The X word and Japan

If you keep an eye on the news, you may have seen that US President Joe Biden had a few choice words to say about several countries over the last few days. At a fundraiser event, President Biden was quoted to say “Look, think about it. Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants.”

I come from a country which is very multicultural, and I guess it's easy to feel like Japan doesn't have the same level of diversity—this is one of the most homogenous countries in the world, after all. In saying that, I think xenophobia exists everywhere to some degree, even in my home country which has over 30% of the population born abroad.

Pic Credit: Clay Banks via Unsplash

I shared a post here on City-Cost the other day about a Komeda's Coffee store which actively hires immigrants. The store manager had placed a lovely sign on the door, mentioning the courage it takes to move to a new country and requesting that patrons show kindness to those employees. Not everyone in a country is xenophobic, so to make broad, sweeping statements like that is a bit of a faux pas in my opinion.

How do you feel about President Biden's statement?