From a ban on new foreign arrivals to a campaign against efforts to let non-citizens vote, a series of developments in Japan is raising new concerns about xenophobia in Asia¡¯s second-largest economy.
Lawmakers in the Tokyo suburb of Musashino overruled the local mayor last week and rejected a bill that would¡¯ve allowed residents of other nationalities to vote on some issues. The decision came after several prominent Liberal Democratic Party legislators launched a campaign against the plan, with Masahisa Sato, a former deputy foreign minister, warning on Twitter that ¡°80,000 Chinese people¡± could move to the city and influence its politics.
Last month, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida¡¯s government initiated new border controls that ban new entries by foreign nationals due to concerns about the omicron variant of COVID-19. Separately, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo issued an unusual warning Dec. 6 about suspected racial profiling of foreigners by local police ¡ª an allegation the government has denied.
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