have a mental breakdown hearing the truth.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240912/p2a/00m/0bu/020000c
“Japanese uniqueness”, lol yeah, that will really help the 1 in 6 residents that live in poverty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_Japan
But of course, as discussed several times here on debito.org, Japan and it’s leaders would rather sink like the Titanic than to allow any meaningful immigration and immigrants taking over managerial positions is totally out of the questions of course.
What am I missing here?:
* The English language version of the article cites 68%.
* The Japanese language version cites 70%.
* The only thing I could dig up online is “Survey of people with mixed roots and multiple ethnicities in Japan“, but as of yet the results have not yet been published.
Survey: 68% of multi-racial students in Japan bullied / 「7割がいじめ」調査 肌の色が違うお友だち、子どもにどう教える (Japanese language paywall version)
FYI, the story is part of a new series at Asahi Shimbun: 「日本人ですけど」 (I’m Japanese but…)
* There’s 68 million workers in Japan (NJ and non-NJ combined).
* 3% are NJ. This percentage is increasing, but low wages means that future NJs will be looking elsewhere to work:
– Indonesian workers to Japan will top out in 2030.
– Thai workers will peak in 2031.
– Vietnamese workers will plateau in 2032.
* With a weak yen, these dates will move to the left.
What does J-academia have to say about this?
LOL! Gee, ya think?!
LOL! Future NJ will know that they can make better coin elsewhere, so ‘coexistence and the creation of a new corporate culture’ isn’t going to cut the muster!
Dear GoJ: Your days of being able to attract human resources to shore up the domestic labor pool are soon coming to and end. What are you doing about this??
Just eggs and rice: Weak yen, deflation dents the ‘Japanese dream’ for int’l workers / 食事は「ご飯と卵だけ」 デフレと円安 ジャパニーズドリームのいま
Personally, I think the stories about this ‘rare move’ is much ado about Japan’s jurisprudence simply covering off a legal corner case:
Child of stateless Afghan refugees gains Japanese nationality / アフガン難民の子に日本国籍認める「出生時に両親無国籍」名古屋高裁
Court grants Japan nationality to Afghan refugees’ child in rare move
Not sure where to post this. Seems only dreamers (or Space Cadets, literally) will brave working in weak Japan now:
“The man’s dream is to become an astronaut and go to the moon. For that to happen, he said, he wants to save up. However, the yen is currently weak not only compared to the U.S. dollar and other major currencies, but also to the Philippine peso.”
“Japan differs from the image I had of it. It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” the man lamented.
Japan becoming less attractive to foreign workers despite labor shortage”
Japan still putting out false images of itself, including as a “wealthy” nation but in reality there is no disposable income. I’d also argue its preferred that foreigners are lured here, and pay in more than they take out. That is not what Filipinos want ,as remittances are a majot contributor to their economy.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240906/p2a/00m/0bu/034000c
„Japan to address issue of foreign trainees quitting in record numbers„
So, get this, their genious plan to stop this wave of quitting is just to refine the guidlines: „ The revised guidelines will also permit both victims of harassment and their coworkers to request transfers while allowing interns to take a part-time job of up to 28 hours per week over the period of their transfer to cover living expenses.“
Yeah sure, this will totally fix the problem (not). Again, good luck attracting 1 million foreign workers and more (number needed rises every year).
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240922/p2g/00m/0na/014000c
“job transfers are allowed if interns are abused or sexually harassed or there has been a malicious violation of laws”
OK, so basically the reason so many of them quit is they were abused or sexually harassed. However, in true Japanese style, they aren’t fixing the harassment part at root cause, but rather just make it easier for the “victims of harassment and their coworkers”(the coworkers are the harassers?) to transfer away from each other to avoid seeing each other.
This got me thinking- when did GoJ ever actually solve any social or arguably economic problems?
If one looks back over the last 30 years or so in particular, it all seems the same old problems, except with new ones also popping up and the old ones getting worse.
Can anyone here think of something they actually improved? Easier PR for NJs, maybe?
More recognition of harassment? Except like any Engrish loan/buzz word appropriated, it starts to get misused to the point of hyperbole, like “smell harassment” (too much perfume, rather than the Final Solution to the Kareishu (加齢臭) mondai, though I wish it was) “moral harassment” (which someone tried to claim was her partner trying to get her to act responsibly, but I digress), etc. This then starts to devalue the original meaning and genuine victims, like how “woke” is now a term of ridicule.
Some interesting additional details here (Japanese language paywall version here); summary below.
According to the Immigration Services Agency…
・ Around 2% of all technical trainees went missing in 2023.
・ By nationality, Vietnamese trainees accounted for the largest number (5,481), followed by Myanmar (1,765), then the PRC (816).
・ The number of Myanmar trainees that went missing rose by ~3x compared to the previous year.
Starting in October, only Myanmarese trainees will be permitted to switch to the designated activities visa in cases where they can no longer continue their internship due to harassment, company bankruptcy or other reasons, and when transferring to a new workplace is not feasible.
Interesting that it’s Amamiya Karin who wrote a book for teens on reality of refugees, migrants in Japan.
「難民・移民のわたしたち～これからの共生ガイド」
“Nanmin, imin no watashitachi: korekara no kyosei gaido”
(About Us, Refugees and Migrants: A guide to the future of living together)
Japanese language version here.
@Dr. Debito, did you get a chance to meet her during your time in Hokkaidō?
— No. We never crossed paths.
Soo…it looks like it’s good news/bad news for the children.
First the goods news:
Great!
Now the bad news:
Say what you will, but I am chalking this up as a victory for human rights in Japan!
References:
Special permission issued for over 80% of kids lacking residency to stay in Japan / 8割超に在留許可 資格ない外国人の子に特例 法相公表
Japan grants special residency status to 212 foreign children / 日本生まれでも強制送還の対象の子ども212人に「在留特別許可」
I asked Microsoft Copilot to provide a detailed summary of this article and this article.
Below is what it came back with.
First article:
Second article:
@Dr. Debito, what is your policy on submitting AI-generated content to Debito.org?
— Hi JK. I’m not going to verify the summaries and compare them to the articles. I have enough of that as a university grader as it is. But if it’s you doing it, I won’t stop you, since I know you as a longtime earnest contributor to Debito.org. Thanks as always.
Record of 163 firms in Japan went bankrupt due to staff shortage.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20241007/p2a/00m/0bu/022000c
Didn‘t Abe and the LDP promise that Japan doesn‘t need immigration because it has robots? I‘m still waiting for these robots to save Japan‘s economy (as are Japanese CEOs probably).