Thread: Japan offers immigration lesson

Japan offers immigration lesson
Staff Report
Article Launched: 11/07/2007 12:10:42 AM PST
Niccolo Caldararo

RECENT ARTICLES and letters to the editor on immigration avoid the problems of how we arrived at this predicament and how other cultures have solved it.

First, we must recognize that unionized American workers once dominated labor in this country, but unlike their equivalents in Europe and Japan, they never instilled labor discipline in their ranks. A country's competitiveness rests on the nature of how productive its workers are, how inventive its scientists and businesspeople and how effective its managers.

While we have been inventive in the past 30 years, we have failed to keep pace in productivity and management. The Europeans and Japanese have been perhaps less inventive, but their workers have joined with management to increase productivity and at the same time they have been active politically to maintain a low ratio of inequality, thus keeping their living standards high and employment security, housing, health care and education at quality returns for their taxation.

European and Japanese workers also have expressed labor discipline by buying products produced in their countries (also, the EU for Europe) or by their companies, enhancing employment security.

American workers have chosen to buy foreign cars, toys, food and services, undermining their employment security. These purchasing choices of American workers have encouraged investors and foreign businesspeople to produce cheaper products abroad, especially in China, and the result has been to export U.S. jobs. Some political decisions have aided this process.

Still, both Europe and Central and South America have immigration problems; even Mexico is beleaguered by illegal immigrants from south of its border.

If we look at Japan as an example of one way to deal with the problem, we might find a solution.

In Japan, every product or service is constrained by traditional relationships on exchange and cost. This has limited how cheap goods could undermine wages. The cost of every good or service is high and those providing that service or good are paid a wage or receive a profit so that they live a life that is secure and at a level of comfort that is traditional. This is why Japanese managers and line workers are separated by much less in income than elsewhere. It also explains why low-cost retail discounters such as Wal-Mart find it difficult, if not impossible, to make a foothold in Japan, as William Holstein described in an Aug. 6 article in Fortune.

Japan has fewer than 200,000 immigrants - most are Japanese-Brazilians - and fewer than 100,000 estimated illegal immigrants. There is little low-paying work for illegal immigrants. David Pilling and Peter Marsh published a report on high-wage Japan in the Financial Times on May 5, 2005, documenting this.

It is remarkable that Japan, with 125 million people, is the second-largest economy in the world and only recently has fallen behind China as the third-largest exporter. It is second only to China in foreign exchange balances. Thomson Scientific reported that as of 2004, as a factor of the number of patents filed, Japan was No. 1 in creativity, with more than twice the number filed by companies and individuals in the United States. While Japan has a low birth rate, it has the highest use of robotics in the world.

If we want to solve our immigration problem, we need to look at labor discipline, buying loyalty, political activism and higher wages and productivity. The answer is there. We have to have the determination to change our ways of thinking and act on our knowledge.

Niccolo Caldararo is a former Fairfax councilman. He teaches anthropology at San Francisco State University.
http://www.marinij.com/ci_7391547?source=most_emailed

I've been to Japan, and everything is definitely more expensive (for example, I found a couple of soundtrack CD's for Miyazaki's animated movies that I could not buy here in the U.S. Each CD cost somewhere around $40 each!!). I know even the Japanese themselves feel that everything costs too much, so there has to be a balance between absolutes.

Yes, there is job security, but very many Japanese are unsatisfied with their jobs, due to so many being a part of the corporate structure, where productivity is paramount and creativity is squashed. The stiff nature of some Japanese culture is now causing a suddenly enormous amount of extreme violence among teenagers there (I've heard of almost a dozen instances in the past year where a Japanese youth has stabbed, axed, chopped, poisoned, etc. one or both of their parents to death.) This has NEVER happened before there, and the Japanese are just shocked about this occurring time and time again for the first time.

Things are changing in Japan, though, with many more fathers in their 20's and 30's making a committment to be there for their kids, after their own fathers ignored them as children (mostly due to insane work conditions).

And you have to have higher paying jobs when the cost of living is so high (look at California -- I had to leave Los Angeles because I couldn't make enough money as an assistant editor in the film industry to pay my bills, although now I'm REALLY glad I left, due to L.A.'s current state). Yes, the higher paying jobs means that all jobs are pretty much filled there, with few illegals. However, there is a price to pay for that kind of a society structure.

We've got to find a way in the United States to raise pay so that all people are paid well, where every able-bodied American will fight over ever job out there, no matter how menial, and force the illegals to go home from lack of jobs (jobs Americans won't do, my a$$!)

TexasGal

And, re:

Japan has fewer than 200,000 immigrants - most are Japanese-Brazilians - and fewer than 100,000 estimated illegal immigrants. There is little low-paying work for illegal immigrants. David Pilling and Peter Marsh published a report on high-wage Japan in the Financial Times on May 5, 2005, documenting this.

Japan:

Population: 130,000,000; number of IAs: 100,000 (approx)
Proportion of population - about 0.0007%


US:

Population: 302,000,000; number of IAs: 12,000,000 (believe if you want)
Proportion of population - about 4.0%


The sheer numbers should tell you something.

Good analytical comparison, Phred. One thing it certainly shows is the total disfunctionality of our Homeland Security and Immigration System.

Hey Z, thanks. Yeah, big-time dysfunctional I'd say

And... in fairness, it also does bring in the simplicities and complexities of managing illegal movement in contiguous vs. island nations.

I wonder how the illegal immigration rates in Japan, compare with those of Australia, or other such as Ireland, Taiwan, etc.? (hmmm, just thinking - could be interesting subject).

I agree with the loyalty part - we did embrace foreign goods.

We need to close the borders, persuade the illegals to go home - or deport those who don't.

We need to seriously investigate the HB scam - and that's what I think it is.

We know there has been a shortage of RN's in this country for years. Pres. Carter's son is proudly leading an effort to import 1,000's of foreign RN's. I just read an article, in Time I think, about the lack of schools for RN's in the US. Many are going offshore to get their degree.

Personally, I would rather my tax dollars be spent educating Americans to become RN's or whatever is needed, than using it to support illegal aliens who are taking jobs from Americans.

Why are there not enough schools for RN's?

In the Clinton administration there was a discussion that we had too many doctors in this country and the government was considering paying the medical schools the equivalent of a students tuition to NOT educate doctors.

Did they do that? Are they doing that for other professions?

Do we have a clue what our government is doing with our money?