(This is the text of an article published in two parts, by NKK News--part one in April, 1999. For jpeg, click here. Sent to Fukuzawa, Issho, Friends, UFJ, Signif, JALTCALL, IRPS Alumni April 15, 1999)

"This blue-eyed dolly is born of American celluloid..."

So goes a Japanese children's song, capturing the exoticism and exclusivity felt about non-Asian characteristics.

However, these outside genes, like outside ideas, may soon be co-opted into Japan's self-image. One reason for this is international marriage, but another surprising factor is immigration: more and more foreigners are becoming Japanese citizens.

First, international marriages: Once, statistically few Japanese married foreigners, let alone settle and raise their children in Japan. No longer. According to government statistics, Japanese-foreign marriages are steadily increasing, from 5,546 (1970), 7,261 (1980), 25,806 (1990), to 28,251 (1997). Nowadays around 7% of all Metropolitan Tokyo marriages are international.

Moreover, these families are staying--registered foreigners surpassed 1.3 million this decade. Although few in a land of 120 million, their children as Japanese citizens evade statistics and underestimate the emerging social diversity.

Already "people of differences" are appearing in Japan's pop culture. To wit: Miyazawa Rie, Umemiya Anna, Haga Kenji, and Odaira Keiko-Annette are famous models, TV personalities, and news anchors. They are increasingly seen more for their talents than their mixed bloodline.

Furthermore, people with no blood linkage with Japan are staying permanently and assimilating into their communities. Japanese-speaking foreigners in business and mass media are moving from "token" to "serious" participants, and in metropolitan areas, fluency is viewed with less surprise or suspicion. Some, like Finland-born Upper-House candidate Tsurunen Marutei, are even taking citizenship and running for public office.

A little background on Japanese citizenship requirements: Same as only Germany in the OECD, Japan's laws are based upon jus sanguinis, meaning only those with Japanese blood may automatically have Japanese nationality. This has alienating effects. Japan-born ethnic Koreans and Chinese (many descendents of laborers brought over during WWII) legally become foreigners, bearing foreign passports--even if they speak only Japanese and have never set foot in their "native lands". Moreover, Japan will soon be the only OECD country not permitting dual nationality--creating an element of identity sacrifice for potential immigrants.

Regardless, 11,146 people naturalized in 1993, with numbers increasing annually. Why? There are probably as many reasons as there are people. Love is one--hence the marriages. So is economics: Citizenship is often a requirement for participation and advancement, so Japan's sportsmen, like soccer players and sumo wrestlers, turn Japanese to avoid discrimination.

But another motivation is just practicality. Many people reside here permanently, with stable incomes, families, even land. The present economic downturn notwithstanding, Japan is no longer a quaint country, "interesting for a visit, but not a place to live". Japan has economic and social conditions far better than most nations, even equal to or surpassing OECD countries. There are more reasons to stay than ever before.

Admittedly, naturalization is still statistically low. The US, for example, averages 1300 new citizens per day, meaning America naturalizes more in a fortnight than Japan in a year!

But again, with more "people of color" staying, assimilating, and procreating here, it is only a matter of time before the "foreign diaspora" changes the physical image of what it means to be Japanese. Phrases like "not while my eyes are black" (boku no me ga kuroi uchi ni--meaning, "over my dead body"), like the children's song lyric above, may well become cultural relics.