In his April 1 column "Public forums, spinning wheels," Debito Arudou states that "Japanese society must stop the common practice of using grace and physical appearance as a paradigm for pigeonholing people." These are noble sentiments. But so are the sentiments that underpin the failed political philosophy of communism. And as with communism, these sentiments of Arudou's are largely incompatible with human nature.
For an indication of just how incompatible, look no further than the front page of that same issue of The Japan Times. In an article titled "Al-Qaida grooms 'Western' recruits," CIA director Michael Hayden was quoted as having warned that al-Qaida was training recruits that "looked Western" and would be able to enter America "without attracting the kind of attention that others might."
The "others" to whom Hayden is referring are undoubtedly Arabs. So evidently, the Arab migration to America has yet to occur in sufficient numbers, and over a sufficiently long time period, for a randomly encountered Arab to be assumed to be an American. This is the same situation that presently exists within Japan with non-ethnic Japanese.
I wish Arudou luck with his quest, but I suspect that the only thing that will enable his aims to be achieved is the natural passage of time. And if an insufficient amount of time has passed for the immigrant-minded nation of America to show us how it is done in respect to ethnic Arabs, then it would not be realistic to expect too much from Japan in the short to medium term.
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