In a highly unusual development for Japan, anti-immigration protesters this weekend marched through the streets of major cities including Osaka. These demonstrations followed growing fears that the government is planning to massively increase the numbers of African visa recipients in the country. The demonstrators, waving banners and placards that read “end mass immigration” and “protect the Japanese people”, were entirely peaceful. But the fact that such action occurred at all is a sign of a growing nervousness among the Japanese that their country’s traditionally strict immigration policy and low number of yearly arrivals may not be guaranteed in the future.
