Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables and Figures
- Conventions and Abbreviations
- Acknowledgments
- Immigration and Citizenship in Japan
- Introduction: The Contradictions of Japan's Immigration and Citizenship Politics
- 1 Is Japan an Outlier? Cross-National Patterns of Immigrant Incorporation and Noncitizen Political Engagement
- 2 Constructing Citizenship and Noncitizenship in Postwar Japan
- 3 Negotiating Korean Identity in Japan
- 4 Citizenship as Political Strategy
- 5 Destination Japan: Global Shifts, Local Transformations
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
5 - Destination Japan: Global Shifts, Local Transformations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables and Figures
- Conventions and Abbreviations
- Acknowledgments
- Immigration and Citizenship in Japan
- Introduction: The Contradictions of Japan's Immigration and Citizenship Politics
- 1 Is Japan an Outlier? Cross-National Patterns of Immigrant Incorporation and Noncitizen Political Engagement
- 2 Constructing Citizenship and Noncitizenship in Postwar Japan
- 3 Negotiating Korean Identity in Japan
- 4 Citizenship as Political Strategy
- 5 Destination Japan: Global Shifts, Local Transformations
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
Summary
Kim Kyu Il, who heads the Korean organization Kangaeru kai, recounted an ironic experience he had while riding the subway in Tokyo. A small group of Nikkei (ethnic Japanese) Brazilians were gathered together in front of the sliding doors of a crowded train heading toward the bustling Ikebukuro district. This group caught the attention of many of the passengers because, as Kim put it, they were speaking loudly in Portuguese. After observing the group for some time, Kim un-self-consciously commented in Japanese to his riding companion, also a Korean resident, “There certainly are a lot of foreigners in Japan today” (interview with Kim Kyu Il, 30 March 1999, Tokyo).
In many respects, Japan typifies so-called recent countries of immigration. Conservative lawmakers and bureaucrats resist efforts to liberalize immigration policies, despite Japan's labor shortages, aging population, and low fertility rates, and focus their efforts on curbing illegal immigration. Pressures from businesses to import labor have been addressed through short-term solutions that amount to a type of guest-worker program. Immigrants with temporary visas often struggle to meet their basic needs, as they have limited access to health care and social services, are vulnerable to exploitation by their employers, and, if they overstay their visas, are in danger of immediate deportation. Although antiimmigrant violence is considerably lower in Japan than in Europe, antiimmigrant hostility manifests itself in statements by politicians, public notices about foreign criminality, and media reports that link foreigners with crime and disorder.
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- Immigration and Citizenship in Japan , pp. 144 - 172Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010