Japan is a pretty good cautionary tale for Britain (and to a lesser extent to the US) on how shutting yourself off from immigration tends to go. Japan was expected to become the next global superpower in the 1980s, and instead has seen closing in on three lost decades. It’s only now trying to catch up, politically, culturally and economically.
Japan wants foreign entrepreneurs, but what's missing?
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Re: Japan wants foreign entrepreneurs, but what's missing?
#32Japan is a pretty good cautionary tale for Britain (and to a lesser extent to the US) on how shutting yourself off from immigration tends to go. Japan was expected to become the next global superpower in the 1980s, and instead has seen closing in on three lost decades. It’s only now trying to catch up, politically, culturally and economically.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)...
Re: Japan wants foreign entrepreneurs, but what's missing?
#33Japan is a pretty good cautionary tale for Britain (and to a lesser extent to the US) on how shutting yourself off from immigration tends to go. Japan was expected to become the next global superpower in the 1980s, and instead has seen closing in on three lost decades. It’s only now trying to catch up, politically, culturally and economically.
Yet China is a global superpower and shut off from immigration
Re: Japan wants foreign entrepreneurs, but what's missing?
#34It's a taboo subject, because the Japanese aren't very open to non-locals.
Have you been there lately? They are actually quite many non-local workers these days. Not sure they are treated well though.
Re: Japan wants foreign entrepreneurs, but what's missing?
#35Japan is a pretty good cautionary tale for Britain (and to a lesser extent to the US) on how shutting yourself off from immigration tends to go. Japan was expected to become the next global superpower in the 1980s, and instead has seen closing in on three lost decades. It’s only now trying to catch up, politically, culturally and economically.
Yet China is a global superpower and shut off from immigration
Re: Japan wants foreign entrepreneurs, but what's missing?
#36Japan is a pretty good cautionary tale for Britain (and to a lesser extent to the US) on how shutting yourself off from immigration tends to go. Japan was expected to become the next global superpower in the 1980s, and instead has seen closing in on three lost decades. It’s only now trying to catch up, politically, culturally and economically.
The global superpower fears were wild exaggerations. They didn’t have the pop (workers and also consumers) to support those claims. Of course contributing to those fears was vast underinvestment in modernization by US firms which were still relying on very old and inefficient technologies, so of course to some stateside companies (and “pundits”) they looked like worldbeaters.
Re: Japan wants foreign entrepreneurs, but what's missing?
#37Japan is a pretty good cautionary tale for Britain (and to a lesser extent to the US) on how shutting yourself off from immigration tends to go. Japan was expected to become the next global superpower in the 1980s, and instead has seen closing in on three lost decades. It’s only now trying to catch up, politically, culturally and economically.
Yet China is a global superpower and shut off from immigration
Also we might argue that the Chinese "self-migrate" with a huge amount of students that go for studies outside China but return later.
Re: Japan wants foreign entrepreneurs, but what's missing?
#38Like others have stated, the Japanese are very much xenophobic to outsiders. The idea of bringing a business to Japan seems unique but you aren't going to get any community support like you would in western countries. Personally I view Japan has a oddity. A first world country that short of some tech and Toyota/Honda produce little to nothing for trade. Everything is imported which could land you into the red if the…
> A first world country that short of some tech and Toyota/Honda produce little to nothing for trade. Everything is imported Japan does not export "some tech and Toyota/Honda". It exports a LOTS of vehicles, vehicle parts, integrated circuits, machines, etc. Japan is the 4th largest exporter in the world. Also, a country that doesn't export much cannot import much, or else how could the country afford it? edit: typo
Re: Japan wants foreign entrepreneurs, but what's missing?
#39Japan is a pretty good cautionary tale for Britain (and to a lesser extent to the US) on how shutting yourself off from immigration tends to go. Japan was expected to become the next global superpower in the 1980s, and instead has seen closing in on three lost decades. It’s only now trying to catch up, politically, culturally and economically.
Except the US has been pretty open to immigration for the last 250 years, while Japan is 98% Japanese.
Re: Japan wants foreign entrepreneurs, but what's missing?
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it's a valid choice for a country to decide that the economic boon from foreign entrepreneurs isn't worth it if those people can't speak your language. I'd certainly be irritated if someone opened a business in my town and couldn't speak English, and the US is a lot less homogeneous than Japan.
So, I don't understand this perspective at all. Help me get it. It seems to me that speaking a language is a skill. I know from my own experience trying to learn a second language that it isn't an easy skill for many people to acquire. Why should I be more irritated that someone doesn't speak English than that they, say, can't make a cabinet or can't write Java, or any other mildly demanding skill? I get the argument…
Societal harmony matters. It's why universal healthcare exists. It's why welfare exists. It's why affirmative action exists. Why countries spend money integrating immigrants. Everything that helps out poorer people is done with societal harmony in mind, these programs aren't 'fair' to the middle class that largely pays for them. But they reduce crime and increase social cohesion.
Countries exist that have dozens of languages and tribes. They usually have endless social problems, unrest, civil wars and often break up. Homogenous societies (culturally) almost always work better. It's why the US creation myth exists, ditto for Canada, it's why France and Germany try to teach their language to newcomers, etc...