Forieigners in Japan
Japan’s struggle with all things foreign.
Christian Burrows
Kansai Gaikokugo Daigaku
The recent (Jan. 2007) publication of Gaijin Hanzai Ura File (The Secret Crimes of Foreigners) devoted to highlighting crimes committed by foreign nationals in Japan appears to have further contributed to the negative stereotyping of certain nationalities living here. The magazine’s openly offensive and racist articles (including whether Korean virgins’ genitals smell of kimchi; using the word ‘nigger’ next to a photo of a black man cuddling a Japanese woman) are used to highlight that a record 48,000 crimes were committed by foreign nationals in Japan in 2005. This is complemented by a ‘danger rating’ of the nationalities who pose the largest threat to Japan’s society. Unfortunately, this type of hyperbolic reporting has now become quite common practice and reflects certain sections of the media’s regular fixation with foreign crime in particular, regardless of wider crime issues. Their eagerness to seize on the National Police Agency’s (NPA) biannual crime rate report to regurgitate old prejudices adds to the concern among the foreign community that the constant stream of lurid stories about foreign criminal elements is fueling public fear of non-Japanese at a time when there is much debate about increasing the number of immigrants allowed to stay in the country to counter the economic effects of a rapidly aging and shrinking population (forecast to fall from 127 million to 100 million by 2050). This debate reveals a very visible dichotomy between those who still cling to the notion of Japan as a homogeneous society and those who recognize that the country must allow more immigrants if it is to tackle the inevitable economical problems caused by the demographic change.
Publication of the magazine has been met with vociferous protests among the foreign community and prompted Family Mart, a leading convenience store, to suspend sales indefinitely. However, it is an
Christian Burrows
Kansai Gaikokugo Daigaku
The recent (Jan. 2007) publication of Gaijin Hanzai Ura File (The Secret Crimes of Foreigners) devoted to highlighting crimes committed by foreign nationals in Japan appears to have further contributed to the negative stereotyping of certain nationalities living here. The magazine’s openly offensive and racist articles (including whether Korean virgins’ genitals smell of kimchi; using the word ‘nigger’ next to a photo of a black man cuddling a Japanese woman) are used to highlight that a record 48,000 crimes were committed by foreign nationals in Japan in 2005. This is complemented by a ‘danger rating’ of the nationalities who pose the largest threat to Japan’s society. Unfortunately, this type of hyperbolic reporting has now become quite common practice and reflects certain sections of the media’s regular fixation with foreign crime in particular, regardless of wider crime issues. Their eagerness to seize on the National Police Agency’s (NPA) biannual crime rate report to regurgitate old prejudices adds to the concern among the foreign community that the constant stream of lurid stories about foreign criminal elements is fueling public fear of non-Japanese at a time when there is much debate about increasing the number of immigrants allowed to stay in the country to counter the economic effects of a rapidly aging and shrinking population (forecast to fall from 127 million to 100 million by 2050). This debate reveals a very visible dichotomy between those who still cling to the notion of Japan as a homogeneous society and those who recognize that the country must allow more immigrants if it is to tackle the inevitable economical problems caused by the demographic change.
Publication of the magazine has been met with vociferous protests among the foreign community and prompted Family Mart, a leading convenience store, to suspend sales indefinitely. However, it is an