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REQUEST FOR INPUT FROM THE NON-JAPANESE RESIDENT COMMUNITY
By JAPAN IMMIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE, TOKYO
March 24, 2010
Mr SAKANAKA Hidenori, head of the Japan Immigration Policy Institute in Tokyo (http://www.jipi.gr.jp), author of books such as “Nyūkan Senki” and “Towards a Japanese-style Immigration Nation”, is looking for input from Non-Japanese (NJ) long-termers, and immigrants who would like to see Japanese immigration policy (or current lack thereof) head in a better direction?
Mr Sakanaka, former head of the Tokyo Immigration Bureau, has become a leading supporter of immigration to Japan, believing that Japan would be a stronger, more economically-vibrant society if it had a more open and focused immigration policy. More on his thoughts about “Big Japan vs. Small Japan” on Debito.org in English and Japanese here:
https://www.debito.org/publications.html#otherauthors
Mr Sakanaka wants your ideas and input as how Japan should approach a multicultural future, and (sensibly) believes the best way is to ask people who are part of that multiculture. Please consider getting in touch, if not making an appointment for a conversation, via the contact details at http://www.jipi.gr.jp/access.html, or via email at sakanaka AT jipi DOT gr DOT jp (English and Japanese both OK).
We would like to hold seminars, forums, and other convocations in future, working to make JIPI into a conduit for a dialog between Japan’s policymakers and the NJ communities.
Debito.org is proud to support Mr Sakanaka and his works, and has interned at JIPI with many an enlightening conversation. This proposal for community outreach is the product of one of those conversations. Please be in touch with JIPI.
— Arudou Debito, Coordinator, Debito.org and NGO FRANCA
(https://www.debito.org, http://www.francajapan.org)
ENDS
6 comments on “NGO Japan Immigration Policy Institute requests information from, meetings with NJ Residents”
Airport immigration…
Japan Times Tuesday, March 23, 2010
HAVE YOUR SAY
Degrading treatment at Narita immigration
“Detainees allege abuse at Kansai holding center” (Zeit Gist, March 9) by David McNeill:
First of all let me say that I am not trying to prove that what (West Japan Immigration Control Center detainee Moses) Ssentamu said was right or wrong, since there is still no concrete evidence. I am writing this simply to inform you that there is in fact a problem within Japanese immigration.
I studied in Japan recently to complete my degree. My mother, an Indonesian citizen, came to visit me often while I was in Japan. Every time she arrived she would stay within the time period allotted by immigration at Narita.
One time after a vacation, I returned to Japan with her. The immigration officer accused her of trying to stay/live in the country despite our insistence that she had never stayed over the time limit allowed by immigration. In the end she was sent home.
The story did not end here….
Rest at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20100323hs.html
That kind of sums things up.
There is no respect for other peoples culture and customs not allowing said perosn to remain so. Everything must be the Japanese way or no other way is acceptable. Being on holiday etc..this may be fine…but when one is living here, there is an extreme desire by “those” to remove ones own cultural identidy, so one can be “assimilated” into Japanese culture…because it is easier for them! Being ‘different’ is not socially acceptable in ‘normal’ day to day life here.
That’s the crux…being a homogenous society any deviance is easy to monitor and control. As such any variation is not tolerated. Ergo, one whom does not behave in the Japanese way, is treated unfairly. There is a fundamental difference between breaking a law and a social faux pas!
But to recognise any form of social etiquette/faux pas’, requires recognising other cultures and their norms as being just as acceptable as their own. But that doesn’t sit well with a racially homogenous society. Can’t have their cake and eat it!
It all really depends on what your goals are.
If Japan want to simply attract short-term manual labour to work at low-paying jobs, then that is one thing (with its own set of problems). Alternatively, if Japan wants to attract long-term (lifetime) immigrants for ongoing contribution to society then that is another thing (again, with its own set of problems).
Until Japan makes it clear what they are looking for, then it is difficult to know what to say to the policy makers.
I will say this to them though.
If you are serious about attracting and retaining respectable immigrants who will contribute to the society, you have to be prepared to treat them in much the same way that everyone else gets treated. They need to receive the same benefits (and responsibilities) otherwise they will leave.
That means not stopping them in the streets based solely on their looks and demanding identification from them. That means not repeatedly stopping and fingerprinting/photographing them every time they go through the airport. That means including them on the family register in a way that reflects their true status in the household. That means ensuring that their children receive adequate education. That means enacting racial discrimination laws that actually have teeth to ensure that their children are not barred from employment because of their racial heritage. That means finding ways to stop imflammatory comments about foreigners in the news, and in public.
Language training programs that some prefectures have established is commendable, and I think that is one area to focus on. However, people don’t need training on how to separate their garbage – a simple, low-cost, poster or leaflet in several languages is sufficient. So stop clapping yourselves on the back when you proclaim that your city will conduct garbage sorting education for foreigners – especially when the truth is revealed that sorting garbage makes no difference at all because it all ends up in the same place anyway.
While all of the above issues are still unadressed in Japan, you will never be able to create a stable base of respectable, law-abiding immigrants, because there are simply better places for them to live.
Japan will have to sort out its own garbage first.
— Nice little essay. Get it published as a letter to the editor somewhere at the appropriate time.
TJJ
“If you are serious about attracting and retaining respectable immigrants who will contribute to the society, They need to receive the same benefits (and responsibilities) otherwise they will leave.”
I ve been managing a company and hiring both NJs and Japanese for 12 years, but now I m leaving. Few benefits, high costs, both socially and financially. I also got divorced from my J wife as she wanted to have children and there was no way I was going to do that in Japan, or go through a J divorce and lose all visitation rights (sign the Hague Convention, Japan).
The company is panicking; this job is a hassle and too many things to juggle for someone who doesnt know the details and the bizarre cultural issues that crop up.
Tough luck. I m needed elsewhere.
Cue the Exodus.
— Sakanaka Shochou sends his thanks to the people who have sent him mail so far. Please, keep your opinions coming! Debito in Tokyo JIPI
TJJ
“If you are serious about attracting and retaining respectable immigrants who will contribute to the society, They need to receive the same benefits (and responsibilities) otherwise they will leave.”
I ve been managing a company and hiring both NJs and Japanese for 12 years, but now I m leaving. Few benefits, high costs, both socially and financially. I also got divorced from my J wife as she wanted to have children and there was no way I was going to do that in Japan, or go through a J divorce and lose all visitation rights (sign the Hague Convention, Japan).
The company is panicking; this job is a hassle and too many things to juggle for someone who doesnt know the details and the bizarre cultural issues that crop up.
Tough luck. I m needed elsewhere.
Cue the Exodus.