Public Opposition Refugee Resettlement: The Case of Japan

Abstract

Ferwerda, Flynn and Horiuchi (2017) showed a not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) attitude toward refugee resettlement among Americans and their responsiveness to threatening media frames. Our study extends their experimental study with a focus on Japan. We conceptualize two types of NIMBY-ism with regard to refugee resettlement within-country and between-country NIMBY-ism and manipulate the proximity to a threat in media frames. The findings suggest that Japanese people are not only prone to free-ride other countries' efforts to address the global refugee crisis, exhibiting a larger sentiment of between-country NIMBY-ism, but also susceptible to threatening frames regardless of whether a threat is directly relevant to Japan. While conscious interactions with foreigners make them less susceptible to those frames, such interactions are rare for most Japanese. These results imply a continued challenge for Japan to accept more refugees, at least in the short term.

Shades of Homogeneity: Redefining Japan’s Narrative Through Refugee Acceptance

“…Anti-immigrant attitudes are a contentious issue, especially in the context of Sino-Japanese relations, where the term 'anti-immigrant attitudes' encompasses different histories, attitudes towards governments, policies and the voices of average citizens (Zhang, 2015). Horiuchi and Ono (2018) found surprisingly similar results in their studies, noting that in this highly homogeneous society with limited contact with foreigners, Japanese attitudes towards refugee resettlement and reactions to media images may differ from those of American citizens. They may be less willing to resettle refugees if they receive information, suggesting that migrants pose a threat .…”

“…Horiuchi and Ono (2018) found surprisingly similar results in their studies, noting that in this highly homogeneous society with limited contact with foreigners, Japanese attitudes towards refugee resettlement and reactions to media images may differ from those of American citizens. They may be less willing to resettle refugees if they receive information, suggesting that migrants pose a threat (Ullah et al, 2020).…”

“…They may be less willing to resettle refugees if they receive information, suggesting that migrants pose a threat (Ullah et al, 2020). Because the Japanese have little contact with refugees in their daily lives, such media images could have a significant impact on their attitudes towards refugee resettlement (Horiuchi and Ono, 2018). Several minority groups in Japan are persecuted, including the Ainu, Koreans and Okinawans (Yamamoto, 2015).…”