FOREIGNERS ARE DESTROYING JAPAN. Illegal immigrants and rabid tourists are driving the Japanese c...

SUMMARY

Dmitry Shamov, a long-time resident in Japan, examines the immigration crisis fueled by 37 million tourists in 2024, rising illegal immigrants, crimes by foreigners, and protests against government plans to import more labor from Asia and Africa.

STATEMENTS

• Japan welcomed nearly 37 million tourists in 2024, outnumbering locals in popular Tokyo spots and straining urban etiquette.
• Post-COVID border reopening led to widespread littering, public drunkenness, and disregard for transport rules by unaware foreigners.
• Incidents of sexual harassment against Japanese women have increased in areas like Shinjuku, driven by misconceptions about sex tourism in Asia.
• Streamers and bloggers frequently violate sacred sites, such as climbing torii gates or entering restricted Fukushima zones for content.
• Kurdish immigrants in Saitama Prefecture have formed de facto ghettos, leading to Japanese exodus, illegal activities, and clashes with police.
• Government plans to admit 820,000 foreign workers by 2029 from countries like India and Egypt aim to counter aging population but spark fears of cultural dilution.
• Media silence on immigrant crimes, coupled with hate speech laws, suppresses public discourse, forcing information to social networks.
• Protests outside Tokyo City Hall and in Osaka mark a rare mobilization of typically apathetic Japanese against immigration policies.
• U.S. military personnel on Okinawa continue committing crimes, including rape and hit-and-runs, exacerbating local resentment.
• Japan's unique religious tolerance and cremation traditions clash with Muslim immigrant demands for street prayers and burials.

IDEAS

• Tourists' ignorance of Japan's no-trash-bin culture transforms pristine streets into littered eyesores overnight, eroding a hallmark of national pride.
• Streamers exploiting sacred torii gates as playgrounds symbolize broader cultural insensitivity, turning spiritual symbols into viral stunts.
• The Fukushima incursion by popular YouTubers highlights how social media fame incentivizes illegal adventures, risking severe penalties for views.
• Kurdish communities in Saitama have effectively redrawn urban boundaries, creating "Arabistans" where Japanese laws feel obsolete.
• Government recruitment of 500,000 Indian specialists ignores local anxieties, potentially accelerating demographic shifts akin to Europe's migrant waves.
• Hate speech regulations, intended to curb bias, inadvertently shield criminal immigrant groups from scrutiny, stifling free expression.
• Japan's post-COVID tourist boom, while economically vital, has inverted public spaces, making foreigners the majority in iconic locales.
• Demands for halal food and pork bans by Muslim diasporas challenge Japan's secular food traditions, mirroring global Islamization trends.
• Rare Japanese protests against immigration reveal a tipping point, where cultural preservation overrides historical aversion to activism.
• U.S. bases on Okinawa perpetuate a colonial undercurrent, with American crimes reminding locals of unequal sovereignty.

INSIGHTS

• Unchecked tourism's cultural erosion reveals how economic gains can undermine a society's core identity faster than overt invasions.
• Social media's role in amplifying immigrant crimes while silencing criticism creates a distorted narrative, empowering offenders over victims.
• Japan's aging crisis necessitates foreign labor, yet without integration safeguards, it risks importing Europe's social fractures wholesale.
• Perceived leniency toward certain immigrants, like Kurds, fosters resentment, turning passive Japanese society toward uncharacteristic militancy.
• Sacred sites' desecration by foreigners underscores a deeper clash: Western individualism versus Eastern communal reverence for harmony.
• Media blackouts on immigration issues preserve tourism's facade but brew underground tensions, potentially exploding into broader unrest.

QUOTES

• "Туристов приехало столько, что в Токио на улицах в некоторых популярных туристических местах иностранцев больше, чем самих японцев."
• "Я не хочу, чтобы в Японии укрепилась мусульманская вера, так как тут вообще особое отношение к религии."
• "Япония прекрасно такой, какая она есть. И пусть всё так и остаётся."
• "Сейчас с ними просто беда. Курды - это иранский народ, не имеющий своего собственного государства."
• "Многие японцы боятся, что тут станет как в Европе."

HABITS

• Japanese maintain spotless streets through personal discipline, avoiding litter since public bins are scarce to prevent overuse.
• Locals observe quiet transport etiquette, refraining from phone calls or loud behaviors to respect communal silence.
• Residents rarely join protests, reflecting a cultural preference for harmony over confrontation in daily life.
• Elderly and families prioritize reserved seating in public spaces, yielding to those in need as a social norm.
• Immigrants like Kurds form group gatherings on streets for prayers, bypassing traditional Japanese indoor or discreet practices.

FACTS

• Japan's population stands at 123 million, with 37 million tourists in 2024 representing nearly one-third equivalent influx.
• The 2011 Fukushima disaster evacuated residents, leaving a restricted zone where intruders face up to 13 years in prison.
• Kurdish diaspora has concentrated in Saitama's Kawaguchi and Warabi, transforming them into areas locals now call "Arabistan."
• Government targets 820,000 foreign workers by 2029 in sectors like trucking and woodworking to offset labor shortages.
• U.S. military bases on Okinawa host personnel responsible for ongoing crimes, including a recent seven-year rape sentence.

REFERENCES

• Telegram channel for detailed posts on incidents, including subscriber Ilya's torii gate videos.
• Video on religion in Japan, explaining unique attitudes toward faith and cremation traditions.
• YouTube channels of Ukrainian blogger Kriosan (6 million subscribers) and Vadim Vadimoch (2 million), involved in Fukushima breach.

HOW TO APPLY

• Research local laws before traveling: Study Japan's transport rules, no-street-drinking zones, and sacred site prohibitions to avoid fines or arrests.
• Respect cultural norms in public: Silence phones on trains, dispose of trash responsibly by carrying it until finding a bin, and avoid physical contact with holy structures.
• Engage communities thoughtfully: When interacting with locals, show curiosity about their customs rather than imposing foreign behaviors, fostering positive exchanges.
• Report violations promptly: If witnessing crimes or desecrations, contact police or share evidence via social media to amplify awareness without escalating tensions.
• Support integration policies: Advocate for balanced immigration by backing programs that include cultural education for newcomers, ensuring mutual respect.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Japan's immigration surge risks eroding its unique cultural harmony unless balanced with strict enforcement and public discourse.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Enforce stricter tourist education campaigns at entry points to curb ignorance-driven disruptions.
• Expand hate speech laws to protect victims of immigrant crimes, not just minorities.
• Prioritize Japanese language and etiquette training for all incoming workers to aid integration.
• Increase media coverage of immigration impacts to empower informed public debate.
• Limit U.S. military impunity on Okinawa through bilateral agreements for faster accountability.

MEMO

In the bustling heart of Tokyo, where cherry blossoms once symbolized serene renewal, a new tension simmers amid the throng of 37 million tourists flooding Japan's shores in 2024 alone. Dmitry Shamov, a Russian expat who has called Japan home for 14 years, captures this unease in his latest video dispatch. Once greeted with polite curiosity, foreigners now often embody disruption—from litter-strewn sidewalks in Shinjuku to raucous street drinking that shatters the archipelago's fabled tranquility. With Japan's population at 123 million, this influx feels overwhelming, turning popular districts into extensions of chaotic global hubs rather than oases of order.

The post-COVID reopening unleashed not just economic revival but a cascade of cultural clashes. Shamov recounts witnessing groups encircling Japanese women in nightlife districts, fueled by outdated notions of Asian sex tourism. Public transport, long a model of hushed efficiency, now echoes with foreign TikTok dances and phone chatter, prompting railways to post caricatured warnings depicting unruly outsiders. Sacred torii gates, portals to the divine in Shinto belief, become impromptu gym equipment for thrill-seeking streamers, their videos going viral while locals lament the erosion of reverence. One subscriber's footage of such antics even aired on national news, yet police inaction underscores a legal system unprepared for this novel disrespect.

Deeper worries fester with illegal immigration and organized crime. In Saitama Prefecture's Kawaguchi and Warabi, Kurdish communities—stateless Iranians fleeing persecution—have reshaped neighborhoods into what residents dub "Arabistans," complete with street prayers and halal markets demanding pork bans. High-profile cases abound: a Vietnamese man fatally stabbing a family in Saga, Uzbek nationals robbing Tokyo for black-market tech sales, and U.S. servicemen on Okinawa racking up rape convictions. Most alarming, Ukrainian YouTubers with millions of followers breached Fukushima's irradiated exclusion zone last September, live-streaming their overnight stay in abandoned homes—a stunt that could land them 13 years behind bars and has ignited calls for exemplary punishment.

Government ambitions to import 820,000 workers from India, Egypt, and beyond by 2029 aim to stave off demographic collapse from an aging society. Yet this vision collides with grassroots fears of European-style fragmentation. Uncharacteristically, Japanese—historically averse to protests—have rallied outside Tokyo's city hall and in Osaka streets, decrying policies that could dirty their immaculate nation and embed foreign faiths in a land of subtle spirituality. Media silence, enforced by draconian hate speech laws fining up to 500,000 yen, pushes outrage to Twitter, where suppressed stories of immigrant violence finally surface.

Shamov, no anti-foreigner agitator, urges preservation of Japan's essence: clean streets, safe nights, and a harmonious secularism that cremations and quiet rituals define. As protests swell, the question lingers—can the land of the rising sun recalibrate its openness without losing its soul? For now, the archipelago stands at a crossroads, its future hinging on whether economic imperatives yield to cultural safeguards.