Feature: Japan Inc. approves more immigration, but archaic hegemony undermines progress

Historically Japan has always tried to keep its doors closed to the outside world even today as other first world countries are embracing all the benefits cultural diversity can bring.

Japan continues to cling to its archaic notion that racial hegemony is somehow virtuous despite the economic needs of the country screaming out for this island nation to open up its doors to more foreign workers.

The demographic situation of this country is in dire straits as the government's own statistics prove. Without some kind of wholesale intervention the population here will decline from around 128 million to just over 86 million by 2060, with people over the age 65 accounting for 40 percent of the total. A particular poignant statistic is the fact that the working population aged between 15 and 64 will plunge from 82 million to a startling 44 million in the same timeframe.

But while the government has taken the very small step in creating what it describes as "national strategic special zones" which have been designed specifically to encourage a certain kind of workers from overseas to relocate and work in Japan in areas spanning nine major urban hubs, including Tokyo, Miyagi, Aichi and Akita prefectures, the drive to counter Japan's rapidly hollowing out workforce has barely been put into first gear, despite research unequivocally proving that widening the immigration door would be a simple and comprehensive fix for the island nation's myriad economic needs.

Recent figures by Nomura Securities have shown that if Japan were to accept just 100,000 immigrants annually, its net income and expenditures 30 years from now, would not only see the government's highly indebted balance sheet return to the black, but actually boast profits of almost 4 trillion yen. Indeed if the annual quota were to be raised from a modest 100,000 overseas workers per year, the benefits to the economy would rise commensurately.

But while for economists and industry bosses themselves, the solution to Japan's grim demographic situation is an easy one, for Japan's right-wing government, often accused of being "culturally backward," the very idea of openly inviting more foreigners to live and work here is tantamount to sacrilege, as one notable anthropologist explains.

"Japan suffers from a superiority complex and this is based on a historical belief that continues to permeate society today and is passed on from parents to child and through both education and secondary and tertiary social structures, which sees Japan as superior than other races, particularly other Asian races," Keiko Gono, a leading sociologist told Xinhua.

"There's no mystery that ancient Japanese mythology connects the Imperial family's bloodline back to divinity and the country itself in mythological accounts was also born from the divine. And while postwar Japan may now scoff at such views being taken literally, there is still an unspoken sense here, embedded in the Japanese psyche, that 'We Japanese', an expression used so often here to describe a single sentiment and reinforce and elevate group solidarity and identity over that of other nations and races, that Japan and its people are somehow, just 'better' than others," Gono said.

She went on to explain that some of this false sense of supremacy came from a wholly fallacious notion that Japan's bloodline was somehow pure, and separated Japan from other races, in the same way as its well-defended island shores were once well-defended against foreign invasion.

"As I've stated before, historically Japan's bloodline is hugely mixed, with DNA evidence proving this island nation has blood ties with Southeast Asia, North Asia and Austronesia and probably more," Gono said, adding"independent DNA studies have confirmed irrevocably that around 54 percent of paternal lineage here and 66 of maternal lineage is of Sino-Korean origin, and any individual or factions claiming otherwise are simply deluded," Gono reiterated.

The stark reality of the situation, however, is that it is such a misguided endemic cultural hegemony that will hugely inhibit Japan's progress as a nation and could be the very reason for the country, which has every chance of developing further and becoming a culturally diversified, economic powerhouse, returning to the depths of economic depression and xenophobic neurosis, if the demographic issue is not addressed in the most practical way.

A testament, perhaps, to Japan's palpable abhorrence to the idea of increasing cultural diversity for the sake of the economy, underscored by the fact that its foreign population stands at an entirely meager 1.54 percent of the total, was its recent rejection of the idea of accepting foreign refugees from Syria and Iraq, in favor of a 1.6-billion-U.S.-dollar payoff for Japan to keep its doors shut to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has consistently rejected calls to do more to help with the refugee crisis in the Middle East, telling the UN general assembly recently that Japan must first tackle its own demographic issues, with the inward-looking statement drawing more attention to the fact that of the 5,000 foreign applicants who applied for asylum last year, Japan granted sanctuary to just 11 people.

At the UN assembly, Abe stated "I would say that before accepting immigrants or refugees, we need to have more activities by women, elderly people and we must raise our birth rate. There are many things that we should do before accepting immigrants."

But Japan Inc. begs to differ, with more than 75 percent of businesses here predominantly in favor of the idea of opening up immigration to more overseas workers, to make up for an ever-increasing labor shortage, with the latest statistics showing that of those companies polled, 68 percent support the idea to some extent, while 8 percent fully support the idea.

The construction industry in particular is crying out for an influx of overseas workers, as the population continues to simultaneously age and shrink, and high profile public works projects such as those related to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and ongoing reconstruction work in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disasters, are under ever-increasing pressure to meet deadlines and increasing demands, with the industry falling short on both counts.

Coupled with this, industries connected to social welfare, particularly care workers for nursing homes, are also suffering under the strain of being understaffed, while potential workers from Southeast Asian nations with the requisite qualifications and language skills are repeatedly being denied access and not being granted the necessary working visas to be able to fill the void legally.

"It's high time Japan took a serious look at its needs and how the outside world can help. The Ministry of Justice as well as promoting its preferential points system for highly-skilled workers, also needs to revise its laws to legally approve foreign workers with a lower skill set. There is not other viable option, and, increased diversity here will ultimately be for the good of the country going forward and help transform Japan from its insular tendencies and archaic ideology about regional, if not global dominion," Gono said.

"Yes, robotic technology is advanced, but surely nobody here is naive or arrogant enough to think that this route is a real fix to a problem that is worsening on a daily basis?" she quizzed.

"The best robots I've seen can dance and ask and answer rudimentary questions, but they still need an engineer to operate them and charge their batteries! This is not the solution to an imminent national crisis," Gono concluded. Endit