Nippon Ishin no Kai looking to limit foreigner numbers in Japan

Some of you fellow bloggers may have read in the news this week about Nippon Ishin no Kai's proposal to cap the proportion of foreigners in Japan. As someone who has spent more of my adult life here than in my home country, I can't see it as anything other than dog whistling. To suggest that there should be an "upper limit" on how many foreigners are allowed to live here is not just policy talk but ends up being pretty dehumanizing.

Nippon Ishin no Kai is at it again with the anti-foreigner speak...

Japan is already one of the hardest countries in the developed world to immigrate to, and the road to citizenship is long, intrusive, and uncertain. Their proposal goes even further, with a desire for stricter screenings for naturalization and even the possibility of revoking citizenship from people who have already earned it. Imagine building your life here, raising children here, giving everything to this country, and still never being truly accepted.

It's disgusting to me because it plays on fear. Politicians know full well that Japan is struggling with demographics and labor shortages, but instead of having an honest discussion about the role foreigners already play in keeping the economy and society afloat, some frame us as a threat that must be kept "as low as possible" (an actual quote from the Nippon no Ishi co-head). That kind of language isn't neutral, and all it does is stoke anxiety and divide people.

Proposals like this remind me that (to some) we'll always be outsiders, no matter how much we give, and that's a bitter, isolating truth to face in a place you call home.