tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post8331989325520289369..comments2023-10-09T00:45:55.603+09:00Comments on Shisaku: Mendacity and Hope as Regards ImmigrationMTChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04626942240117432624noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-3336884227918639062008-07-11T11:55:00.000+09:002008-07-11T11:55:00.000+09:00Monsieur Shisaku,Your analysis is as long as impre...Monsieur Shisaku,<BR/>Your analysis is as long as impressive and well-written. Actually, a couple of weeks ago, France's newspaper Le Monde ran a column on the recognition of the Ainu as a gesture that may also be seen as an implicit recognition of the... it's hard to say it in the same sentence... yes, the diversity of the Japanese people. And another article noted the obligation for Japan to open its frontiers to foreigners, sooner or later. Truth be told, it's not difficult to get a visa for Japan - not as much as it is to get one for America - but the real problem comes from the "us vs. them" ("Ware ware Nihonjin") perception of the rest of the world when you live there. They look at gaijin like talking dogs. In a globalized world, so many Japanese really have this archaic, furukusai and dassai way of thinking that will cost them more and more in terms of creativity, competitiveness, innovation and quality of services/infrastructures. They need doctors, nurses, waiters, and so on. But the only thing they are obsessed with is their old-fashioned nationalism. Japanese TV doesn't mention anything about the rest of the world in its program. Being in Japan, you would even think that Palestina and Israel settled their problems long ago. In fact, seen from the US or Europe, Japan's angry, ugly nationalism looks like a tempest in a teacup: nobody cares, and the Japanese themselves will have to open their frontiers to the unpleasant gaijin who talk loud and do not know how to behave Japanesely. It strikes me to observe a clever people being so stubborn and unwilling to adapt to its own stupidity. BTW, I would be happy to read your analysis on that book that you once recommended to me ("Kokugaku"), on the birth of Japan's nationalism. So, that first step toward a Japanese "multi-ethnicity" mentioned in Le Monde would be a positive reaction of the Archipelago to the wave of globalization. At long last. (I am surprised you did not mention it). And a good answer to the Nikkei boneheaded editorial. In fact, when the author of the editorial retires, he will be happy to have a nurse from Manila to help him in his daily life. Last but not least, I believe the foreigners living in Japan should have their voices heard by writing editorials too -- in Japanese, mochiron. As the Japanese people are reluctant to face those issues, gaijin-san could help them understand their grievances and the complex reality of a world where one in 35 is an immigrant.<BR/><BR/>See here: http://ethnolyceum.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/le-japon-reconnait-le-peuple-ainou/<BR/>and here:<BR/>http://www.lemonde.fr/opinions/article/2008/06/23/tokyo-opte-a-regret-pour-l-immigration-par-philippe-pons_1061742_3232.html<BR/>for the articles from Le Monde.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-39277891694337001242008-07-08T10:31:00.000+09:002008-07-08T10:31:00.000+09:00The core of conservatism is resisting societal cha...The core of conservatism is resisting societal change. And yes immigration is change, on a large scale. So is depopulation of course. This really isn't about limited-time work immigration; it is all about foreigners establishing themselves permanently in substantial numbers. What they really don't want to touch - don't even want to think about - is that prospect of immigrants establishing themselves and having their children becoming part and parcel of the societal fabric.<BR/><BR/>There seems to be some idea among some Japanese conservatives about a tree of ancestry culminating in a sort of regional Adam and Eve, with everybody in the nation connected in a hyperextended family. Quite a few of the less rational beliefs of the conservatives seem to originate from this (counterfactual) view of Japanese history. Actual immigration upends this image and would force people to redefine what constitutes "japanese". <BR/><BR/>And if there's anything a conservative does not want to do (and to be fair, most other people are understandably not keen on it either), it is having to completely rethink one's basic societal beliefs. The reaction is completely understandable and completely expected. It doesn't really help, of course; I am getting the feeling they are fighting a rear-guard action here, against something that, like it or not, will become inevitable.Jan Morenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06834641501438709866noreply@blogger.com