Immigration will cause loss of unique identity: poll
According to a poll recently conducted on behalf of the national broadcaster, when asked if without immigration would the nation’s economy suffer, almost half (49%) of the people of this island nation bravely trying to hold out against the inevitable forces of globalisation thought that it would not suffer without an influx of foreigners, versus 46% who thought it would suffer.
When asked if all these incomers would affect the unique identity of the nation, 62% agreed whereas only 35% disagreed; almost twice as many think assimilation is not possible, perhaps indicating some longing for past glories where it was their unique culture that was imposed on other countries.
In other news, 65% of Japanese wants to see more immigration, even at the unskilled level, to address labour shortages. The backward, xenophobic, racist nation described in the first two paragraphs is actually the UK.
Note that of course the Japanese and UK situations are in no way comparable, and there are other surveys that indicate, for instance, that 55% of the Japanese public blame a decline in public order in foreign crime, versus 36% in the UK, but it does show that nihonjinron is not a uniquely Japanese disease, and that Japanese public opinion is perhaps not such an outlier when compared to other nations. Having said that, Japan is an outlier when it comes to media and state reaction to racism and allegations of such, although I do not paint as black a picture as others.
Sources: UK survey from the BBC (pdf); Japan survey from the Mainichi via Japan Probe.
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Shari said,
December 19, 2007 @ 09:25
I’m not sure at all, but, if I were to speculate, I’d guess that there is different psychology at play in each case. In the U.K. (as in the U.S.), I think it’s a case of “familiarity breeds contempt” coupled with a feeling that ones economic status is threatened by the presence of more people (immigrants being seen as willing to work for lower wages feeds into this). Heterogenous cultures are working from known (or at least experienced) sources of conflict or economic difficulties from immigration.
In Japan, where the culture is still quite homogenous, their perceptions about are speculative rather than based on ongoing real issues (hence the reason crime is usually the main reason Japanese people have concerns about immigration). The Japanese are basing any objections they have on propaganda (by and large) and the people in the U.K. on experience and having lived with the economic consequences of allowing more immigration.
Mind you, I’m not asserting anything I say is fact. It’s just speculation.
Janne said,
December 19, 2007 @ 11:26
I come from a country - Sweden - with significantly higher immigration rates than the UK or US (to say nothing of Japan of course). About 13% of the population is foreign-born; this is not an anomaly but has been at something like this level for many years.
And no, Swedish culture has not suffered for it. If anything it’s the opposite, with the influx of new ideas and perspectives vitalizing it. As for crime - are immigrants (and refugees especially) overrepresented in the crime statistics? Yes. Is it due to them being ‘foreign’? No. Is it due to the poverty level? Yes. For the case of Sweden, the way to reduce crime is to enable refugees to work and get up the income ladder, not restrict them from arriving.
www.japansoc.com said,
December 19, 2007 @ 12:45
Comparing public attitudes to immigration, UK vs Japan…
What Japan Thinks gives us some telling satistics about people’s attitude to immigration. According to a recent survey, 62% thought the nation’s unique cultural identity would suffer with further immigration. However, that statistic is actually from …