Issue 206
\nFrom the Alumni Editing Department<\/p>\n
Published by: Babel University Professional School of Translation\u2019s ALUMNI Association<\/p>\n
For this issue, Kyushu University political science professor Se Teruhisa, a contributor to past articles, has given me permission to reprint one of his recently published articles. The Japanese also seem to learn from world trends starting with leaders at the forefront who are shaping the nation. <\/p>\n
Tomoki Hotta<\/p>\n
The Death of European Civilization?<\/span> \u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000<\/p>\n \nJapan is essentially moving towards becoming an immigrant nation. <\/p>\n Recently, various newspapers have reported that the Japanese government has firmed plans to reorganize and expand the current Immigration Bureau to become the Immigration and Residence Management Agency (tentative name). <\/p>\n \u201cImmigration Management Agency Scheduled to Debut in April 2019, Setting the Stage for Accepting Foreign Workers\u201d (Sankei News, August 28, 2018) It was revealed that in June the Japanese Cabinet had decided on its Basic Policies for Economic and Fiscal Management and Structural Reform (honebuto hoshin), which enables Japan to admit a large number of foreign workers into the country. The plan is to accept over 500,000 immigrants into Japan by 2025 to work in areas such as nursing care, construction, and agriculture. <\/p>\n It\u2019s well known that beginning in the 1960s, as a result of Europe bringing in foreign workers various social problems have occurred, such as decreased safety and social divisions. Why doesn\u2019t Japan learn from Europe\u2019s example instead of following suit?<\/p>\n This move towards accepting foreign workers won\u2019t stop easily as long as the leading Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) keeps promoting it. Even in the LDP general elections this fall, no one is disputing the issue of whether or not to launch a large-scale admittance of foreign workers. The opposition party is also convinced that liberal equals tolerance towards accepting foreign workers and immigrants, and generally isn\u2019t against such policies. <\/p>\n (I wrote briefly about concerns regarding these reform policies and about the absurdity of the concept that liberal equals tolerance towards bringing in foreign workers and immigrants. The following is a link to that article). The argument for promoting large-scale acceptance of foreign workers is based on the fact that there is a severe shortage of labor because of Japan\u2019s declining birthrate, which therefore makes such policies necessary.<\/p>\n After I wrote the above column, Sankei News informed me that is was going to create a column called \u201cIssues in Japan,\u201d that would cover the pros and cons of accepting foreign workers. The newspaper asked me to write the opposing side of this issue. <\/p>\n At that time, I was deeply interested in hearing the arguments proponents would assert, only to be disappointed. As you can see from the following article, Menju Toshihiro\u2019s argument is only that \u201cthere is a serious lack of manpower in Japan.\u201d I sometimes hear from supporters of foreign worker acceptance policies that these policies are designed to encourage diversity. For example, Hiroaki Nakanishi, the president of Japan Business Federation Keidanren, states that that the reason for the large-scale acceptance of foreign workers is to promote diversity, an issue that comes before thinking about labor shortages. <\/p>\n \u201cIncreasing the Number of Foreign Workers Accepted into Japan,\u201d by Keidanren President Hiroaki Nakanishi. What proponents of policies to bring in foreign workers need to do at the least is, even if Japan allows a large number of foreign workers to come to Japan, keep Japan from becoming an immigrant nation. Japan should also diligently learn from the various problems in countries throughout Europe which became immigrant nations to prevent those same problems from occurring in Japan. This is what proponents should be advocating, but I have yet to see any proponent actually doing so. <\/p>\n There\u2019s a book I\u2019ve recently been referring to when speaking publically about the issue of bringing in foreign workers. The book, titled The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam (London: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2017) was written by British journalist Douglas Murray and has become a bestseller in the UK. <\/p>\n On Amazon\u2019s UK website there are 702 reviews posted from last year to the present; the average review is 4.8 stars. The British are huge fans of this book. <\/p>\n
By Se Teruhisa
\nAssociate Professor and Doctor of Law
\nKyushu University Graduate School of Comparative Social Culture Research\u3000<\/p>\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.sankei.com\/politics\/news\/180828\/plt1808280006-n1.html<\/p>\n
\n\u201cExamining the Nation in a Single Stroke by Se Teruhisa: Increase in Foreign Workers Directly Affects the Tranquility of Japan\u2019s People.\u201d Sankei News June 7, 2018
\n\thttps:\/\/www.sankei.com\/region\/news\/180607\/rgn1806070027-n1.html<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\thttps:\/\/www.sankei.com\/premium\/news\/180729\/prm1807290014-n1.html<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\thttp:\/\/www.news24.jp\/articles\/2018\/06\/11\/06395597.html<\/a><\/p>\n