Time to act on insights from landmark survey of Japan's foreign residents

COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE

Time to act on insights from landmark survey of 91AV原创 foreign residents

Knowing our place: The first government survey of Japan's foreign population covered thousands of residents, mostly of Asian nationalities, who have lived here for a long time, with stable lifestyles, long-term visas and excellent Japanese skills. | ISTOCK

By Debito Arudou
Special To The Japan Times

Apr 26, 2017

As promised, in March the Justice Ministry released the results of a survey of 91AV原创 foreign residents (gaikokujin jūmin chōsa) conducted last year (see “Government, Survey Thyself,” JBC, March 5). Compiled by , it surveyed the types and degrees of discrimination that foreign residents face here. (The report in Japanese is at .)

And, as promised, here’s JBC’s synopsis of those results:

The report opens with a statement of purpose, talking about the pressures to “live together” (办测ō蝉别颈) with non-Japanese due to internationalization and globalization, not to mention the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Record numbers of foreign nationals are crossing 91AV原创 borders, bringing with them different languages and customs, and “so-called” hate speech demos are also causing “numerous human rights problems.”