JICA Withdraws from Hometown Project for Africa

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced on September 25th that it would withdraw from its plan called “Hometown Project,” which promotes people’s exchange between African countries and some cities in Japan. After introducing the project, a lot of disputes emerged in those local cities through social network, worrying huge arrival of immigrants from Africa. Explanation of the national government that it would be simply a project of cultural exchange was not heard by local community. 

Expecting economic growth in Africa, where its population would occupy the quarter of the world in 2025, Japan announced Hometown Project in the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-9) held in Yokohama in August. Four cities were designated as the “hometowns” for African countries. They were cities of Nagai in Yamagata for Tanzania, Kisarazu in Chiba for Nigeria, Sanjo in Niigata for Ghana and Imabari in Ehime for Mozambique.

 

Those cities had some connection with African countries through hosting national sports teams for Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 or industrial trade. The government of Japan hoped the project to promote cultural exchange between Japan and African countries and contribute to economic growth by educating interns for business through temporary stay in cities in Japan.

 

However, people posted information that the project would not only about temporary stay, but permanent immigration to the social networks, which was not confirmed to be true or false. “Are our city going to be a hometown of Africans, not ours?” was a fundamental question for those social network users. There seems to be a xenophobic sentiment of the Japanese behind the scene, which was shown in political surge of Sainseito in the Upper House election in July.

 

Questions rushed to the local governments through telephone, disturbing their ordinary works. False facts were quickly distributed. Among them were issuance of special visas to African visitors to their “hometown” in Japan, possible increase of crimes by Africans without any persuasive evidence or imposing on Japanese people payment of social security for visiting Africans on Japanese.

 

“Triggered by false report in overseas, responses based on misunderstanding spread in Japan. Although we withdraw from the Hometown Project, JICA is going to support exchanging projects, not to be involved in immigration policy,” saidJICA’s president, Akihiko Tanaka in his press conference. He insisted that JICA would not give in false information.

 

Regardless explanation of the authorities, the fact of retracting an internationally-announced governmental project encourages the people in xenophobic movements. Having history of national isolation before advancing to the Eurasian continent by its Imperial regime, Japan is basically exclusive nation, being reluctant to accept foreign people on the soil of Japan. Lack of knowledge about Africa further exacerbate that xenophobic mind mainly embraced by the conservatives.

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