{"id":12389,"date":"2014-05-15T11:50:34","date_gmt":"2014-05-15T21:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12389"},"modified":"2014-05-27T07:21:24","modified_gmt":"2014-05-27T17:21:24","slug":"sapio-mag-features-special-on-immigration-to-japan-note-odd-media-narratives-microaggressing-nj-into-voiceless-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12389","title":{"rendered":"SAPIO Mag features special on Immigration to Japan: Note odd media narratives microaggressing NJ (particularly the Visible Minorities) into voiceless role"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. As noted in the Japan Today article cited below, SAPIO debate magazine (June 2014)\u00a0devoted an issue specifically to the issue of immigration (imin<\/em>) to Japan (what with the Abe Administration’s\u00a0renewed plan to import 200,000 NJ per year<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Good. But then it fumbles the issue with all manner of narratives that microaggress<\/a> the NJ immigrant back into a position of being powerless and voiceless. \u00a0First, let’s start with SAPIO’s\u00a0cover, courtesy of MS:<\/p>\n

\"Sapio_June.Cover\"<\/a><\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: \u00a0Notice anything funny? \u00a0Start with the sub-headline in yellow talking about having a vigorous debate from “each world” (kyaku kai<\/em>). \u00a0Each?\u00a0 Look at the debaters being featured in the bubbles. \u00a0See any Visible Minorities there? \u00a0Nope, they’re left out of the debate once again<\/a>. \u00a0All we get are the typical powerful pundits (probably all Wajin, with “Papa Bear” Wajin Ishihara<\/a> second in line). , Where is the voice of the immigrant?<\/p>\n

And by “immigrant”, I mean people who have immigrated\u00a0to Japan as NJ and made a life here as long-term resident if not actual Permanent-Residency holder. \u00a0The people who have indefinite leave to remain. \u00a0The “Newcomers<\/a>“, who work in Japan and work for Japan. \u00a0As depicted in the picture of the labor-union demonstrators in the inset photo in the top right.<\/p>\n

Now\u00a0look at the larger photo. \u00a0It’s a xenophobic\u00a0demo about issues between Japan and Korea (and no doubt China<\/a>). \u00a0That’s not a debate about immigration. \u00a0It’s a hate rally airing historical grievances between Japan and it’s neighbors, gussied up as\u00a0a jerry-rigged issue about “Zainichis having special privileges as NJ” (the very root complaint\u00a0of the Zaitokukai group, which, even if those “special privileges” were meaningfully true, ought to happen anyway what with all the contributions the Zainichi have made to Japanese society both as prewar citizens of empire and postwar disenfranchised residents for generations; but I digress). \u00a0Anyway, the point is that the cover does not convey the issue of “immigration in Japan” accurately. \u00a0Zainichi issues dominate.<\/p>\n

Finally, note how all the Wajin demonstrators have their faces blocked out in the photo. \u00a0Clearly Wajin have privacies to protect. \u00a0Not so the NJ protesting in the photo inset. \u00a0Hence NJ once again have fewer rights to privacy in the Japanese media. \u00a0Just like this photo from the racist Gaijin Hanzai Magazine of yore (remember that? \u00a0more information here)<\/a>. Comparative powerlessness in visual form.<\/p>\n

\"gaijinhanzaipg11\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Next up, check out the Japan Today writeup\u00a0on the SAPIO\u00a0special:<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

Consultant urges ‘one-of-a-kind’ immigration policy for Japan<\/strong>
\nJAPAN TODAY KUCHIKOMI MAY. 12, 2014 – TOKYO \u2014<\/strong>
\n http:\/\/www.japantoday.com\/category\/kuchikomi\/view\/consultant-urges-one-of-a-kind-immigration-policy-for-japan<\/a>, courtesy lots of people<\/strong><\/p>\n

In its cover story for June, Sapio devotes 14 articles\u2014including a contribution by former Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara\u2014and 23 pages to wide-ranging discussions on the subject of immigration. It looks like substantial changes are coming, and coming soon. What form should immigration take? What are the merits and demerits?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Management consultant Kenichi Ohmae is, if anything, a pragmatic person. He also expresses his ideas logically and persuasively, and he has devoted a lot of thinking to the issue of immigration, which he suggests be adopted as a policy in three successive stages.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

First of all, the demographics don\u2019t lie: by 2050 the largest age segment in Japan\u2019s population pyramid, both for males and females will be those in their late 70s, with fewer and fewer younger people. If this course is maintained, people in their productive ages will decline rapidly. Ohmae says he pointed this out more than 20 years ago. During his past four decades as a business consultant, he has observed that in general, introduction of foreign workers in Japanese businesses has been carried out in five-year increments, during which time problems and challenges are resolved through a trial-and-error basis.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When one looks back 25 to 30 years, to the economic \u201cbubble,\u201d Japan found itself with a labor shortage, particularly in construction and manufacturing. It began bringing in \u201cNikkeijin\u201d (people of Japanese ancestry) from Latin America, along with Pakistanis, Iranians and others. Since there was no visa status for manual laborers, they entered on tourist or student visas, and the government feigned disinterest when they took blue-collar jobs.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Then the bubble collapsed, and these workers were summarily dismissed. The number of illegal foreign workers declined, and Japan was soundly criticized for its lack of interest in the workers\u2019 welfare.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The current Abe government appears inclined to issue guidelines that will expand entry by foreign workers in such fields as construction, nursing care, agriculture and household domestics.<\/a> On the other hand, it\u2019s proceeding with measures to ensure that the entry of such foreigners not be mistakenly construed as \u201cimmigration policies.\u201d In other words, time limits will be imposed on those workers\u2019 stays. Inevitably, this will result in a repeat of the mistakes and troubles that happened after the collapse of the bubble.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Considering that the Japanese babies being born now will take from 15 to 30 years before they start contributing to Japan\u2019s economy, it\u2019s clear that immigration offers Japan\u2019s only hope to preserve its economic vitality. And, Ohmae emphasizes, now is probably its last chance to take meaningful action.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The three stages Ohmae proposes are: First, Japan should emulate Silicon Valley in attracting 1,000 skilled people a year from such countries as Israel, India, Taiwan, Russia and East European countries. But these people should not be limited only to the field of Information Technology. They would be concentrated in six \u201cclusters\u201d around the country, mostly in large urban areas where they and their families would be made to feel at home with access to churches, schools and so on.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The second stage is to find a way to attract 100,000 professionals a year in the category of work titles with the \u201cshi\u201d suffix (such as \u201ckangoshi\u201d or nurse), trained care providers, attorneys, firemen, etc), all of which are currently in short supply.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The third stage is to accept blue-collar workers, of whom at least 300,000 per year will be needed to keep Japan\u2019s economic engine purring. Ohmae suggests the Japanese government set up and fund preparatory schools in countries likely to supply labor, where students can learn the basics of the Japanese language, laws, customs, and so on before they arrive. And passing an examination will entitle them to a Japanese-style \u201cgreen card,\u201d permanent residence and the right to work. Such a system is likely to help avoid concentration of unskilled foreigners who would gravitate to the slums that have created social problems in other countries.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When considering the future of immigration, Ohmae also urges the importance of avoiding its politicization among Japanese, so that when people debate its pros and cons, this can be done dispassionately, without tarring one another with \u201cright wing\u201d or \u201cleft wing\u201d labels.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: \u00a0Although unusually well-intentioned (check out his paternalistic and misogynistic attitudes\u00a0about Burmese and Aung San Suu Kyi in 1997’s SAPIO<\/a>), Ohmae, despite his verbal distancing from Japan’s perpetual “Revolving Door” visa regimes<\/a>,\u00a0fundamentally recycles the same old ideas about bringing in brainy NJ<\/a> (unscientifically linking job skills with thoroughbred nationalities\/ethnicities<\/a> and sequestering them in their own enclaves, once again<\/a>), with no apparent suggestion\u00a0about making these immigrants into Japanese citizens. \u00a0<\/em>Well, we don’t want to give them too much power to actually have any say over their own lives here. \u00a0NJ can come here to work so that we Wajin can stay economically afloat, but that’s all. \u00a0They shouldn’t expect much more than the privilege to work and stay in our rich country for as long as they’re needed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’ll leave the readers to parse out all the unconscious “othering NJ” microaggressions for themselves, but, ultimately, the question remains: \u00a0Where is the specialist commenting on “immigration” (there are people well-studied\u00a0in that science; try the United Nations) who will lend\u00a0a specifically-trained viewpoint to the debate, instead of the same old, hoary Wajin pundits defending their ideologies?<\/p>\n

Finally, consider the opening editorial article in SAPIO below, which explores the issue of discrimination in general in Japan. \u00a0Despite the title (which rightfully talks about hate speech\u00a0towards Zainichi Koreans and Chinese as shameful for a first-world country), it opens with some soul-searching about the Urawa Reds fans’ “JAPANESE ONLY” banner in Saitama Stadium as an example of Japan’s discriminatory attitudes. \u00a0Fine. \u00a0But then the article is hijacked once again by the (very important, but not complete) issues of domestic discrimination towards the Zainichi.<\/p>\n

Remember, this is an issue also devoted to IMMIGRATION. \u00a0 The numbers of the Zainichi Koreans and Chinese (i.e., the “Oldcomers”) have been dropping for many years now<\/a>. \u00a0They are not the immigrants of note. \u00a0The immigrants, as I defined above, are the NEWCOMERS. \u00a0And once again, their voice is not represented within the debate on discrimination or assimilation in Japan. \u00a0Those minorities, particularly the Visible Minorities, are silenced.<\/p>\n

What’s particularly ironic in\u00a0the citation of the Urawa Reds’ “Japanese Only” banner is that IT WOULD NOT HAVE AFFECTED THE ZAINICHIS. \u00a0“Japanese Only” as a narrative very specifically affects those who do not “look Japanese<\/a>“. \u00a0Thus any Zainichi in Saitama Stadium\u00a0that day would have “passed” as “Japanese” on sight identification, and could have chosen to sit\u00a0in those exclusionary stands. \u00a0Thus SAPIO, like just about all Japanese media I’ve ever seen, once again crosses its analytical wires, and with these narratives riddled with\u00a0blind spots and microaggressions, Japan’s\u00a0“immigration” issue will not be resolved.<\/p>\n

That said, I think PM Abe knows this. \u00a0That’s why his administration is going back to bribing Wajin to have more babies. \u00a0More on that here courtesy of JK<\/a>. \u00a0Dr. ARUDOU, Debito<\/p>\n

\"Sapio_June1\"<\/a> \"Sapio_June2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As noted in the Japan Today article cited below, SAPIO debate magazine (June 2014) devoted an issue specifically to the issue of immigration (imin) to Japan (what with the Abe Administration’s renewed plan to import 200,000 NJ per year). Good. But then SAPIO fumbles the issue with narratives that microaggress the NJ immigrant back into a position of being powerless and voiceless. First, let’s start with SAPIO’s cover. Notice anything funny? Look at the sub-headline in yellow talking about having a vigorous debate from “each world” (kyaku kai). Each? Look at the debaters pictured. See any Visible Minorities there? Nope, they’re left out of the debate once again. All we get are the typical powerful pundits (probably all Wajin, with “Papa Bear” Wajin Ishihara second in line). Where is the voice of the immigrant?<\/p>\n

And by “immigrant”, I mean people who have immigrated to Japan as NJ and made a life here as long-term resident if not actual Permanent-Resident holder. The people who have indefinite leave to remain. The “Newcomers”, who work in Japan and work for Japan. As depicted in the picture of the labor-union demonstrators in the inset photo in the top right.<\/p>\n

Now look at the larger photo. It’s a xenophobic public demonstration about issues between Japan and Korea (and no doubt China). That’s not a debate about immigration. It’s a hate rally airing historical grievances between Japan and it’s neighbors, gussied up as a jerry-rigged issue about “Zainichis having special privileges as NJ”. The point is that the cover does not convey the issue of “immigration in Japan” accurately. Zainichi issues dominate and suck the oxygen out of the arena.<\/p>\n

Lastly about this photo, note how all the Wajin demonstrators have their faces blocked out in the photo. Clearly Wajin have privacies to protect. Not so the NJ protesting in the photo inset. Hence NJ once again have fewer rights to privacy in the Japanese media. Just like this photo from the racist Gaijin Hanzai Magazine of yore (remember that?). Comparative powerlessness in visual form. Now let’s look at some arguments within the magazine itself: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,36,34,27,52,5,12,26,4,14,16,13,60,11,53,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bad-business-practices","category-bad-social-science","category-exclusionism","category-gaijin-hanzai-mag","category-hate-speech","category-human-rights","category-immigration-assimilation","category-ironies-hypocrisies","category-japanese-government","category-japanese-politics","category-labor-issues","category-media","category-nj-voices-ignored","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-unsustainable-japanese-society","category-8"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12389\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}