Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Determinants Of Open Attitudes Towards Foreign Nationals In Japan, Shigemi Ohtsuki

Societies Without Borders

With a declining birth rate and aging population, Japan needs to open the door to immigrants to maintain its workforce. “Multicultural Coexistence,” or “tabunka-kyosei” in Japanese, is commonly used to describe the relationship between Japanese people and foreign nationals in Japan. Unfortunately, the definition of the term is unclear. This study defines multicultural coexistence based on two conceptions, namely “willingness for communication” and “support for or opposition to the equality of rights.” The analyses are based on quantitative data of a sample of 1,823 Japanese persons and 292 foreign national persons (immigrants) living in the industrial city of …