Recent years have seen a range of developments in Japan regarding issues of ethnicity, nationality and cultural difference.
Some have been encouraging: the abolition of the fingerprinting system; the
partial relaxation of immigration policy that has seen the number of legal
foreign residents of Japan nearly double in the last 15 years; positive attempts
by some local authorities to create a more welcoming environment for foreigners;
legal victories by foreign residents objecting to racist treatment by Japanese
businesses; and naturalized foreigners starting to break into Japanese politics.
But at the same time, we have also seen signs of rising nationalism in Japan:
the designation of the Hinomaru and Kimigayo as official national symbols and
increasingly authoritarian enforcement of their use in schools; a series of
inflammatory racist comments by certain Japanese politicians; increasing tension
between Japan and her Asian neighbors over territorial issues and the historical
legacy of World War Two; and a welter of media coverage associating foreigners
with crime. Despite various half-measures, immigration law remains extremely
conservative, and refugees are still almost entirely excluded from Japan.
So what are we to make of this mixed pattern? As the falling birthrate gradually
increases Japan’s need for foreign labor, it seems likely that Japan will
become a more multi-ethnic society in the coming years. Will that society be
marked
by tolerance and mutual respect, or by strife and mutual hatred? We ask our
panelists to tell us about their own experiences engaging with these issues,
and to gaze into the crystal ball and tell us how they see the future for people
of different ethnicities in Japanese society.