MAKUHARI SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL – SABI TEAM

TITLE: ——-

SPEAKERS: Rio Smith, Patrick Jennings, Ayaka Ono, Maya Kitajima

ABSTRACT:
Japan is currently suffering from a rapidly shrinking and aging population. This leads to large gaps in the job market and a pension insurance system that cannot be covered by the current youth. In order to combat this problem the government has decided to introduce foreign workers into areas where it is difficult to secure the working force by introducing a revised immigration law that passed the parliament in December of 2018. Acknowledging the increase of foreigners into Japan, the purpose of this study is to compare and contrast two ways indigenous and foreign inhabitants in Japan can facilitate a peaceful co-existence through the idea of “multicultural symbiosis”. One of the ways is the ethnic enclaves and the other is the melting pots. This research paper aims to find out how Japan as a nation can coexist with foreigners in its society. This research will look at two case examples, Oizumi Town in Gunma Prefecture and Shin-Okubo in Tokyo. These areas will be analyzed from three different perspectives: those of the foreigners, the Japanese government, and the indigenous citizens. This is in order to find the advantages and disadvantages that ethnic enclaves and melting pots hold.