Japan's foodie diversity is real, but is it under threat?

It felt like a nice little validating win to write about Tokyo landing 10th among the world's most diverse foodie cities yesterday. Whenever I head into the city, I love scoping out ahead of time where to eat, and I've hand-on-heart had some of the best meals of my life here in Japan.

Then today, I watched a segment on NHK that took the shine off that idea a little bit. 

According to the report, stricter immigration rules could make it much harder for many international chefs to stay here in Japan, which was something else I blogged about recently.

Many of the restaurants serving truly memorable international cuisine here are run by (surprise, surprise!) members of the foreign community. If they're forced to leave, some places may close entirely. Others might try to carry on, but without the same depth of knowledge behind the stove.

I think it ends up being a pretty strange contrast. On one hand, Tokyo's being celebrated as a global food city, and on the other, the very people who help shape that reputation are facing uncertainty. Food diversity depends on the people who bring their techniques, traditions, and instincts with them, and I think Tokyo (and Japan as a whole) will be all the poorer for seeing folks like this forced to leave.