[Feature: How to Perceive an "Immigrant Society"] Welcoming the Year of the New Era in an Immigrant Society

2019/07/05

For a long time in Japan, the term "immigration policy" has been treated as a taboo, but that situation is now undergoing a major shift. Regarding the revision of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (hereinafter referred to as the Immigration Control Act), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's repeated emphasis that Japan "will not adopt an immigration policy" has, ironically, led to the keyword becoming widely recognized by the public. Some media outlets have also cautiously begun to use the term "immigration policy." As the Director of the Japan Immigration Policy Institute and a pioneer in Japanese immigration policy research, I am heartened that the term "immigration policy" has finally gained citizenship.

However, judging from official views, Japan's top leaders still cling to a policy of national isolation regarding immigration. As the public grows increasingly alarmed by the potential disappearance of society and the shortage of human resources, the day is likely near when politics that fail to read public opinion and the trends of the times will meet their end.

In Western countries with long histories of accepting foreigners, they initially brought in foreigners as slave laborers through human trafficking. However, the method considered best for accepting foreigners in the modern world is, in fact, "immigration policy." Among Western immigration policy researchers, the terms "emigrant" (from the perspective of the person moving) and "immigrant" (from the perspective of immigration control) are primarily used. Not only has "slave laborer" become a forbidden term, but so has "foreign laborer," a term frequently used in Japan.

Capable foreigners will not come to a country that views them only as a "labor force." Citizens who look down on foreigners as low-wage workers cannot build a relationship of coexistence with different ethnic groups. This is a common understanding among immigration policy experts.

The era of national isolation regarding immigration, which lasted for about 1,200 years, has ended. The time has come for Prime Minister Abe to speak in the Diet about "realizing a society of coexistence with foreigners." And in a press conference on December 20, 2018, Emperor Akihito (now Emperor Emeritus) referred to the future of an immigrant society, saying, "I hope that we can all warmly welcome those who come to our country from various nations to work as members of our society." With the arrival of the year of the new era, the curtain has risen on an age where the people unite to create an immigrant society that serves as a model for the world.

The "Japanese-style immigrant society" I propose is a society that learns from the struggles Western immigrant nations face with social integration, emphasizes the Japanese concept of "Wa" (harmony), and firmly guarantees social inclusion through policy. First, it begins with education on the Japanese language and social customs, followed by vocational training such as the acquisition of specialized knowledge and skills, allowing individuals to play active roles in their respective fields. Then, at a stage three to five years later when they have achieved a stable life, permanent residency is granted, and they are allowed to acquire citizenship if they so desire.

Primary industries such as agriculture, forestry, and fisheries are seeing a sharp decline in the working population due to a lack of successors. Labor shortages are also severe in the construction, manufacturing, and distribution sectors. Small and medium-sized enterprises that support large corporations are collapsing because they have no one to take over. Even global companies like Toyota Motor Corporation are crying out as it becomes difficult to secure engineers. These industrial sectors can only be supported through immigration policy.

By adopting an immigration policy, some regions will escape the crisis of community collapse. In recent years, record-breaking natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons have occurred across the country, with casualties concentrated in areas where the elderly make up the majority. Local communities that have lost their youth have lost the physical strength to withstand disasters. There is no way for primary industries to survive other than to accept young immigrants under residency statuses for agriculture or fisheries, promptly grant them permanent residency, and welcome them as members of society.

In an era of mass immigration, the number of immigrant children attending elementary and junior high schools will increase dramatically. In that case, multi-ethnic coexistence education for elementary and junior high school students will become important. It is necessary to fundamentally rethink the nature of early childhood, primary, and secondary education. Moving away from uniform education and valuing the individuality and diversity of children is essential for the stable development of an immigrant society.

Furthermore, the Japanese majority must respect the culture of the immigrant minority. We should aim for a society where the immigrants Japan accepts can maintain their ethnic characteristics. Otherwise, even if we bring in immigrants, we cannot create a society where diverse human resources can thrive.

Cultural education that teaches the essence of traditional Japanese culture and multi-ethnic coexistence education should be conducted as one. It is vital to create a "coexistence society" composed of citizens who possess both a "Japanese heart" and a "global citizen's heart," rather than a rootless community that has lost its cultural identity.

A society where such broad-minded Japanese people form the majority is the ideal immigrant society I envision. I entrust the dream of creating a "human community society" to the children of Japan, who will grow into global citizens by learning alongside immigrants.

Regarding the development of laws and systems, it is first necessary to enact an "Immigration Law" as a basic law that defines the broad framework of Japan's system for accepting immigrants. As the basic philosophy of Japan's immigration policy, it should stipulate that Japan will broadly accept people of diverse nationalities from around the world from a fair and just standpoint, deepen friendly relations with countries worldwide, and contribute to world peace. In particular, if the articles of the Immigration Law state the national goal of realizing a human community society where people of different nationalities, ethnicities, races, and religions coexist peacefully in Japan, it will undoubtedly become a model "Declaration of an Immigrant Nation" in the international community.

Regarding the formulation of a "Basic Plan for Accepting Immigrants," an Immigration Basic Policy Council chaired by the Prime Minister should first be established within the Cabinet to deliberate on basic policies such as the annual number of immigrants to be accepted, the industrial sectors and local governments allowed to admit immigrants, and the determination of annual immigration quotas by nationality. Next, a Cabinet minister in charge of immigration policy should be appointed, and an "Immigration Policy Agency" should be established as the secretariat for the Basic Policy Council. The Immigration Policy Agency would assist in the planning and drafting of immigration acceptance plans. Relevant ministries and agencies would then implement immigration policies based on the plans approved by the Diet. Seeking Diet approval is intended to advance immigration policy fairly and openly based on the consensus of politicians and the public.

In addition, the "Immigration Law" needs to place a balanced acceptance of people from all over the world at the core of immigration policy and provide provisions for quantitative restrictions by country. In particular, it is important to conclude "Immigration Agreements" with a large number of friendly nations.

I view the modern world from the perspective of comparative civilization and recognize that the end of Western civilization, whose universality is fading, is approaching, and the world is about to enter an era of tectonic shifts. I have long argued that Japanese civilization, which possesses a spiritual culture and worldview distinct from the West, should bear a heavy responsibility in the creation of a new world civilization.

Currently, ideas of racial discrimination, religious discrimination, and the exclusion of immigrants are spreading rapidly in Western society. We must not allow world history to regress to an era dominated by ethnocentrism (the idea that one's own race and religion are superior), as represented by Hitler's mass murder of Jews. This is by no means someone else's problem for Japan.

In November 2016, I was interviewed by The Washington Post and The New York Times, both of which felt a strong sense of crisis regarding Mr. Trump's immigration policies that overturned the founding spirit of the United States. The reporters from both papers immediately understood the global significance of the Japanese-style immigration policy, which is rooted in the idea of a human community.

This is because the Japanese people, who possess polytheistic and highly tolerant hearts, have the potential to transform into a people with a sense of human brotherhood and establish a human community society by the end of this century. On the other hand, it is an extremely difficult task for Westerners, who have inherent feelings of superiority regarding religion and race, to create a human community society. This is because they would first need to wipe away the exclusive ethnicity that has permeated the Western heart.

In reality, however, it must be said that Japan, which strictly adheres to the ideology of national isolation regarding immigration and slumbers on, is far more irresponsible and problematic. The era in which Japan alone lives comfortably in the greenhouse of immigration isolation while other developed countries struggle with immigration issues has ended. There is no longer a moment to lose. The government should immediately decide to open the country to immigration. The public should resolve to create a society that "warmly welcomes immigrants as members of society."

Japan, which requires a large number of immigrants due to population decline, should promise the people of the world to warmly accept 10 million immigrants (including refugees) over 50 years. As immigrants and refugees are directly hit by humanitarian crises, if the Japanese government puts forward the "ideal of an immigrant society where humanity becomes one by overcoming differences in race and religion," the whole world will surely cheer the emergence of a "Humanitarian Immigration Superpower."

From the 1960s to the 70s, when I was a student, it was an era of active student movements. However, as an ordinary young man who was non-political and desired a stable life, I chose a career as a national public servant. Yet, life is a series of surprises. A life of struggling with the issue of ethnic discrimination, which no one wanted to touch, awaited me. Having joined the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, which has jurisdiction over the immigration control of foreigners, the subjects of my administration were "Zainichi Koreans," "refugees," and "immigrants." I ended up being in charge of the problems facing minorities in Japanese society.

I vigorously wrote papers focused on improving the treatment of ethnic minorities, starting with Zainichi Koreans. In the final years of my career as an administrator, I stepped into uncharted territory and devoted myself to creating an immigrant nation theory that would serve as a model for the world. Steadily accumulating achievements in the theoretical research of immigration policy led to further breakthroughs.

In 2005, after finishing my life as a national public servant, I encountered the task of saving Japan, which was facing a national crisis in the collapse of its population pyramid, through revolutionary immigration policy. For me, having walked the single path of immigration policy, it was truly a calling. I set high aspirations and tackled this with sincerity as a volunteer activity. I lived a life free from the constraints of organizations and was active with a spirit of independence and self-respect.

Currently, I have successfully fulfilled my major role and am in a state of spiritual peace. For 44 years, from my first paper in 1975 to the culmination of my immigration policy theory in 2019, I continued to write papers with single-minded devotion, which I believe created the person I am today, recognized by global experts as "Mr. Immigration." My family told me I was "only chasing dreams that can't be achieved," but I lived my life with the motto "If you dream big, big flowers will bloom." Future historians might describe me as "Japan's greatest dreamer."