mytest
Hi Blog. I spoke at Waseda University’s Global Institute for Asian Regional Integration (GIARI) on January 22, 2008. Speech topic here. I was joined by Kawakami Sonoko, of Amnesty International Japan, and Katsuma Yasushi, Associate Professor at Waseda specializing in international human rights. The sound files (two were podcasts) are available below in four parts.
Part One offers the first 25 minutes of the proceedings (the first couple of minutes were cut off), with my presentation. I talk about how Japan has brought in foreign laborers for economic reasons and not taken care of them. I also allude to the huge growth in Permanent Residents (the surest indicator of real immigration), and how with its lack of a clear policy towards migration, Japan’s economy is the only one of the rich countries to have shrunk overall on average in the past ten years. I make the case that Japan in fact needs immigration, while stampeding breathlessly through a measly alloted twenty minutes (gripe, gripe).
You can download Part One as an mp3 file here. It was also featured as a podcast on Trans Pacific Radio.
You can follow my powerpoint presentation by downloading it here and also read is here.
Part Three, offering comments from Katsuma-sensei, is here.
Part Four, offering Q&A from the audience for the first two-thirds, then responses from Kawakami-san and yours truly, is here. Within it I make the case (for the first time) for Academic Social Responsibility. Part Four was also a podcast on Trans Pacific Radio.
The sound quality is as good as we can make it. Thanks for listening. Arudou Debito
2 comments on “January 22, 2008 Waseda speech podcast downloadable in full”
So NJs make up 3% of the working population in Japan. This equates to around 50million Japanese workers in Japan. Your premise is not sound; allowing “easier” access or rules or laws etc for NJs to work in Japan will not solve their economic and social problems. An increase of 1% in the working population (500,000 per year), whether NJs or even Japanese will do nothing save for a sticking plaster or Q-tip on a cut to the jugular.
Ask yourself this question. During the booming 80s/90s, what was the percentage of the working NJs in Japan? If the answer is greater than say 25%, then you have a point. If the answer is less than 10%, your premise holds no water. Since 3% of the general working population will not significantly affect the economy no matter where one is living. Ergo, easier or better or more immigration is not the solution to the problem.