2003年07月23日 水曜日
Series: Can Japan Change?
by Justin Hall
Japan
From Gen Kanai, who has been following this series on his weblog:
Howard French of the New York Times has done an excellent 3-part series titled "Can Japan Change?" which covers three key trends to watch in Japan including a wider role for the military in Japan, the need and challenges for drastically more immigration into Japan, and the role of women in the workforce and issues surrounding gender inequality.
All three are very challenging articles, because of the questions they raise for Japan's future. My perception is that while these changes may be needed for Japan, the need for social harmony will prevent or delay most of these social changes as it has for years in the past. It seems to me that Japan values social harmony much more than cheap labor or gender equality or perhaps even national defense. The most interesting question for me is 'what is more important than social harmony?'
Posted by Justin Hall at 2003年07月23日 05:37
Comments
Many things are made to be now considered about dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces which have been a problem... As the same Japanese. The future of future Japan is uneasy. . .
Frankly saying, I don't feel like that many Asians would immigrate Japan in near future. I dare not say I am conservative enough to be against any immigrants. I just feel it fearful how terribly they would be treated in society once they take permanent residence. Look at the refugee coming from South Vietnam in Japan. Do you feel them happy in Japan ? I am afraid of saying no. Some might have succeeded in business, but many others have been living in despair with unemployment and with lack of fluent business conversation ability in Japanese language and lack of business skills which society requires. In 1970's , only two thousand Vietnamian landed Japan. But how many of them actually got themselves pleased in daily life in Japan ? For me , at least until such refugees become satisfied in Japan , or until not only government but Japanese citizens find a way to suppport them to be happy , I think Japan shoud maintain no immigration system. Just open-the door-system to immigrants without any mental and finacial support strategy would never satisfy new commers.
I suppose Kyukko had a point in that immigrants to Japan appear to invariably encounter racism. One would hate to open the doors to immigration, only to discover five years later that many of the immigrants are leaving because they can't stand dealing with Japanese racism.
For more practical matters, like ability to communicate in Japanese, skills that will achieve jobs and so on, it is easy to control things through immigration criteria. Ultimately, however, a lot of the social harmony depends on the attitudes of the Japanese people, not the immigrants.
New Zealand has had immigration more or less constantly since the country was founded in 1840. We have had multiracial immigration of "brown" and "yellow" people as well as white people in large numbers since the early 1970s. Immigrants coming into New Zealand since then number about 20% of the total population.
Unfortunately there is still some significant resistance in some circles towards immigration, and the various social and infrastructural problems that it does create. There is still a lot of resistance against hiring people with less-than-perfect English, even people with graduate degrees or proven work experience offshore.
(It has been found that support for immigrants is actually strongest in regions with more immigrants, although it's not clear whether this is because the immigrants themselves provide the support, or because people actually realise that immigrants are nice people once they know them.)
In Japan's case, I think immigration in reasonable numbers will be held off until the social chaos caused by shrinking numbers of young people and economic problems makes the social discomfort seem not so bad in comparison to the economic problems. Likewise, I think we'll find as the numbers of young people shrink, more young women will be taking responsibility in the workforce because there aren't enough men around to do the job. I understand this happened in World War Two in the United States and other countries, when women ran the factories as men went off to war.
While moving forward very slowly on immigration liberalisation and women's rights has been the easy option for Japan, historically speaking, sending troops to Japan is just another action in a long history of sucking up to the USA and not having an independent foreign policy. Remember the Security Treaty protests in the 50s and 60s?
Hello, I'm someone whose looking to live in Japan. I don't know how well or how far I can get by living there. I'm so willing to take the challenge though. Most notably, Japanese have some sort of lower opinion of Hispanic and Black people. This has greatly troubled me, as I will be confronting arrogance and ignorance at a greater level than normally seen here where I live. Which happens to be California. I've come to regard my home with great praise and critism, like anyone else of their home. But how the Japanese deal with foriegners seems rather wrong, even however much they try to sugar coat it. This puritanic behavior makes them no different than the racist southern whites in teh Bible Belt, and those of whom imprisoned Japanese-Americans back in WW2. I wonder now if Japan is truly an enlightened place and a country much a part of teh world community. And I do apologize for this very comparison, as some may find it offensive and perhaps inaccurate. But such behavior can only be stemmed off of suspicion of something not normal or seen as not acceptable. These restrictions, demographic control, denial of education, un-equal treatment of services, and deragatory mistreatment and apparent intended limitization of opportunity for immigrant children. I find this appalling and absolutely distasteful. Japan, if its citizenry so wishes to be treated equally abroad, the same must be done for those who wish to be part of Japan, with both their skin color and culture.
Frankly saying, I don't feel like that many Asians would immigrate Japan in near future. I dare not say I am conservative enough to be against any immigrants. I just feel it fearful how terribly they would be treated in society once they take permanent residence. Look at the refugee coming from South Vietnam in Japan. Do you feel them happy in Japan ? I am afraid of saying no. Some might have succeeded in business, but many others have been living in despair with unemployment and with lack of fluent business conversation ability in Japanese language and lack of business skills which society requires. In 1970's , only two thousand Vietnamian landed Japan. But how many of them actually got themselves pleased in daily life in Japan ? For me , at least until such refugees become satisfied in Japan , or until not only government but Japanese citizens find a way to suppport them to be happy , I think Japan shoud maintain no immigration system. Just open-the door-system to immigrants without any mental and finacial support strategy would never satisfy new commers.