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YO!
YO! is a collection of short pieces by the writers at Youth Outlook!
Tokyo, Japan Canon Camera’s headquarters can now be known for more than capturing your friend playing drunkin’ Wii boxing on New Years eve. Now, the Tokyo based operation is encouraging their workers to make babies – lots of them. In lieu of the decreased Japanese population, many corporations facing a recession of their own have turned their focus on the country’s dipping birth rate. Concern over the country’s population stemmed from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, who stated the country’s low birthrate is detrimental to Japan’s population and is encouraging workers to clock out early and spend time with their family – in hopes of maybe adding a few members in the process. This might sound a little harsh, but does the world really need an influx of people? For the most part, a large majority of the world got their economy tanked shortly after the U.S.’s stock market skidded off the ledge. Taking my thought process out of the Worst Case Scenario file of my brain, the need to reproduce more people seems kind of – well – stupid. Think about it. Now, there are some countries where there are too many people and the fear is that the more people there are the less resources there are to give out. That’s why immigration and adoption is such a great thing, I think. It’s like when you fill up your tray to make ice cubes and one side has more water in it than the others, so you tilt the tray so the water from one side fills up the less filled ones. We should all move to Japan: pack your bags; grab your toothbrush and go! Plus, it would be somewhat of an equal exchange going on. Our money is worth almost nothing, theirs is probably worth a little more, we have a lot of people here who could benefit from work being offered overseas and in exchange we even out their population. I for one wouldn’t mind the change of scenery. Plus, I’m sure the food is better than the limited selection of food I’m forced to consume in Downtown San Francisco. comments |
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Anyways, on a more serious note, there is a reason why Japan promotes population growth rather than immigration – the racially based definition of Japanese national identity. They don’t want many immigrants because it would threaten their concept of a racially and culturally homogeneous nation. Even to live in the country as a resident or guest worker you need to have Japanese ancestery, and even Japanese-Brazilian guest workers are treated by wider society as a unwanted minority. Just read this article:
http://www.workpermit.com/news/2007_01_23/japan/immigrant_worker_shortage.htm
Even for immigrants of Japanese descent, it is impossible to gain citizenship, and, as it says in the article, the increasingly Japanesized second generation are still considered immigrants because there is no “birthright citizenship” in Japan, thereby generating a growing underclass in Japanese society
By Luc Le Duc · Posted on Jan 28, 02:00 PMsorry, but just one more comment. On the other hand, an influx of Brazilians would probably benefit Japan, by bringing an influx of vibrant Latino culture, hence adding a degree of liveliness to an otherwise uptight nation.
By Luc Le Duc · Posted on Jan 28, 02:05 PMOK here’s a more detailed article if you are interested in learning more about the Brazilian immigrants to Japan, it discusses the culture clash for these immigrants who oence thought they were “Japanese.”
http://www.international.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=6996
I hope the Brazilians take over the country, Japan is really boring and needs more diversity to spice it up … it’d be an invAZN!
By Luc Le Duc · Posted on Jan 29, 09:23 PM