Why Indonesians behaving badly in Japan fuels official concerns
Indonesian officials are fighting back against speculation of a looming ban after a series of viral incidents involving their citizens
A robbery in Ibaraki prefecture, viral footage of unruly behaviour by an Indonesian group in Osaka and social media posts purporting to reflect the concerns of Japanese employers have stirred debate about Indonesian migrant workers’ ability to adapt to Japanese norms and what Jakarta can do about it.
Indonesian officials warn that much of the backlash – and resulting panic – has been stoked by misinformation, with potentially serious repercussions for Indonesians seeking work overseas.
Japan pitches Tokyo as new UN hub while US steps back from world stage
Highlighting public safety, security and the weak yen, Tokyo is positioning itself as an ‘attractive’ alternative to current UN locations
Koike returned to Japan on Sunday following an official visit to the US, where she addressed the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies in Washington and highlighted Tokyo’s emergence as a major player on the world stage.
During her visit, she also met with policy experts at the Hudson Institute think tank, where Tokyo’s drive to become a sustainable metropolis was high on the agenda.
On Thursday, Koike held a 15-minute meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the organisation’s headquarters in New York. There, she proposed that more of the UN’s offices be relocated to cities elsewhere in the world, including Tokyo.
“Tokyo would like to provide various types of support [to the UN],” Koike told reporters after the meeting, highlighting the city’s advantages over other locations, such as “public safety, security and now, with the weak yen, there are other positive aspects to life”.
Guterres acknowledged that his office had “received offers of cooperation from various countries and regions”, but declined to elaborate on the Japanese proposal or whether it might be pursued further.
“Japan has for many years been a big contributor to the UN and there are already some facilities here, such as the UN University and an office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees,” said Ben Ascione, an assistant professor of international relations at Tokyo’s Waseda University.
“It is obviously very early days and I see this as Koike sounding Guterres out at this stage,” he said, noting several reasons why both Japan’s national government and Tokyo’s metropolitan authorities were likely seeking a higher international profile.
“Firstly, something like this brings prestige and recognition,” Ascione told This Week in Asia. “Japan has long placed importance on the UN’s functions and has a history of a UN-centred foreign policy.”
He pointed to Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, which renounces war as a means of settling disputes and aligns closely with the UN’s mandate to resolve international issues through dialogue.
“And that is perhaps even more important at a time when the present US administration is undermining the international order that previous administrations built,” Ascione said.
In a statement on Tuesday, Audrey Azoulay, Unesco’s director general, said: “This decision contradicts the fundamental principles of multilateralism and may affect first and foremost our many partners in the United States of America.”
Azoulay said she expected a response similar to that of 2017, when the agency “stepped up its efforts to take action wherever its mission could contribute to peace and demonstrated the pivotal nature of its mandate”.
Ascione argued that US instability had made Japan an “attractive proposition” for hosting some of the UN’s operations at a moment when the organisation was striving to maintain global and regional stability.
“Japan also wants to be seen as a leading peacemaker and stabiliser in the East Asia region and while these plans are tentative at the moment, I think it would be good if it did happen,” he added.
Japan wants to be seen as a leading peacemaker and stabiliser in the East Asia region
Tokyo’s anxiety dates back to the early 2010s, when Chinese officials came to lead four of the UN’s 15 principal agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the UN Industrial Development Organisation, the International Telecommunication Union and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Nine of these 15 UN agencies also have Chinese deputies. Beijing has further been accused of wielding influence over UN departments through proxy candidates it supports, such as Tedros Ghebreyesus, now serving a second term as director general of the World Health Organization.
