Japan Rugby: A hopeful yet deceiving amount of diversity
"Diversity strengthens Japan on and off the rugby pitch"
Written by: Takashi Settai and Connor Cislo, Nikkei Asian Review - October 5, 2019
Nolan Matcovich - October 16, 2019
Sekkai and Cislo's article about the Japanese national rugby team as a representation of increasing diversity in the country looks at a variety of issues regarding immigration, the definition of 'Japanese', residency, and representation, among other things. Noting that nearly half of the team is comprised of players originally from other countries, the article quotes a number of players for the national team, economists, and other foreign nationals in saying that above all, an increase in foreign immigration and a growing foreign-born population are big opportunities for cross-cultural interaction, integration, and learning, both on the rugby field and throughout Japan. Indeed, according to the article, the benefits of an increasing immigration over the past few years has been seemingly plentiful.
Although many immigrants have a difficult time integrating into Japanese society, just as in most other societies, this article provides an optimistic viewpoint on the potential of dedicated immigrants by highlighting Derek Wessman. Wessman is a 40-year-old American who has spent the last 17 years living in Tokyo, where he owns an interpretation and consulting services company and is a member of his local neighborhood association, a volunteer firefighter, and is active in local politics. While many have not integrated into society as well or as easily as Wessman, I believe that highlighting his life and experience is important for three different reasons. First, it shows a truly successful story of a societally-integrated immigrant. Second, it combats the commonly-held belief that immigrants coming to Japan are here simply to take advantage of the welfare systems and other social benefits programs while doing very little to learn the language or fit better into society. And lastly, it shows a distinction in the type of immigrant who comes to Japan. Similar to the point above, many people associate immigration to Japan with low-income immigrants from South and Southeast Asia seeking a better life but with little desire to put in what some Japanese people would consider "their fair share of work". Wessman's story shows that someone who is truly dedicated to and content with their new life in Japan can put in the time and effort to become an incredibly active and integrated member of Japanese society.
In many ways, the fifteen international rugby players on the Japanese national team are doing the same. Regardless of why they chose to come to Japan to play rugby, all of the players who were interviewed said that they felt a strong and ever-growing sense of connection to Japan, especially while representing the country and making history at the Rugby World Cup. They noted, too that they had learned a lot from the initiatives of the native Japanese players to educate their foriegn-born teammates on important aspects of Japanese culture, history, and language, such as how to proudly sing Kimigayo prior to their matches. At the same time, however, the native Japanese players who were interviewed said that they felt the team had improved partly due to the introduction of more open, louder verbal communication, a staple of most rugby teams and many other societies, but something that the Japanese team had previously lacked, due to its rarity in Japanese society. The other day, while eating dinner with my host family, I asked my host mom why rugby had become so popular in Japan, being so far away and dissimilar from most of the other countries in which rugby is popular, and how the national team had gotten so good over the last few years, now to the point where they were able to beat Ireland and Scotland. She her answer was simply that the sport has become popular enough in schools that more native Japanese have gone on to play professionally, but this article shows that while that might be true, Japan's immigration rate seems to have an increasing amount of say in the strength and skill of the national team.
At the end of the article, however, Sekkai and Cislo remind us that while change is underway, it is incredibly slow and major immigration-related policy changes are not present in the outlook for the near future in Japan. Interestingly, too, the article raises a point it quotes from Hiroaki Muto, a chief economist at Tokai Tokyo Research Center, that I had not considered before: Japan's reluctant view towards increased immigration is largely a result of currently limited resources that uphold the national social safety net, quite similar to the attitudes held in many European countries that have experiences spikes in immigration from Africa and the Middle East. Should Japan increase its flow of immigration, Muto says, it would be wise for it to do so after sorting out some of its internal issues regarding the social safety net and while bearing in mind the rise of xenophobic populist parties and increasing trends of societal instability in Europe, so as to not repeat the same mistakes. I agree with this, but would also add that I do not think that this should be used as a way to postpone immigration reform indefinitely, simply because of how easy it is to claim that the country still is not ready for an increase in immigration.
External sources:
https://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/article/3031218/they-speak-language-and-know-our-customs-japan-embraces-foreign-born
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/11/sport/pieter-labuschagne-japan-rugby-world-cup-spt-intl/index.html
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/06/26/commentary/japan-commentary/japan-becoming-country-immigration/#.XaXwOOczZN0
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