[/floatr]Sankei Web (Japanese) has a piece which references the rioting immigrants in France two years ago and wonders how the influx of foreigners might play out in Japan. It can't happen here say some but one scenario might be that foreigners come to Japan, can't find work and turn parts of Japan into slums where they could come into conflict with Japan's own underclass. One potential flashpoint could be Gunma prefecture where around 16% of the population are non-Japanese in some places (see map). The chairman of a local international exchange programme is worried that no-one is thinking about what will become of today's foreigners when they get older and find that they have no pension to support them. Already he can see some old timers just sitting around on benches in the town centre during the day without any work. They need to be given assistance, he says, because they were willing to take on jobs during the bubble that no-one wanted to do and so helped many towns survive. The also still have skills that the country can use so Japan should work to include all immigrant workers in social insurance programmes to make sure the future does not bring a disgruntled foreign workforce.
Things are coming to a head now, says a Japanese-Brazilian in Shizuoka. Following some high profile crimes in the area involving Braziians who subsequently fled the country, reports of discrimination have increased. "Preconceito" (Prejudice) ran a June headline in the local Portuguese newsletter Tudo Ben. "Novo Preconceito" was the headline in July when news broke of how a local community had turned its back on a Brazilian who wanted to buy property in nearby Iwata. With such discontent brewing, one spokesman feels that a conflict with Japan's own growing class of "working poor" is inevitable unless something is done.
