John
2001-09-24, 09:11 AM
New York Times
September 23, 2001
New Kind of Settler Finding a Way in Japan
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
TOKYO, Sept. 22 — With Japan's population set to shrink further
and faster than that of any other economically advanced country over
the next half century, foreigners like Steven Gan are acquiring
something of the aura of pioneers.
As a rare Westerner who settled here for the long term, Mr. Gan neatly
fills the bill for a government that realizes that Japan must attract
people from elsewherein dramatically increased numbers, and yet remains
jittery about large-scale immigration.
What is more, as Mr. Gan has built up a successful debt-collection
business here, he has shaken up what had been a cottage industry with
an unsavory reputation, and perhaps injected a bit of vigor into the
country's sluggish economy.
"For most people the image of the Japanese collection industry is the
yakuza, or mafia," Mr. Gan said. "But as a foreigner I've been able to
get beyond that, and lend some legitimacy to the business. There are
over 7,000 collection agencies in the United States, but when I
started out there were only five or six in all of Tokyo.
For years Americans have complained that Japanese culture was
impenetrable, that companies here only wanted to buy Japanese and
that after a polite initial reception, those who sought to settle
down here were often made to feel less than welcome. But Mr. Gan,
and other Americans who have started their own businesses, bought
homes or even gone to work for Japanese companies, say that things
have been changing subtly in this society.
With only 1.7 million foreigners in Japan, out of a population of 127
million people, the country faces a huge task in attracting the
600,000 immigrants a year that the United Nations estimates it will
need in order to stabilize its population and prevent wrenching labor
and fiscal crises.
If nothing is done, according to the Japanese government's
projections there will be 100 million people in 2050 and only 67
million at century's end.
Of the foreigners who live here, a million or so are Korean and Chinese
residents who have long complained of discrimination. Many of the other
foreigners here are actually people of Japanese ancestry who immigrated
to Japan from Brazil and elsewhere during the economic boom years of
the 1980's.
Although Japan has recently set a priority of attracting skilled
immigrants, and people who can make an economic contribution right
away, there are only about 45,000 Americans living in the country,
according to government statistics. Hong Kong, with a population of
only six million, has roughly the same number.
Though discrimination in housing and other areas, like the academic
world, still exists, many of the new professionals from the West share
the belief that the Japanese work world is not as impermeable or unfair
as long reputed. Moreover, they say, the influx of outsiders is
increasingly appreciated for introducing badly needed new ways of
doing things.
After spending a year as an exchange student at a Tokyo university,
Jake Adelstein transferred there outright. Though he got his degree
and was offered a job with the Sony Corporation, he decided to try his
luck with the newspaper industry's famously difficult hiring
examinations. "I never believed I would be hired by a Japanese
newspaper, especially a major one like the Yomiuri, and never on the
same terms as a Japanese person," said Mr. Adelstein, who is 32.
"People had told me that was just impossible."
He took a cram class to prepare for the exam. But when he showed up
at the Yomiuri Shimbun for the first of his interviews in 1992,
Mr. Adelstein said, "at the reception desk people kept hinting to me
that I was in the wrong place."
Japanese labor experts say that cases like these suggest that although
a national effort is just beginning, the country will be able to attract
talented immigrants. "Japanese companies cannot find human resources
within their own organizations anymore, and there are few people who
move from business to business with the skills that companies need,"
said Jiro Nakamura, a professor of labor economics at Tokyo Metropolitan
University, who said that Japan had little choice but to lure more
foreign workers.
William Stonehill, a Chicago native, also arrived in Tokyo planning to
study, hoping to add a graduate degree in Japanese to one he had already
earned in Chinese, and like Mr. Adelstein, he eventually decided to
settle.
"When I looked around, I noticed that there were no imports here,"
he said. "I had studied watch making, so I got into importing Swiss
watches and German clocks. It is like wildcatting. You don't need a
license or anything, so I got into business, walked into a shop and
threw some stuff on the counter and asked if they would like to buy
any of this merchandise."
Before he got his start in watches, Mr. Stonehill said he had worked
as a door-to-door salesman, selling courses in English and "terrorizing
housewives to buy stuff for junior."
"You ask a lot of foreigners in business here how they got started
here, and they'll say the same thing. Nobody ever told them that it
was impossible, so they just went out and started a business."
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
September 23, 2001
New Kind of Settler Finding a Way in Japan
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
TOKYO, Sept. 22 — With Japan's population set to shrink further
and faster than that of any other economically advanced country over
the next half century, foreigners like Steven Gan are acquiring
something of the aura of pioneers.
As a rare Westerner who settled here for the long term, Mr. Gan neatly
fills the bill for a government that realizes that Japan must attract
people from elsewherein dramatically increased numbers, and yet remains
jittery about large-scale immigration.
What is more, as Mr. Gan has built up a successful debt-collection
business here, he has shaken up what had been a cottage industry with
an unsavory reputation, and perhaps injected a bit of vigor into the
country's sluggish economy.
"For most people the image of the Japanese collection industry is the
yakuza, or mafia," Mr. Gan said. "But as a foreigner I've been able to
get beyond that, and lend some legitimacy to the business. There are
over 7,000 collection agencies in the United States, but when I
started out there were only five or six in all of Tokyo.
For years Americans have complained that Japanese culture was
impenetrable, that companies here only wanted to buy Japanese and
that after a polite initial reception, those who sought to settle
down here were often made to feel less than welcome. But Mr. Gan,
and other Americans who have started their own businesses, bought
homes or even gone to work for Japanese companies, say that things
have been changing subtly in this society.
With only 1.7 million foreigners in Japan, out of a population of 127
million people, the country faces a huge task in attracting the
600,000 immigrants a year that the United Nations estimates it will
need in order to stabilize its population and prevent wrenching labor
and fiscal crises.
If nothing is done, according to the Japanese government's
projections there will be 100 million people in 2050 and only 67
million at century's end.
Of the foreigners who live here, a million or so are Korean and Chinese
residents who have long complained of discrimination. Many of the other
foreigners here are actually people of Japanese ancestry who immigrated
to Japan from Brazil and elsewhere during the economic boom years of
the 1980's.
Although Japan has recently set a priority of attracting skilled
immigrants, and people who can make an economic contribution right
away, there are only about 45,000 Americans living in the country,
according to government statistics. Hong Kong, with a population of
only six million, has roughly the same number.
Though discrimination in housing and other areas, like the academic
world, still exists, many of the new professionals from the West share
the belief that the Japanese work world is not as impermeable or unfair
as long reputed. Moreover, they say, the influx of outsiders is
increasingly appreciated for introducing badly needed new ways of
doing things.
After spending a year as an exchange student at a Tokyo university,
Jake Adelstein transferred there outright. Though he got his degree
and was offered a job with the Sony Corporation, he decided to try his
luck with the newspaper industry's famously difficult hiring
examinations. "I never believed I would be hired by a Japanese
newspaper, especially a major one like the Yomiuri, and never on the
same terms as a Japanese person," said Mr. Adelstein, who is 32.
"People had told me that was just impossible."
He took a cram class to prepare for the exam. But when he showed up
at the Yomiuri Shimbun for the first of his interviews in 1992,
Mr. Adelstein said, "at the reception desk people kept hinting to me
that I was in the wrong place."
Japanese labor experts say that cases like these suggest that although
a national effort is just beginning, the country will be able to attract
talented immigrants. "Japanese companies cannot find human resources
within their own organizations anymore, and there are few people who
move from business to business with the skills that companies need,"
said Jiro Nakamura, a professor of labor economics at Tokyo Metropolitan
University, who said that Japan had little choice but to lure more
foreign workers.
William Stonehill, a Chicago native, also arrived in Tokyo planning to
study, hoping to add a graduate degree in Japanese to one he had already
earned in Chinese, and like Mr. Adelstein, he eventually decided to
settle.
"When I looked around, I noticed that there were no imports here,"
he said. "I had studied watch making, so I got into importing Swiss
watches and German clocks. It is like wildcatting. You don't need a
license or anything, so I got into business, walked into a shop and
threw some stuff on the counter and asked if they would like to buy
any of this merchandise."
Before he got his start in watches, Mr. Stonehill said he had worked
as a door-to-door salesman, selling courses in English and "terrorizing
housewives to buy stuff for junior."
"You ask a lot of foreigners in business here how they got started
here, and they'll say the same thing. Nobody ever told them that it
was impossible, so they just went out and started a business."
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company