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Dang, it sucks seeing people from my favorite country fall prey to small-minded views like this. I know Japan is not perfect but like how a parent dotes over their child, I can’t help but see the good in Japan and its potential.

When I lived in Japan I definitely encountered my fair share of racism and people who did not like foreigners. But on the other hand, there were also a lot of Japanese people that liked learning about other cultures and even ones that didn’t hold their arms open to welcome foreigners were usually at least tolerant of foreigners (never saw or heard of anyone actually committing crimes against foreigners).

I do think Japan has a long way to go in terms of accepting other cultures and creating a more equal and open society within their own culture. While I used to admire their steadfastness, in how they have stuck with their historical traditions, I now see it as something that’s holding them back. The ideal outcome I think would be Japan keeping the parts of its culture that makes it unique but that’s not harmful to people and then accepting or inviting in ideas and qualities of other cultures that will advance social equality for all. But we don’t live in such a perfect world and even if things go in that direction, that kind of societal change probably won’t happen in our lifetimes.

Somewhat counter to this though, there’s also the point other users have brought up that a shrinking population isn’t necessarily the worst problem for a country to face, especially one on a chain of islands. So in a way one could understand where some Japanese people are coming from when they say things like they don’t want more people to settle there. Of course it’s a different point if a population is being forcibly restricted, but in Japan’s case it doesn’t feel/seem that way. There are a number of reasons why their population is in decline, but to me they aren’t all bad reasons. I think instinctually Japanese people feel that they’re nearing the limit of what their resources can support and generally speaking they are a well educated population, and educated people/couples generally have less children than those who spend less time in education. So, while it would be great if they could change/update their culture to be less xenophobic, I also think they have a right to pursue a population sustainable future if that means limiting the amount of foreigners that can immigrate.

Aww cmon Japan, I love you guys.. I was thinking about escaping there.

Wouldn't it be interesting as the New world order becomes a thing maybe, they shake things up and require everyone to return to whichever country their skin color matches. USA would become Native American again, and all the white people would have to go back to Europe 😄

Is anyone making a list of those anti-foreigner countries, so we know where not to shop, where not to visit, and where not to invest in?

It's actually scary how quick they're rising. I live in Japan, and I once heard them at a intersection nearby on a car giving a speech. I hated how they speak. They sounded like they were heavily appealing to the emotion and used a lot of sentence final particles like ne, in a tone that sounded half-aggressive and also... very conservative in a way. They were talking some shit about how Japanese people should come first and that we should "protect Japan", as if there was some sort of foreign force trying to tear Japan down to pieces. What's worse was that there were actually people cheering for them. I actually wanted to go downstairs to shout at them but I restrained myself from doing that. I still sort of regret not going there to shout at them.

He's supported by the most exceptionally ignorant among the right-wing (whom we call 'netto-uyoku'—Internet right-wings). Many people in Japan use Xitter as their primary source of information and are being brainwashed by the xenophobic conspiracies flooding the platform. This country is over; it's actually worse than America, IMHO.