Japan and Multiethnicity

An article in the New York Times this week on Japan's initiative to return guest workers back to their native countries elicited condemnation from readers in the attached commentaries. One statement by a politician that Japan should never become a multiethnic society especially inflamed commentators and resulted in accusations of national racism.

Japan is not only a uni-ethnic country it's also a unicultural society with homogeneity in thought, tastes and experiences across socioeconomic backgrounds. Walking around Kyoto makes one realize that this uniformity extends across the centuries with Japanese visiting the same landmarks at the same time of the year, eating the same foods and sharing the same experiences as their ancestors. This sense of continuity and nostalgia for it, appears to be a quintessential aspect of Japanese culture and thought.

Even in Kyoto,
hearing the cuckoo's cry,
I long for Kyoto.

- Basho

In Europe, France prides itself on being a multiethnic but unicultural country ensuring equality to all its citizens through the imposition of a unifying culture. However, the unwillingness of the State to admit cultural differences among ethnic groups and the imposition of French norms is cited as a cause of tension by North African groups and a basic factor in riots of the last several years.

In America we have a multiethnic multicultural society that believes in tolerance for the views of disparate communities and nationalities within our borders. Reading the comments about Japanese policy I gather that this tolerance does not extend to other states that wish to maintain uni-ethnic societies and probably unicultural ones as well. Its difficult to see how we can promulgate such changes in such countries where these views constitute part of the national character.