I caught a TV show the other day that dealt with the issue of Japan’s falling population, focusing not on the Japanese themselves by on the relatively low number of foreigners who come to live here permanently. The show discussed countries like Ireland and Singapore, which have policies encouraging foreigners to immigrate and integrate culturally, bringing many benefits including a more diverse workforce and a healthier tax base. By and large, Japan has no plan to try to entice people from other countries to come live and work here, aside from a few halting programs to bring in healthcare workers from Malaysia or the Philippines, which is tragic since the time for visionary policies that define Japan’s position in the world is now. One interesting exception to this lack of an official immigration policy is the town of Niseko, Hokkaido, which has become popular with gaijin from the U.S., Australia and Europe thanks to its excellent skiing and golf courses, and the number of foreigners buying land and building houses there is very high. I like to think I’ve done a good job of giving something back to the country that’s become my second home, founding a successful company and hiring employees and promoting a deeper interest in Japan among people around the world. I’d love to see Japan become a more open place where this kind of success story could be more common.
By the way, I weirded the Japanese staff out with this image, I think.
A parody of a famous poster advising Japanese to immigrate to Brazil I whipped up.
