It’s a common right-wing trope online that Japan is giving foreigners favorable treatment over citizens. But what do people in Japan really think?
One Japanese news outlet decided to run an actual survey to find out. The result? Many polled agree that the country is paying too much attention to the needs of foreigners and not enough to its citizens. However, this belief is often based on rampant disinformation.
64% say foreigners get “overly favorable” treatment
The report from NHK News sought to determine whether people offline believed in a few common online tropes that have taken hold of social media over the past year. The first one: Is Japan displaying “overly favorable treatment” to foreigners?
This question is separate from the debates around overtourism and focuses more on accusations that foreigners get preferential financial benefits that aren’t accessible to citizens. In the past, this has included accusations that foreigners consume the bulk of the country’s social services benefits (they don’t) and that they are coming to Japan for free high-cost health care (they aren’t).
Despite not being grounded in fact, these claims that start online are repeated and amplified by populist politicians. That gets them into the mainstream press – where, according to NHK, they’re influencing public opinion.
In a poll conducted with JX PRESS Corp., NHK asked 4,500 men and women in Tokyo, ages 10 to 90, whether they thought “foreigners were unduly favored in Japanese society” (日本社会では外国人が必要以上に優遇されている). 30.4% said they strongly agreed, while 33.6% said they somewhat agreed. That’s 64% who believe the disinformation being spread online and in national media.
Free education for Chinese but not Japanese students?
The data is a troubling sign that online disinformation campaigns are influencing public opinion negatively against Japan’s foreign residents.
The latest accusation is that Chinese foreign exchange students are getting up to 10 million yen ($69K) in college educational benefits that they don’t have to repay. This benefit, accusers say, isn’t available to Japanese citizens, who have to repay their student loans.
The program that opponents are referencing is called SPRING, the Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation. As the program describes itself in English:
[SPRING] supports universities or colleges that have the ability and motivation to independently carry out (1) and (2) above, beyond the boundaries of their own graduate schools and laboratories. Each university or college will designate a program officer to select PhD students, and JST will support their efforts to provide and develop various types of PhD student care.
The chosen PhD students can devote themselves to unrestricted, challenging and interdisciplinary research projects, while also being free to change their affiliations and continue receiving support. The program also helps cover students’ research and living expenses, and provides career development training. Topics in the latter include international mindset cultivation, interdisciplinary research, transferable skills, internships, and more.
Yes, qualifying foreign students can get up to 10 million yen across three years of schooling. But, as NHK notes, so can Japanese students! In fact, 60% of all grants – 6,439 out of 10,564 – go to Japanese PhD candidates. The remaining 4,125 are awarded to foreign students studying in Japan. 3,151 of those students are Chinese.
In total, of the 336,708 foreign exchange students in Japan, only 9,304, or 2.8%, get any government assistance. Most are paying their own way here.
In other words, it’s not like eliminating these grants would suddenly make college free for every Japanese person. Opponents seem to be angry that any money is going to foreigners at all – even if it’s for a good long-term cause.
Bad news for the Children & Families Agency, too
The survey also looked at another target of online ridicule: Japan’s Children & Families Agency (家庭庁; katei-chō).
The Agency is tasked with spearheading efforts to combat the country’s rapid population decline. It’s been giving a whopping 7.3 trillion yen ($50 billion) to accomplish that. Despite this, the country recently saw its yearly births drop to 700,000—a new record low.
As a result, many online are calling for the Japanese government to dissolve the Agency. They argue it’s a clear waste of money.
A majority would seem to agree. Of those surveyed, 28.2% agreed strongly that the agency should be abolished. 30.2% somewhat agreed, for a grand total of 58.4%.
In this case, at least, the Agency acknowledges it hasn’t delivered on its promises. In the case of student grants, however, there’s a distinct danger that the Japanese government could end up making life harder for some foreign residents, not based on fact, but on demagoguery.
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Sources
「外国人優遇」「こども家庭庁解体」広がる情報を検証すると…. NHK News
