ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Japanese multiculturalism policies at the local level as a means of migration management. In the 1980s, the economic downturn and hyperinflation in Brazil motivated many descendants of Japanese immigrants living in Brazil, most of whom have Brazilian nationality, to ‘return’ to Japan, where an ageing population and a booming economy led to labour shortages, especially in the manufacturing industry. The process of integration into a host society is closely related to the international discourse about multiculturalism. All societies are multi-ethnic and becoming increasingly diversified by migration. A global norm promoting multiculturalism began to diffuse in the 1960s with the reform of national immigration policies. Japan has resisted norms of multiculturalism, but ‘has a long history of using Western norms to deal with difference’. The most active institution fostering the interaction between foreign and native residents is the Hamamatsu Foundation for Intercultural Communication and Exchange.
