Migration Regimes and the Politics of Insiders/Outsiders: Japan and South Africa as Distant Mirrors

Abstract

This chapter compares the patterns of migration as well as the trends of immigration policies in Japan and South Africa in the recent past. These two countries are regional powers in East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa respectively with economic might disproportionate to their population sizes. The two countries also must reconcile with their 20^th century past in order to play a constructive role as legitimate members of the regional communities. Many Asian nations well remember the wartime atrocities committed by the Japanese, while the oppressive domination of Apartheid South Africa inflicted many wounds upon society both within and beyond the country, some of which are still raw.