JAPAN NEEDS AN 'OVERSEAS CITIZEN' CARD LIKE THAT OF INDIA

Members of the Japanese diaspora do not have any long-term rights with respect to Japan.

- SUNIL CHACKO

Japan, like India, has a large diaspora. In India’s case, it is over 32 million strong, increasingly active in IT and cross-border trade and investment. In recent times, the Indian diaspora has moved abroad seeking economic opportunities especially driven by the computer and IT revolutions, and science and technology endeavours, medicine and health care, and the food and catering industry. Historically, they first started to move abroad to replace slave labour after emancipation, as indentured labourers in the Caribbean and other parts of the British, Dutch, and other Empires. That is why, for example, countries like Guyana, Suriname, Mauritius have majority ethnic Indian populations. It is hard to travel to any country in the world and not see a member of the Indian diaspora. The Japanese diaspora too is large, however mostly concentrated in North and South America. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, alone it is estimated that there are a million Japanese-Brazilians, many of whom are of mixed race since Brazil is a very diverse, multi-racial society.

Members of the Japanese diaspora do not have any long-term rights with respect to Japan—they cannot live in Japan beyond six months visit, and cannot even legally open a bank account in Japan, while being willing to spend their valuable foreign currency in the country. To his credit, Prime Minister Kishida spoke about the Japanese diaspora on his recent visit to Sao Paulo, Brazil, describing their “paths filled with hardship and challenges over many years”.