Anti-foreign Sentiment in Japan: France and Western Europe Comparison

J. Sean Curtin (Professor, Japanese Red Cross University)

One of the things Europeans often discover when examining anti-foreign sentiment in Japan is that many of the aspects we so dislike and deplore in Japanese society are also very much in existence in our own countries. Reflecting on the very serious shortcomings in Japanese society usually illuminates the darker, and often hidden corners of our own societies.

France is a typical Western European country that offers an excellent example with which to illustrate this point. It is a beautiful country with a great culture, rich history, excellent cuisine, fantastic wine and magnificent oak furniture.

However, if you are of non-white European descent, it does not always seem so wonderful. A brief visit to a Paris suburb where there is a high percentage of French citizens of Algerian heritage will reveal how tough life is as a non-white French citizen.* There you will find very high rates of unemployment and incredible amounts of social despair. The scars of the long and bitter War of Independence have yet to heal in these areas. Since Algeria only won its freedom from France in 1962, it may take a few more decades before the situation improves for these poor French citizens.

Having travelled extensively in the 1980s to most former French colonial possessions in West and Central Africa, I could not help but feel that they were still very much under total French control. Certainly, it was France that still dominated the economies of these nascent states.** Over the last decade, French foreign policy in Africa has often been disastrous as the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda so tragically illustrates.*** Like most other Western European nations, France has yet to fully confront its colonial past.

As for present day France, in the recent French presidential election an openly racist and highly offensive demagogue was one of the two candidates in the final round of voting. Before the run-off ballot, Jean-Marie Le Pen gave an unbelievable TV interview in which he said that if he became president one of his first acts would be to immediately deport all illegal immigrants on special trains.**** To hear such deplorable comments from a potential president of France was shocking.

By comparing Japan with France or any other Western European country, one gets some sense of perspective on the challenges Japanese society faces in confronting its own deep-seated anti-foreign sentiment. For Western Europeans such comparisons give us an opportunity to reflect on the very serious problems in our own societies. Japan and most of Western Europe need to urgently redouble their efforts if they are ever going to successfully eliminate anti-foreign sentiment and the shadows of their dark colonial past.*****

Notes

* Algerian immigration in France, a source of problems?
Reflections on the responsibility of the State
Geneviéve Massard-Guilbaud Université Clermont II

** France's contentious African role
BBC World, 21 April 1998

*** France's Role in 1994 Genocide Probed
By Angeline Oyog, 18 August 1998

Rwanda slaughter 'could have been prevented'
BBC World, 31 March 1999

**** Le Pen lashes immigrants
BBC World, 26 April 2002
Extract:
Jean-Marie Le Pen has said he will have illegal immigrants put in "transit camps" before expelling them if he wins France's presidential election.

"It's where we would put the illegal immigrants who try to cross the borders before sending them back to where they came from," said Mr Le Pen, announcing his camps proposal.

He added that a "special train" might be sent to Britain carrying asylum-seekers from the controversial holding centre at Sangatte.

***** Analysis: Spotlight on Europe's right
BBC World, 14 May, 2002

France confronts Algeria torture claims
By James Coomarasamy, 9 January, 2001

Le Pen tortured Algerians, claims newspaper
Voice of America News

Japan-U.S. Discussion Forum (NBR'S Japan Forum) References

Anti-foreigner sentiment in Japan and international comparisons were the main topic of an August 2002 debate on the Japan-US Discussion Forum. Below are some examples from the debate. To read all contributions use the forum search engine below inputting the keyword: Xenophobia
http://lists.nbr.org/japanforum/

• NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (SOC) International Marriage -- and xenophobia
  Earl Kinmonth, 1 August 2002
• NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (SOC) International Marriage -- and xenophobia
  John Garside, 1 August 2002
• NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (SOC) International Marriage -- and xenophobia
  Earl Kinmonth, 1 August 2002
• NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (SOC) International Marriage -- and xenophobia
  Jean-Pierre Lehmann, 1 August 2002
• NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (SOC) Xenophobia
  Earl Kinmonth, 2 August 2002
• NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (SOC) Xenophobia
  Jean-Pierre Lehmann, 2 August 2002
• NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (SOC) Xenophobia
  Earl Kinmonth, 2 August 2002
• NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (SOC) Xenophobia
  Stanley Chan, 2 August 2002
• NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (SOC) Xenophobia (comparative)
  Earl Kinmonth, 3 August 2002
• NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (SOC) Xenophobia
  Earl Kinmonth, 3 August 2002
• NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (SOC) Xenophobia
  Kazuyoshi Hotta, 3 August 2002
• NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (SOC) Xenophobia (comparative)
  Jean-Pierre Lehmann, 3 August 2002

To read all contributions use the forum search engine below inputting the keyword: Xenophobia
http://lists.nbr.org/japanforum/