Japan's Exodus

Oh Japan, when will you learn. In a country where 98.5% of the population is ethnically uniform, any step forward in immigration is a sign of progress. Not only does immigration promote globalization, but it also promotes tolerance and understanding better than any education campaign can. Over the last few years, Japan has seen almost 230,000 Brazilians of Japanese descent pour into the country. And, for the most part, Japan seemed happy to have them. That is, until the economy started to fail the world over and the manufacturing jobs began to falter. Now, Japanese officials have proposed a wide sweeping policy aimed to reduce unemployment. And what is this policy you may ask?

Just recently, Japanese officials have approached all 230,000 workers from Brazil with an offer to pay them to return to Brazil. The government is offering $3000 for the workers and their spouses and an additional $2000 for each defendant towards airfare and other expenses. The catch? They are never allowed to apply for residency in Japan again. They will be allowed to visit on 3 month tourist visas, but above that, they have no options. The worst part is, these workers have limited options. With unemployment at upwards of 4.4% throughout a country of 127 million people, most of those jobs being in manufacturing, many of these workers are currently unemployed, or on the verge of being so. The Japanese government is taking advantage of these people during their time of need, and that smells like nationalism and isolationism to me.

When a country willfully targets citizens of a certain national origin, that speaks volumes about that country's state of mind. Couple that with an already very low immigration rate, and you have a country that does not want to enter the world population. Japan is a country that is historically very isolated. In the 1800's, only 2 nations could trade with them, The Netherlands and China. Until Commodore Perry forced open the door for the US, Japan had no intention of ever changing that policy. After the United States forced open the doors, Japan reluctantly entered the industrial age. Once there, however, they made progress at an amazing rate. They are now one of the leading exporters of motor vehicles, semiconductors and electrical equipment. But they are still closed off. With one of the lowest immigration rates out of any nation, Japan is on a continued path of isolation and discrimination.