The Japanese media is well aware of President Biden’s recent characterization of their country as “xenophobic”.
Damn those Japanese, and their unwillingness to accept thousands of undocumented immigrants. Why can’t they shape up, and fling open their borders?
Ergo, the Japanese are “xenophobic”.
What do we mean by ‘xenophobia’?
Xenophobia is a Western concept and an exclusively Western preoccupation. The rest of the world takes for granted a certain degree of what our nattering class regularly denounces as xenophobia.
- Most of the world accepts as a given that people have a stronger attachment to their family and neighbors, than to people living an ocean away.
- Most of the world believes that stark differences in basic customs and values lead naturally to conflict.
- Only the West—and only the recent manifestation of the West— seeks diversity for diversity’s sake.
- You can be offended by that last statement if you choose, but it’s a fact. Ask a Chinese, a Ugandan, a Pole, or a Saudi to expound on the importance of diversity (or multiculturalism). They’ll laugh in your face.
Translating xenophobia into Japanese
The Japanese media therefore had to improvise the translation. They translated Biden’s assessment as:
日本は「外国人嫌い」
This means, “The Japanese dislike foreigners.”
That isn’t exactly the same thing as “xenophobia”. But philosophical concepts are often reliant on cultural context, and typically don’t translate well.
There is no concise English translation for the Japanese concepts of of 本音 and 建前. They have to be explained. And so it is with “xenophobia” in Japanese.
-ET