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Famous for its resistance to immigration, Japan opens its doors

asia.nikkei.com

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Re: Famous for its resistance to immigration, Japan opens its doors

#131

Post by Karrot_Kream »

mikekchar wrote: post #61
volgo wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But ethnicity, not just nationality, seems to matter a lot in Japan The correct modern terminology for that is racism. Something most people don't know a lot about, because as a culture Japanese tend to be very outwardly polite so a lot of racism is very subtle and can't be spotted by someone who's just visiting.

Every time this pops up, I feel compelled to point out that in the 8 years I've lived in Japan (over a 10 year period), I haven't found this to be true. There is racism in Japan, just like everywhere. When I lived in Canada, I saw a sales manager where I was working throwing how CVs with Indian names. I asked him what he was doing. "There's no point in hiring someone whose name I can't even pronounce", was the reply.…

I'm an Indian of American decent who knows Japanese and this has been my experience as well. My SO looks Japanese, but isn't ethnically Japanese, yet she gets immediately talked to in Japanese whereas I get the guest routine. I don't mind, and a simple answer in Japanese snaps them out of it, but it is tiring. Being brown skinned probably doesn't help.

I've thought about bringing my parents over but Japan just doesn't do cultural diversity, and I'm not sure my parents are ready for being Japanese in Japan.

Re: Famous for its resistance to immigration, Japan opens its doors

#132

Post by iguy »

zeth___ wrote: post #52
iguy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can never ever become Chinese either. Nor Indian. Nor Nigerian. Nor Russian. Never mind Kuwaiti. The exception here is the west, both in terminology used for people originating elsewhere, and in actual beliefs. [You, personally, may possibly have one exception on this list, roughly if you come from the edge of one of these, but never more.]

Plenty of Russians aren't Russian. As long as you speak Russian and don't look obviously non-white you can pass for one pretty easily. As an extreme and over the top example: Stalin wasn't Russian.

Russia I know least about (in my list) so I could be wrong there. Maybe it's more like the West than I imagined. But Georgia is kind-of what I meant by "if you come from the edge of".

Are there people from Japan, or Somalia, who many Russians (and the newspapers) would unthinkingly refer to as Russian? (Not a rhetorical question!)

Re: Famous for its resistance to immigration, Japan opens its doors

#133

Post by iguy »

thomasfortes wrote: post #78
iguy wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TFA has a figure showing that just over half is China + Korea + Vietnam. Brazil + Peru are about 11%, it would indeed be interesting to know the breakdown there. Amused by the line "No party has embraced xenophobia", used here to mean, apparently, that all parties agree on policies which would be sufficient to get you branded as xenophobes in the west. Or rather, to mean that there's no shouting match over the issue.

Can't say about Peru, but the second and third generation Japanese community here in Brazil is massive and stories of some of them going to work/live at Japan are common.

Any anecdata about how open this is to neighbours of non-Japanese descent? For example if there are Japanese schools (are there?) do they admit lots of others, and do such students (or half- or quater-Japanese ones) get treated as insiders? I knew there was a huge community but know very little about it.

Re: Famous for its resistance to immigration, Japan opens its doors

#134

Post by Ocean7585 »

mikekchar wrote: post #61
volgo wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But ethnicity, not just nationality, seems to matter a lot in Japan The correct modern terminology for that is racism. Something most people don't know a lot about, because as a culture Japanese tend to be very outwardly polite so a lot of racism is very subtle and can't be spotted by someone who's just visiting.

Every time this pops up, I feel compelled to point out that in the 8 years I've lived in Japan (over a 10 year period), I haven't found this to be true. There is racism in Japan, just like everywhere. When I lived in Canada, I saw a sales manager where I was working throwing how CVs with Indian names. I asked him what he was doing. "There's no point in hiring someone whose name I can't even pronounce", was the reply.…

> IMHO it's not racism, it's culturalism.

On the contrary, it's an institutionalized xenophobia/Racism deeply embedded in the national Japanese psyche. take for example these (recent) cases of blatand racism.

[1] http://www.debito.org/?p=15013

[2] http://www.debito.org/?p=14950

[3] http://www.debito.org/?p=14981

[4] http://www.debito.org/?p=14954

[5] http://www.debito.org/?p=14989

also this

"Japan racism survey reveals one in three foreigners experience discrimination"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/31/japan-racism-s...

Re: Famous for its resistance to immigration, Japan opens its doors

#135

Post by weiming »

sytelus wrote: post #121
joshe wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pulling out the hacker part: 40 points for > 10 million yen salary ($91,000) 10 for a bachelors 20 for a masters 30 for a phd 20 for 10 years experience 15 for 7 years experience 10 for 5 years experience 5 for 3 years experience age 15 for And bonuses for language proficiency, working for small-medium companies that spend on R and D (startups?) and holding a foreign qualification. With the right salary ($91K/year):…

Wow! That throws much of the western world out of the water. I'm wondering if there is any requirement for continued residency. For example, in US if you don't live 6 months out of a year in US then you risk your green card getting cancelled.

Can be away for up to a year at a time, or up to five years if you apply for a re-entry permit. Unlike the US, there is no requirement to maintain continuous residency.

However, just like US, having permanent residency subjects you to worldwide taxation which may not be ideal for everyone.

Re: Famous for its resistance to immigration, Japan opens its doors

#136

Post by burfog »

jpatokal wrote: post #68
the_new_guy29 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are still closed for 99% of people who would like to immmigrate there. They only need highly skilled profesionals, not masses for cheap. Best part is Japan just doesn't care if other countries see it as racist nation - they still get going strong. And im 100% sure if anyone if going to find a solution to ever growing needs of capitalism without immigration it would be them.

Well, Japan's spiral of depopulation means they actually do need masses of people, and they're importing them too via all sorts of dodgy trainee visas etc to staff convenience stores, hotel front desks, construction sites, lettuce farms etc. It's just politically impossible to support permanent immigration for anybody but the 1%.

They don't need people.

The GDP of Japan might benefit, but that doesn't mean benefit for typical Japanese people. Wages would be pushed down. There would be cultural conflict. Japan's unique culture would die.

Japan is not in a permanent spiral of depopulation. There exist families who have plenty of children. These children will tend to do as their parents did. After a few generations of decline, the population will rebound.

Re: Famous for its resistance to immigration, Japan opens its doors

#137

Post by mariuolo »

icelancer wrote: post #118
adventured wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Being a foreigner is the issue there, not being a different race or ethnicity. A convenient cover premise when the population is extraordinarily homogeneous: most of the foreigners are going to be another ethnicity and or race.

Yeah, weird. Also, Yu Darvish got plenty of shit in his country before he became an elite pitcher in NPB - his father is Iranian. It wasn't just being a foreigner, Yu was full blooded Japanese, born there and everything.

> Yu was full blooded Japanese

I suspect "full blooded Japanese" means Yamato on both sides to them.

Re: Famous for its resistance to immigration, Japan opens its doors

#138

Post by weiming »

timr wrote: post #127
cdavid wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to make 10M JPY in your job before coming to Japan.

According to the forms, it's the salary from the "principal accepting organization" that matters (i.e. the Japanese salary).

This refers to salary you earn/will earn in Japan. If one has the funds and the desire, can even start own company/branch office in Japan and pay oneself salary.

The caveat is that most software salaries would pay closer to 5M yen than to 10M.

Too late to edit my original post now, but in case it's not clear, one certainly can work in Japan even with a smaller salary. It's just that if you want perks like ability to bring family/apply for permanent residency early/etc., the HSFP visa is handy.

Re: Famous for its resistance to immigration, Japan opens its doors

#139

Post by cdavid »

timr wrote: post #127
cdavid wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to make 10M JPY in your job before coming to Japan.

According to the forms, it's the salary from the "principal accepting organization" that matters (i.e. the Japanese salary).

Which clause are you referring to ? When I applied to the visa last year, I had to justify my salary, at that time in the UK, with proof. Checking my application, I got 40 points for having > 10M JPY in the 35-40 year range.

Re: Famous for its resistance to immigration, Japan opens its doors

#140

Post by cdavid »

baybal2 wrote: post #125
weiming wrote: post #22

The article doesn't mention, but Japan also took steps to make immigration easier for skilled workers with the Highly-Skilled Foreign Professional visa [1] based on this point system [2]. Can even qualify for permanent residency in as little as one year if you score 80+ points. [1] http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_3/en/ [2] http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_3/en/pdf/171110_leaflet...

Around 2 years ago, I was reached by a Rakuten recruiter. I think, I should've given more consideration to the proposal than a straight refusal.

Rakuten is not the best you can aim for in Japan, at least if you are willing to live in Tokyo. It is a decent first experience, especially if you are young, but it is still very stiff compared to international companies, and salaries are low. I would advise looking at startups (disclaimer: I work and hire at one) or international companies like Google, Indeed, Nvidia, Intel, Pivotal, etc. Indeed at least is actively hiring for foreign talent in Tokyo.
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