If You Can't Say Something Nice...

It's hardly a phenomenon unique to Japan, but some politicians really should learn to keep their mouths shut. With a declining population and an almost certain labor shortage looming on the horizon, Japanese lawmaker Jiro Kawasaki ruminates on the topic of immigration:

We should stop letting unskilled laborers into Japan. We should make sure that even the three-K jobs [*] are paid well, and that they are filled by Japanese [...] I do not think that Japan should ever become a multiethnic society. [The United States has been] a failure on the immigration front...

I don't imagine anyone has ever accused Mr. Kawasaki of being overly ironic...

I have to admit, though, that the image of a Japanese politician claiming the immigration policies of another country (any country, really) are a "failure" strikes me as rather rich, whatever one's opinion might be on the subject. I would be the first to agree that Japan should approach the topic of immigration cautiously (hell, I dont feel like being accosted by deadbeat Canadians on every street corner, bumming change and smokes and generally making a nuisance of themselves). Comments like Mr. Kawasaki's, however, betray both a fear of "the foreign" and an utter ignorance of what a "multiethnic" society is. I might add a somewhat more harsh criticism: also evident here is a certain mental laziness--immigration is a difficult subject, so it'd be best to avoid it altogether. It remains to be seen how much longer "leaders" like Mr. Kawasaki can avoid the subject before it jumps up and bites them in the ass.

[*] Kitsui, kitanai, kiken — hard, dirty and dangerous.