Quote Originally Posted by Pachipro
I'm surprised to hear that this is what is happening in Japan also. I always thought Japan was more strict about their immigration of foreigners. Not only is this happening in Japan, but in America, England, France, Germany, The Netherlands and many other countries.
Japan IS stricter about immigration. In Europe, it is fairly easy for immigrants to enter, move around, work illegally, etc. Especially since the disapperance of borders and passpport checks between most EU countries. I have explained the situation in Belgium in this thread. Western Europen countries accept immigrants and refugees much more easily than Japan (there are stats showing the shocking difference in this regard). But be them immigrants or refugees, in Continental Europe, they are expected to become like locals and act like locals. That's the problem France is having with its North African immigrants, who for some reason have a harder time "to go native" (probably because of their religion) than other immigrants, and therefore encounter more problems than say, Chinese, Indian or Eastern European immigrants.

Most Japanese believe so strongly that foreigners cannot understand their culture and learn their language that they do not expect them to become like locals. That is why the Japanese are stricter about immigration. Unfortunately these prejudiced beliefs of the Japanese naturally lead to more racism and discrimination, although it does also result in positive things, such as the government's will to translate public signs or documents in English (see article), so that foreign tourists and business people would "not be lost". The problem in Japan is that any long-term resident will always be seen as just a "visitor", that has just got off the plane and doesn't know anything about Japan. In other words, Japan accept foreigners as long as they don't want to stay too long to settle down, and does everything it can to discourage them to do so.