* A single article that’s heavy on dubious statements and light on any evidence seems a bit flimsy to hang that assertion on. Japanese are pretty skeptical of immigration in general but the idea that they are admired by Jews for it sounds like nonsense.
More relevant to Jewish opinion about Japan is the NYT’s pathological hostility to Japan and the Japanese establishment, going back at least a decade if not more. For an immigration example see this classic hit piece from 2011.
It’s all there: sob story about a poor Indonesian nurse who desperately wants to take jobs away from Japanese nurses (or maybe Japanese robots) but is oppressed by the cruel Japanese language proficiency exam; liberal quotes from immigration advocates with vested interests in undermining Japanese wages; finger wagging about the looming perils of a declining birthrate; laments over the inequity of an immigration policy that mysteriously seems to have no actual defenders.
And of course there’s also the one-sided pro-Chinese and pro-Korean coverage of anything to do with conflicts between either of those countries and Japan. One is tempted to wonder what makes them dislike Japan so much, is it the strait-laced and rule-bound culture that puts them off, or is it just that Japanese girls are less willing to put out for Jewish nerds than Chinese girls are?
* I think one plausible explanation for Jews not worried about non-Jewish nationalism in Japan is that Japan doesn’t really have a discernible population of Jews. Therefore, it won’t affect them. It would be more eye opening for them to write a story like this about a nation with a more significant Jewish population.
My guess is they are using Japan as an example for Israel to follow. And I don’t begrudge them at all. I actually wish our side in the USA would use Japan as an example too. But the MSM has promoted the idea that the Japanese are going to go extinct without immigration. So it has effectively been taken off the table as an example to point to about sane immigration policies.
Our side should work on counter arguments which disprove this notion that Japan will die off without immigration. Japan could be a good example for us to follow. Apparently there are people in Israel who feel that way about Japan.
* What lessons about immigration policy are we supposed to draw from Japan, exactly? Many of the obstacles to immigration in Japan are not the result of government policy: off the top of my head, a high-trust culture that’s opaque to outsiders, a mountain of unwritten rules governing everyday life everybody is expected to follow, and a fiendishly difficult language that’s spoken by no-one else. It also probably helps that the biggest non-Japanese ethnic group has historically strong ties to a country that is fanatically hostile to Japan (North Korea).
