Japanese dog whistle

Another Japanese minister manages to offend , this time claiming that Japan is homogenous and historically governed by the Yamato race.    Well actually Japan is relatively homogenous, with only 1% or so of the population being 'immigrants' compared to (if I remember correctly the chapter of Philippe Legrain's book I read yesterday) 8% in Europe.  Also, this sense of homegeneity was reinforced by the Shogunate's policy of closing the country off from the rest of the world for 200 years.  Nonetheless, the Yamato stuff is racist b******s and a much better description of the still very unclear roots of the Japanese is given by Wikipedia here.

Of course the minister is electioneering, a less subtle version of the Tory dog whistle.  As Terrie's Take points out, the more than 250,000 illegal immigrants in the Japan are worrying both authorities and now the voters. A recent National Police Agency (NPA) survey found that more than 55% of Japanese are concerned about rising crime by foreigners. This, despite the fact that recorded crime by foreigners fell a surprising 16.2% last year.  Various policies are being proposed, including making a certain competence in Japanese compulsory when renewing visas.  As Terrie's Take says, it would be nice to think this toughening up, or clarifying of rules, was in preparation for allowing more immigrants into Japan.