This is a detailed study of the extent to which an increased influx of foreign workers is a threat to law and order in the context of the data-generating process of police statistics and the media coverage of "crimes" committed by foreigners. It shows that a general mood in which foreign workers are viewed as potential danger to Japanese society "protects" the criminalization of foreign "illegal" migrant workers. The work begins by tracing the upsurge of "illegal" foreign workers in Japan. It builds a social profile of these "illegals" showing that because of fear of expulsion, lack of knowledge of the law and over-dependence on employer and workplace, their ability to avail themselves off the protection of the law is neglible, and they are always at risk of becoming victims to multiple exploitation.

This book explores the impact of foreign migrant workers on elements of sovereign power in Japan and examines how the country's immigration control has been reshaped by the existence of these workers. It traces the changing situation of foreign migrant workers in Japan from the mid 1980s to the present day. A particular focus is the transition of these workers from 'temporary workers' to 'long-term stayers' or 'social beings'.

What role do their respective police systems play in the very different crime rates of Japan and the United States? This study draws on direct observation of Japanese police practices combined with interviews of police officials, criminal justice practitioners, legal scholars, and private citizens. It compares many Japanese police practices side by side with U.S. police practices, and places the role of the police in the broader cultural and historical Japanese framework.

This book contains the most up-to-date, original data on Japanese migrant culture available. Its inescapable conclusion is that the multicultural age has finally come to Japan.

The MIT Encyclopedia of the Japanese Economy was the first English-language encyclopedia to cover all major aspects of Japan's postwar economy. The second edition has been fully revised and expanded, and includes previously unpublished data as well as coverage of recent developments in the economy. The definitional entries concisely explain major economic concepts and include translations of Japanese economic terms and cross references to the longer topical essays. The 180 topical essays cover banks, financial systems, major industries, corporate groups, management practices, labor unions, international trade and investments, government economic policies, and more. They also include comprehensive statistics, American and Japanese views on economic relations between the two countries, and suggestions for further reading. A new index contains names of major companies.

This book is an observational study of the Japanese detective, demonstrating with extensive field data the process of criminal investigation. It is the first in-depth study of the Japanese criminal justice system at work. Utilizing Ericson's concept of "making crime," Setsuo Miyazawa analyzes the restraints under which Japanese detectives work, and the unique freedoms they have in the investigative process in comparison to American police generally. He also provides a comparative analysis of law enforcement in Japan, the United States, and Europe, and questions how effectively these systems evaluate and enable investigative police work.

Although stereotypically homogenized and hostile to immigrants, Japan has experienced an influx of foreigners from Asia and Latin America in recent decades. In Fighting for Foreigners, Apichai W. Shipper details how, in response, Japanese citizens have established a variety of local advocacy groups-some faith based, some secular-to help immigrants secure access to social services, economic equity, and political rights. Drawing on his years of ethnographic fieldwork and a pragmatic account of political motivation he calls associative activism, Shipper asserts that institutions that support illegal foreigners make the most dramatic contributions to democratic multiculturalism. The changing demographics of Japan have been stimulating public discussions, the political participation of marginalized groups, and calls for fair treatment of immigrants. Nongovernmental organizations established by the Japanese have been more effective than the ethnically particular associations formed by migrants themselves, Shipper finds. Activists who initially work in concert to solve specific and local problems eventually become more ambitious in terms of political representation and opinion formation. As debates about the costs and benefits of immigration rage across the developed world, Shipper's research offers a refreshing new perspective: rather than undermining democracy in industrialized society, immigrants can make a positive institutional contribution to vibrant forms of democratic multiculturalism.