I keep hearing racist nationalists say stuff like this worldwide, and not matter how hard I squint it remains a non sequitur.

I mean, "we have a population crisis" and "don't let people come here" seem entirely contradictory unless you are... well, a supremacist.

Which they are, it's just the leap that gets me. So obvious, so rarely called out and never addressed.

Japanese people are being fed the same kind of propaganda as UK citizens and Americans. People say ridiculous things like "What if the number of foreigners increases to 20% of the total population? Then women will be sexually assaulted." Instead of immigrant gangs taking over apartment buildings and eating the pets it's foreigners buying up all the land to build compounds for foreigners to live in and pooping in the streets.

But there is also a feedback loop where nationalists in Japan make the news, and it's repeated by right wing foreigners who don't know Japan but admired their idealized, racially pure Japan where everyone is polite and orderly and this would never happen, and then that gets repeated to Japanese people as if it were large numbers of foreigners warning them not to let immigration ruin Japan as it has ruined those other countries. Most of the Japanese people in this loop don't understand English, and the right wing foreigners don't understand Japanese. The reality isn't always faithfully translated in either direction, and the language barrier makes it harder for people to realize the discrepancy.

Japanese people are extremely racist. They genuinely put republicans to shame.

More people need to raise hell about this group because they also have members who deny the Nanking Massacre.

The nazi party is funded by Russia btw and there's so much propaganda in Japan rn its insane. One major piece still making news is that foreign tourists dont pay their hospital bills and losing "Japan so much money". The amount of unpaid bills was 400k usd that year and foreign tourists revenue was 58 BILLION usd. That's 0.00069% loss of total revenue.

This constant propaganda around the world is so depressing and not because its there but because truth is right next to it and nobody's looking.

... and just like the USA, it's all populism, rage baiting and ZERO actual solutions

Dang, it sucks seeing people from my favorite country fall prey to small-minded views like this. I know Japan is not perfect but like how a parent dotes over their child, I can’t help but see the good in Japan and its potential.

When I lived in Japan I definitely encountered my fair share of racism and people who did not like foreigners. But on the other hand, there were also a lot of Japanese people that liked learning about other cultures and even ones that didn’t hold their arms open to welcome foreigners were usually at least tolerant of foreigners (never saw or heard of anyone actually committing crimes against foreigners).

I do think Japan has a long way to go in terms of accepting other cultures and creating a more equal and open society within their own culture. While I used to admire their steadfastness, in how they have stuck with their historical traditions, I now see it as something that’s holding them back. The ideal outcome I think would be Japan keeping the parts of its culture that makes it unique but that’s not harmful to people and then accepting or inviting in ideas and qualities of other cultures that will advance social equality for all. But we don’t live in such a perfect world and even if things go in that direction, that kind of societal change probably won’t happen in our lifetimes.

Somewhat counter to this though, there’s also the point other users have brought up that a shrinking population isn’t necessarily the worst problem for a country to face, especially one on a chain of islands. So in a way one could understand where some Japanese people are coming from when they say things like they don’t want more people to settle there. Of course it’s a different point if a population is being forcibly restricted, but in Japan’s case it doesn’t feel/seem that way. There are a number of reasons why their population is in decline, but to me they aren’t all bad reasons. I think instinctually Japanese people feel that they’re nearing the limit of what their resources can support and generally speaking they are a well educated population, and educated people/couples generally have less children than those who spend less time in education. So, while it would be great if they could change/update their culture to be less xenophobic, I also think they have a right to pursue a population sustainable future if that means limiting the amount of foreigners that can immigrate.

that headline brilliantly conveys the absurdity of the situation

Is there nowhere in the world now that fascist racists are not on the rise?

It feels like we are barreling towards another world war.

It's actually scary how quick they're rising. I live in Japan, and I once heard them at a intersection nearby on a car giving a speech. I hated how they speak. They sounded like they were heavily appealing to the emotion and used a lot of sentence final particles like ne, in a tone that sounded half-aggressive and also... very conservative in a way. They were talking some shit about how Japanese people should come first and that we should "protect Japan", as if there was some sort of foreign force trying to tear Japan down to pieces. What's worse was that there were actually people cheering for them. I actually wanted to go downstairs to shout at them but I restrained myself from doing that. I still sort of regret not going there to shout at them.

When I was growing up too many people I knew wanted to move to Japan because of the technology sectors and the “modernity”. Turns out both are a lie, and after learning about Japanese work culture, it’s even worse than the USA. I can’t imagine why anyone would choose to work in Japan over an EU country outside of family reasons.

Japan will be the test case for declining populations. They will be the first to show us the consequences and the right and wrong ways to deal with the issue.

Short of Malthusian disasters, I don't think any sort of economy in human history has had to deal with this.

I'm surprised it took them this long to go full mask off with their xenophobia.

As opponents, separated by uniformed police and bodyguards, accuse him of racism, Kamiya shouts back, saying he is only talking common sense.

He said the thing! But seriously, over the years I’ve learned that any politicians who use the term “common sense” is a red flag. It’s like an easy wild card that can mean anything anyone wishes to hear

Is anyone making a list of those anti-foreigner countries, so we know where not to shop, where not to visit, and where not to invest in?