Satsujin wrote:I laugh whenever people say Japanese are poor at English or foreign languages in general. This is pure BS. Usually it is based on average TOEIC scores in Japan being lower than other Asian countries. BUT everybodies dog takes the TOEIC in Japan. Many people take it multiple times. In other Asian countries only people who are serious English students take the TOEIC.
You've got to be kidding. Japanese foreign language ability is near zero, except among those who have lived abroad. Travel to any country in SE Asia and you get full-on English/French/Japanese from almost everyone, including street children who don't even attend school. It's a necessity for them (to sell their wares), so they learn it, and they learn it well. Most Japanese children look at English as a chore. And even though English lessons in Japanese high school are quite intensive, for whatever reason, most of them graduate with next to no conversational English ability whatsoever. By the time they make a serious attempt to learn the language they are often adults, which makes it much more difficult. This isn't about TOEIC scores, this is about simple observation.
Look at Jockzon. He's what? 16 years old, and he already speaks Swedish (of course), English, German, he's learning Japanese, and he's (at least) made an attempt at French. No offense to him, because I'm sure he's quite bright, but this is not that unusual for Europeans. My two European roommates in university spoke 1) English, French, Spanish and German, 2) English, French, Portuguese and German. And they spoke them well. Not many Japanese can say this. This may be because Japanese is a linguistic orphan, problems with Japanese foreign-language education, or just a lack of perceived need to learn another language. I don't know, but foreign language learning in Japan is in bad shape.
Next, an economic recession is no reason to stop immigrants. In most cases immigration provides a stimulus to the economy. Claiming that cheap foreign workers stole your job is completely missing the point especially in Japan where the job they "stole" was probably one most Japanese wouldn't do if there life depended on it. Japan is an aging society and will require more immigration in the future than any other Asian country if they don't want to fade away as a major world Economy.
As the majority of immigrants to Japan are unskilled people from poor Asian countries (i.e. the Phillipines), they are seen as offering little in the way of benefits, and more in the way of risk.
Japan is a developed (supposedly) monocultural country in a recession. I can't speak for America, but Canada and Australia both had "whites only" policies (directed against the Chinese) before the countries became diversified. But the countries were developing and needed foreign workers, so they lowered their barriers. All monocultural countries are afraid of diversification when they don't perceive a need for it. (I know you've said that this conversation isn't about comparing countries, but pinning Japan's supposed exclusionary tendencies on 鎖国 makes it sound like a uniquely Japanese problem.)
After WWII, the Japanese became legendary for their hospitality to foreign troops. They needed help at that time. Just like Canadians needed Chinese help to build the CPR and like the Thais need foreign help now. The only difference is that US foreign aid pulled out completely after they had rebuilt the country. Chinese didn't do this in Canada, and foreigners aren't going to do this in Thailand. So the net result is that Canada and Thailand have become diversified, and Japan has not. Japan is in a somewhat unique position, in that many foreigners voluntarily left after they had rebuilt the country, and it now believes that it can survive without foreigners in her borders.
Now, I do agree that Japan will probably need to increase the number of foreign workers in the future, in order to support their elderly population. The problem is that the Japanese have a tendency to ignore their problems (good word for this: 黙殺) and hope they go away, until they reach the absolute breaking point. They then undertake massive restructuring. Once things actually reach this point and admit that they need foreigners to prop up their pension system, just watch the floodgates open.
especially in Japan where the job they "stole" was probably one most Japanese wouldn't do if there life depended on it.
You're referring to the so-called 3K jobs (汚い, きつい, 危険) which, yes, many Japanese probably wouldn't have touched during the bubble economy. It's silly to say that an unemployed Japanese person would rather starve than sort burnable and non-burnable garbage though. There's someone willing to do every job under the sun, even in Japan.
As for foreign crime, yes, Satsujin, you are exactly right. The vast majority of foreign crime is visa-related. And the media blows other foreign crimes far out of proportion. As I recall, there was a Chinese immigrant who killed a Japanese family a few years back, and this really had a massive impact on Japanese perceptions of foreign crime.
