Several weeks ago, U.S. President Barack Obama said that he wants to allow younger undocumented immigrants who came to America as children to stay, and last week the Supreme Court struck down some provisions of Arizona's controversial law requiring police to check individuals they suspect of being in the country illegally. Both stories received major coverage because immigration is a contentious issue, having always been central to America's self-image as the world's most dedicated stronghold of freedom.

Immigration has no comparable status in Japan, which is why non-Japanese seem to be the only residents who talk about it. The media mentions it in passing when they report stories such as the recent release of a Nepalese restaurant worker after 15 years in jail on a trumped-up murder conviction, or those Indonesians who decided to return to their home country despite the fact that they passed the stringent tests for foreign caregivers. In these and other cases, the individuals originally came to Japan for economic reasons, which is the impetus for most migration in the world, but it's implied that they didn't feel compelled to stay permanently. They were only here to make money, not lives for themselves.

This subtext informs the local coverage of imin (immigrants), who, in any case, are never referred to as such. All non-Japanese are "foreigners," so distinctions with regard to length of stay and intentions mean little to most Japanese, and that makes the authorities' job easier since, as in almost every other developed country in the world, immigration is regulated in accordance with economic circumstances. As long as people don't pay attention to immigration policy, no one will be bothered by its shifting priorities.