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Abstract
In May 2012, Japan launched the Point-Based Preferential Immigration Treatment for Highly-Skilled Professionals system for highly-skilled migrants. This launch is a culmination of years of interest in attracting highly-skilled migrants. Although the incentives offered to highly-skilled migrants are attractive, incentives alone do not constitute the whole picture. Researchers such as Anthony D’Costa and Oishi Nana have written about why Japan is not attracting as many highly-skilled migrants as it could be. The present paper discusses Japanese exclusionary tendencies which diminish its attraction as a destination for highly-skilled migrants, focusing on its English language education, Nihonjinron influences, mistrust of foreigners, inequality between foreigners and the Japanese, and insistence on doing things the Japanese way. These issues need to be addressed if Japan is serious about attracting larger numbers of highly-skilled migrants.
Public Interest Statement
With intensified globalisation and internationalisation, more foreigners live in Japan every day. And Japan needs these immigrants, due to its rapidly aging and declining population. Issues such as the how much English is spoken and how open the Japanese are to other ways of thinking and doing things directly impact immigrants. This paper discusses these issues and show that Japan is not as attractive to highly-skilled migrants as it could be.
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Liang Morita
Liang Morita trained in Britain as a sociolinguist and has taught in Thailand, and currently in Japan. Her research interests include immigration, discrimination, internationalisation, intercultural communication and English language education. This paper is part of her ongoing work on Japanese exclusionism, the role of English and their impact on immigrants.