SGOXXX10.1177/2158244015600036SAGE OpenMorita 600036research-article2015 Article SAGE Open July-September 2015: 1 –6 Some Manifestations of Japanese © The Author(s) 2015 DOI: 10.1177/2158244015600036 Exclusionism sgo.sagepub.com Liang Morita1 Abstract The Japanese subscribe to ethnic nationalism, which is an ideology with the aim to develop an ethnically exclusive and homogeneous nationhood. One manifestation of ethnic nationalism is the belief that Japan is, or should be, a mono-ethnic society. Ethnic nationalism is manifested in the exclusionary attitude or opinion of the Japanese. In the context of foreigners living in Japan, the exclusionary attitude or opinion of the Japanese often translates into the insistence that foreigners should do things the Japanese way. This is unfriendly to foreigners living in Japan, to say the least. This article illustrates how unwelcoming and inconvenient Japanese exclusionism can be by using two examples that directly affect foreigners: housing and discrimination against foreigners. Keywords Japan, foreigners, housing, discrimination Introduction In the context of foreigners living in Japan, the exclusion- ary attitude or opinion of the Japanese often translates into Japan is a country that emphasizes its people’s ethnic homo- the insistence that foreigners should do things the Japanese geneity. The Japanese subscribe to ethnic nationalism, which way. In addition, because the Japanese are privileged and is an ideology with the aim to develop an ethnically exclu- foreigners are at a disadvantage in ethnic nationalism, for- sive and homogeneous nationhood (Kashiwazaki, 2011). eigners have fewer rights: One manifestation of ethnic nationalism is the belief that Japan is, or should be, a mono-ethnic society. In other words, It’s natural that foreigners who come to Japan should do things everyone who has Japanese nationality should be ethnically the Japanese way. It’s strange that we provide special services Japanese, or Japanese citizenship should be exclusively for for them. We should not give them any special treatment. (Nagy, the ethnic Japanese. 2012, p. 133) In addition to the ethnocultural conception of nationhood, ethnic nationalism is manifested in the exclusionary In addition to insisting that foreigners should do things the attitude or opinion of the Japanese. This is illustrated in the same way as the Japanese do, the Japanese respondent above following quote by the former director of the Tokyo from Nagy’s study in Shinjuku, Tokyo, seems to be against Immigration Bureau: the provision of multilingual services. In other words, the Japanese may have the right to have government services The native Japanese have lived as a single ethnic group for offered to them in their native language but foreigners do nearly 1000 years and it will be a difficult task for them to build not, even though foreigners pay taxes too. The following friendly relationships with other ethnic groups. There will likely quote is from a foreign resident in the Nagoya area: be many who would prefer to deal only with other Japanese people rather than foreigners with different customs and ideas. I know that, in Nagoya, when I transgress a system even when (Sakanaka, 2005) that system is simply advisory like the date to pick up at the dry cleaners . they have been very confrontational. I assume this Sakanaka explains that given Japan’s history as an island populated by people with a shared culture and common out- look, developing close relationships with people of different 1Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, Nisshin, Japan cultures will not be easy. We will see in “Housing” and Corresponding Author: “Discrimination Against Foreigners” sections that the Liang Morita, Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, 4-4 Japanese do “prefer to deal only with other Japanese people Sagamine, Komenoki-cho, Nisshin-shi, Aichi 470-0193, Japan. rather than foreigners” in housing and customer service. Email: [email protected] Creative Commons CC BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). Downloaded from by guest on February 18, 2016 2 SAGE Open is based on the fact that I am foreign and must comply with estate agents refuse to rent out their properties to foreigners. Japanese rules to the very letter, but the exact rationale isn’t A recent case of a Belgian student in Kyoto who was told he 1 clear to me as I find it hard to see their point of view on this. could not rent a flat because he was a foreigner was reported (Morita, 2015, p. 18) in The Japan Times (Scott, 2013). Recently, a colleague of the author who was looking for housing was turned down The respondent above was unhappy about the dry cleaner’s by 9 out of 10 estate agents, citing “Japanese only” as the insistence on his suits being collected on a specified day, a reason. practice seen in some parts of the country. From the respon- Ruru mamoranai (“to disobey rule(s)”) is often cited by dent’s point of view, he is the paying customer and should estate agents as the reason for refusing to rent out properties therefore have the right to pick up at his convenience to foreigners. The rules in question can be the correct days (Respondent 1, personal communication, September 1, 2014). for putting out the correct rubbish or minimizing noise. The number of foreigners in Japan is increasing. The number Estate agents sometimes simply state that foreigners do not of foreign residents has doubled to 2.2 million over the past 20 understand the Japanese language or do not know Japanese years (Kingston, 2013). Signs of transformation are evident in culture and, therefore, they do not want to rent out properties rising numbers of foreigners gaining permanent residency and to foreigners. Befu (2006) points out that most Japanese foreign wives (many from low-income countries) playing a key regard these as reasonable excuses for not renting to foreign- role in rural areas. In some sectors facing a shortage of skilled ers, regardless of the foreigner’s actual grasp of the Japanese workers such as information technology, the government has language or culture. initiated a new fast-track permanent residency program that tar- After having found estate agents who are willing to serve gets the relevant foreigners. Globalization, intensified interna- them, foreigners are still not out of the woods. Guarantor or tionalization, and the aging and declining Japanese population co-signers are usually required of renters in Japan. Guarantors all point toward the presence of more foreigners in Japan. pay the rent if tenants fall behind or cause damage to the Housing discrimination and discrimination against for- property. Landlords prefer relatives as guarantors, especially eigners are contemporary phenomena in Japanese society, parents who are still working. One option is to have employ- and this article identifies the discourse of Japanese homoge- ers serve as guarantors, but this only applies to those with neity and ethnic nationalism as main factors shaping this jobs lined up and companies willing to commit. Even then, exclusion. Discrimination against foreigners in many parts of using an employer as guarantor is potentially problematic. the country is documented in works such as Lee, Murphy- Changing jobs can be difficult. If the tenant loses his or her Shigematsu, and Befu (2006) and Willis and Murphy- job, he or she could have nowhere to live. Another option is Shigematsu (2008). Discrimination against the Ainu and 2 shared houses or dormitories for foreigners, but group living Zainichi Koreans is discussed in Maher and Macdonald has its drawbacks. Some companies specialize in short-term (1995). Fukuoka and Tsujiyama (2011) also focus on Zainichi 3 rentals for foreigners with no guarantors, but these properties Koreans. The experiences of Nikkeijin are described in are often not centrally located. There are companies that works such as Noguchi and Fotos (2001), Green (2010), offer to act as guarantors for a fee, but some of them require Takenoshita (2013), and Takenoshita (2015). This article is their clients to provide guarantors before they agree to pro- consistent with and contributes to the existing literature. vide the service (Lewis, 2013). Ethnic nationalism, particularly in the form of exclusion- The guarantor system has existed in Japan in various ary attitudes or opinions of the Japanese, is unfriendly to for- forms since feudal times. In the Edo Period, tenants needed eigners living in Japan, to say the least. This article illustrates caretakers who managed properties for landlords to act as how unwelcoming and inconvenient Japanese exclusionism guarantors for them if they wanted to rent, marry, or travel can be by using two examples that directly affect foreigners: through official checkpoints. The current law concerning housing (“Housing” section) and discrimination against for- guarantors dates back to the Meiji Era, when the Civil Code eigners (“Discrimination Against Foreigners” section). Many was written in 1896. Some aspects of the Civil Code are cur- foreigners looking for housing have had the experience of rently being reviewed but the guarantor requirement for rent- being refused service by estate agents, and even after having ers is not one of them. This requirement and the vertical found a willing estate agent, many find the guarantor require- relationship between landlord and renter persist to this day ment challenging. Discrimination against foreigners is not (Lewis, 2013). illegal in Japan, and racist incidents are fairly common, espe- Many foreigners do not know anyone in Japan when they cially in the form of refusal of service by businesses.