The Emphasis on Ethnic Homogeneity and Japanese and Danish Immigration Policy

Abstract

This essay compares the Japanese emphasis on ethnic homogeneity in immigration policy with its counterpart in
Denmark. Japan’s lack of integration policy stands out against the backdrop of Denmark’s elaborate civic integration
policy. A key reason for this contrast is the criterion that Japan is for the Japanese, and one has to be ethnically and
culturally Japanese to be Japanese. Nihonjinron, a discourse on Japanese cultural uniqueness, has provided
ammunition for this. Denmark, on the other hand, is in principle open to those who adopt Danish values. Japan needs
a strong integration policy as the number of immigrants increase. Until now, its emphasis on ethnic homogeneity has
led Japan to see immigrants as outsiders and to exclude them. Denmark, on the other hand, is willing to include
immigrants on equal terms, on the condition that they adopt Danish values.