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Pockets of Gaijin – The Threat From Within?

January 13, 2008 Japan, Politics

Japan is a funny country.  They try really hard to do the right things on the international stage, but domestically, they’re anything but international.  There are very few cities where you will actually find more than one or two foreigners, and it’s next to impossible to see any non-Japanese in the smaller towns or rural communities.  So when I read an article from the Telegraph about someone feeling like an alien in their hometown I was left wondering if this is what the Japanese government fears would happen if immigration laws were made a little less obstructive.

Though the Telegraph article talks about pockets of Asian-Mulsim communities in the UK, the same situation can be found in countless large cities all around the world.  The very same thing could be seen in Toronto 20 years ago, Vancouver 10 years later and, it seems, in some parts of Japan where foreigners are able to rent homes (there are many places that will not rent to foreigners, so this limits our diversivication options).

I have often found “Foreign Communities” to be a great addition to cities.  Not only do the locals have the opportunity to learn first-hand a little bit about people around the world and their customs, but these pocket communities offer a little security for new immigrants who may not exactly be proficient with the primary language of the country.  By moving in to these little havens, newcomers have the opportunity to adapt at their own pace while their children adapt and quickly learn a new language as well as a new culture.

Back in Canada, I would often enjoy my trips to the Little Italy’s, Chinatown’s, and Tiny Mexico’s that would pop up.  You could always find some new restaurants and try new foods or get those hard-to-find items that would often only be available in a foreign country (I would often go to the Little Hong Kong when growing up to get my hands on the latest badly copied VHS tapes of anime shows).  Have I ever felt like these people were disrupting my way of life or interfering with my culture?  Not once.

I’m not sure if it’s because I grew up in a semi-multi-cultural area of Canada, or because I’ve had friends from all over the world since the age of 6, but I really couldn’t care less where somebody comes from.  There are so many great cultures and people on this planet, so how can we reject someone or a group of people just because of some preconceived notion about their intelligence or intent?

I’ve already seen a few foreign communities in the Nagoya area, and they’re nothing to be worried about.  Sure, they might not be of the same size or have as many people as we would find in other countries, but they’re starting to spring up.  Does this mean the neighbourhood is all but lost and it’s time for the locals to move out?  Hardly.

The mix of foreign and Japanese people is one of those rare cases of a win-win situation.  The foreigners can better acclimate themselves to the culture and language here, and the local population can see that us foreigners don’t always follow the stereotypes.  Some of us do take our shoes off at home.  We don’t eat with our mouth open.  We know not to wear anything on our feet when walking on tatami.  Heck, we even know that if someone is offering us food via chopsticks, we let them put it on our plate, rather than accept it by taking it with our own chopsticks.

That said, I’ll admit that there are many gaijin who will use these microcosms as a way to escape the Japanese culture or language, but these people will be few and far between.  I know of only two people that have been in Japan more than 15 years and still can’t speak or read Japanese.  That’s kind of sad when you think about it, but it’s no different from what we’d find elsewhere.

Personally, I’d like to see the government start to open the doors a little bit with immigration.  The country is aging very quickly, and we need some younger blood to pay into the tax system in order to prevent any increases as the Baby Boomers continue to retire.  Will we see pocket communities?  Yes.  Will some natives see these as potential “no-go” zones?  Let’s hope not.

Lots of people seem to be strongly influenced by what they see on TV in this country, so a well targeted campaign to discuss the benefits of a more multi-cultural Japan would go a long way to easing any tensions that would mount with a mixed population.  The last thing we want to see is some kind of severe racial tension build year over year until it’s finally released in a terrible clash.

Do you live in Japan?  What do you think of the pocket communities that are developing?

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