Strict Japanese immigration policy
Immigrants built the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and countries in South America. Both the majority and the minority are immigrants in these countries. Most people are immigrants there. I think that is why people in these countries are tolerant of different people and why they criticize discrimination toward foreigners in Japan and strict Japanese immigration policy.
Native people are very few in those countries because immigrants killed many of their ancestors. However, 96% of the Japanese population is native to Japan like Native Americans in the U.S. and Aborigines in Australia. The ancestors of modern Japanese people came to Japan in ancient times. I think that is why many Japanese think that Japan is a land for Japanese people and are not so critical of strict Japanese immigration polices.
I know that all countries should accept political refugees and I agree with the idea. I think that it is the responsibility of advanced countries. Also I know that all counties should not have to accept economic refugees. As I saw immigrants in the U.S., I understood that. Some of the immigrants who came to the U.S. for wealth and opportunity do not respect its cultural values – human rights, democracy and gender equality.
what about discrimination against ainu ? they are the rightfully “natives” in northern parts of japan, not the yamato people
LostSoul
2008/08/05
Hi LostSoul
The Ainu population is about 1 % in Japan and the Ainu people live in Hokkaido. Their Ancestors came to Japan in ancient times. The Ainu people are native Japanese as well as Yamato people. Perhaps if you live in the area where the Ainu people reside, you might feel some discrimination against the Ainu people among the local people. But most Japanese think that the Ainu people are just a cultural minority living in Hokkaido and would imagine a Ski resort in Hokkaido when talking of the Ainu people. When you see Japanese history, you will find discrimination against the Ainu people. However, today they are like Okinawa people to many Japanese –- a little exotic. Okinawa has a lot of unique culture because it was an independent kingdom before it became a part of Japan. It is said that the Ainu people have kept their unique culture while other people all have mixed and have become Yamato people, but it is just hypothesis and nobody knows the exact truth of the Ainu people’s origin.
japaneseview
2008/08/09
thank you for your answer.
in my eyes, the ainu are like the native american indians ,almost wiped out from the history and still discriminated in this “free” democracies (usa + japan).
don`t get me wrong,i`m not against japan or usa in anyway,i`m just pointing out something.
(japan & usa still discriminate their own citizens of another ethnic group , what cand you say when they discriminate strangers? )
best regards !
LostSoul
2008/08/10
I disagree, I’m half native american, my mother is full native american. And my father is from a colonial french heritage. And while native americans were discriminated against once before, that phenomena doesn’t exist anymore. In fact many white americans try to claim being part native american even if its only a very distant relation, because its a point of pride today. And european americans descended from colonists don’t look at themselves as being immigrants, because they have been here so long they feel native. Instead they look down on other europeans who came later such as the irish, and so on. While it is a land of immigrants, it seems that people here feel whoever was here first has the strongest claim.
Ismail
2009/08/06