Japan’s year of the outsider: how anti-foreigner sentiment went mainstream

In Japan, “foreigner policy” has entered mainstream consciousness, with a politically middle-of-the-road newspaper concluding that xenophobia dominated the country’s “national conversation” last year.In a December 29 review of the year, the Mainichi reported that policies and attitudes towards foreign nationals “leapt to the forefront of Japanese politics and onto front pages”, propelled in part by the “xenophobic policies and rhetoric of the right-wing Sanseito party” in the July general election.The ruling LDP responded by replacing centrist party leader and prime minister Shigeru Ishiba with the far more conservative Sanae Takaichi. She immediately set about burnishing her right-wing credentials by ordering a review of policies covering foreign residents in Japan.While Takaichi appears to be winning at least some of those voters back, it is undeniable that non-Japanese people in the country have become a key talking point in society.Analysts say the debates over immigration, large-scale tourism and their impact on the lives of ordinary Japanese were driven by events at home and abroad in what was a tumultuous year around the world, but there is hope that tensions within Japan at least could ease this year.