An analysis of data covering 1,892 municipalities and administrative wards found that the village of Shimukappu in Hokkaido had the highest proportion of foreign nationals at 36.6 percent.
I wonder if the areas with a high percentage of foreign residents feel different than Japan as a whole.
I like the end of the article that notes: "We have not seen an increase in problems. It seems we are coexisting well," a village official said.
by SkyInJapan
22 comments
More than 10% in 1.4% of Japan’s municipalities.
Oh the *horror*
For context, Shimukappu only has like 1,300 people total
> Shimukappu in Hokkaido
From Wikipedia:
> As of September 2016, the village has an estimated population of 1,251 and a density of 2.2 persons per km². The total area is 571.31 km².
That’s 0.8 foreigner per km², btw.
They’re so horrible no one wants to move next to them a whole km² around them!
1% of 1%, hilarious.
Regarding the question about feeling different… Well, it’s been 10 years now but I went to uni in Beppu, Oita down south. That whole town felt different than any other place as a foreigner. I’d say mostly because people were used to foreigners and they expected foreigners to know the culture and blend in.
The 4 years there were probably the only time I’ve really felt like that. But then again, I’ve only lived in Kyushu.
I want to pose a question by way of an analogy. I live in Japan, in an apartment building, and my room number is 404. Many non-Japanese won’t recognize that as a special number, but most people in Japan can probably immediately see the issue (Just to spell it out, 4 is considered an unlucky number because it sounds like the word for death in Japanese.). Obviously, having not been brought up fearing the number, I didn’t mind taking the room, but I imagine, to a small extent, Japanese people are slightly more likely to gravitate away from apartments with lots of 4s in them. As such, it wouldn’t surprise me to, say, hear about a study that concluded that foreigners are over-represented in room 404 in apartment buildings that have them.
I think, historically, there are also places where Japanese people don’t want to live due to old traditional ways of thinking and discrimination, and I would be curious to know to what extent these “foreigner-dense” neighborhood or towns intersect with the Venn diagram with places where *burakumin* used to live. I honestly don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if voids left by old discrimination are being filled by people who don’t especially have a reason to avoid them.
On the other hand, it’s entirely possible that these places just happen to be appealing to foreigner groups because of how nice they are in ways that perhaps the native population overlooks. It could also just be an entire coincidence. Perhaps it doesn’t especially matter, but the scientist in me wonders about the cause and effect.
Regardless of the why, though, I think the Japanese would do well to make the best of the situation; having little pockets of different culture can help to take some of the social strain off of the increasingly multicultural cities, and as the article suggests, it’s not like they’re causing any problems. A few Chinatowns or German villages or other (Country) towns add spice and flavor to a place. Worth developing.
Looks like the vast majority of them are tiny ski resort towns that had to import foreign workers to staff the hotels. The only one that surprised me was Ikuno Ward in Osaka. I guess I didn’t realize that the Korea Town was so big.
I am surprised kuchan has only 20%. winter feels like 90% and summer feels like 50% of people who stay around are foreigners.
That sure is a headline.
If you want to integrate and assimilate foreigners (which you should – Europe wasn’t very successful at it, with suboptimal consequences), you don’t put them all in one place, where they can form a bubble. You disperse them better, so they’re immersed in the language and culture, and you support them well. Ghettoization isn’t the way to go.
foreigner: someone needs to do something about all these foreigners
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Sure but IMO most are gonna be ethnically Korean / Chinese people who speak fluent Japanese and have spent most of their lives in Japan.
There are tens of us! Tens of us I tell you!
I’ve been trying to count how many foreigners live in my neighbourhood, about 30 minutes from Umeda, Osaka.
I know there was some guy from the US that I met about 12 years ago. He was pretty old, but assuming he hasn’t died, that’s 1.
There was a woman I saw at the train station a couple of times a few years ago. Never seen her anywhere else since then. Maybe she went home, but let’s assume she makes 2.
I have seen some guy a couple of times while hiking. Maybe he lives nearby. For arguments sake, let’s say 3.
Last Friday, I saw some guy get off the train at my local station. I know I have definitely seen him before, so that’s 4.
4 people I have seen during 13 years that might be foreign residents at this address. Actually only 1 that I can verify with any certainty. For all I know, he might be temporary too.
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I imagine half the list are tiny ski resort towns in Hokkaido, they’re well known for having high foreign residents. The thing that surprised me more is
“only two villages had zero foreign residents.”
You’re telling me there’s a whole two remote villages with no ALT tossed out there!?
But the 10 percent are to blame for every single problem. Make it make sense😅
a lot of wards of tokyo or osaka are already way over 10% foreigners arent they
are nationalized 在日 and Chinese people included?
I think there are two types of these municipalities. Places like Shinjuku-ku where foreigners have been around forever, pretty wealthy or otherwise completely integrated into society. And then there are those rural towns who receive foreign seasonal workers and students that outnumber the aging local population. The opinions are going to differ vastly between these two
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