The pandemic seemed to have shifted the meaning of ’home’ overnight with devastating effects on the transnational lives of migrants in Japan. More than five months have passed since the Japanese government implemented the border restrictions, but many non-Japanese nationals who live, work, and have a family in Japan still cannot enter the country. After much social media campaigning, the Japanese government started to loosen the border policies to allow foreign residents to return from 1 September, although the procedures are still far from smooth. If their request is approved, the returnees have to adhere to strict procedures for re-entry, including the pre-entry tests for COVID-19 and the submission of proof that the test was performed within 72 hours prior to their departure. It is still too early to tell if this will restore the movement of people in and out of Japan.
The border policies exposed the gap between the lives of migrants and the government’s perception of foreign residents as temporary, disposable labour whose ’real’ homes are overseas. Indeed, it is not uncommon for both highly-skilled and low-skilled migrants to migrate from one country to another every few years. Their jobs often require frequent travels too. From the point of view of the government’s border policies during the pandemic, the only way such highly mobile workers could make Japan their ’home’ and therefore return to it, was through marriage to a Japanese citizen or permanent resident. Any other forms of relationships – same-sex, or familial relations to non-Japanese nationals, does not count.
Same-sex marriage is not recognized in Japan, despite the increasing call to change the law. From 2015, Shibuya ward in Tokyo has recognized “same-sex partnership.” Although not legally binding, it was an important step towards the acknowledgment of the rights of same-sex couples, including for instance, rights to visit loved ones in hospitals, and rent apartments together. Since then, others have followed Shibuya’s example; at present, 57 prefectures and municipalities recognize same sex-partnerships.
The concept of home in the border policies, however, has been based on a very restrictive set of practices that reflect heterosexual and ethnocentric points of view.
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