INSULARITY LIVES!

High Court Bolsters Japan's Anti-Immigrant Image

"Japan's highest court has upheld the Tokyo metro government's decision that a South Korean woman - with a Korean father and Japanese mother - is barred from taking a civil service examination for a management post. The ruling comes as the birthrate is falling and the population is aging in an insular nation that desperately will need talented foreigners.

'Japan is a difficult country for foreigners to navigate through the legal system,' said Stanford University Japan scholar Daniel Okimoto. 'From a political standpoint,' the Supreme Court's decision 'just reinforces negative stereotypes about Japan.'"

Asia Times story