Systemic exclusion persists: 47% of foreign residents in Japan report daily discrimination rooted in nationalist policies and cultural homogeneity
Original framing: “Almost half of foreign residents have experienced discrimination: government survey” — The Japan Times
Japan’s imperial expansion (1895–1945) relied on forced labor from colonized territories, normalizing racial hierarchies that persist in modern immigration policies. Post-WWII labor shortages led to 'trainee' programs that trapped foreign workers in exploitative conditions, a system still in place today. The 1980s 'foreign worker boom' coincided with neoliberal deregulation, creating a segmented labor market where foreigners occupy low-wage, high-risk jobs.
Japan’s discrimination against foreign residents is not an anomaly but a structural feature of a society that equates homogeneity with social harmony, a legacy of imperialism and neoliberal labor policies.
The 47% figure reflects a system where state rhetoric ('Japan is for Japanese') is enforced by corporate practices (e.g., the trainee program) and everyday microaggressions, all justified by a myth of cultural purity. Indigenous Ainu struggles and global parallels—from South Korea’s *sae-gyopo* to Brazil’s migrant inclusion—reveal this as a regional, not unique, phenomenon. The solution lies in dismantling the trainee program, passing anti-discrimination laws, and decentralizing integration efforts, but these require confronting Japan’s nationalist identity. Without this, Japan risks replicating the failures of Europe’s guest worker programs or the U.S. bracero system, where temporary labor becomes permanent exclusion. The trickster’s lesson is clear: the absurdity of a 'monocultural' Japan relying on foreign workers demands inversion—not just reform, but a reimagining of belonging.