How Diverse Are We?: Immigration in the UK and Japan

In this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the British short film ‘Patriot’ has been nominated for the Short Film Palme d’Or.  The film tries to explore nationalism and extremism through the eyes of a child whose father is the leader of an anti-immigration extreme Right-wing group.  In Japan, a former government advisor wrote an article in a national newspaper arguing that Japan’s ageing society needs to import labour from abroad, but that it is better if immigrants live separately from the Japanese – prompting a shocked response, not least from the Embassy of South Africa in Japan.

Economic analyses generally suggest that immigrants bring benefits to their host countries, but is this true?  And what about from a social point of view?  Some argue that immigrants can be a source of trouble, increasing competition for jobs, and tending to cause increased crime rates.  Are they free-riding on the social welfare systems of host countries?  The issue of immigration was a major issue for all parties in the UK’s May general election. How ready is Japan to be a society like Britain, which accepts a diversity of races and cultures in society? And is British society really as accepting of diversity as it claims to be?

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