Xenophobia Spills Into Japan’s Covid-Era Debate on Immigration
- Voting rights furor adds to unease over immigration stance
- Aging nation has sought to fill gaps with foreign workers
A worker wearing a protective mask assists travelers arriving at Narita airport near Tokyo in November.
Photographer: Toru Hanai/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
From a ban on new foreign arrivals to a campaign against efforts to let non-citizens vote, a series of developments in Japan is raising new concerns about xenophobia in Asia’s second-largest economy.
Lawmakers in the Tokyo suburb of Musashino overruled the local mayor Wednesday and rejected a bill that would’ve allowed residents of other nationalities to vote on some issues. The decision came after several prominent Liberal Democratic Party legislators launched a campaign against the plan, with former Vice Foreign Minister Masahisa Sato warning on Twitter that “80,000 Chinese people” could move to the city and influence its politics.