Download full version of this powerpoint presentation at:

1
Download full version of this powerpoint
presentation at
www.debito.org/waseda012208.ppt
My paper substantiating all this
at www.debito.org/wasedapaper0108.doc
2
Implications of Japans Human Rights Practices on
Asian Regional IntegrationBy ARUDOU
DebitoAssociate Professor, Hokkaido Information
University
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The moral of this story is

• How you treat your guests (or migrants/immigrants)
  is a bellwether of how you will treat your
  neighbors.

Japan systematically brings in Non-Japanese (NJ)
as workers, avoiding any specific immigration
policy, then treats them badly while they are
here.
In the end, this hurts Japan.
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Historically, why are NJ here?

• During the Meiji Period, J imported specialists
  to enhance its agricultural, educational, and
  industrial prowess.
• During its prewar and WWII Imperial phase, Japan
  imported millions of citizens of empire (and
  slaves) to man factories and develop
  infrastructure.

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Postwar labor self-sufficiency

• From late 1940s, Japan repatriated 2 million
  former Korean citizens. Created policy against
  importing unskilled labor.
• During high-speed growth of 60s and 70s, tapped
  other elements of the domestic workforce
  elderly, women, and automation.
• Japans economy grew larger than all other Asian
  countries combined.

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Labor shortage of 1980s

• According to the Ministry of Labor, by 1989, 46
  of all domestic manufacturers were labor
  deficient.
• By 1990, this figure rose to 56.
• Working in 3K jobs was frowned upon by Japans
  youth.
• Increasing pressure to lower wages for
  international competitiveness.

7
Demographic Pressures

• With the record-low birthrate and record-high
  lifetime expectancies, the UN predicts Japanese
  society will soon have the highest percentage of
  elderly.
• As of 2006, the Health Ministry says Japans
  population is decreasing and will fall from 127
  to around 100 million by 2050.

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??????????2030??????1000?????????? ??????2008?1?15
?18?
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By 2050, the majority of Japanese will be beyond
a productive working age (15-64)
Source Ekonomisuto Jan 15, 2008 pg 16
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Choices to be made

• Japans goods were being priced out of the
  market, due in part to labor costs.
• Japans factories at all levels could either
  relocate overseas (hollowing out), or go
  bankrupt.
• Or decrease labor costs by importing cheap NJ
  labor (or, of course, automate Post-Fordist
  Economy)
• Keidanren etc. lobbied for NJ labor.

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Choices that were made in 1990

• Institute backdoor worker NJ visas.
• Trainees (gijutsu kenshuusei) would work for
  one year, receive education in Japanese know-how,
  and be exempt from labor laws.
• This meant they worked for half minimum wage with
  no social security.
• If they showed promise, they could graduate up to
  Interns.

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More backdoor labor visas

• Interns (kenkyuusei) would work one or two more
  years as regular employees, were not exempt from
  labor laws.
• More costly than Trainees, in 1993 Practical
  Trainee (ginou jisshuusei) extended the Trainee
  period two more years. Naturally, more Trainees
  than Interns hired.
• Entertainer (kougyou) and Student visas
  (ryuugaku or shuugaku) also brought in Asian
  regional labor (particularly China, Thailand,
  Philippines, and Indonesia).

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The biggest backdoor visa

• Spouse or Child of Japanese National (nihonjin
  no haiguusha tou) and Long-Term Resident
  (teijuusha) repatriated hundreds of thousands
  of Nikkei Diaspora to explore J heritage.
• Unlike other visas, Nikkei had no restrictions on
  work status or renewal, so they could be employed
  indefinitely.

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The effects of backdoor work

• The registered NJ population has doubled since
  1990 to 2 million plus.
• Official estimates of visa overstayers now around
  220,000, but some experts say more than double
  that.
• Brazilians alone now 300,000 plus, now the third
  largest NJ nationality, behind NS Koreans and
  Chinese.

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Source Ekonomisuto Jan 15, 2008 pg 21
The most recent raw numbers as of end-2006...
16
Source Ekonomisuto Jan 15, 2008 pg 18
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The effects of backdoor work

• The number of Trainees who graduated up to
  Interns lept from 11,000 in 1999 to 41,000 in
  2006
• The number of Trainees themselves more than
  doubled to 68,305 between 2001 and 2006.
• Legal NJ workers in general number 770,000, 2.0
  of the productive-age workforce (???? ages 15-64).

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The Dark Side

• NJ workers coming for training, being put to work
  in unskilled labor.
• NJ workers having bankbooks and passports
  confiscated by employers, also employed as
  illegals and exploited.
• Thanks to the Entertainer visa, Japan became a
  tier-two human trafficker on US State Department
  list.

19
The Dark Side

• Instances of NJ working 22-hour days in slave
  conditions child labor.
• Denial of basic human rights, such as in one
  factory worship, cellphone use, repatriation of
  wages, meeting with friends, even writing
  letters.
• Exploitative conditions even causing a murder
  August 2006 in Chiba.

20
An emerging NJ underclass

• NJ children remaining uneducated, since
  elementary education is only mandatory for
  Japanese citizens.
• Cases of schools refusing NJ children.
• Asahi 2/12/07 Between 20 and 40 or Brazilian
  children are not in primary education. 10,000
  Brazilian children dropped out or never entered.
• Ethnic schools not recognized or funded by MOE.

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The point is, Japan needs NJ

• UN and 2000 PM Obuchi Cabinet survey Japan must
  import around 600,000 workers per year to
  maintain 1995 working-age population, tax base
  (Usui 2006).
• Japanese industry is dependent on NJ labor.
  Though 1.6 of population, NJ workers are 3.3 of
  the productive labor force in ???????????
  (Economisuto ibid pg 19).
• Thanks in part to NJ workers, Toyota has become
  worlds 2 automaker.

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WITHOUT FOREIGNERS, THE TOYOTA SYSTEM WONT
WORK. --SHUUKAN DIAMONDO JUNE 5, 2004
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YET JAPAN CREATES CLEAR DISINCENTIVES FOR NJ TO
STAY
Both in terms of GOJ policy, and policy
negligence creating human rights abuses
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Despite effecting UN ICERD in 1996, Japan is the
only major industrialized nation without any form
of a law whatsoever against Racial Discrimination.

• And it shows.

25
.
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Wakkanai
.
.
Monbetsu
.
.
Rumoi
.
.
Otaru
Sapporo
Nemuro
Ohtaki-mura
.
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MISAWA, AOMORI PREF.
AKITA CITY
.
ISESAKI CITY, GUNMA PREF.
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KOSHIGAYA, SAITAMA PREF. TODA CITY, SAITAMA PREF.
.
.
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OHTA CITY, GUNMA PREF.
.
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KOFU, YAMANASHI PREF.
.
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TOKYO OGIKUBO TOKYO AOYAMA DOORI TOKYO
SHINBASHI TOKYO SHINJUKU-KU TOKYO KABUKICHO
DAITOU-SHI, OSAKA PREF
.
KYOTO
.
KURASHIKI CITY, OKAYAMA PREF.
HAMAMATSU, SHIZUOKA PREF.
HIROSHIMA
NAGOYA
KITAKYUSHU CITY FUKUOKA PREF
More information and photos at www.debito.org/rog
uesgallery.html
OKINAWA URUMA CITY
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JAPANESE ONLY signs and rules have been found
at

• Bathhouses, bars, discos, stores, hotels,
  restaurants, karaoke and pachinko parlors, ramen
  shops, barbershops, a swimming pool, a billiards
  hall, a sports store, and a womans footbath
  boutique.

27
More on this and other issueswww.debito.org

• ISBN 4 7503 9018 6 English version, Japanese
  version ISBN 4 7503 9001 9

28
Shizuoka NPA foreign crime pamphlet 2001
www.debito.org/TheCommunity/shizuokakeisatsuhandbo
ok.html
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Off-color NPA notices warning the public against
foreign bagsnatchers and knifers (found at bank
ATMs and subways)

www.debito.org/TheCommunity/communityissues.htmlp
olice
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TOCHIGI PREFECTURE COAST GUARD PUBLIC NOTICE (MAY
2007) PROTECT OUR NATION AND HEAD THEM OFF
AT THE SHORES COOPERATE IN STOPPING ILLEGAL
OVERSTAYS AND ILLEGAL ENTRANTS
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Statements by our politicians

• A million Chinese, Koreans, etc., all thieves
  and murderers, are in Japan... making Kabukicho a
  lawless zone. (Dietman Etoh Takami on
  Sangokujin, Jul 12 2003)
• "Given the exceptional atmosphere of the 2002
  World Cup, we must face the possibility of
  unwanted babies fathered by foreigners who rape
  our women. (Miyagi Pref. Assemblyman Konno
  Takayoshi Jun 27 2001)

• Foreigners are all sneaky thieves. As Tokyo
  Gov. Ishihara cracked down on them, they flowed
  into Kanagawa Prefecture. Kanazawa Gov Matsuzawa
  Nov 2 2003)
• Roppongi is now virtually a foreign
  neighborhood. Africans --I don't mean
  African-Americans--who don't speak English are
  there doing who knows what. This is leading to
  new forms of crime such as car theft. We should
  be letting in people who are intelligent. (Tokyo
  Gov. Ishihara, Feb 19, 2007)

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Recent GOJ policies towards NJ

• Oct 2007 All employers must register their NJ
  workers with Hello Work.
• Nov 2007 Almost all NJ (including Regular
  Permanent Residents) must be fingerprinted at
  border as a means of controlling terrorism and
  contagious diseases, and foreign crime.
• Jan 2008 MOJ proposes NJ pass language test for
  long-term visa renewal.
• The message Immigration is scary and must be
  kept to a trickle.

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This is hurting Japan economically
Source IMF World Economic Outlook and EconStats
2007 (www.econstats.com/weo/V016.htm)
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Yet still NJ keep immigrating

• Every year we have a net intake of around 50,000
  registered NJ, now 45 straight years of record
  numbers.
• Around 20,000 naturalizing per year.
• Regular Permanent Residents (ippan eijuusha)
  will probably surpass Special Permanent
  Residents (the Zainichi generational
  foreigners) by 2007.

35
Source Ministry of Justice
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The Immigrants probably outnumber the Zainichis
as of last year
In any case, soon close to a million NJ will be
here to stay, permanently
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NEWCOMERS SUSTAIN SECTORS WHERE JAPANESE ARENT
ABLE OR WILLING TO PICK UP THE SLACK. --NEWSWEEK
SEPT 13, 2006
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And dont forgetJapans invisible kokusaika

• There are around 40,000 international marriages
  per year in Japan.
• International children do not show up in
  statistics on registered foreigners. Of
  course not. They are citizens.
• International children are also invisible
  statistically. The Japan Census Bureau does not
  measure for ethnicity.

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WELCOME TO THE FUTURE

• (Amy (left) and Anna Sugawara Aldwinckle 1996)
• Born and raised in Japan. Native speakers of
  Japanese. Japanese citizens.

40
The current ministerial debate despite no
immigration policy

• MHLW Tweak Give Trainees labor rights
  protections, language tests, renewal contingent
  on acculturation.
• METI Paint job Keep present system, monitor
  to prevent abuses.
• MOJ Slice Abolish complicated system, create
  clear revolving-door labor visa fixed at three
  years nonrenewable.
• (MOJ is the most powerful in this arena)

41
Still, the underlying assumptions remain

• NJ workers are only temporary workers, not seen
  as a solution for decreasing population.
• Despite increasingly arduous tests to qualify to
  stay, NJ workers will not be assimilated and
  guaranteed rights as residents or citizens.
• Would NJ want to come to Japan and work, even
  only as dead-end factory workers?
• Would Japans industry have an incentive to train
  their NJ workers, even if theyre only here for
  about three years maximum?

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How you treat your neighbors domestically is
indicative of your attitudes towards your
neighbors internationally.

• Does Japan seriously think that other countries
  arent noticing the raw deal their citizens get
  here? Think of how Japans media reacts when J
  citizens get ill-treated abroad.
• Japan needs its neighbors. Given its history,
  Japan can ill-afford any kind of reciprocation.

43
Download full version of this powerpoint
presentation at
www.debito.org/waseda012208.ppt
My paper substantiating all this
at www.debito.org/wasedapaper0108.doc
THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING THIS PRESENTATION.
44
Whats being done to help?

• Local govts (Hamamatsu Sengen 2001, Yokkaichi
  Sengen 2006) demand national govt help guarantee
  easier NJ access to education, social security,
  and immigration.
• Local govts are getting grants (albeit temporary)
  to help NJ settle.
• NGOs and other parts of Japans emergent civil
  society are making abuses public.
• Japanese mass media paying attention.
• LDP former MOJ Vice Minister Kouno Taro The
  visa situation is a scam (ikasama).

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Whats being done to help?

• MOJ project team book Basic Ideas for Accepting
  Non-Japanese (Nov 2006) Make it easier for
  residents to become Permanent.
• Keidanren (2004 and 2006) Guarantee human
  rights, prevent discrimination, quality control,
  bilateral labor agreements in targeted job
  sectors
• Ministries currently debating to fix visa
  system by 2009.

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The future Big vs. Small Japan

• Former Tokyo Immigration Bureau Director Sakanaka
  Hidenoris two scenarios
• www.debito.org/
• sakanakaonimmigration.htm

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Small Japan in 2050

• Population 100 million, of that NJ 3 mil.
• Japan no longer Asias leader, but enjoys a
  degree of influence as rich country.
• Elderly, frugal population paying high taxes and
  leading simple lives in uncrowded country
• Economy no longer dynamic, politics quiet and
  conservative.

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Big Japan in 2050

• Population 120 million, of that NJ 20 mil.
• Japan vibrant, diverse, crowded multicultural
  society, ethnicities mostly Chinese, Indians, and
  other Asians.
• Younger, dynamic society still pursues wealth,
  has ethnic strife, employment sectors divided
  into ethnic specialties.
• Immigration Agency improves ties with neighbors,
  degree of Balkanization of society.

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My prognostications

• The Small Japan scenario will not come to pass.
• Japan is still hooked on the profit motive, and
  the belief that industrial prowess and
  self-sufficiency has made this society rich.
• The demographics on both sides of the nationality
  fence are unoverrideable, given international
  marriage and the unstoppably decreasing J
  population.
• NJ workers and immigrants will continue to be
  wanted, and will continue to come.