Kirk here reporting that Kumamoto City has shelved its proposal to include foreign nationals in the category of 市民 (shimin; “people of the city” or “citizens”) because of the significant backlash they received. They acknowledge that much of the criticism was based on the misunderstanding that doing so would grant voting privileges to foreigners (which it would not do).
I think that leaders can’t get too far ahead of the public. In that sense, I think the city’s decision is reasonable. But, reading the following essay (in Japanese) in the Asahi Shimbun today helped me understand the motivation for Kumamoto City’s proposal to include foreign national in the category of “shimin.”
https://www.asahi.com/articles/DA3S15554856.html
In the essay, MENJU Toshihiro, Managing director of the Japan Center for International Exchange, points out that in 2018 the government issued the “Roadmap for the Realization of a Society of Harmonious Coexistence with Foreign Nationals,” which declares that Japan must become a “society where foreign national are included as members of Japanese society of the future.” You can see an English summary of this report here:
https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/content/001384664.pdf
Mr. Menju points out that this constitutes a significant shift in Japanese immigration policy. Indeed, my own perspective is that foreigners have typically been view as “tsukaisute” (disposable) labor, not as valued community members.
I think that Kumamoto City’s proposal to include foreign nationals under the rubric of “shimin” was intended to send a message to foreign and Japanese residents alike that the Kumamoto City wants to welcome non-Japanese as members of the community. In his article, Mr. Menju points out that this is particularly important because the devaluation of the yen has reduced Japan’s attractiveness to those who wish to earn money to send back to people in their home country.
I don’t know if we will eventually be included in Kumamoto City’s definition of “shimin” or if community membership will be expressed in some other way but I hope that the city will not abandon its basic goal of sending a message about inclusion.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/7fd6980764b7d02101acf6a5a2b81c4e3a52d3c3
P.S. I’ll append the URLs to two previous post on this topic:
