Japan's Immigration Law Revised 入管法改正施行

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

According to an article of the Kyoto Shimbun newspaper website, foreigners working in Kyoto have doubled for the last five years. This coincides with what has happened to Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine whose visitors have also doubled during the same period, resulting in the disappearance of food stands around the shrine.

The same has been taking place in Tokyo, too. People speaking English, Chinese, Korean, French, Spanish, Russian, etc., are seen everyday not only in the central Tokyo, but also in my neighborhood stations and convenience stores.

I don't know how long and far this goes on with still 15 months to go before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, but can say one thing for sure. If these people are attracted to Japan for our omotenashi, i.e., hospitality, they're wrong. Hospitality isn't free of charge. You can get omotenashi as long as you are an outsider with money and for a short period of time, but if you want to be inside, you have to be very careful because you need to learn about Japan's immigration law, which has just been amended on April 1, 2019.

The revised law has expanded opportunities for foreigners to come and work in Japan, but only in 14 types of industries, such as nursing care, construction, restaurant and hotel, so-called 3Ks, kitsui (slave-like), kitanai (dirty) and kiken (dangerous) and requires immigrants to pass language and vocational exams.

Becoming an "insider" in Japan is extremely difficult.....

2019年4月1日、改正入管法が施行されました。人手不足の現場で働いてもらおうという気持ちはわかりますが、今のままだと治安が悪化するのは明らかでしょう。試験に合格するだけでも大変なのに（語学と技能）、いざ就職したらきついは、差別受けるはでは、気持ちがすさむのは当たり前だと思います。欧米で頻発しているテロ事件（というか無差別殺人）は既に日本でも珍しくはありませんが、もっと増えていくと思います。

「おもてなし」という耳触りのよい言葉が独り歩きしてますが、お金持ってる外人（特に英語を話す白人）に対してだけな気がします。真の意味で「自分と異なる人を受け入れる」ことの意味を考える時ではないでしょうか。