I happened to see that the “manifesto” of Norwegian gunman and all-around asshat Anders Behring Breivik included words of praise for Japan for avoiding “multi-culturalism” and being a homogenous society. I couldn’t disagree more: while Japan is one of the more homogenous societies in the world due to its unique history, which included being closed off to the outside world for 250 years, it’s as unique and varied a place as anywhere in Asia. Pretty much everything good in Japan came from the outside world, from Buddhism and kanji writing back in the 6th century, industrialization in the 19th and peaceful integration with the world economy in the postwar period, and Japan has gained much from the many ethnic foreigners who live here and contribute to society as a whole, even if we make up 3% of the total population compared to 12%, as in Norway. The Japanese are aware that they’re more insulated culturally than other nations and do their best to combat this trend, promoting ideas like kokusai-ka, a term that can be translated as “internationalization” or actively opening yourself up to ideas and cultures from around the world.Thanks, I had to get that off my chest…
Japan is actually very open to other cultures and ideas.
