Japan, in the face of accusations of xenophobia leveled by US President Joe Biden, has rejected the criticism and maintained its strict stance on immigration. "It is regrettable that the statement is not based on an accurate understanding of Japanese policy," said Tokyo on Friday, May 3, in response to remarks made two days earlier by Biden, at a fundraising event for the November US presidential election, attended by representatives of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. "Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don't want immigrants," said the American president.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, trying to qualify his remarks, said that the president had been "speaking about how important it is to be a country of immigrants and how it makes our country stronger." National security communications advisor John Kirby also downplayed Biden's remarks: "Our allies and partners know well in tangible ways how President Biden values them, their friendship, their cooperation and the capabilities that they bring across the spectrum on a range of issues, not just security related."
Biden's statements came three weeks after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had been welcomed at the White House with great fanfare. At the time, Biden had hailed an "unbreakable alliance," particularly on security issues.
The nuances provided by the US spokespeople did not appease Japanese commentators. "Immigration is the subject on which President Biden finds himself in the most difficulty in his confrontation with the Republican candidate Trump," quipped Seiko Mimaki, a specialist in American politics at Kyoto's Doshisha University.
Tightly regulated immigration
Immigration is also a sensitive issue in Japan, a country that is facing a steady decline in its population, leading to a severe labor shortage. The number of births in the country over 2023 – 758,631 – was down for the eighth year in a row, according to government data. Kishida described the low birth rate as "the greatest crisis facing Japan." On the employment front, in March there were, on average, 128 jobs available for 100 unemployed people. The unemployment rate was 2.6%.
Immigration is opposed both by Japan's powerful conservative fringe, which is attached to the idea of an ethnically pure archipelago nation; and by public opinion, which tends to associate it with risk. Despite this, it is progressing, but in a tightly regulated way and only because of serious labor shortages. "Not all economists agree on whether immigration is economically positive," pointed out Tomohisa Ishikawa of the Japan Research Institute (JRI). "In some countries, immigrants are active; but overall, many are problematic. Japan needs to make it clear to the US that it doesn't practice exclusion, but rather ensures that flows are monitored and guarantees the rights of foreigners."
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