Quote:
Originally Posted by PumaMan
Maybe it's an almost impossible thing to know since I'm sure Japan could be as varied culturally as different parts of the US.
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This couldn't be much further from the truth. Japan is one of the most racially and culturally homogenous countries on the planet. The whole concept of multiculturalism is basically unknown here. Not saying that's a bad thing it's just how it is.
I live in an area though where there has been a significant inlux of foreigners over the last 10 years from numerous countries but mainly Australia, Canada, New Zealand, US and UK. The ski resort we live at has seen a property development boom which saw our region have the highest rates of increases to housing prices in all of Japan (by a long way). Which is quite a feat for a rural area of Hokkaido where in general the economy is going backwards. It is also one of the few rural areas in Japan where the number of jobs have steadily increased.
There has been 100's of millions of dollars invested into the region, mainly from foreign individuals and companies and there has been a reasonable amount of resentment from some locals. No more than I would expect in any country though where a whole lot of foreigners came in and bought up the place. Most of the locals appear to be pretty happy though as the influx of foreign investment has meant growing opportunities for them as well. Also many Japanese had been hanging on here in businesses that were barely breaking even and owning property that they wouldn't have been able to sell for more than what they bought them for back in the boom years. This recent boom allowed many to sell up and realise profits that they could only have dreamed about if not for the foreign led boom to property prices.
This area is somewhat unique in Japan in my opinion and an interesting experiment in multiculturalism that has been working pretty well so far. The majority of foreigners here have nothing to do with english teaching and have bought property and settled in for the long haul, if not forever. Many are married to Japanese nationals and there's been one hell of a baby boom over the last few years. The Japanese media are often here up here documenting the phenomena which is Niseko. Will be interesting to see how it all evolves over the years.