See also: Undocumented ('illegal') migrants
Japan panel calls for penalizing foreigners who refuse deportation A panel under the justice minister proposed Tuesday establishing criminal penalties for foreign nationals who do not comply with deportation orders as Japan seeks to curb long-term detention of foreigners at immigration facilities. Japan Times, 14 Jul 2020. See Detention and Alternatives to Detention for Asylum Seekers and Migrants for more on this issue.
Hard Work, Furtive Living: Illegal Immigrants in Japan by Sharon Noguchi. Japan relies on illegal workers who are employed in low-wage jobs and unprotected from exploitation. Immigrants from China, Latin America and South Asia seek jobs with employers willing to risk legal punishments in order to hire workers at lower wages. Illegal workers are willing to accept bottom-rung pay, risking arrest and finding it difficult to claim all the wages they are owed. YaleGlobal, 2 March 2006.
llegal immigrants could lose basic social services under new resident system The 60-year-old alien registration system became obsolete on July 9, replaced by new rules and regulations under a revised law intended to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in Japan. Asahi Shimbun, 9 Jul 2012.
Officials faulted in death of Ghanaian: Court rules immigration used 'Illegal' force on deportee In a landmark verdict, the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday ruled that immigration officials were responsible for the death of Abubakar Awudu Suraj, a Ghanaian man who had overstayed his via they were forcibly deporting in 2010. Japan Times, March 19, 2014.
Justice stalled in brutal death of deportee: Autopsy suggests immigration officers used excessive force in restraining Ghanaian Abubakar Awudu Suraj had been in Japan for over two decades when immigration authorities detained him in May 2009. The Ghanaian was told in Yokohama of his deportation to Ghana at 9:15 a.m. on March 22 last year. Six hours later he was dead, allegedly after being excessively restrained by guards. The Japan Times.
Police 'foreign crime wave' falsehoods fuel racism This article looks at how the National Police Agency (NPA) has manufactured the illusion of a “foreign crime wave,” depicting non-Japanese (NJ) as a threat to Japan’s public safety japan Times, 8 Jul 2013.
Publicized Images of Non-Japanese in Japan This webpage looks at images and stereotypes of foreigners in Japan especially in terms of foreign crime. From debito.org
Magazine's focus on crimes by foreigners sparks outrage A lurid "true-crime" magazine that depicts foreigners as red-eyed criminals bent on causing mayhem in Japan has been criticised by a rights group as "ignorant propaganda" which will increase intolerance towards people from other countries. Asia Media, February 7, 2007.
Crime by foreigners in Japan down 16.2% Sensationalist magazines might be claiming that crime by foreigners is a problem for Japan, but newly released statistics reveal that such crimes have actually declined. Japan Probe, February 8, 2007.
The Japanese Police and their Methods of Tackling "Foreign Crime" Looks at information for the public from the Japanese police on foreign crime. From debito.org
Foreigners: beware The Japanese media have seized upon the arrest of a Peruvian man accused of murdering a young girl as evidence that the nation is in the grip of a foreign crime wave. This article looks at the way the media in Japan created fear of a foreign crime wave. Guardian, 6 Dec 2005.
Japan's ethnic crime database sparks fears over human rights Ethnic profiles derived from biological material at crime scenes are set to become an integral part of criminal investigations in Japan. The move has provoked criticism from scientists and human-rights activists who fear that the data will be used to target foreigners unfairly.Nature, 29 Jan 2004.
Time to come clean on foreign crime wave Rising crime a problem for Japan, but pinning blame on foreigners is not the solution. Japan Times, Oct. 7, 2003.
Japan's foreigner crime fears Japan seems caught in a media frenzy - without much justification - about crime committed by foreign nationals...However, there seems to be very little foundation for concerns about foreigners. The National Police Agency recently published a White Paper on foreign crime in Japan. Unfortunately for the media and the politicians, the paper acknowledged that foreign-instigated crime had actually fallen in 2000 and 2001. Asia Times, 14 Nov, 2003.
The 2003 PM Koizumi Cabinet Anti-Foreign-Crime Putsch is overlooked by the foreign-language press This article takes a critical view of the allegations of increasing crime by foreigners made by the Koizumi government in 2003 and of the focus on 'foreign crime and criminals' in the Japanese media. Debito.org, 7 Oct 2003.
Published figures are half the story: Foreigner crime stats cover up a real cop-out This article looks at how police crime statistics, reports in the mass media, and other forms of discourse exaggerate the number of foreign crimes in Japan. Japan Times, Oct. 4, 2002.
Packaging Prejudice for the Global Marketplace: Chauvinism Incited by Tokyo Governor Ishihara by Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Professor, The Australian National University. This article looks at Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara's comments in April 2000 about 'sankokujin' and increasing foreign crime in Japan and at the discussion of these comments in the Japanese media. The author suggest that Ishihara's comments treat "newcomer" foreigners and permanent foreign residents, who were born in Japan, as all the same, and by connecting them with increasing crime creates a sense of fear about 'foreigners' in general, as well as making them scapegoats for Japan's problems. Japan in the World, 2 May 2001.
Criminals or Victims? The Politics of Illegal Foreigners in Japan By Apichai W. Shipper Public opinion over illegal foreigners in Japan is highly contested. Some political leaders construct negative images of illegal foreigners as criminals, while activists portray them as victims. Journal of Japanese Studies, Summer 2005.