Foreign migrants

The myth of homogeneity in Japan is not only fictitious considering the diversity of regions in Japan with different cultures, language dialects and racial origins but that a couple of million non-Japanese citizens are an integral part of the fabric of life in Japan. They are branded as ‘foreigners’ although Koreans, a large group of non-Japanese, have for generations been born and raised in Japan and most speak Japanese as their first language. Other foreign migrants, migrating from countries throughout the world, represent a diversity of cultures and lifestyles in Japan. However, they are faced with numerous barriers in attempting to ‘make it’ in Japanese society.

Non-Japanese (synonymous with foreign residents, foreign nationals and foreign migrants) are the most powerless of all subordinate subculture groups in Japan. As foreign nationals without Japanese citizenship, they are denied political representation and are ineligible for nearly all jobs of public employment (national, prefecture and city) and numerous benefits and privileges accorded to Japanese nationals. The issue of nationality actually is the beginning of inequality since, unlike other modern democratic societies, birth-in-country does not warrant citizenship, only nationality of parent(s) does, thus children of non-Japanese parents are reproduced as non-Japanese. Foreign migrants occupy a quasi-lower caste position in Japan, a subordinate status that keeps them in their place. As a consequence, inequality of foreign migrants strongly equates with deviant behaviour.

Foreign migrant subcultures

Foreign migrant groups as subcultures are permanent and non-permanent (usually on a one-to three-year visa) residents integrally (socially and economically) tied in with Japanese society. This excludes foreign tourists, American servicemen stationed on American military bases in Japan and foreigners who temporarily come to Japan with their home country government or business and are not registered as foreign migrants at the local ward or city office. It includes, however, illegal migrants who although not registered as foreign migrants work and live in Japan independent from their home country without any set date for leaving Japan. The official number of foreign migrants registered as residents (permanent and non-permanent migrants) in Japan in 2005 for the first time was just over two million and increased to 2,217,426 foreign registered residents in 2008 (National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, 2006; The Japan Times, 2006a, p 2; Chung, 2010). The number of illegal foreign migrants is estimated to be quite large – near 300,000 (Komai, 2001).