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Opinion

Is Immigration the Answer?

By CHRISTINE CUNANAN-NOMURA


「移民」が解決になるのか?

最近、筆者が読んだ記事によると、日本の人口は2007年をピークに大幅に減少するという。日本が活力を維持していくためには、多くの移民を受け入れるべきだと結論づける識者もいる

I recently read a disturbing article on demographics in Japan. Specialists estimate that if the national birthrate does not improve soon, Japan's population will peak in 2007 at 127 million people and fall to 115 million people in 2050. By the end of the 21st century, the country will have, at best, only 90.1 million people. A worst-case scenario predicts that Japan will have only 50.9 million people by the 22nd century!

Most of us already know why it is important for Japan to maintain a growing population. The country needs to have more young people to work and pay taxes to support the operations of government, and to take care of the large elderly population. Young people are also important consumers as well as a nation's primary source of energy and creativity.

It is a global reality that countries with large populations are given more importance in business and politics than countries with small populations. This is why people powerhouses such as China, India, Indonesia and Brazil are considered both attractive areas for investment and political heavyweights. The sheer number of people in these countries makes the world look at them differently.

Unfortunately, Japan's falling birthrate is not likely to change soon because many young people continue to think — considering the demands of Japanese companies and the high cost of living — that it is too hard and too expensive to have children.

Consequently, some intellectuals feel that the best solution lies in accepting more foreigners to live, work and become part of society in Japan. This is the same solution that other industrialized, low-birthrate countries such as the United States, Italy, France and Germany have successfully undertakenalthough of course not without some problems.

I was recently in Europe on holiday and was happily surprised by the real diversity of people everywhere — whether at the local supermarket, the cafe or at the school playground. It seemed that many immigrants from other regions had conquered the difficulties of living in a foreign country and were adjusting to their new lives — and paying taxes, consuming goods and helping the national economy to grow.

Many people say that the current strength of the United States lies in the fact that it is a melting pot. They believe that many kinds of people and cultures mixed together produce a modern American society that is full of talent, skills and resources. This wonderful mix today also includes many Japanese-Americans whose ancestors emigrated to the United States when Japan was still a poor country.

However many Japanese feel that Japan is not prepared to become such a melting pot, that it is an island country and that most Japanese have grown used to a homogeneous society.

But the global trend today is toward a borderless society where individual capabilities count more than country of origin. More people may be living and working where they are most needed instead of where they were born and raised. It will seem natural to have friends and neighbors from so many different countries, enough to form a mini-United Nations! Then it will truly be a wonderful and interesting world. Don't you want to be a part of all this?


Shukan ST: Oct. 16, 1998

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