Politi Minority Groups Are Becoming More Integrated Into Japan

Minority Groups Are Becoming More Integrated Into Japan

Japan's Integration of Other Cultures and race

Discrimination in Japan has both historical and cultural roots. The ethnocentric nature of Japanese society, reinforced by a high degree of cultural and ethnic homogeneity and a history of isolation from other cultures, impedes the integration of minority groups. But stronger than its links to the past is the value placed on doka seisaku, a principle of assimilation, which persists to this day1. Doka seisaku dictates that the nation must endeavour to make the lifestyles and ideologies of its colonised peoples the same as its own. While assimilation is the overarching principle governing minorities in Japan, it co-exists with policies of segregation and discrimination.

The Ainu - the first inhabitants of Japan's northernmost islands - are concentrated on the island of Hokkaido. The Ainu language has yet to be constitutionally recognised. Like other indigenous groups around the world, the Ainu were dispossessed of their land by aggressive colonialism2. Traditional ways of life were abandoned as land was taken over by settlers from other parts of Japan. Government policies of relocation, 'development' and assimilation had the ultimate goal of marginalising the Ainu, aided by a system of native education, through which the government actively discouraged Ainu language and customs.

Okinawans are the largest minority group in Japan with a population of 1.3 million in the Ryukyu Islands, in the East China Sea, and about 300,000 elsewhere in Japan3. Due to the large Okinawan diaspora, similar numbers are scattered in communities around the world, such as Latin America and Hawaii. Okinawans have a distinct culture and language, which have not been recognised by the Japanese government.

The Burakumin minority is indistinguishable by "racial" characteristics, or by religion, from other Japanese. Like the dalits or 'untouchables' of India, the Buraku are defined by their descent, by poverty and by the work they do. Difficult to single out from non-Buraku4, they nonetheless face an invisible wall of discrimination held in place by blacklists, hearsay and private detectives.

Koreans in Japan

The integration of Koreans into Japanese society has always been a major social, economic, and political issue. The following description of Korean housing in Japan in the late nineteenth century indicates that house style was one cultural element that distinguished Koreans from Japanese.

Koreans in Japan are already in the fourth generation, and they are highly assimilated to Japanese society at the socio-cultural level. For instance, the rate of endogamy among Koreans is only 16.6 percent in 19955. The language shift to Japanese monolingualism has occurred to a considerable degree, threatening the survival of the Korean language in the community6. Nonetheless, Koreans in Japan remain 'aliens' on a legal level. The naturalization rate has increased in the 1990s, but there still exists great pressure against naturalization due to social sanctions within the Korean community who see such individuals as 'traitors' 7. Institutional discrimination against Koreans is officially justified by the Japanese state and prejudice against them prevails in Japanese ...