Open or closed?
Developments in the Japanese migration policy since 1990.
Arjen Nieuwenburg 1290959 Master Thesis Supervisor: Marlou Schrover Wordcount: 17009
1
Introduction
Since the start of the post WWII period Japan has presented itself as a homogenous nation, a country of one people. Nowadays the presence of foreign residents in Japan has become increasingly more visible. In spite of Japan’s restrictive immigration policy, which prevents foreign workers from settling down in large numbers. The increasing inflow of foreign settlers in a country like Japan in which the myth of ‘Japan as a homogenous nation’ is still widespread, leads to public debate.1 Currently, due to an ageing population and declining birth-rate, Japan actually needs foreigners because of the shortage of labour and to put a stop to the decline in economic growth. The increase in demographic problems in the country mean that, for the first time, Japan has to welcome foreign workers.
Japanese migration and integration are not necessarily a phenomenon that emerged in the past decade, it finds its origin in the post-war period. However, issues with migration and integration are now more public and debatable in Japan, and thus we can get a better view of the situation. Last year, for instance, Japan opened up its border to low skilled workers in specific areas of industry.
A recent newspaper article called the new law that was implemented by the Abe administration, the most comprehensive reform of Japan’s immigration policy since 1990.2 The reform offers a new direction for immigration policy evolution. It also shows a growing realization in Japan of the importance of accepting migration as viable policy option. This means that last year with the implementation of the law, 300.000 foreign workers were allowed to enter Japan for a long period of time, with more to follow.3 I think that it is a quite curious development that a country which sees itself as homogenous suddenly opens up its borders for thousands of foreign workers. A lot has happened in developments prior to this event and a big change in government attitude towards foreigners has taken place. The aim of this essay is to find out what has changed in the government attitude to make such a shift in opinion on migration take place. The main question this essay aims to answer is: On what levels did Japanese migration and integration policy change after the 1990s and up until now
1 Bumsoo Kim, ‘From Exclusion to Inclusion? The Legal Treatment of ‘Foreigners’ in Contemporary Japan’,
Immigrants & Minorities 24 (2006) 51–73, 52.
2 Arnab Dasgupta, ‘Japan’s Immigration Policy: Turned Corner or Cul-De-Sac? A new immigration reform
package still doesn’t go far enough to meet Japan’s needs.’, The Diplomat (21 February 2019)
https://thediplomat.com/2019/02/japans-immigration-policy-turned-corner-or-cul-de-sac/
3 ‘Japan eases immigration rules for workers’, BBC (8 December 2018)
2 and why did these changes happen? I want to research what happened within the Japanese government and society in the past thirty years, that made such a shift possible. In this thesis I argue that changes in Japans migration and integration policy happen on both a national and local level. Local governments and NGO’s play an important role in the process of
integration.
Theoretical framework
The importance of the local government in the process of migration and integration is a subject which is mentioned in recent literature. The first work that needs mention is from T. Caponio, P. Scholten and R. Zapata-Barrero.4 Their book describes the way in which
migration and diversity have influenced cities and local governance. Although the book is not focused on Japan, it provides valuable insight in how migration and integration policies can be shaped on a local level. Scholten’s chapter mentions the difference between local and national migration and integration policies. He describes the difference between local and national as being worlds apart, driven by different problems and political factors at different levels. His work mentions the different modes of governance in regard to the relation between local and national governments. One of the modes of governance that Scholten mentioned is multilevel governance. This multilevel governance can emerge in situations where the multilevel character of a policy problem is explicitly recognised. 5 Regarding
migration policies, the relation between national and local in Japan can be viewed through the concept of multilevel governance, since both types of government play an active role in dealing with this issue. However, the problems are perceived differently by both parties.’.
Another work that emphasises the importance of local governments in the integration process is a collection of essays from M. Bommes. The work gives potential reasons as of why certain municipalities made integration policies a central concern in their local policy making process. While the study focuses on German municipalities, it still gives valuable insight in why integration policies develop on a local level. Before looking at the local level it is important to mentioned developments towards migration and integration issues in general. According to Bommes, welfare associations, churches, NGO’s and experts have been
pointing out that immigration and the settlement of migrants needs public recognition by politics for a long time. With this they advocated for a proper migration and integration
4 Tiziana Caponio, Peter Scholten and Ricard Zapata-Barrero, The Routledge Handbook of the Governance of
Migration and Diversity in Cities (Taylor and Francis 2018).
3 policy to realise this. Their insistence on the importance of this issue has had success over the past decades. In the current day, the subject of migration and integration hardly needs
promoting anymore. It has become a popular debated issue in political and public spheres as well as the mass media. Most agree that issues with migration and integration are now an important topic. It has become a public issue, and because of that, migration and integration are now being debated at all levels of politics, including the local level.6
T. Caponio argues that local policy is vital in the establishment of a working integration process. In his research he found that the local dimension of migration
policymaking had a non-negligible relevance in all countries that his study included. Even though the state structures between the countries studied varied and migrant situations were different. Furthermore, he states that, local policy and policymaking cannot be identified with the action of local governmental actors alone. The importance of NGOs and immigrant associations, and people living in a community all play a role in the process of local policymaking. NGO’s are frequently involved in discussions over citizenship and social welfare for immigrants. 7
To address as to why Japanese migration policy started to change. I found that there are demographic, economic and social political factors that caused the changes in Japans migration and integration policies after the 1990s. In this thesis I will name five factors which contributed to this change. The factors are classified in demographic, economic and social political terms. Demographic factors that contributed to the change are population decline and labour shortages during the 1980s. These issues stimulated the idea of opening the
borders. The economic factor is an increase in labour force inflexibility. Japan was too reliant on its large rural labour pool together with labour saving technologies during the period of rapid industrialisation after WWII. The declining population together with an increasingly inflexible labour force meant that Japan had to look elsewhere for labourers. The social political factors are a rise in Zainichi social movements and the creation of international goodwill. I will use these factors in the chapters below to illustrate why Japanese migration policies started to change after the 1990s. Furthermore, not all changes in policy come from the national level.
6 Christina Boswell, Immigration and Social Systems - Collected Essays of Michael Bommes (Amsterdam:
Amsterdam University Press 2012), 126-127.
7 Tiziana Caponio, and Maren Borkert, The local dimension of migration policymaking (Amsterdam:
4 In this section I mentioned factors which contributed to the changing of migration and integration policies which will be used to understand why Japanese migration policy had to change. The literature shows that there is a difference between national and local policy in regard to migration, which I will apply to the case of Japan.
The Japanese case
The concepts of immigration and integration are a fairly new issue to Japanese society, at least, in the post war period. Until the 1980s the only substantial group of foreigners that was living in Japan were the Zainichi Koreans. The Zainichi are still one of the largest foreign groups in the country today. They are Koreans who were forced to migrate to Japan during the colonial period and their offspring born in Japan in later periods.8 They are seen as a special foreign group since they have a permanent residency status within Japan. Over the decades there have been many issues in giving them a place within Japanese society. The Zainichi have been discriminated against since their arrival, for example, in education or finding jobs. Since the 1980s Zainichi protest movements started to rise up and demand equal rights and social benefits. As a result, they were allowed collect welfare, but they did not receive complete citizenship rights. One could argue that they paved the way for other foreign groups that were yet to come. The second group of immigrants are the Nikkeijin who started to arrive at the end of the 1980s and whose numbers increased during the 1990s. The Nikkeijin are descendants of Japanese people that emigrated to South-American countries like Brazil and Peru. Ethnically they are seen as Japanese or at least partly. Second and third generation Nikkeijin and their spouses are allowed to receive a permanent residency status in Japan. Even though Nikkeijin can be classified as ethnically Japanese, culturally they are different. Many of them do not speak Japanese, which makes it hard for them to find a place in Japanese society and thus they are discriminated against. Most drop out of school quickly because of the language barrier and the Japanese people mostly associate them with criminal activities.
Before 1990 the Japanese government implemented no real policies in regard to integration.9 Social services for foreign residents are usually provided by the local
governments or NGO’s. During that time there was no real interest in creating an integration policy. After the revision of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition act in 1990
8 David Chapman, ‘Discourses of Multicultural Coexistence (Tabunka Kyōsei) and the ‘old-comer’ Korean
Residents of Japan’, Asian Ethnicity 7 (2006) 89–102, 90.
5 the Nikkeijin could enter Japan with their families. This law increased the number of
categories for foreign residents from 18 to 27. One of these categories included a long-term residency status for Nikkeijin. The revision of this act was the first occurrence of Japan loosening their still very strict immigration laws in the post war period. This meant that more foreigners could apply for permanent residency status.10 This revision was necessary because of the demographic problems that the country started to experience. The government had no choice but to attract labourers from other places. Since they did not like the idea of foreign workers, they started with the Nikkeijin since they were still of the same blood. Though it soon became clear that the number of Nikkeijin were not sufficient to solve the demographic problems in the country. Moreover, it was hard for the Nikkeijin to integrate in the Japanese society, especially for Nikkeijin children who were born in Japan.
After 2000 government policy started to change more in regard to immigration, since Japan decided to open up more as a result of the demographic problems. To put this in perspective, in a speech in 1986 Prime Minister Nakasone of the Liberal Democratic Party stated that: “Japan has one ethnicity, one state, and one language.”11 He meant there were no
foreigners in Japan and that it was a homogenous society for Japanese only. Clearly a lot has happened in recent decades if you take last year’s policy changes into account. This is why I will look at the period from 1990 up until the implementation of the new law last year, because this is the period in which most of the policy changes took place.
Historiography
A notable scholar on migration policies in Japan is A. Kondo. Kondo has written a lot of works in regard to migration and integration in Japan. One of his works ‘The Development of
Immigration Policy in Japan,’ focuses on developments within the Japanese immigration
policy during the post war period until the 1990s.12 This article gives a good insight into this period. However, this article was written before all the recent policy changes, so my thesis will extend on his work. A second important work from Kondo is ‘Migration and law in Japan’ in which he identifies six periods when looking at Japanese migration history.13 He
describes their characteristics and time periods and the sixth period he mentioned will be the topic of this essay. Another work that needs mention is that of A. Shipper, in his article
10 Atsushi Kondo, ‘The Development of Immigration Policy in Japan’, Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 11
(2002) 415–436, 417.
11 John Lie, Multiethnic Japan. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press 2001), 1. 12 Kondo, ‘Development of Immigration’, 415–436.
6 ‘Foreigners and Civil Society in Japan’, he writes about the influence of immigrant ethnic associations in Japan and their political activities.14 He does research on the effect that
immigration has on the public sphere in Japan, and he writes on the impact of NGO’s and local organisations in integration policymaking. According his work, small organisations and NGO’s are important to raise awareness on the acceptance of foreigners within the Japanese population. J. Lie, in his book Multi-ethnic Japan (2009) studies the evolution of the Japanese identity during the last century. He argues how Japan has always been a multi-ethnic country. He focuses on how Japan is becoming more multi-ethnic over the recent years. The idea of a homogenous Japan was created after the colonial period. Lie’s work is often mentioned in the discussion about Japan being multi ethnic. Another scholar that needs mention is E. Chung and the book ‘Immigration and Citizenship in Japan.’15 His work focuses on immigration and
citizen politics in Japan. While most of the attention is directed at developments with the Zainichi community, it still provides insight in the workings of Japanese politics in regard to immigration.
Almost all works that focus on Japanese migration policy have been written before 2008. In the past decade there have been big policy changes which have not been mentioned in most works, since it all happened after those works were published. With all these new developments, a refreshment of the discourse is much needed. Both government and media sources have increased their attention toward the topic and there is a lot of new information.
Material & Method
As primary sources for this thesis I used twelve migration reports from the Japanese ministry of justice from the years 2005 to 2016.16 Most reports consist of two parts, the first part being a data analysis of migration streams in and out of the country. The second part, is a brief explanation on an extensive number of topics in regard to implemented migration policies in that year. By looking through reports from 2005 to 2016, changes in attitude toward migration issues become apparent. There is little attention to attracting foreigners other than tourist in the 2005 report, however the 2016 report shows a big shift in how the government wants to attract foreigners. The downside of the migration report is, that they only highlight developments in migration policies on a national scale. The change in local
14 Apichai Shipper, ‘Foreigners and Civil Society in Japan’, Pacific Affairs 79 (2006) 269–289.
15 Erin Aeran Chung, Immigration and Citizenship in Japan. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010). 16 Immigration Control Report (Tokyo Japan: Ministry of Justice 2005-2016)
7 government policy is better seen in newspapers articles. To look at developments in
migration and integration on a local level, I will news articles from the following sources:
Table 1. News sources
Newspapers The Japan Times, Financial Times, The
Diplomat.
Search terms Japanese migration policy, foreign workers Japan, Japan integration, Japan discrimination, Homogenous Japan.
Search period 1990 - 2020
Number of articles used 13
These newspapers give a good insight on what is happening in Japanese cities that experience an inflow of foreign workers. I will mostly use articles from the Japan times, when reporting Japanese national news, they give a covering of both sides of issues without much bias. However, freedom of press has declined in Japan during the past two decades. For this reason, I included articles from the Financial Times and The Diplomat, both newspapers are known to contain little bias. These papers give information on the subject from outside of Japan, the Financial Times has its headquarters in England and The Diplomat in the US. While newspapers may contain some bias, together with the migration reports, they give valuable information on developments in the Japanese migration policy.
Structure
This paper will be divided into four chapters. The first chapter will put recent developments in Japanese migration policy into its historical perspective. For this I will use the outline which was sketched by A Kondo which divides the history of migration into six periods. I also hope to explain through this, why recent policy changes are quite exceptional if we take earlier periods into consideration. This chapter mentions most of the factors which
contributed to the change in Japans migration policy. The second chapter will illustrate developments in the national migration policy as seen in the migration reports. There is a big shift in what kind of foreign workers Japan wants to attract when comparing the newer reports to the older ones. The third chapter will focus on how integration policies developed on a local level. I find that most integration policies in Japan are formed on the local level not
8 only by municipalities but also by NGO’s and Japanese citizens. In the fourth chapter I will highlight the differences between local and national governments in regard to developments in migration and integration policies. I do this in order to explain that there is a big difference between the local and national when approaching migration and integration.
9
Chapter 1
Japanese immigration policy in historical perspective.
Before we take a closer look at the contemporary issues experienced by Japan in regard to migration, it is important to put the subject in its historical perspective. Recent developments show that a new period in Japanese migration is beginning. This chapter focuses on the earlier periods in regard to Japans migration history. The six periods that A. Kondo identified when looking at changes in Japanese migration policy are: (1) No immigration during period of national seclusion (1639–1853), (2) Opening the door, large emigration and colonial immigration (1853–1945), (3) Strictly controlled migration under the Supreme Commander of Allied Powers (1945–1951). (4), Strict immigration regime even during the period of rapid economic growth (1952–1981), (5) Strict immigration regime but some refugees accepted and foreign citizens’ rights are improved (1982–1989) and (6) Relatively strict immigration policies but ethnic repatriates (front door), trainees/technical interns (side door) and irregulars (back door) come to work as unskilled workers (1990–today).17 This chapter follows the periods named by his article excluding the last period, since that period will be the topic discussed in later chapters.
In the first period, 1639 to 1853, Japan was closed off from the rest of the world. This time of seclusion started after the Tokugawa shogunate, which was just recently established, suspected that Catholic traders and missionaries were forerunners of a military conquest by European powers. The shogunate did not want Christianity to spread and tried to stop missionaries from coming in. Eventually they prohibited both nationals and non-nationals from entering or leaving the country. The only exception to this rule were traders from China and the Dutch Republic in the port city of Nagasaki. Traders from these countries were allowed to settle on the island of Deshima. This seclusion from the world remained in place until 1853.18
The second period from 1853 to 1945 marks a shift in migration policy, from a secluded state to an open colonial state. In 1853 commodore Matthew C. Perry of the US Navy and his frigate of ‘Black Ships’ opened up Japans borders for foreign interactions. The Japanese Government concluded treaties with other countries than China and the
Netherlands. At the same time the country started to regulate migration. Migration numbers
17 Kondo, ‘Migration and Law in Japan’, 157. 18 Ibidem, 156.
10 increased after Japan colonised Taiwan in 1895 and Korea in 1910. It was migration between Japan and its colonies.19 This period marks the start of a large migration of Koreans to Japan.
These are the people that would later be categorised as Zainichi. Migration policies were less strict in regard to earlier and later periods. The idea of a homogenous Japan comes from the post war period. In colonial Japan, the idea of a mixed nation was necessary, in order to assimilate colonial subjects and unite them in empire. There obviously was a difference between the coloniser and the colonised, but there still was a notion of a mixed nation. After the end of WWII, the empire dissolved and the idea of a mixed nation was forgotten.20
In the third period from 1945 to 1951 the Japanese government, now under control of the Supreme Commander of Allied Powers (SCAP), moved away from the notion of a mixed nation. Instead this became a period of strictly controlled migration. About 1.5 million Koreans returned home, and around 600,000 stayed in Japan.21 The Koreans were the only substantial group of foreigners that stayed. The regulation of migration became very strict under the SCAP leadership. Through these developments the idea of a homogenous nation could develop. While the statement that Japan was a homogenous nation during this time has been frequently debunked in recent literature. It is still important to note when the idea of a Homogenous Japan came to be, since the concept did steer the course on how the Japanese government treated foreigners that lived in the country for the later periods. Academics like E. Chung and B. Kim enforced the idea of homogenous Japan.
According the Chung the origin of Japan as a homogenous nation can be found in the decolonisation process. Unlike the colonies of European countries, Japanese colonies were in close vicinity to the homeland. This allowed a large number of colonial migrants to enter Japan in the early stages of colonisation. This increased even more when Japanese territory started to expand rapidly, because more soldiers were needed. At the end of WWII Japan had about two million colonial subjects enlisted in its army. To compare this to other countries, France had about 500,000 colonial subjects enlisted and Britain 30,000. After the war the Japanese government had to act quickly in their decolonisation process, otherwise their society would be overwhelmed by two million colonial migrants that might decide to stay. Immigration laws became strict in order to prevent this.22
19 Ibidem, 157.
20 David Chapman, Zainichi Korean Identity and Ethnicity. Routledge Contemporary Japan Series 17 (London:
Routledge 2008) 24.
21 Kondo, ‘Migration and Law in Japan’, 157. 22 Chung, Immigration and Citizenship in Japan, 69.
11 A second reason for the emergence of the idea of a homogenous Japan that Chung gives, is the leadership decisions of the SCAP to keep the emperor system intact. This way, the new leadership, had a symbol of unity between the new Japanese state and its subjects. A shared bond to the imperial family was used to strengthen the ties between the state and its people. Unfortunately, this excluded every other ethnic group in Japanese society, because they were not of Japanese blood.23 Kim also ties SCAP leadership decisions to the emergence of a homogenous Japan. According to Kim, SCAP declared that the Korean colonial subjects in Japan, should be treated as a liberated people, directly after the war. They were freed from Japans colonial oppression by the allied forces. The Japanese government used the SCAP statement to strip Koreans in Japan of their Japanese nationality. They were freed and that meant that they were not longer Japanese nationals. Since the SCAP did not resist this claim, the Japanese government could now treat their former colonial subjects as foreigners. These actions led to the creation of many of the foreign registration laws that were implemented at the end of the occupation period.24
The strict regulations led to the immigration control act in 1952. This marks the start of the fourth period. It can be characterised by its ‘exclusion, discrimination and assimilation policy.’ In the 1952 immigration control act, Koreans were placed under an alien registration law. This act was the reason that Koreans lost their Japanese nationality. The most infamous clause of this act required the Korean foreign residents to register their fingerprints. This was received as an insult by the Korean community in Japan, since at that time, only criminals had to register their fingerprints.25 The Japanese government regarded the Korean population as a danger for national security. The Koreans minority made up 93,6 percent of the total foreign population within the country. They did not fit in the new homogenous vision of Japanese society and were seen as dangerous. The foreign status that the Koreans received, together with the concept of them being seen as criminals, led to their exclusion from the public sphere. It became hard for Koreans to find jobs for example.26
Eventually this exclusion led to the rise of Zainichi social movements at the end of the 1952 to 1981 period. Around 1970 the 600,000 Koreans, still living in Japan, were not
planning to go back to Korea. They started protesting and formed social movements. The aim of these movements was to retain their foreign identity whilst improving their rights as
23 Ibidem, 70.
24 Kim, ‘From Exclusion to Inclusion’, 56. 25 Tai, ‘Korean Japanese’, 358.
12 members of the Japanese society. This led to a change in government attitude towards the treatment of foreign residents. The government changed excluding policies to more inclusive policies which led to the ban of the hated fingerprint registration system for Zainichi
Koreans.27 The activities of these movements led to changes in government policy, and for this reason they can be viewed as an important factor that determined the future course of the Japanese migration policy.
A last thing that needs to be mentioned about this period is the reason why the Zainichi were the only large foreign group, especially since Japan, like most western economies, experienced fast industrialisation and economic modernisation in the post war period. Japan is an exception, because it succeeded in realising this growth without the need of foreign labour. Most large industrialised states, Germany and France for example, turned to foreign labour in the post war period. In order to advance large scale industrialisation processes they needed low skilled labourers, but they were unable to find enough workers from within their own population and were thus forced to look elsewhere. Japan, relied on a large rural labour pool and the introduction of labour-saving technologies by big Japanese corporations or Keiretsu. The reservoir of rural labourers mostly came in the form of seasonal workers that migrated from Northern Honshu and Hokkaido. In the 1950-s and 1960-s Japan had a seasonal labour force of about 10 million workers. This meant that the labour market was incredibly flexible because of the workers were not needed in industry, they would return home and work in the agricultural sector. In the 1970s more and more young workers from the rural areas started to migrate to cities and became permanent members of the urban labour force. This meant a smaller and increasingly aging agricultural workforce, and the flexibility in the labour market started to fade. The problems in the flexibility of the labour market meant, that during the 1980s, the ability to remain independent of foreign labourers was challenged.28 The increasing inflexibility of the labour market meant that Japan had to look for workers elsewhere. This is why I think that this event is an important factor for the changes in migration policies.
With the challenges within the labour market comes the fifth period, from 1981 to 1989. In this period the Japanese government slowly noticed that it could no longer rely on its own workforce. Kondo characterises this period as one of ‘equality and internationalisation.’
27 Micheal Strausz, ‘Minorities and Protest in Japan: The Politics of the Fingerprinting Refusal Movement’,
Pacific Affairs 79 (2007) 641–656, 651.
28 Betsy Teresa Brody, Opening the Doors: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Globalization in Japan. (Routledge
13 The social movements of the Zainichi help in creating more inclusive policies for foreigners living in Japan. During the 1980s and the start of the 1990s Japans economic growth reached an enormous peak. This is why it is called the period of the bubble economy. During the time of the bubble economy labour shortages first sparked the dispute as to whether Japan should be opened up for low skilled labourers.29 The labour shortages are a factor that played a decisive role in the changes of migration policies. It focused attention to the debate on whether the borders should be opened up. At the end of the 1980s a possible solution for the dispute presented itself. Since the Japanese government did not want to welcome low skilled labourers from other cultures, perhaps Japanese people that migrated to southern America could return home. The concept of people of Japanese descent (Nikkeijin) returning seemed as a solution to the problems on the labour market. Before the 1990s only a small number of Nikkeijin were allowed to enter the country. They were let into the country as legally admitted skilled workers. Eventually this policy gained the favour of the Japanese
government, which meant that in 1990 the immigration control and refugee recognition act was changed. A new visa category was created which allowed Nikkeijin workers and their spouse and children to enter the country. During the 1990 period more than 200.000 Nikkeijin entered Japan.30 This marks the start of the last period that Kondo describes.
The last period of the developments in the Japanese migration policy, will be discussed in the next chapters. In the past three decades there have been a lot of changes in regard to Japans migration policy, not only from within the government but also from
Japanese society as a whole. I argue that with the new migration laws that were implemented in 2019, the sixth period has ended and a seventh has begun. What makes this seventh period different from the previous ones is, that events in the past three decades let to an opening of Japan to foreign workers of non-Japanese descent. This is something which has not happened before in Japanese migration history. With the new system, more than 300.000 low skilled labourers from South-East Asia can to migrate to Japan. They are allowed to work in sectors that are under pressure because of the increasing demographic problems such as labour shortages and population decline. This does not mean that all low skilled labourers are allowed to enter the country, but those with skills for the right sector are.31 Still this is a big shift when looking at the policy change that opened the country for the Nikkeijin. Now low
29 Kondo, ‘Migration and Law in Japan’, 158. 30 Brody, Opening the Doors, 53.
31 ‘Japan eases immigration rules for workers’, BBC (8 December 2018)
14 skilled labourers that are not of Japanese descent can enter the country in fairly large
numbers. I cannot say with certainty that this is the beginning of the seventh period, but one cannot deny that last year, a new milestone has been reached.
15
Chapter 2
Developments in government policy since 1990
New policies for foreign residents
Now, let us address the migration policies of the sixth period, as they are described in the migration reports. With the introduction of a new residency management system, the
government hoped to better regulate and keep track of foreign residents in Japan. Plans for a new residency management system can be found in the 2007 migration control report. In this period the Ministry of Justice established the Special Committee on Residence Management, which was ordered to collect opinions on the management of the residence of foreign
nationals. While doing this it served as an advisory committee for the Ministry of Justice.32 So how does it work? When arriving, new foreign residents receive a residence card and have to provide information on their stay. The Ministry of Justice receives information from the new residents the provision of information on foreign nationals. For example, their nationality/region and other basic matters for identification, such as the status of residence, period of stay. A foreign resident also contacts the municipality that they will live in during the same time. However, the Ministry of Justice also receives information from the
organizations of affiliation of the foreign resident such as the school at which they study or the company that they work. Through this information in relation to the residence condition of foreign nationals can be accurately kept by the government. Records of the information are kept by municipal governments. With the introduction of the new residency management system, the old alien registration act was abolished. Instead, foreign residents were now governed by the Residential Basic Book Act and their residence records are issued by the municipality with jurisdiction over their place of residence as is the case with Japanese nationals. To explain, prior to the abolishment, foreign residents were registered under the alien registration act by the national government, Japanese residents were registered through the Residential Basic Book Act by the municipal governments. In the new system both Japanese and foreign residents are put in one register. So, under the amended Residential Basic Book Act, for example, a copy of the residence record containing all members of the household can be issued with respect to a household composed of different nationalities are put in the same registry, instead of two separate ones.33
32 Immigration control report 2007 (Tokyo Japan: Ministry of Justice 2007), 66. 33 Immigration control report 2010 (Tokyo Japan: Ministry of Justice 2010): 110.
16 For the ministry of justice this is beneficial as they can now keep track of migrants and the amount of paperwork is reduced. The reports states that it is also beneficial for foreign residents, since the measure is aimed to ease their stay. Since administration is easier an extension of the maximum period of stay is possible. A review of the re-entry permit system means it is easier to leave and re-enter the country for foreign residents. Because the government was able to track foreign residents better it allowed them to stay for longer periods of time. For the re-entry it means that, foreign nationals who have valid passports and residence cards who will re-enter Japan within one year from their departure need not apply for re-entry permission. The information on foreign residents is already present so
bureaucratic hassle time is reduced.34
Now let us take a look at the second policy, which is the implementation of a points-based preferential immigration treatment for highly-skilled foreign professionals. The policy comes from a collaboration between the Immigration Bureau and the the Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. As a result of their discussions they deemed it necessary to promote the acceptance of foreign nationals with advanced abilities and qualifications. The ministries want to attract foreign talent and they expected that these people would contribute to Japan’s economic growth and the creation of a new demand and employment. So, it becomes clear that this policy is mostly aimed at making sure that the Japanese economy can keep a strong competitive position. 35
So, what does this policy entail? It gives extra perks to foreign residents which are able to receive the highly-skilled foreign professionals status. These perks include that they are granted an automatic five years period of stay. Normally, the period of stay is decided by the status of residence and is determined in accordance with each person’s status of residence and the contents of the activities. Highly skilled foreigners are also allowed multiple status of residences. So, while they are in the country with a working permit, they are also allowed to study. Requirements for permanent residence are reduced from 10 years of living in the country to 5 years. It is also much easier for them to have their spouses come over as well. 36
These developments show, that after 2007 the migration bureau was already looking for means to simplify up administration in order to make it easier for foreign nationals to enter the country. By improving administration, the government also had a better overview of migrants, thus perhaps in the future they planned to allow more migrants in. Since their
34 Immigration control report 2013 (Tokyo Japan: Ministry of Justice 2013), 108-109. 35 Ibidem, 113.
17 administration was able to handle more cases at the same time. In my view, these measures were mostly implemented to attract more high-skilled professionals, but perhaps the plan to let in thousands of foreign workers was already on the drawing board at that time.
Treatment of foreign nationals of Japanese descent
Now let us take a look at the attitude of the government toward foreign nationals of Japanese descent. The first thing to notice when looking through the basic plan for migration and the migration control reports is, that there is not much mention of these foreign nationals. On the one hand this is because most have not entered the country recently and thus do not show up in migrant reports. On the other hand, they are still considered as foreign nationals, even though they are permanent residents they still fall under the same category as other foreigners that settled in Japan more recently.
The only report that specifically mentions this group is the basic plan for immigration control from 2010. On the subject the document reports as followed, mentioning that the descendants of Japanese nationals have a special relationship with Japan in comparison to other foreign nationals. Their effort in the past supported the local economies in the country. Most of them were active in field work in the manufacturing sector where there was a labour shortage and, through their vitality, contributed to the development of the Japanese economy. Through their effort they brought a diverse culture and vitality to the local communities. In recent years however, because of the difference in cultural background, values and customs, combined with inadequate Japanese language skills caused, at the very least, some friction and conflict within those local communities. Especially after the 2008 financial crisis these problems became clear. Most of these foreign residents experienced a worsening economic situation, problems in regard to employment, housing and the education of their children. Most of these people had difficulty finding new employment after the crisis.37
Some intentions towards improving their situation are put forward in the report, stating that the Ministries are looking for solutions but no real policy proposals are given. There is however an emphasis on the betterment of education for the children of foreign nationals of Japanese descent. I do not think that the national government was active enough on resolving this issue and that the issue with Nikkeijin is more dealt on a (decentralized) local level. There are local governments and NGO’s that actively look towards a solution.
18 The integration problems of the Nikkeijin and their offspring on a local scale will be
discussed in the third chapter of this essay.
Shift in attitude toward high skilled labourers
Now that we know which migration policies have changed in the past two decades; I want to take a closer look at why they have changed and for which specific groups. The first group of foreigners that were able to make use of the less restricting migration control were high skilled labourers. High skilled labourers are in demand for more reasons than just for the reason of stabilizing the population decline. They are also a way of increasing Japans
competitive position in the global economy. It goes without saying that Japan, with its strong industrial economy would want to attract new talent from around the world. For this reason, Japanese borders are always open to people that meet these criteria. Even though policy changes are made, Japan does not seem to be able to compete with other industrial economies in attracting these labourers. High skilled workers are eligible for naturalization after 5 years. This period is a lot shorter than in most industrialised countries, which maintain policies that make the same sort of migrant eligible for naturalisation after seven to ten years. However, despite this openness to high skilled labourers, Japan remains fairly unsuccessful in attracting foreign talent. This is visible in migration numbers of highly skilled migrants, in 2010 they were 198,000, composing only 9% of the total 2.1 million migrants in Japan.38
To further understand why Japan fails to attract workers, let us first look at how the government tried to attract these labourers. What kind of shift do we see in changes in government policy? Since we know that most economies want to attract foreign talent. It is not useful to look closer at when exactly Japan started to search for foreign high skilled workers. However, when looking at the immigration control reports there is a certain change visible. The focus of the the immigration control report of 2005 is mainly on counteracting illegal immigration and measures concerning overstayers. While a part of the report is dedicated to the acceptance of high skilled foreign workers, it is not substantial. On the one hand the immigration control administration mentioned that it should further promote acceptance of foreign workers in professional and technical fields. On the other hand, they found it an unrealistic idea to simply make up the supply of a productive population by accepting foreign nationals alone, because Japan would have to accept too many foreign
38 Nana Oishi and John Skrentny, ‘The Limits of Immigration Policies: The Challenges of Highly Skilled
19 workers in this case.39 Another issue the report mentions is a survey held by the cabinet office
to get an idea of the public opinion in regard to accepting foreign workers. The survey consisted of questions as ‘Do you agree with accepting foreign workers if Japan sees a shortage in its labour force?’ Around 15 percent of the respondents agreed, whereas around 45 percent choose to only accept if this shortness was absolutely unavoidable. While it becomes clear from the 2005 report that some find acceptance of foreign nationals necessary to some degree, the report as a whole gives a more hesitant attitude toward the issue.40
The immigration control report of 2010 shows a change in opinion toward attracting more high skilled labourers. In this report it becomes more visible that it is important to attract foreign talent and that change is needed in order to not only to control population decline but also to maintain a competitive position in the global economy. The report states as followed:
‘Amid the serious decline in the population owing to the declining birth-rate and the ageing of society, it is necessary to actively promote acceptance of highly-qualified human resources in order for Japan to achieve a sustainable economic growth. The Ministry of Justice needs to immediately carry out a detailed examination to introduce the preferential system utilizing points-based system proposed in the report of the Highly-qualified Human Resources Acceptance Promotion Conference. Possible preferential measures for a
preferential system utilizing points-based system include simplified and priority processing of applications for certificate of resident eligibility and other immigration control procedures, permission of the maximum period of stay (5 years), and provision of permanent resident status after a five-year stay at the minimum.’ 41
This is huge shift from the report of 2005 where acceptance of more high skilled foreign workers was deemed unrealistic. The 2008 financial crisis has had some influence on this shift, but it is shows signs that immigration control now wants to take up a more active role in attracting high skilled labour. We can see from this report that the Japanese government deemed it important to change policy in regard to attracting foreign talent. Their first step in tempting foreign talent to come to Japan was to ease the processing procedure for these people and by giving them priority over other applications. Thus, trying to gain some
39 Immigration control report 2005 (Tokyo Japan: Ministry of Justice 2005), 78. 40 Ibidem, 81.
20 competitive advantage over other countries by making the immigration process more
convenient. Another aim of simplifying the procedure was to stimulate Japanese companies in hiring more foreign workers. The report stated that it was necessary for companies to introduce a flexible system to recruit human resources with diverse knowledge, values and ideas. The report points out that foreign nurses and people active in care services also make a claim for faster procedures when migrating to Japan. It is clear that the promotion of the migration of high skilled labourers is more aimed at giving a boost to the Japanese economy and not to supress the population decline.42
The reports from the year 2013 and onwards, show that the shift seen in 2010 has continued and it reports on new policies that have been implemented. On a side note, in the 2005 report, only a small section was used to describe developments with foreign workers, while a large section addressed the preventing of illegal immigration. In the 2013 report, a third section is added to the report concerning the new policies in regard to foreign workers. The second chapter is aimed at high skilled workers. The two main policies, in regard to migration, that were implemented in 2012 were the introduction of a new residency management system for foreigners and the Implementation of Points-Based Preferential Immigration Treatment for Highly-Skilled Foreign Professionals. This is point-based system is the policy which the 2010 report called for. 43
This change is seen when looking at those coming to Japan to work as care workers in the nursing industry. After policy changes in 2014 a new category was added to the status of residence register under the name nursing care. Since Japan has a progressively large aging population, there is an increasing demand for care workers in the country. However, before 2014 it was hard for foreign nurses to enter the country for longer periods of time. Foreign students who received education at a Japanese institution and had the designated national qualification of a certified care worker, were not allowed to work in the nursing industry. Only a few were permitted under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) that Japan has established with Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. With the new policy changes and the new status of residence for nursing care, foreign students with the right Japanese
certificates were allowed to engage in the work of nursing care or the instructions of nursing care as a certified care worker based, while being on contract with a Japanese nursing care facility.44
42 Ibidem, 69-73.
43 Immigration control report 2013, 108-137.
21 What becomes visible here, is that the national government first tried to open up the border to high skilled labourers. Unfortunately, they were not successful in doing so at the start, and thus changes were made in order to become more attractive to high skilled foreign workers. What we see here is a shift in attitude toward attracting foreign workers. While it was only to attract high skilled workers, this change did pave the way so that in later years low skilled workers could enter as well.
Areas for the acceptance of low skilled labourers
We have looked at problems in Japanese migration and integration in relation to high skilled labourers. What about low skilled labourers? Their case is somewhat reversed in regard to that of the high skilled labourers. The change in attitude towards the acceptance of low skilled workers is only visible in the basic plan for immigration control 2015 edition and the immigration control report of 2016. The reports show a change in attitude towards the regulation low skilled work in certain areas. These include the sectors of the housekeeping services, construction and shipbuilding and the manufacturing industry. The easier
acceptance of workers from these categories comes from the revised Japan Revitalisation Strategy of 2014, which was meant as a way to combat shortages in the labour market which were created due to population decline. Shortages on the labour markets meant declining economic growth for Japan. Thus, to stop the decline in the growth, the revitalisation project was implemented.45 While changes in government policy in regard to high skilled workers
were put in place in 2005, changes to attract more low skilled workers were put in place almost ten years later.
The first group where immigration laws have been loosened are for foreigners working in housekeeping. This is was a project to accept foreigner conducting housekeeping services in the national strategic special zones. These strategic zones include the Tokyo area (Kanagawa prefecture) and the Kansai area (Osaka). What this entails is, that foreign workers can enter into an employment contract with a specified Japanese organization in one of the special zones. Through this organisation they are allowed to engage in general domestic work such as cooking, washing, cleaning and shopping in the household using the domestic
services. The acceptance and placement of foreign workers is handled by local governments of the specific zone.46
45 Ibidem, 77. 46 Ibidem, 75.
22 The second group of foreign workers that will be accepted are those working in construction and shipbuilding. The difference with this group is that most workers will not receive permission to stay in Japan for long periods of time, only three years at most. Most construction workers were contracted because of the 2020 Olympic games, since Japanese companies lacked the manpower to complete projects before the deadline. The same can be said about foreign workers active in shipbuilding. Even though people in this sector are only allowed to stay in Japan for a short to medium amount of time. They are important to
mention, as it shows that the country is lacking in their supply of labourers. There is a
demand for workers that can not be supplied through the employment of Japanese citizens.47 The last group are those active in manufacturing. Foreign workers for manufacturing are attracted to Japan in order to supress de-industrialisation in the country. This is due to accelerating overseas expansion by the Japanese manufacturing industry, especially in South-East Asia. This is part of the revitalisation project, since a strong manufacturing sector can combat economic decline. Government officials hoped that by implementing this new system, Japanese plants will function as a sort of mother plant, carrying out production activities based on a division of roles which will also facilitate research and development and capital investment. Nowadays, most companies are leaving their Japanese manufacturing plants and only keep their main office in the country. By allowing foreign workers that already work for these companies in other countries to enter the country, Japan hopes to maintain some of its industries. However, employees from overseas subsidiaries of Japanese manufactures that are accepted are only permitted for a maximum limit of one year.48
Students & Trainees
The last group of people that have been central in government policies for Immigration are students and trainees. While most of them are not staying in Japan for long periods of time, they do provide the Japanese economy with a small boost in labour force. They are
mentioned throughout most migration reports and policy in most years.
After the turn of the century there were a lot of perceived problems with foreign students and trainees coming to Japan. According to the 2007 report on immigration control crimes committed by foreign students were a serious social problem, and students started engaging in activities not permitted by their status of residence. At the same time, illegal
47 Ibidem, 76. 48 Ibidem, 76.
23 workers entered Japan by pretending to be a student, to disappear later on into the informal sectors of the economy. There were also problems with foreign trainees, which were mostly used as a source of cheap labour. They were not protected by many laws and thus were exploited by most companies.49
The 2010 basic plan for immigration control, calls for a promotion for the appropriate acceptance of foreign students. In 2007 there were problems with the 100,000 foreign
students in the country, with the upcoming changes in policy the government wants to
increase this number to 300,000. Two reasons were given for the increase in foreign students. First, the acceptance of more students helps with the strengthening of international goodwill through the forming of human networks. The strengthening of international goodwill seems to be a factor that stimulates changes in migration policies. It provides the country with more foreign labourers whilst also improving the networks. Secondly, foreign students are seen as significant human resources responsible for the economic activities within Japan. In the case of trainees, a lot of changes have been made in order to better protect them in a better way. They are registered as workers now, and thus they have to receive a minimum wage. Stricter supervision has been implemented in order to prevent misconduct by companies and there are stronger punishments against misconduct. In my opinion, they were probably forced to implement these measures in order to keep some of trainees coming in.50
In 2015, we see a continuation of the trend towards accepting more students and trainees. Where the report from 2007 gave of a very negative view, the 2015 plan describes them as being of great significance for the future of Japan, since they create connections between countries. But more importantly, the report emphasises that foreign students will potentially start working for Japanese companies after their graduation. This means that there is a big possibility that they will develop into human resources who will at some point lead the economic development of Japan. Since most of these graduates will be high skill level labourers.51 Coincidentally with the new implementation of the point based preferential system for high skilled labourers, these new graduates can change their status of residence to permanent and start working. And so Japanese companies have more access to high skilled workers, which is why a change in attitude toward foreign students has taken place.
I argue that by changing and smoothening out these policies, the Ministry of Justice was preparing for Japan to manage more foreigners in the future. Clearly visible in these
49 Immigration control report 2007, 73-74. 50 Basic plan for immigration control 2010, 26-27.
24 reports is a start with the attraction of highly skilled workers. With the changing of policies, it is clear that there is a trend towards opening up the borders more. For example, by letting in low skilled workers from certain sectors for longer periods of time. However, the biggest change in terms of numbers are the temporary workers that are let into the country. The number of high skilled workers that come in are much less than the number of
students/trainees and people working in construction or manufacturing. The change in policies that allow these workers in, are clearly a run up to the change of the 2019 migration laws. A theory could be that the permission to allow temporary workers in, was used as an experiment by the Ministry of Justice to see if migration could work and if it could give a boost to economic growth.
There is a big difference in the form and shape of the migration control reports when comparing the years 2005 and 2006 to the reports from 2013 and later. Moreover, the changes in the alien registration law show a sign that Japan is preparing to let more foreign workers in. Even those looking for low skilled labour, since the residency management system is in effect for all foreigners. When keeping the new policies that were implemented last year in mind, which allowed low skilled workers to enter the country, we can see that there is an effort to opening up and the restrictions on foreigners staying for longer periods of time are slowly diminishing.
The chapters and issues that are discussed in the reports have changed as well. Reports from 2005 up to 2007 mostly discuss violations of the immigration acts or the entry of illegal residents, and how the Ministry of Justice tends to deal with them. At that time, issues with integration were not given much attention by the national government. The acceptance and integration of foreigners in Japan is frequently mentioned in these reports. This is a big difference in comparison to the 2016 reports which dedicates an entire chapter to these issues. Moreover, the 2015 basic plan for immigration control tries to deal with these problems by issuing a call for a national debate on the acceptance of foreign nationals in light of the declining birth-rate and aging population. Besides that the title of the fourth chapter of part three is called: Contributing to the Realization of a Symbiotic Society Co-existing with Foreign Nationals through Accurate Operation of the Residency Management System.52 A government report calling for a realization of a symbiotic society is an incredible leap away from the statement from Nakasone in the 1980s.
25
Chapter 3
Migration and integration on a local level.
Tabunka Kyosei
From the previous chapter it became clear that the national government did not have an active attitude toward the integration of foreigners in Japan in the decades prior to the 1990s. Even after that period, most attempts to integrate foreigners comes from NGO’s and local
governments. To illustrate this, we will be taking a closer look at the Tabunka Kyosei movement, that emerged after the nineties. Local municipalities and NGO’s have taken a leading role in the development of policies that try to solve issues regarding foreigners that live in Japan. In a lot of cases they work together closely with each other and with Japanese volunteers. Some NGO’s are so successful in their enterprises that they manage to influence local governments to change policies. This will be shown in the examples of NGO activities which are stated below. The meaning of the term Tabunka Kyosei is usually translated with the definition of ‘multicultural coexistence.’53 It stands for living together in Japan. The activities that the Tabunka Kyosei movement tries to organise, are meant to show the positive contribution that foreigners can give to the local communities. They try to change the
assumption that foreigners only create social and criminal problems within Japanese society. Another translation for the concept of Tabunka Kyosei is ‘multicultural community building’, the creation of a living space were all ethnicities can live together peacefully. This is a
contrast in regard to the ideas of national government which were more focused trying to assimilation foreigners. The ideas and policies created by the Tabunka Kyosei movement do not aim to forcibly let foreign residents assimilate into the host society, instead they mean to support them in a way that lets them retain their culture.54
An early example of the occurrence of the Tabunka Kyosei movement can be found by looking at the emergence of St. Patrick’s Day parades in Japan. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade started in 1992, when a small group of Irish and Japanese people dressed in green and followed by someone playing a bagpipe, paraded through the Roppongi street in Tokyo. It was an unsanctioned event and it received little attention. Nearly thirty years later, the parade has grown to become a big event in Tokyo, which attracts thousands of spectators. It has crossed to different cities in the country and parades are now held throughout fourteen
53 Chapman, ‘Discourses of Multicultural Coexistence’, 214. 54 Flowers, ‘From kokusaika to Tabunka Kyosei’, 520.
26 different prefectures in Japan. Many of these events are not only organised by Irish people, but usually in cooperation with a large number of Japanese volunteers. An influential figure here is Hideki Mimura, he offers advice to both Irish and Japanese event planners and helps them to set up events. Hideki does not mention what drives his passion for the parades, other than his love for Irish culture. In 2017 he became the first Japanese person that has received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award. This award is given to those that have done the Irish community a great service.55 Events like this show of the spirit of inclusiveness and openness to other cultures within the Japanese society. Events like this are a big step away from the words of prime minister Nakasone from 1986. It is an example of how Japanese society is slowly becoming more acceptant of the Tabunka Kyosei way, by living together with other cultures. Actions of individuals like Hideki that reach large groups of people, and that call out for awareness in regard to diversity are becoming more frequent in the past decades.
NGO activities
The activities of the Tabunka Kyosei movement are visible when through NGO activities. How do NGO’s try to improve the situation of foreign workers? A notable scholar that focuses on NGO activity in regard to the acceptance of foreigners is A. Shipper. He argues that non-state actors in the form of civil society associations are making an increased
appearance in Japan in recent years and are actively influencing local governments to change integration policies. Organisations and support groups for foreigners have been increasing in number, because of the introduction of the Non-profit Organisation (NPO) law in 1998. The law allows for smaller volunteer and civic groups to gain corporate status. This means that the application procedure and financial requirements were simplified. Through the NPO law, most activist organisations receive the benefits from having corporate status. For this reason, their numbers have grown a lot in the years after the introduction of the law. According to Shipper, these small NGO’s play an increasingly bigger role, since they not only have the power to aid foreigners, but also have enough power to influence local governments.56
In many local areas in Japan, NGO’s have taken up the initiative to provide services to foreigners and influence local governments. To give an example, in 2008 the Hamamatsu NPO Network Centre in the Shizuoka Prefecture started a project for foreign high school
55 J. O’Donoghue, ‘Irish eyes are smiling in Japan’, Japan Times (16 March 2019)
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2019/03/16/events/irish-eyes-smiling-japan/#.XOew6BVMTb1
27 students. The NPO Network Centre began to host discussions on popular topics in order to encourage foreign students to attend school. It was meant to help improve communication between foreign and Japanese students by creating discussions in which everyone could participate. The project became a success and de prefectural government started sponsoring the enterprise and later on the project got outsourced to other prefectures.57
This is not the only project that was set up by the Hamamatsu NPO Network Centre. They also provided free medical check-ups for foreign residents. According to information from their site, they started the project in order to aid foreign residents who had difficulty in finding proper medical care. In the 1990s it was difficult for foreigners to receive health insurance. Most foreigners do not speak Japanese properly, so going to the hospital was a hassle, since there were not many interpreters. They also provided medical check-ups for children at foreign schools. On Japanese schools, children automatically receive check-ups every year, but children on international schools do not. International schools are schools that educate children of foreigner residents, they try to create a space were these children become acquainted with Japanese culture and language. After the project started, local government officials visited the check-ups and recognised the poor conditions of the families of foreign workers. As a result, the local government loosened the cities policy for foreigners to apply for health insurance.58 According to Shipper, cooperation between local governments and NGO’s has become more institutionalised in the past two decades. This has led to a
promotion of the creation of an innovative institutional environment where different actors such as foreigners, local officials, and activists come together to matters concerning the living conditions of foreign residents. All groups are actively working together to make policy changes.59
However, it is not always necessary for NGO’s to influence the local government. Some NGO’s just work with an ideal, such as helping those that are in need of support. A good example for an organisation like this is, the Institute for Human Diversity Japan. It was founded by Taro Tamura in 1995 after the great Hansin earthquake. Tamura, decided he wanted to help foreigners that were affected by the earthquake, and set up an information centre to provide them with information about where to seek proper aid. This was helpful because, most foreigners do not speak Japanese and had difficulty finding out where they
57 Apichai Shipper, ‘‘Influence of the Weak: The Role of Foreigners, Activism, and NGO Networks in
Democratizing Northeast Asia’, International Studies Quarterly 56 (2012) 689–703, 700.
58 Hamamatsu NPO Network Centre website’, <http://www.n-pocket.com/old/en/maf/index.html> 59 Shipper, ‘Influence of the Weak’, 700.
28 could go. His actions eventually made him one of the first figures within the Tabunka Kyosei movement. His organisation has grown over recent years and now spans many cities. He tries to provide social aid to foreigners, and negotiates with companies for better treatment of foreign workers. The institute provides research and other services to municipalities and companies in order to create awareness for diversity issues within Japanese society. 60 With the example of Tamura and his creation of the Institute for Human Diversity, it becomes clear that the call for awareness of diversity issues are coming from normal Japanese citizens. There is of still much debate about foreigners in Japan, but this example means to show that there is an active attitude toward in helping foreigners to find their place in society.
Some smaller organisations tend to focus on specific groups of foreigners. They play an important role for certain groups. To illustrate this, we use the example of the Haraheko. This organisation is focused on helping the Zainichi Korean community. Many Zainichi have been subjected to hate speech from Japanese citizens during their lifetime. Haraheko provides counselling services to those that experience discrimination and require help.61 The creation of organisations like the Haraheko have become more important after the 1990s, since the number of foreigners that live in Japan have grown. According to Shipper, hate speech against Zainichi has grown, especially against those of North Korean descent. This increase in hate speech is mainly the result of Japans political relations with North Korea. Around the turn of the century there were tensions between the Japanese government and North Korea. There were two encounters with Korean spy boats in the Sea of Japan and in 2002, which created animosity between the two states. The other reason was, a confirmation of abductions by North Korea of Japanese citizens. Eventually North Korea apologized for these actions. Public opinion on North Koreans and their respective organisation Chosen Soren has become negative because of these incidents.62 However, organisation like Haraheko are trying to help the Chosen Soren improve their image.
60 Nagata Kazuaki, ‘Video shop worker jolted into career as diversity advocate’, Japan Times (30 November
2014) https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/11/30/national/video-shop-worker-jolted-career-diversity-advocate/#.XOe1KhVMTb0
61 Magdalena Osumi, ‘Counselling offered for Korean youths in Japan victimized by discrimination’, Japan
Times (22 July 2014) https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/07/22/national/social-issues/counseling-offered-korean-youths-japan-victimized-discrimination/
