{"id":12437,"date":"2014-06-04T23:22:34","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T09:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12437"},"modified":"2014-06-07T14:15:54","modified_gmt":"2014-06-08T00:15:54","slug":"sneak-preview-my-next-japan-times-jbc-76-personalize-the-framing-of-the-immigration-debate-tentative-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12437","title":{"rendered":"My Japan Times JBC column 76: “Humanize the dry debate about immigration”, June 5, 2014, with links to sources"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n========================================
\nHumanize the dry debate about immigration<\/strong>
\n By Dr. ARUDOU, Debito<\/strong>
\n JUST BE CAUSE COLUMN 76 FOR THE JAPAN TIMES<\/strong>
\nJune 5, 2014, courtesy\u00a0<\/strong>http:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/community\/2014\/06\/04\/issues\/humanize-dry-debate-immigration\/<\/a>
\nVersion with links to sources.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s pundits are at it again: debating what to do about the sinking demographic ship. With the low birthrate, aging and shrinking society (we dropped below 127 million this year) and top-heavy social security system, Japan\u2019s structural problems will by many accounts spell national insolvency.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

However, we\u2019re hearing the same old sky pies: Proposals to plug the gaps with more Japanese babies<\/a>, higher retirement ages<\/a>, more empowered women in the workplace<\/a>\u00a0(also here<\/a>) \u2014 even tax money thrown at matchmaking services<\/a>!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And yet they still won\u2019t work. Policymakers are working backwards from conclusions and not addressing the structural problems, e.g., that people are deserting a depopulating countryside<\/a> for urban opportunities in an overly centralized governmental system, marrying later (if at all)<\/a> and finding children too expensive or cumbersome<\/a> for cramped living spaces, having both spouses work just to stay afloat, and feeling perpetual disappointment over a lack of control over their lives. And all thanks to a sequestered ruling political and bureaucratic elite whose basic training is in status-quo maintenance, not problem-solving for people they share nothing in common with.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, proposals have resurfaced about letting in more non-Japanese (NJ) to work. After all, we have that time-sensitive 2020 Tokyo Olympics infrastructure to build<\/a> \u2014 oh, and a Tohoku to reconstruct someday<\/a>. And no self-respecting white-collar Taro wants those 3K (kitsui, kitanai and kiken \u2014 difficult, dirty and dangerous) jobs. Never mind that policymakers have rarely cared about the NJ already here investing their lives in Japan, long discouraged from settling via revolving-door visa regimes<\/a>, and even bribed to leave in 2009<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

So, come back! All is forgiven!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Predictably, the Shinzo Abe administration recently announced the expansion of the \u201ctrainee\u201d program. You know, that exploitative, abusive and unmonitored system that has imported NJ since 1990, free from the protections of labor law<\/a>? The one that causes dozens of NJ deaths from overwork and other \u201cunknown causes\u201d every year<\/a>, and keeps many in conditions of virtual slavery<\/a>? Despite a decade of criticisms from human-rights groups, parliamentarians and the United Nations<\/a>, these three-year visas have been lengthened by two more so we can exploit them longer.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And then, a previously taboo word entered the discussion: imin (immigration). It made such an impact that prominent debate magazine Sapio made it June\u2019s cover story.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Michael Hoffman reviewed this spread in the JT in his Big In Japan column on May 24, \u201cWill Japan be a country that welcomes all<\/a>?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Great. But I\u2019ll answer Michael\u2019s question right now: no \u2014 and not just for an obvious reason like Japan\u2019s innate mistrust of outsiders. We also have a structural problem with how the concept of imin is being framed. It goes beyond constant othering and alienation: NJ aren\u2019t even being seen as people.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Last time this debate came up, I lambasted the government for shutting NJ long-termers out of the deliberation councils drafting policies affecting them<\/a>. I also mentioned how policymakers avoided the word imin.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

So now imin has been formally broached \u2014 albeit while being stigmatized: The person in charge of the Immigration Bureau, Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, immediately said NJ would present \u201cadverse effects on security.\u201d <\/a>(Note to ad agencies: Don\u2019t hire Tanigaki to sell your product.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But imin has also been dehumanized. Look up \u201cimmigrant\u201d in an English-Japanese dictionary and you get words such as ij\u016bmin, ij\u016bsha, imin r\u014dd\u014dsha and, oddly, mitsuny\u016bkokusha and fuh\u014d ny\u016bkokusha (illegal immigrant).<\/a> But these aren\u2019t immigrants: These are migrants, here temporarily, as properly translated by domestic NGOs looking out for NJ interests, such as the Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan<\/a> (Iju Rodosha to Rentai Suru Network).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The word for \u201cimmigration,\u201d meaning something permanent, is imin \u2014 denoted on the Denshi Jisho dictionary site as a \u201csensitive\u201d word<\/a> (of course; that\u2019s why the government avoided using it for so long).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But we still have no word for an immigrant as an individual person, such as iminsha, with its own honorific sha \u2014 in the same vein as ij\u016bsha (migrant), r\u014dd\u014dsha (laborer), teij\u016bsha (settler, usually a Nikkei South American), zairy\u016bsha (temporary resident), eij\u016bsha (permanent resident) and even (in a few government documents<\/a>) kikasha (naturalized citizen).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s just the clipped imin. That means nobody gets to claim \u201cI am an immigrant\u201d in Japan. (Try it: \u201cWatashi wa imin desu\u201d sounds funny.) And this in turn means immigration remains a strictly statistical animal. Lost in this narrative is the idea that when we import labor, we import people. With lives. And needs. And voices to be heard.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This kind of framing damages the debate by taking away the immigrant\u2019s voice. Take that Sapio special: From the very cover, you\u2019ll notice that not one visible minority is featured among the talking heads. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Almost all those speechifying inside are elite Japanese (including former Tokyo governor and professional bigot Shintaro Ishihara, which already signals where things are headed): the same old pundits defending their ideological camps with no real new ideas.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But more indicative of the framing of the debate is the main photo on Sapio\u2019s cover: a hate-speech rally showing anti-Korean demonstrators vs. anti-racism counterdemonstrators. (A smaller inset photo shows South Americans at a labor-union rally. Their faces are visible, unlike those in the larger photo, which were blurred out to protect people\u2019s privacy. More evidence of powerlessness: Apparently NJ aren\u2019t people with privacy concerns.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hang on: An anti-Korean rally is not an issue of immigration; it\u2019s got more to do with Japan\u2019s unresolved historical issues with its neighbors.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you define \u201cimmigrants\u201d as NJ who have moved to Japan and made a life here as long-term residents (if not regular permanent residents, or ippan eij\u016bsha) \u2014 i.e., the \u201cNewcomers\u201d \u2014 that\u2019s a different group than the one being demonstrated against.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Being targeted instead are the \u201cOldcomers\u201d \u2014 the Zainichi Korean and Chinese special permanent residents (tokubetsu eij\u016bsha), descendants of former citizens of empire who have been living in and contributing to Japan for generations.<\/a> The Oldcomers are not the \u201cimmigrants\u201d in question \u2014 and from this blind spot, the debate goes askew.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sapio\u2019s editorial on discrimination towards NJ (pages 20-21)<\/a> not only neglects to mention any examples of discrimination against Japan\u2019s Newcomers; it also crosses its analytical wires by citing the Urawa Reds \u201cJapanese only\u201d exclusionary banner at Saitama Stadium last March<\/a> as hate speech against the Oldcomers.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hang on again: That \u201cJapanese only\u201d banner would not have affected the Zainichis. \u201cJapanese only\u201d is a narrative targeting Japan\u2019s visible minorities, i.e., those who don\u2019t \u201clook Japanese\u201d enough to pass an exclusionary manager\u2019s scrutiny.<\/a> Naturally, after several generations here, Zainichi can quietly enter a \u201cJapanese only\u201d zone without drawing hairy eyeballs. And while the historical wrongs done to the Zainichi in Japan are very worthy of discussion, they should not suck the oxygen out of the debate on immigrants.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But I believe this is by design: By entangling the debate in the same old Zainichi issues, the xenophobes can derail it with the same old paranoid fears about granting rights to potentially subversive North Korean and Chinese residents. This makes the true iminsha not only voiceless but invisible.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly what the xenophobes want. A common theme in rightist writings is \u201cmore foreigners means less Japan,\u201d and admitting more visible minorities (which inevitably happens when you import people) will always bring forth that tension. Best to just argue as if they don\u2019t exist.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

So what to do? Be Gandalf and say \u201cThat shall not pass!\u201d Just as the Urawa Reds fans\u2019 \u201cJapanese only\u201d banner forced the domestic media in March to finally admit that racial discrimination happens in Japan<\/a>, we must force the nation\u2019s elites to reframe the concept of immigration and humanize the immigrants behind the statistics. Allow the public to see a way to welcome Newcomers not only as individuals, but also as long-termers, immigrants and, ultimately, as citizens with the same rights and obligations as every other Japanese. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The elites will resist this, because the economic incentives are clear: The more powerless and invisible you keep NJ, the easier it is to exploit them.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

So, if you want to finally address one of Japan\u2019s structural problems, start by popularizing the word iminsha. Let regular folk with regular lives attach that term to an NJ neighbor they know. Then give them a voice.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Otherwise, it\u2019s same old debate, same old (and getting older) Japan.<\/em><\/strong>
\n========================================<\/p>\n

Debito Arudou received his Ph.D. from Meiji Gakuin University in International Studies in April. Twitter: @arudoudebito. Just Be Cause appears on the first Thursday of the month. Your comments: community@japantimes.co.jp<\/em><\/p>\n

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

Opening: Japan\u2019s pundits are at it again: debating what to do about the sinking demographic ship. With the low birthrate, aging and shrinking society (we dropped below 127 million this year) and top-heavy social security system, Japan\u2019s structural problems will by many accounts spell national insolvency.<\/p>\n

However, we\u2019re hearing the same old sky pies: Proposals to plug the gaps with more Japanese babies, higher retirement ages, more empowered women in the workplace \u2014 even tax money thrown at matchmaking services! <\/p>\n

And yet they still won\u2019t work. Policymakers are working backwards from conclusions and not addressing the structural problems, e.g., that people are deserting a depopulating countryside for urban opportunities in an overly centralized governmental system, marrying later (if at all) and finding children too expensive or cumbersome for cramped living spaces, having both spouses work just to stay afloat, and feeling perpetual disappointment over a lack of control over their lives. And all thanks to a sequestered ruling political and bureaucratic elite whose basic training is in status-quo maintenance, not problem-solving for people they share nothing in common with. <\/p>\n

Of course, proposals have resurfaced about letting in more non-Japanese (NJ) to work\u2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,36,34,5,12,4,14,16,13,60,11,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academia","category-bad-social-science","category-exclusionism","category-human-rights","category-immigration-assimilation","category-japanese-government","category-japanese-politics","category-labor-issues","category-media","category-nj-voices-ignored","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-unsustainable-japanese-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12437","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=12437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12437\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}