Living Long Term in Japan

One thing that troubles me a lot about being in Japan is the lack of commitment and caring of the Japanese towards the long-term residents here, who chose to make it their home. There is a lack of stable English teaching positions that can be guaranteed to last for many years, despite the need for experienced teachers. This attitude is exacerbated by the 'get rich quick' attitude of some of the agencies here, who most definitely put profits before people and appeal to the basest arguments that 'Capitalism exists' to defend firing teachers who earn more than they would like or in order to make the flow of newer teachers possible.

It is one thing to condemn these dehumanising practices. Legally, this is possible and there are indeed cases in which compensation was awarded for wrongful dismissal or even in which the deterrent threat of such cases has lead to people keeping their positions, however bad teachers they may in fact be (Japanese teachers are often bad, but don't get treated this way- not to defend the practice, 'bad teaching' is common in Japan, largely due to the often unresponsive students who don't really notice either way and is at it's most common in universities).

But such approaches, whilst brave in their reinforcement of equal rights, even in an Asian country like Japan which feels it only needs to demand equal rights from others (which is often the case with Islamic countries, that oppress other religions, yet demand their own rights crying foul if they are infringed), don't address the root cause. The route cause is perceptions of foreigners that remain unchallenged and also the lack of any effective organisation by foreigners, to mutually assure employment security. A foreigner will support transfer of another foreigner at the slightest hint that they may prove a liability- the so-called 'trade unions' of foreigners have been unable to really change things in such an environment. Cost-cutting has hit the foreign teaching community quite hard, with less secure employment and lowered wages.

The problem is that Japanese people perceive foreigners as temporary residents who will soon go home and also as a kind of vehicle for entertainment. Basically, as a guest, they treat foreigners very nicely and with much affection and warmth. Yet they also expect them to go away when the time is right- even extending this approach to the workplace, despite the unusually strict rules that have made employment for Japanese people some of the most secure in the world. This security came much to the chagrin of the US right-wing, which hopes to erode such decency in the name of greater profits and a greater gap between haves and have-nots, a gap that is growing in Japan, but still relatively minor when compared to the US and Britain, which is ironical considering their avowed moral leadership.

There is often a double standard. On the one hand, this makes Japan one of the friendliest countries I've ever been to- just about everyone is warm and pleased to see you. It's like being in heaven this way. Yet when the issue of long-term employment, buying property, or any of the usual attributes of an adult life and 'equality' come into the question; the Japanese often start to panic. "You mean- you're here to stay? I might never have 'my' county pure and free from gaijin again?" Attitudes which would be neatly condemned as racist in any Western country survive here unmolested because Japan, as an Asian country, is marked a 'victim' and allowed to be as protectionist and xenophobic and anti-multiculturalist as she pleases, without meeting censure.

Of course, this is wrong. But it is also a feature of the current world situation, in which those who travel eastwards become 'guests' and those heading westwards become often coldly, yet decently received as 'immigrants'. I can't in all honesty say that one system is definitively superior to the other (though the Western is 'fairer'); when I take into account the culturally-enriching experience of living in a country like Japan. Yet I would like more of the Western values to permeate here- the amount of long-term residents calls for a change in perceptions of them. Not everyone wants to bring to an end a lifestyle they fully enjoy.

How long can one be the family guest? Perhaps, economic considerations being looked after by securing appropriate sources of funding, for a lifetime.