Tag Archives: japanese society

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by Robert Moorehead

I recently came across the writing of Akemi Johnson, a fellow Fulbright scholar who writes on issues of race, gender, and power in Okinawa. Johnson adeptly connects her experiences as the child of a Japanese American mother and a WASP father with the challenges the women and men of Okinawa face in dealing with the presence of US military bases in the prefecture.

Her website, akemijohnson.com, provides links to several articles that she has published, including a brilliant piece in the Kyoto Journal. She is currently working on a literary nonfiction book based on her experiences in Okinawa. Check out her work!

Update: After Protests, Genky Store Takes Down ‘Foreigner Crime’ Sign

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by Robert Moorehead

After protests by local non-Japanese residents, the Genky store in Minokamo, Gifu prefecture, has taken down the signs that warned foreign customers that they were being watched as potential criminals.

My Portuguese skills are limited, so hopefully a reader can help translate the video. I am encouraged by the response of the local non-Japanese community in standing up for their rights, and by the fact that the store management responded to those concerns.

Stereotypes are harder to maintain when the person the stereotypes supposedly describe is standing right in front of you. In that case, we sometimes fall victim to what Tim Wise has called “enlightened exceptionalism.” That is, have prejudiced views about a group but making an  exception for individual members of that group. This approach lets prejudiced whites vote for Barack Obama, while still holding racist views of African Americans. In this case, clerks at the Genky store might have said to the protestors, “Of course the sign doesn’t describe you. It refers to other foreigners.”

The protestors used the uncomfortable tension the staff likely felt when confronted with protests to their advantage, in demanding that the signs be taken down and in rewarding the removal of the signs with applause. In so doing, they hopefully have taken a step toward turning a foe into an ally. But whether the staff at Genky will still watch non-Japanese customers with suspicion or not, at least that suspicion is no longer publicly posted for all the world to see. The public posting of the signs reproduced and reinforced negative stereotypes of foreigners in Japan.

A Portuguese page on Facebook contains links and discussion about this issue: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Preconceito-eou-Discriminação-no-Japão/551075024924887.

Racism in Japan Part 2 日本では人種差別がありますか？パート２[字幕付き]

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by Robert Moorehead

Here is an update to my recent post on the American teacher who is being challenged for his lessons on racism and discrimination in Japan. Medama-sensei has posted an update, explaining why he will not be taking down his videos. Ganbare, sensei! And thank you for speaking truth to power.

80% of Japanese welcome foreigners of Japanese descent?

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by Robert Moorehead

After the posting of signs alerting foreign shoppers that they’re being watched for crimes at Genky markets, the Cabinet Office has announced the results of a poll on Japanese attitudes towards foreign residents of Japanese descent (Nikkei Teijū Gaikokujin). (Here’s a link to English coverage in the Japan Times.) 1,883 Japanese people responded to the survey, out of 3,000 asked, completing short structured interviews. The results of the survey are encouraging, with 80.9 percent of respondents stating that they would accept Nikkei into their communities. However I wonder about social desirability effects, or the extent to which people are saying what they think will make them look good. Is this a case of tatemae over honne?

The survey asked respondents if they knew that there were Nikkei living in Japan, and how they knew this. Nearly 53 percent the respondents either knew that Nikkei were living in Japan, or had heard about it. 46 percent answered that they did not know that this group was living in Japan. The fact that Nikkei are concentrated in industrial regions of the country may account for the high percentage of Japanese who were unaware that this group is here. (At its peak in 2007, nearly 400,000 South Americans were registered residents in Japan. Much of this population is either of Japanese descent, or is a family member of someone of Japanese descent.)

Only 16.7 of respondents who knew of the existence of Nikkei in Japan (that is, about 9 percent of all respondents) knew or had worked with someone who was Nikkei. Nearly 73 percent had heard about this group on TV, and 48 percent had read about them in the newspaper. Having less than one out of 10 respondents actually know someone who is Nikkei means that the Nikkei remain vulnerable to negative depictions in mass media. The National Police Agency fuels this situation by continuing its inaccurate connection of foreigners with crime. Fear sells newspapers and funds budgets.

88 percent of respondents state the Nikkei need to learn the language, and nearly 92 percent state they need to learn Japanese culture and customs. More specifically, when asked how much of the Japanese language and culture Nikkei should know prior to coming to Japan, 46 percent responded that the Nikkei should know enough to be able to live independently (fujiyū shinai). Another 42 percent responded that they should know the bare minimum to get by in their daily living. 41 percent answered that the Nikkei should be familiar with Japanese culture and customs before coming, while another 50 percent think they should at least learn this after they arrive. These points seem fairly obvious. Economic security and social mobility in Japan require learning the Japanese language and culture, and the Nikkei are adapting. Assimilation happens every day, in many little ways, even by those who might be opposed to “turning Japanese.”

The survey then examines respondents’ support for government policies to facilitate this assimilation, including programs for Nikkei kids in school, interpreters at Hello Work employment centers, and skills training for Nikkei workers. The survey did not include any discussion of how much money respondents would want the government to spend on these programs. 87 percent of respondents stated that special policies to facilitate the integration of the Nikkei should be either maintained (nearly 60 percent) or increased (27 percent).

The most surprising result was that nearly 81 percent said that they were open to accepting Nikkei into their local communities. 30 percent said they would accept them, and nearly 51 percent replied that they were somewhat open to accepting them (“Dochirakatoieba, ukeiretai“). Nearly 13 percent said they would prefer not to accept Nikkei into their local communities.

So what does this mean? What does it mean to ‘accept’ Nikkei into your community? Can they rent an apartment in your building? Work in your company as something other than a manual laborer? Can they join your social groups? Can they marry your daughter? And what are the conditions of this acceptance? Are they welcome as long as they act Japanese?

On the one hand, I’m encouraged by the support for Nikkei in Japan. It’s certainly better than if they had said the opposite. But … I’m skeptical. South Americans in Japan, Nikkei and non-Nikkei alike, have told me very clearly that they do not feel included in Japanese society. Instead, borrowing some phrases from Eli Anderson’s The Cosmopolitan Canopy, they’re perpetually ‘on probation.’ In this provisional status, any misstep can be used against you as a sign of the fact that you’ll never fit in. You can enjoy a certain bonhomie with Japanese, but there’s always that chance that you’ll make a mistake with the language or do something else wrong—and those faux pas could out you as a perpetual gaijin (foreigner/outsider). There’s always the risk of the gaijin moment, in which a Japanese person calls you out on your foreign status by calling you gaijin (or the gaijin‘s dressed up cousin, gaijin-san) or posting signs in stores warning all customers that gaijin are being watched as potential criminals.

Scholars have noted that surveys are better at reflecting respondents’ public performance of attitudes about minority groups, than at accurately measuring people’s “real” views. We’ve become really good at hiding what we think, and instead we present a front stage image of ourselves that tries to make us look good. Survey techniques that pursue the issue with flexible follow-up questions reveal more negative views, as do in-depth interviews. In Japanese, these presentations of self are defined as tatemae (your front stage performance) and honne (your true beliefs). So to what extent do these questions reflect respondents’ real views? Ethnographic research on this topic reveals persistent barriers to the fuller integration of non-Japanese into Japanese society. People will often say they’re open to having other groups live in Japan, but when push comes to shove, foreigners remain on probation.

Hopefully government officials will use this survey to promote further initiatives to empower the Nikkei (and hopefully other non-Japanese) in Japan. Publicly conducting the survey, posting it on the Cabinet Office website, and releasing it to the press, may indicate that the government is testing public support for such initiatives.

Help Us Get into Paperback

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Language and Citizenship in Japan

Click on the book cover for more details on the book, including an order form with a 20% discount.

by Robert Moorehead

(Update: Routledge is offering a 20 percent discount on the book, if you use the code ERJ69. Ordering details are available by clicking here to access and attached PDF file and order form.)

Last year, I published a chapter in the book Language and Citizenship in Japan. The fine folks at Routledge released the book in hardcover and Kindle formats, and now we’d like to see the book in paperback. Why? Because the hardcover book costs $116, and the Kindle edition $100. Only libraries will purchase the book at that price, and I’d like to see the book on more people’s shelves. We do this work not for book royalties, but to spread and share ideas.

Routledge generally sells paperbacks at a fraction of the the cost of hardcovers, and a paperback edition would likely bring the price of the Kindle edition down, also. The lower the price, the more likely people will buy the book and order it for classes—and the more our ideas will be part of the debates.

To get the magic paperback edition released, Routledge first needs to sell 200 copies of the hardcover. We can get there if more libraries purchase the book. So, if your library doesn’t already have it, then please encourage them to order it. This link gives you the information your library will need to order the book from Routledge:
http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415897228/

Here’s a blurb about the book:

The relationship between language and citizenship in Japan has traditionally been regarded as a fixed tripartite: ‘Japanese citizenship’ means ‘Japanese ethnicity,’ which in turn means ‘Japanese as one’s first language.’ Historically, most non-Japanese who have chosen to take out citizenship have been members of the ‘oldcomer’ Chinese and Korean communities, born and raised in Japan. But this is changing: the last three decades have seen an influx of ‘newcomer’ economic migrants from a wide range of countries, many of whom choose to stay. The likelihood that they will apply for citizenship, to access the benefits it confers, means that citizenship and ethnicity can no longer be assumed to be synonyms in Japan.

This is an important change for national discourse on cohesive communities. This book’s chapters discuss discourses, educational practices, and local linguistic practices which call into question the accepted view of the language-citizenship nexus in lived contexts of both existing Japanese citizens and potential future citizens. Through an examination of key themes relating both to newcomers and to an older group of citizens whose language practices have been shaped by historical forces, these essays highlight the fluid relationship of language and citizenship in the Japanese context.

It’s an excellent book, with engaging chapters written by leading scholars that are appropriate for general and academic audiences. If I weren’t already in the book, I’d definitely buy it—in paperback. And if my library didn’t have it, I’d push them to order it.

I’ll avoid for now any existential whinging about the fact that we can’t even sell 200 copies of a fine book. It’s depressing, and I’d rather not think about it. But this is a reflection of the tight market for academic books, where good books don’t get ordered because of shrinking budgets. Less expensive editions of books don’t get published because the more expensive editions didn’t sell, thereby discouraging people even more. It’s a downward spiral. But we can try to stop this downward trend by promoting each others’ books, and by gently nudging our librarians toward the texts that we want to read.

1.62 million single jobless Japanese socially ‘isolated’: study

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by Robert Moorehead

From The Japan Times:

A total of 1.62 million single unemployed people between the ages of 20 and 59 were “isolated” in Japanese society in 2011, according to a new study released Sunday.

The study defined as “isolated” those who fell within the age parameters and were not employed, receiving education or married, and who were alone or only in contact with family members on two consecutive days of the year.

(This bears repeating: All it takes to be officially “isolated” is being single and either unemployed or not in school, and staying home for two consecutive days.)

Based on surveys conducted by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry every five years, the study estimated that some 2.56 million single people in the 20-59 age bracket were not working or studying in 2011. Of those, 1.62 million were judged to be “isolated” from society, a 45 percent spike from the 1.12 million seen in 2006.

The study, led by University of Tokyo professor Yuji Genda, was commissioned by the education ministry-affiliated Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

“‘Isolated’ people tend to lose the will to find a job, and they are highly likely to end up in a financial bind,” Genda said.

He pointed to the urgent need for the central and local governments to assist such people by sending counselors to visit their homes and by introducing other measures to curb the rising social security costs engendered.

Meanwhile, a government white paper has shown that the total number of people aged 15 to 34 who were not in employment, education or training in 2012 stood at 630,000.

Experts have warned that the growing number of older single people without work is an emerging issue that especially needs to be addressed by the government.

(I’m not denying that social isolation can be a serious problem. The Japanese economy provides few opportunities for those who, for whatever reason, are not on the traditional employment paths. But you would think that the truly isolated spend more than just two days in a row at home.)

Pakistani student’s parents file complaint against classmates over bullying

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by Robert Moorehead

From the Mainichi Shimbun:

The parents of a 13-year-old Pakistani junior high school student in Takamatsu have filed a criminal complaint with police, accusing their son’s classmates of bullying and injuring him.

A male Pakistani student at a public junior high school in a town in Kagawa Prefecture was bullied and seriously injured by his classmates, his parents alleged in a complaint filed on Feb. 18 with prefectural police.

The parents requested on the same day that the town’s board of education investigate the case and take measures to prevent a recurrence as they claim the student has been racially abused by four of his classmates since last spring. However, the education board denies bullying took place at the school.

According to the parents who held a news conference, the student was verbally bullied about the color of his skin by four of his classmates ever since he entered school last April. The parents claim that the students would make racist comments that their son’s skin was “dirty” and that they told him to “go back to his home country.”

The student was also physically bullied repeatedly by his classmates. Last November, one of the four classmates tripped him over when he was running in the hallway, severely injuring his legs and face. Since that incident, the student reportedly has to use crutches to walk.

The student’s 41-year-old father said, “We asked the homeroom teacher and vice principle multiple times to improve the situation but they failed to take any action.”

Original Japanese article:  http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20130219k0000m040116000c.html

The Undocumented Immigrant Problem

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by Marina Kouyama

“Issue of undocumented immigrant” – the American society is now facing with this problem. In this paper, I focus on this “undocumented immigrant problem” of America at first, and then consider the situation in Japan compared with the United States.

In America today, 11.2 million undocumented immigrants are estimated to live in the country. It includes the largest number is Hispanics, Asians, Muslims and Europeans. It is the problem whether people view undocumented immigrants in a positive or negative way. People who affirm claim that undocumented immigrants are an important part of the U.S. society’s workforce even though they are “illegal.” In fact, many workers who work on a large farm are undocumented immigrants who come from Mexico and some other countries. While on the other hand, people who oppose argue that undocumented immigrant could disturb the social order, concerning that American citizens have to pay for undocumented immigrant’s medical-care cost or unemployment insurance, or undocumented people deprive American citizen of their employment opportunity. Also, it is the problem that young generation of “undocumented immigrant” are innocent because they were brought to the country by their parents.

The problem about undocumented immigrant was a controversial issue in the recent U.S. presidential election, in which Obama was reelected.

The undocumented immigrant’s issue about what to do with their visa status has been the one of big tasks of American politics. In the previous presidential election, Obama made a granting of a path to legal status for undocumented youths a campaign promise, and has been aimed to realize the enactment of the DREAM Act. However, the DREAM Act is still invalid because of the criticism from the opposition Republicans. Therefore, last June (before the election), Obama announced a new policy of undocumented immigrant. He took measure to grant temporary residential status to undocumented youths by executive order, which does not require congressional action. Young undocumented immigrants can get the status if they come to America before age of 16 years; are 30 or younger; have lived in America since 15 June 2007; graduated from or are currently in high school, or are an American soldier; have no previous records of committing crimes. It is presumed that about 0.8 to 1.7 millions of undocumented youths would be blessed with this new policy. In the recent election, Obama did not directly win the vote from them as they did not have the vote right.

However, he gained support from Hispanic-American those close to undocumented people. According to New York Times report, 71% of Hispanic-American voted for him. Attention is currently focused on future moves of Obama administration.

In contrast to sign of improvement of undocumented immigrant in the U.S., Japan’s situation is getting worse. On July 9, 2012, foreign resident registration system was abolished, due to the revision of the immigration law. Legal residents get “resident card”, meanwhile, illegal residents cannot gain it. There is fear that undocumented residents become lack of access to essential administrative services without public identification. Also, it will become more difficult for them to find employment. A Ministry of Justice view these detriments as natural result because law revision is to regulate illegal stay.

It is surprising to see the difference about policy toward undocumented people between the United States and Japan. Even though America is nation of immigrant and Japan is not, Japanese policy seems to me too harsh for those people. Illegal residents in Japan are undeniably labors who prop up the Japanese economy. Therefore, Japanese government should offer minimum services (education to medical treatment and social insurance).

References

27 November, 2012. Education Week. “Undocumented Youths Will Not Be Deported”. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2012/06/undocumented_youths.html

7 November, 2012. New York Times. “A Record Latino Turnout, Solidly Back Obama and Wield Influence”. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/us/politics/with-record-turnout-latinos-solidly-back-obama-and-wield-influence.html?_r=0

6 July, 2012. The Japan Times. “New Rules Put Scare Into Illegal Immigrants”. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120706f1.html

The problem Japanese Brazilians face when going back “home”

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by Chie Munemori

Today a great number of immigrants are living with us in Japan. Each of them has various types of reasons for leaving their home countries and migrating to Japan. In the case of Japanese Brazilians whose ancestors are Japanese who migrated from Japan to Brazil in the past hundred years, they immigrated back to Japan because of financial disaster which happened in the late 1980’s. They wish to get good job and send remittance to families in Brazil, and some of them even decide to settle down in Japan for rest of their lives. In fact, in spite of their dreams, the present situation surrounding them in Japan is against their wills. The circumstances are difficult for them in the extreme. Below I present some of those problems they face and also potential resolutions of them.

One is that most of Japanese Brazilians have citizenships of Brazil and they are already not familiar with the culture, customs, and social system of Japan. It means that many of them tend to have difficulties with their daily lives right after coming to Japan. For example, in my hometown Hiroshima, many Japanese Brazilians are there and one of my friends in my schooldays is also the one. She and her family did not understand even easy sentences written or spoken in Japanese so that they always had to ask their neighborhoods problems such as how to throw out garbage and to pass of a circular in their area. Response to this situation, some mayoral governments and local communities have started providing them with free support services such as Japanese school, offices to look for a job and to rent a house, desks to teach them how to pay taxes, and so on. Komatsu city in Ishikawa prefecture is the one of those local governments.

Secondary, Japanese compulsory education system does not include foreign children as its target because the Constitution of Japan in Article 14 says “All people shall have the right to receive an equal education correspondent to their ability, as provided by law” but Japanese Brazilians are not included in “all people”. In other words, in this article “all people” means people who have Japanese citizenship. That’s why public elementary schools in Japan do not have proper curriculum of Japanese for children who are not Japanese in it. And worse is that some of young Japanese Brazilian students in elementary school are ill-treated by classmates since they do not understand Japanese. In such cases, those students become not to go to school because of that. To result these problems, administration need to modify its educational system to give them chance to learn Japanese in public school as their human rights. Additionally, teachers in school need to teach students cross-cultural understanding between Japanese and those who have different cultural back grounds from them.

In conclusion, it is necessary to change our social system not only for Japanese Brazilian but also for us Japanese under the situation of decreasing birthrate and aging population. Japanese Brazilian is potential power in Japanese society. We have to reconsider their rights and life conditions.

Does Japan need to accept more immigrants or not?

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by Takumi Matsumoto

Today, our world is going to be globalized and the borders of country are vanishing little by little. Many people are traveling all over the world for business, sightseeing, or migration. In this situation, we are required to consider “How should Japan play an active part in international situation?” China overtook Japan as world’s second-biggest economy last year and we have been influenced by Europe’s debt crisis. In addition, we had the big earthquake on 11th march last year. Things in Japan are not good in terms of economy. In my opinion, Japan has to discuss about immigrants and immigration system in order to accept more immigrants. There are several reasons for that. But, we have to develop the plan slowly and carefully.

First reason why I recommend getting immigrants is countermeasure for aging society. Aging society is one of the most serious problems we have in Japan. Some researchers said that the population of elderly people will be one-third of total population in Japan. It means that young people are imposed great financial burden on the health care for elderly. The decline of young people accelerates to make the situation worse. So accepting immigrants brings the labor force and rises up the birthrate. Second reason is finances that they pay as taxes. If immigrants live in Japan, they have to pay taxes. Then government makes most of the money useful for health care or economic recovery.

However, there are difficulties at the same time. For example, many Japanese residences are not willing to accept immigrants partly because they are afraid of increasing criminal rate and a job shortage for Japanese people. According to one research, 48.5% of Japanese firmly refuse immigrants. 19.3% don’t want immigrants that much. 16.8% said that there is no choice but to accept immigrants. It means 74.6 % of Japanese have a hesitant idea for immigrants. Besides, Japan doesn’t have good enough immigration system. If we accept immigrants easily and carelessly, immigrants will get old and become a part of aging society, even though they give us great labor force in few decades.

In conclusion, Japan cannot make requirements for immigrants loosely now because of insufficient system or law for immigrants. But we finally have to accept immigrants in the future in order not only to make Japan better, but also to make futures of world better. We need to think about Japan and immigrants.