"For many decades, Japan was the only advanced industrial country in the world that did not rely on unskilled foreign labor" (Tsuda 687). However, because the shrinking and aging population is an upcoming serious problem for Japan, the demand for foreign workers has increased. The U.S. is a great example of how to take the immigrants’ help to drive an economy. Primarily, the U.S. is a nation of immigrants, and it is known to be the multiracial and multicultural successful country. One of their ideologies is no discrimination against any groups. Neither legal nor illegal immigrants are discriminated against. Their children are given U.S. citizenship, and they can assimilate better in the multicultural society. On the other hand, Japan has a fundamentally different structure of society and has different ideologies from the U.S. Japan is highly known for “the country’s economic miracle to its “one ethnic group, one language society” (Solinger 457). This miracle has structured Japan with "a strong, historically-derived ideology emphasized racial homogeneity, which shores up the national bias against outsiders” (Solinger 457). Therefore, Japan is afraid that the foreign workers, "those who work in a foreign country without initially intending to settle there", will become immigrants, "one who comes to another country for the purpose of permanent residence" (Webster dictionary). Japan will be one of the "[m]any countries [that] can’t live without foreign workers—but don’t want to live with them. The message to unskilled migrants is almost always: get the job done and get lost" (Silverman 60). In this paper, with my hope to lessen the discrimination against outsiders in the near future, I will examine why Japanese hesitate to accept imm...
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...panese starts seeing that foreign workers will not settle in Japan illegally, not cause educational issues, and will not hold animosity toward to Japanese, I believe their negative perspectives of outsiders will change to positive. On top of this positive foundation between Japanese and outsiders, they should finally be able to build on multiracial and multicultural successful society. With this achievement, it is the time for Japan to loosen the restriction on foreign workers and to live with immigrants peacefully. Therefore, after examining why Japanese hesitate to accept immigrants and also how they can manage numbers of upcoming foreign workers, my conclusion is to make restrictions on acceptance of foreign workers. The restrictions like Hirata's two suggestions is the first step to open their homogeneous society to the multiracial and multicultural success.
Saltzman, G. M. (1995). Job applicant screening by a Japanese transplant: A union-avoidance tactic. Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 49(1), 88. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/236383911?accountid=38569
During the 1900’s, it was common for people to immigrate to America. They saw it as a land of freedom and opportunity. Some thought that this was a great way for the US’ economy to boom, but some thought otherwise. With the shortage of jobs, many believed that the immigrants were stealing their precious jobs. Because of the competition over jobs, immigrants became the new public enemy to many. Immigrants such as the Japanese. The Japanese had already been through some racial discrimination, but it wasn’t until World War II that it got much worse. During the war the US decided it was best to be neutral, but the longer the war went on for, The more the US’ neutrality was on the verge of breaking. It wasn’t until December 7, 1941, that the US
Japanese immigration created the same apprehension and intolerance in the mind of the Americans as was in the case of Chinese migration to the U.S at the turn of the 19th century. They developed a fear of being overwhelmed by a people having distinct ethnicity, skin color and language that made them “inassimilable.” Hence they wanted the government to restrict Asian migration. Japan’s military victories over Russia and China reinforced this feeling that the Western world was facing what came to be known as “yellow peril”. This was reflected in the media, movies and in literature and journalism.4 Anti-Oriental public opinion gave way to several declarations and laws to restrict Japanese prosperity on American land. Despite the prejudice and ineligibility to obtain citizenship the ...
The United States of America has the largest foreign-born population in the world. With nearly thirteen percent of the total population being foreign-born, one may find it hard to imagine an immigrant-free country (U.S. Bureau of the Census). Immigration has been an integral part of the United States’ overall success and the country’s economy since it was established and without it, would have never been founded at all. Although there are some negative issues associated with immigration and many native-born Americans believe to be more of a problem than a solution, overall it actually has a positive effect. Immigrants in America, among other things, fill jobs where native-born Americans may not want to work or cannot work, they contribute to Social Services and Medicaid through taxes and they help provide the backbone of America, especially by working jobs that natives may have not even considered.
Japan is facing a de-population crisis. Birth rates have be dropping since the economic boom of the 1970s, and the drop in birth rates is accelerating. Actual population is now around 127 million, but at current rates of decline is expected to drop to 100 million by the middle of this century, and by the start of the next century, to around 40-50 million people. In addition, Japan has the longest life-expectancy in the world, and its “pensioners” are growing as the workers who support them in their later years are declining rapidly. Sixty years ago, there were about eleven workers to support each pensioner; today there are only two. Japan’s current debt load is higher than Greece’s debt, and that could ultimately result in major economic issues. Sakanaka Hidenori, in his Immigration Battle Diary, urges Japan to consider the options available to address the population issue and its economic repercussions. He argues that they can either stay the course and prepare for the changes this will cause, or change immigration policy and prepare for the cultural ramifications of that decision.
The Munson Report investigated the loyalty of Japanese Americans and their likeliness to revolt and overwhelmingly found that they were loyal. The report also describes Japanese-Americans as having “considerably weakened […] loyalty to Japan ” and are now thought of as “foreigners to Japan” (Munson Report). The report went as far as saying that “there will be no armed uprising of Japanese. There is no Japanese ‘problem’ on the Coast” (Munson Report).
The period between the late 1800s and 1900s saw the outlook of US population shift and change drastically. The Gilded age contributed a lot in this change through its massive economic expansion and influx of new immigrants from Europe and Asia. Japanese, Chinese and Jewish immigrants became an integral part of the nation despite the huge challenges they faced in their new home. America to them just like all other earlier immigrants was a land of hope and opportunity. However, reality struck once these immigrants settled since they were constantly under attack from natives (Jones et al 747). This paper examines the nature of Asian immigration into the United States in the gilded age and early 20th century; it will examine the push and pull factors of immigration and sentiments they evoked among natives.
After the United States had gained its independence, immigrants began to arrive to the American lands. And in the late 1800s the immigrants’ situation has changed. Many Americans started to look at the immigrants, as that they are different. The Industrial factions moderators viewed immigrants as a source of good revenue and considered them as that they were cheap labors. Then every faction started to look at the immigrants in the way where their benefits are. As results, the government of the United States have had issued a restrictions on the immigrants. (Immigration Since the 1870s, 1). Some Americans who Return to origins of Japanese, Filipino, and Mexican roots had the problem of the mysterious identity, where they were treated as immigrants or non U.S. citizenships in several period of times. Japanese Americans and Mexican Americans were two of the big American parties who faced racism as a nation in the United states.
Over the last decades social protection programs have been developed to mitigate damaging impacts from economic crises and individual setbacks. The role of social health protection has been particularly highlighted as a human right that safeguards the economic productivity of a healthy work force and serves as a social and economic stabilizer in times of crises (Adlung, X. & Sander, L., 2010). Kelly accepted her first job after graduating from her management program and relocated to Japan. Mr. Higashi was her immediate supervisor and mentored several of The Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program (JET) candidates. He definitely liked Kelly right away because she spoke fluent Japanese which set her apart from many of the current and past graduates. Each newly assigned JET employer signed an employment contract which set them apart from the Japanese workers in the office including key differences in work hours, Saturdays off and acknowledgement of the Japanese holidays. Many of the Japanese workers resented the recent graduates because they had these special considerations in their contract and did not have the same w...
Asian immigrants have faced many obstacles transitioning to life in America. One major obstacle Asian immigrants came face to face with was receiving an education. Asians are known to place high value on learning and education, but many things stood in their way and hindered them from even receiving an education. Between Asian immigrants and Americans lie a language barrier, which is often seen as a set back. An example of this is Lac Su since he had to serve as a translator for his parents, which in turn affected his school work. He was forced to learn American culture and English at a faster rate than his parents because they were busy with their own responsibilities to the family. Another obstacle Asian Americans faced receiving an education was separate classrooms and segregated schools, as seen in the Tape v. Hurley case. The case followed the discrimination eight-year old Mamie Tape faced as she was denied admission to Spring Valley School on that grounds that she was of Chinese race. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tape, however the Francisco Board of Education took it upon themselves to establish a separate school system specifically for Oriental children. Racially segregated schools deeply influence the student’s performance. Asian American children are taught different material and in a different style than their counterparts. These and many more obstacles impeded Asian Americans from receiving an education that they were entitled to.
What kind of effects did migrating have on the people who did it? Many people and races immigrated to the U.S in the search for a better living condition. Most went for job opportunities and the struggle of racial discrimination. Although these are two factors behind the reason of immigration, there's many more that caused these people to feel the need to leave their homeland. One similarity between all the immigration groups is that they all were pushed and pulled by some factor. The Japanese we're pushed to America hearing news that “money grew on trees”. The Japanese first emigrated to the hawaiian islands, because of reasons such as hunger, debts, high taxes, economic hardship and the search for jobs. Alike the Japanese, the Mexican and Irish immigrated because of similar reasons. Those groups struggled
In chapter thirty five, author Shelley Sang-Hee Lee explains that “Immigration is an important part of our understanding of U.S. social experience” (Hee 128). Asian immigrants bring their diverse culture, language and custom from various Asian countries. They help improve American economic development. Also, they play an important role in American society. The first Asian immigration flow is the Chinese Immigration in the mid-19th century to work in the gold mines and railroads. The Asian immigrant population grew rapidly between 1890 and 1910 (Hee 130). The increasing of population of Asian immigrants have brought a lot of problems. Many of them were facing the issue of ethnicity, discrimination, and the process of assimilation. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which banned the immigration of Chinese laborers and proscribed foreign-born Chinese from naturalized citizenship and the Asian Exclusion Act League in 1907 which limited the entry of Asian immigrants have reshaped the demographic of Asian immigrants in the U.S (Hing 45). With the rise of anti-Asian movements, many Asian immigrants were rejected from entering America or deported to their homeland. In the early history of immigration in America, the issue of deportation is an important part of the Asian American experience in the
With the Market Revolution came the increase in unions and a desire for worker’s rights across all races. The Japanese-Mexican Labor Association formed in 1903 in response to wage cuts. Not only did they succeed in obtaining a reasonable wage, this union illustrated how oppressed minorities could work together. Mexicans The Union fought unfair wages, as Mexicans were often paid significantly less than their Anglo counterparts (173). The Union also fought a contradiction in its attempt to be recognized by the American Federation of Labor. The JMLA was told that Chinese or Japanese were not allowed to be members of the AFL. In solidarity against this unequal policy, the JMLA passed on the membership. By recognizing the injustice in the contradiction between the American “belief” in “all men created equal,” this coalition of Mexican and Japanese workers proved that together, contradictions can be
Immigrants leave their countries in search for a better life and improvement of their situation. There is no singular reason for immigration; motivations range from better economic prospects to political safety. As of late, the number of immigrants living in the United States is an estimated 11 million. Those who immigrate are expected to contribute to the United States culturally, politically, and economically. Yet, full assimilation becomes difficult to achieve when the immigrant is made into “the other” by the country of reception.
In 2000, the United Nations reported that an average of 609,000 immigrants per year from 1995 through 2050 is needed for Japan in order to maintain its workforce at the 1995 level (U. N. Population Division 53). The news surprised many people in Japan, and they were forced to face the immigration issue sincerely. This controversial issue has been discussed for last 150 years. Facing today’s low birth-rate and ageing population, Japan should now accept more immigrants and become a multi-ethnic country in the future. On the other hand, there are strong oppositions against accepting immigrants for economic and cultural reasons. To clarify the points, first the issue regarding foreign workers is examined from the economic point of view in a short-time period. The present situation and historical background of foreign labor help explaining both reasons why Japan should or should not accept more foreign workers. Secondly, immigration to Japan is examined from the cultural point of view in the long time period. In conclusion, it is very important for Japan to become multi-cultural and international in order to be more creative and competitive in the world.