Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you define "Japan"?
The standard way. The same way you define “Thailand” or “Bangladesh” or “Vietnam?”
It seems like "Japan" will very much still exist in either of your scenarios then.
Japan implements language proficiency requirements for certain visa applicants
111–120 of 157 posts
Re: Japan implements language proficiency requirements for certain visa applicants
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of people would rather live in their own aged society than a slightly younger foreign one. Emphasis on slightly younger. Fertility is declining basically everywhere. Much of the developing world is now below replacement including India and China.
'A lot of people' usually means the predominately older strata of society. Japan has been having issues with the younger generation being locked out of employment and advancement because of older generations needing to hold onto their career with a death grip and retirement ages going up. The aged society scam can only persist as long as they can exploit the younger generation. When that collapses, the end result is…
You've completely missed my point.
Immigration is not a long term solution to an aged society. The societies of target countries are aging as well and not far behind.
What you advocate is to bolster the work force of a country with a fertility rate of ~1 and falling, with people from a place with a fertility rate of ~2 and falling.
Re: Japan implements language proficiency requirements for certain visa applicants
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Its not shocking, I see it implemented ie in Switzerland, where half of the world tries to get in. Since each part has their own language and none of that is english, its pretty important to exist in society for anything but brief visitors. Its not restrictive as this (B2 is pretty high level in any language, here its weak B1) and resefved for 'higher' permits like C, for which you anyway need 10 years of residency i…
Except the Swiss are total arseholes about it, they won't even grant citizenship to people born there or who've lived there for twenty years and speak the language. Many want to cap total population at 10 million, we'll see what happens in June. And twelve years ago, the Swiss voted to restrict EU FoM for itself and the backlash was instant. Can't blame the government, this is the Swiss voting public doing their best…
>Switzerland is a land-locked village with fewer people than and entirely dependent on trade and the movement of people and money for all they have, and barely a scrap of a language to call its own.
Everything in that quote has been always been true though, and my guess is that they never allowed significant numbers of migrants at any time from about 800 (i.e., after the end of migration period) until whenever they started letting in large numbers of immigrants (some time after 1990 probably) (but not large enough numbers to suit you, I gather).
Re: Japan implements language proficiency requirements for certain visa applicants
#114Key detail: > Immigration authorities say the move is aimed at preventing cases in which foreign workers obtain visas under one category, but then engage in unrelated or lower-skilled work. The claim appears to be that people were using up visa slots for things like interpreters or other jobs where clearly you'd need good language skills to actually do the job, including in Japanese, with the intent all along of doin…
Company founder in Japan here. This is largely how I read this specific news--its narrowly scoped to prevent patterns of abuse, which there have indeed been isolated cases tantamount to human trafficking. That being said, there is a broader trend, that Japan's immigration authorities are becoming more foreigner-hostile, reflecting a broader political view shift in Japanese society (see: Sanseito political party) and…
Seems like the guys covering his ass. Ive had visas denied in japan over small errors. I dont use visa lawyers anymore and no longer have this issue.
Might ofc also be that the immigration officers got tired of working till 10pm every day
Re: Japan implements language proficiency requirements for certain visa applicants
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds like freetime2 is taking personal responsibility for his deficiencies which is a pretty japanese way of thinking. YMMV in the rest of the world.
From where comes the idea that taking responsibility for one's deficiencies is a Japanese way of thinking?
your children/garden/golf game is so amazing, mine is so humble/terrible/etc...
Re: Japan implements language proficiency requirements for certain visa applicants
#116As someone who has been living in Japan for years now, and still has a long way to go learning the language, I generally support language proficiency requirements. First, it should be noted that these are fairly common sense requirements designed to reduce fraud - requiring people applying for work visas that require Japanese proficiency to actually be able to speak Japanese. I suspect there will be more requirements…
> And second - it’s really hard to participate in society if you can’t speak the language. I think this creates resentment for both Japanese citizens and foreign residents alike. I basically agree, but there are two problems with this: 1) the JLPT is a test of fairly academic reading and listening (for those unfamiliar, it’s basically the equivalent of the US SAT reading/vocab section in terms of difficulty). There’s…
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Re: Japan implements language proficiency requirements for certain visa applicants
#117Re: Japan implements language proficiency requirements for certain visa applicants
#118[dead]
Re: Japan implements language proficiency requirements for certain visa applicants
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can’t parse this statement. I’m not sure if this about culture changes or about climate threat.
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Your idea of “racism” arose in a western historical context and simply has no application to Japan. Japan didn’t bring a bunch of people to their country by force and then enslave them and deny them political rights for hundreds of years.
Nation-states not only exist, the UN recognizes their existence as a human right in the The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The UN recognizes a right of “peoples”—groups of people bound together by culture, ancestry, language, etc.—to self determination. I was born in a country named after one ethnocultural group (Thailand) and my family is from another country named after our ethnocultural group (Bangladesh). Japan is the homeland of Japanese people, just as Thailand is the homeland of Tai people, and Bangladesh is the homeland of Bengali people.
Re: Japan implements language proficiency requirements for certain visa applicants
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
It should be noted that JLPT is not a direct equivalent to CEFR. CEFR requires you to pass speaking and writing, JLPT does not demand you to be able to write, or speak, at all. IT only tests listening and reading. This ironically means that while yeah, you will be able to read a LOT of kanji with JLPT N2, you might not be anywhere near B2 level at speaking and conversation, and probably not at all when it comes to wr…
Speaking as someone who reads around N2 level but can barely ask for directions, this is on the mark. I self-study and have few means or reasons to practice speaking, so it's never been a priority for me. But I think this arrangement is actually quite...realistic? Charitable? It's very hard to become conversationally fluent in a language - especially one as foreign for most learners as Japanese is - without the kind…
There's probably not much value in JLPT adding a writing component, however, I do believe that the lack of a speaking component is really disappointing. Being able to consume a language is one thing, being able to produce in it, is another, and vital for someone who will be working and living there.