1. Jiho Chang: Discrimination Against Ethnic Minorities in Japan

Japan needs foreign workers because of domestic issues and its own labor shortage. However, there are people who come into Japan without valid visa, such as some of the asylum seekers. Those people who found without valid visas are detained by immigration in detention centers which Japan’s Justice Ministry runs. It holds asylum seekers, illegal economic migrants, and people who failed in their request to stay in Japan. In detention center, up to 10 people are held in one room. Room is cut off from outside and given only basic meals. There are 90 mins a day for exercise. Approximately 1,100 people are held in detention centers and 3,600 people gained provisional release. Provisional release is made to ease the situation in detention center. Those foreigners who left detention on provisional released are not allowed work legally and can't receive public health insurance. Because of this situation, 300 foreigners held a protest in Tokyo.

There are 27 different visas for foreigners to stay in Japan. There are 2 main types. 1st is 就業できるビザ and 2nd is 収入なしのビザ. These visa are called 在留資格 published by immigration center. Immigration center defines 在留資格 in 3 ways. 仕事をする場合、仕事をしない場合(国内企業からの報酬は一切なし)、例外（working holiday, インターンシップ). 例外は特定活動のみ収入を得ることが可能. There are 17 types of visa that allow people to work in Japan: 外交、公用、教授、芸術、宗教、報道、経営・管理、法律・会計業務、医療、研究、教育、技術・人文知識、国際業務、企業内転勤、興行、技能、技能演習、高等専門職。Visa that are only allowed work in the case that immigration center says good to work is 1. 特定活動. 自分待たば地位に基づくvisa are 4 of them. 永住者、日本人の配偶者、永住者の配偶者、定住者。To get these visas, people have to contact the embassy.

The visas that I mentioned in above paragraph are a list of visa for foreigners’, and many stays in Japan as students or 企業内転勤, and those visas are the visas that Japanese government allowed qualification for foreigners.

Abe criticized the actions of Japanese government about accepting foreigners into Japan. Then why is the government of Japan accepting foreigners continuously and what is the position of the government.

• • 高度の専門的な知識または技術を有する外国人の我が国における就業を促進する。

  • 日本経済の更なる活性化を図り、競争力を高めていくには優秀な外国人材を我が国に積極的に呼び込むことが必要

  • 人口減少への対応ｘ、まずは労働者の処遇や労働環境の改善を図り、女性、若者および高齢者国内人材の確保などに最大限努めるべき

According to 日本再興戦略２０１４, 高度外国人の活用、建設および造船分野における外国人材の活用、外国人技能実習制度の抜本的な見直し、製造業における海外子会社等従業員の国内受け入れ、介護分野の国家資格を取得した外国人留学生の活躍支援等。This is the position that Japanese government is taking toward foreigner workers in Japan

3. Vietnamese Foreign Workers in Japan

Vietnamese people working in Japan are a good example of the life situation and working condition of foreign workers in Japan. One Vietnamese trainee was sent to Fukushima without notification. This 24 year old Vietnamese man, who worked in Iwate Prefecture, was sent to do clean up work in areas that are devastated by 2011 nuclear disaster. The company denies all these facts.

Nevertheless, the number of Vietnamese coming to Japan is increasing. I wonder why it is increasing. A Vietnamese person living in Japan says that 日本は技術先進国、日本に留学や仕事の機会がある、安全、教育、生活の水準が高い. In Vietnam people who work for a Japanese company make 500 dollars, while a male university graduate makes 250 dollar and 1 dollar for part time work in Vietnam. Thus, Vietnamese make less than people in Japan.

Most of the Vietnamese residents came to Japan as ‘Boat people’. Although this expression might be insulting and humiliating to Vietnamese people, they are widely known as ‘boat people’. They came into Japan as refugees, escaping from war on their land. They became part of the Japan. Also, recently asylum seekers expanded their numbers in Japan.

After the government accepted Vietnamese refugees, they became part of the Japan. But they face discrimination toward them. One Vietnamese worker was fooled by a Japanese company and he was sent to Fukushima prefecture to work on determination of 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The company claims that he was informed about the fact that he would be in Fukushima prefecture and that he was treated in a very equal way to other Japanese workers. On the other hand, the Vietnamese also claims that he was paid less than other workers.

Another Vietnamese person in Japan killed himself in a Japanese immigration center, which is run by the Ministry of Justice. Vietnamese were arrested for staying in Japan without valid visa, and it is government’s right to arrest those who took illegal actions. However, immigration center gives only 1 meal a day and gives people only 30 minutes of recreation time in which detainees get out of their room. They were treated without human rights. These are the kinds of discrimination that Vietnamese people face in Japan.

4. Ainu People in Japan

Next, I am going to talk about Ainu people, because they are Japanese citizens, but they are an indigenous people who have lived in Japan a very long time and are ethnically different from other Japanese people, or 和人, as they are called by Ainu people. Ainu means 'people' in their own language.

They were encountered in Hokkaido by 和人in 300B.C. In that period, Honshu was experiencing ‘Yayoi period’ and Hokkaido was experiencing ‘earthenware culture’, ‘Zoku-jomon period’ Satsumon period’, and ‘Okhotsk Culture’. In mid-1400, Japanese expanded their influence into southern Hokkaido and they started to oppress the Ainu people. To resist the oppression by the Japanese the Ainu fought in the battle of Kosyamain in 1457, the battle of Syaksyain in 1668, and the battle of Kunasiri Menasi in 1789. Ainu fell completely under the control of the Japanese after the battle of Kunasiri Menasi in 1789, and became part of Japan in political way, with the policies of assimilation. The Japanese government prohibited their traditional costume and languages and their culture. However they remained oppressed and exploited by the Japanese until Meiji era. The government published a policy of assimilation which prohibited Ainu people from observing their daily customs. In 1899, the Hokkaido Aborigine Protection Act was passed. It was aimed to provide relief for the Ainu and help them engage in agriculture. However it clarified the distinction between Japanese and Ainu.

Discrimination still continues today. According to a survey by 内閣府, アイヌへの現在の差別や偏見, 72.1% of Ainu people said there is discrimination towards them. On the other hand 17.9% of 和人 said there is discrimination toward Ainu. As we can see from data, more people Ainu people say there is discrimination toward Ainu. 36.6% of Ainu people say they have experienced discrimination themselves in the areas of school, marriage and work. One Ainu student could not get support from the school when he was looking for a job, and another Ainu student was treated differently when she went for an interview for a job at a company.

5. Taking Action on Discrimination Against Ethnic Minorities in Japan

Foreigners and Ainu are ethnic minorities in Japan. Foreigners are a minority since they live in the country that they don't come from. Also Ainu people are a minority since they were not Japanese in the first place. They were absorbed by Japanese and they were exploited and oppressed. They are still suffering discrimination in their daily life. Foreigners and Ainu people are ethnically different from 和人 and have experienced and are experiencing discrimination still now.

However, most 和人people are not aware that there is discrimination toward ethnic minorities. They don’t notice it because they have never experienced it and ethnic minorities don’t exist around them. According to the survey by 内閣府、アイヌへの現在の差別や偏見, only 17.9% of 和人 said there is discrimination against Ainu people. I think the first step to solve the problem is for people to notice the problem. So what would be a possible way to make people aware of the discrimination toward ethnic minorities.

It should be done by government since Ainu people are part of Japan and they are Japanese citizens. In the case of foreigners, they aren’t citizens of Japan but they live in japan and participate in it's workforce and pay taxes. Since they have done their duties as people living in Japan, then the government needs to show some respect and provide the basic conditions to live. However, the government is not following the rules of of the United Nations body, CERD, which stands for the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Foreigners have worse working conditions than Japanese people, and they get rejected when they are looking for places to live. On the other hand, Ainu people live in Japan from birth. Thus, they experience discrimination the whole of their life.

Those are the issues that we need to recognize and notice to fix the problem. To let people know about these, best way is for the government to work on fixing the discrimination issue. In order to let people know about it, I suggest they make a public service advertisement about issues of discrimination against ethnic minorities. It will lead people to recognize the issue. People who are interested in this issue and who noticed about this issue have to work on it. For example, volunteer サークルdo the volunteer work in the area they are interested in and new people who are interested in volunteer work join the team. At the beginning it could be dome individually, but if we find people who are interested in these issues, then numbers will increase soon enough. After the number increases, then the amount of work that they can do would increase even more.

6. Conclusion

In Japan, there are some ethnic minority groups, of which I am a member as a foreigner, and Ainu people who are citizens of Japan but ethnically different from other Japanese people. Ethnic minorities face lots of discrimination in their lives. However, people from the majority group don’t even recognize the issue. As I said, I think we need to recognize and notice about the problem to fix the problem. So what should the government do and what can we do to fix the problem and take action against horrible issues of discrimination.

First, the government has the duty to reduce discrimination or make it go away, since most of ethnic minorities participate in Japanese society. I suggest that the government makes a public service advertisement about issues of discrimination against ethnic minorities. Mnay people watch TV or video streaming sites, for example Youtube, so this advertisement will be seen by many people, especially young people. It will take a while to change people’s attitudes and their ideas toward ethnic minorities. However, the next generation will be taught by the generation who recognized the existence of discrimination toward ethnic minorities.

Second, there is much discrimination toward Ainu people and foreigners, ethnic minorities, and ethnic minorities have experienced those and they recognized those facts. However, group of people are not aware of those fact. Thus, they need to know about this issue, so recognize that the problem and issue are happening around them, also those problems are done by themselves. Then how can we let people know about this issue. I think government’s work will help people to know about it.

We face discrimination toward ethnic minorities in Japan, but we need to know that we also can be the target of discrimination. We need discrimination to stop.

7. References

厚生労働省職業安定局 久知良 俊二

Tokyo23ku 前川研吾

アイヌ差別の現状――民族への差別と民族の内なる差別

John Collier's Fight for Indian Rights and the First and Last Superintendent of Indian

外国人の人権を尊重しましょう

かつて日本が受け入れた元ボートピープルたち、「難民鎖国」の今を憂う

Vietnamese killed himself in immigration center, community leader says

Vietnamese trainee alleges he was misled into taking part in Fukushima decontamination work

「日本再興戦略」改訂 2014

外国人労働者を巡る最近の動向 ～高度外国人材の活用促進のために～

Foreign Workers in Japan hits 1 million mark for the first time last autumn: ministry

Calls to Reform Japan's Immigration System