Naturalized linguist in Japan laments recent political trend to blame foreigners
The linguist, Anne Crescini, 51, an associate professor at the University of Kitakyushu, specializes in loanwords. While teaching English at the university, she is active in other areas, also serving as a "Munakata support ambassador" in the Fukuoka Prefecture city of Munakata, where she lives, promoting the region's attractions, and giving lectures in various areas on multicultural understanding and other themes.
Increasingly harsh online criticism
Crescini has about 25,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter). Her bright personality and talks in Fukuoka's Hakata dialect are popular, and she is often asked to sign her books at lectures. However, on X, she often receives defamatory comments, accusing her of being an "anti-Japanese foreigner" and telling her, "Go back to your home country."
"I'm mentally strong, but over the past week in particular, it's been tough, to tell the truth," she said ahead of the July 20 election, pained by the increasing fierceness of posts prior to voting.
Crescini was born in the U.S. state of Virginia and came to Japan in 1997. She learned Japanese by singing songs by the female duo Kiroro at karaoke.
Munakata, where she lives with her husband and daughters, is an irreplaceable location that she cherishes for the kindness of the people, the rich nature and the delicious food. In 2014 she acquired permanent residency and in 2023 she obtained Japanese citizenship.
It was the COVID-19 pandemic that prompted Crescini to acquire Japanese nationality. In March 2020, her father, who had lived in the United States, passed away at the age of 79. But due to border control measures, people of foreign nationality faced restrictions on entering Japan, and this was no exception for Crescini, though she had permanent residency.
Crescini gave up leaving Japan, fearing that if she departed, she wouldn't be able to return. It was two and a half years later that she was finally able to travel to the U.S. and stage a funeral for her father.
Despite her love for Japan -- wearing a kimono, playing the shamisen and visiting shrines -- being treated as a "foreigner" was a shock for her. "No matter what, I want to stay in Japan," Crescini resolved. She accordingly decided to give up her U.S. citizenship and choose Japanese nationality.
A society where everyone can live comfortably
Having gained the right to vote, Crescini cast her ballot in the Munakata Municipal Assembly and House of Representatives elections, and this year's House of Councillors election marked her first upper house vote. She felt joy when the voting information postcard arrived.
However, she has been increasingly anxious about the strength of recent criticism directed at foreigners which is more intense than ever before. "In economic hardship, society has less leeway, and politicians exploit people's desire to blame someone," she senses.
"Supporting any political party isn't inherently bad," she clarifies, but adds, "I don't think Japan will get better by giving anxiety free rein and abstractly making foreigners the object of attack."
Having witnessed division in American society under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, she emphasizes, "Japan still has the ability to stop."
Despite differences, Crescini hopes for a society where everyone can live comfortably. Her children are a significant reason for this hope. Her three daughters, born and raised in Japan, love the country. Even so, they have often been judged by their appearance. Though meaning no harm, others would say things like, "Your Japanese is good." One daughter, who dislikes standing out, found it difficult to remain in school in Japan, and chose to live in the U.S.
What is a Japanese national and what is a foreigner? Like it or lump it, this question was thrust upon her. This is why Crescini wants to convey to others the importance of connecting as people.
In April, Crescini organized the "Munakata international singing contest" with a local international exchange group. The event, where participants sang songs in languages other than their native tongue, featured 32 people in 20 groups including those who took part on the spot. They hailed from six countries, including Japan, Nepal, the U.S. and Vietnam, and it was a lively gathering. As the number of foreign residents increases, Crescini aims to continue serving as a "bridge" connecting them to Japanese society.
Unlike in the House of Representatives, the terms of those elected to the House of Councillors are long, lasting six years, and the chamber is not subject to dissolution. It is required to adopt a long-term view as an organ of good sense, and so Crescini hopes to see thoughtful policy discussions that consider the various "foreigners" living in the same society, from international students to technical interns, tourists, permanent residents and refugees.
Crescini holds one line from the poet Misuzu Kaneko close to heart: "We're all different, and that's just fine." In the upper house election, she said she planned to cast her vote so as not to give up on achieving such a society.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
an hour ago
- The Mainichi
Bill Emmott: Japan should lead regional collaboration to cope with Trump 'typhoon'
By Bill Emmott, independent writer, lecturer and international affairs consultant During all the decades of the U.S.-Japan security alliance, which has been one of the closest security partnerships anywhere in the world, Japan has had to worry about two contradictory dangers: abandonment and entrapment. Abandonment would involve Japan's interests being ignored by its partner amid a deal with one of its enemies; entrapment would mean being forced to fight alongside the United States in a war chosen by the Americans but not by the Japanese. These worries about extreme outcomes have tended to alternate, depending on the political mood in Washington, DC, at the time. Yet currently Japan finds itself worrying about both abandonment and entrapment simultaneously. This may be as good a sign as any that the Trump administration represents a sharp break with the postwar past. The entrapment fear has always felt the likelier danger. It has now reared its head again in a surprising way, as senior US defence officials have been reported to have been pressing Japan and Australia to make explicit commitments about whether they would fight to defend Taiwan in the event of an attempted Chinese invasion or coercion. The surprise is that American officials are pressing such close allies for an explicit commitment when not even the United States itself, and especially not its Commander in Chief, President Donald Trump, has made its own intentions clear. This is not a total break with recent American administrations, but it does put Japan in a potentially awkward position. During the Biden administration a mutual concern over the security and stability of Taiwan did begin to feature in the US-Japan communiques issued after meetings between the Japanese prime minister and the U.S. president, showing that some sort of explicit commitment to working together to preserve the status quo was being sought by the United States. However, that is not the same, at least not politically the same, as actually committing yourself to fight a future war, in circumstances that cannot be predicted and without knowing what America's own stance would be. To do so would be politically extremely difficult, especially for a government that currently lacks a majority in the Diet. Beyond domestic politics, the immediate risk would not be of a war itself but rather of such a commitment causing a further worsening of Japan's relations with China, to no obvious purpose. Abandonment has always looked the less likely of the twin dangers, for having Japan as its largest overseas military base has mattered so much to America and its regional presence in the Indo-Pacific that the idea of it deserting its Japanese ally has looked implausible. This remains true, especially given the emphasis being laid by leading figures in the Pentagon and the Republican Party on the contest with China for both regional and global supremacy. However, President Trump is well known to be highly transactional, especially in foreign policy. He has also indicated a strong sympathy for the very 19th century idea that great powers are entitled to have "spheres of influence" in the areas around their own borders. He has, for example, expressed a determination that America should gain control over Greenland, the icy territory that is part of Denmark but adjacent to the north-east coast of the United States, has declared that Canada should become the U.S.'s "51st State," and has insisted the U.S. should regain control over the Panama Canal. This makes it conceivable, even if still improbable, that at some point Trump could be tempted to accept Chinese control over its "sphere" of Taiwan and the South China Sea in return for China accepting US control over territories in its region. That would give China control over the main sea lanes surrounding Japan and a greatly increased ability to intimidate other countries in the region, including Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. This is, admittedly, a rather extreme scenario. The identification by most members of Trump's Republican Party of China as America's leading global adversary, and the strong support for Taiwan held by those same Republicans, makes it feel especially unlikely. Yet the fact that the idea of such a "grand bargain" with China is talked about at all simply underlines how unpredictable is the foreign policy of this American president, with the range of actions and outcomes during the remaining three and a half years of his term looking wider than under any U.S. president in living memory. The governments of every longstanding ally of the United States are having to live with this uncertainty, one which reflects a broader question: using a meteorological metaphor, does Trump represent a temporary extreme-weather event, like an especially severe typhoon, or does he represent climate change, a trend that will endure? The safest answer is that he is a bit of both: his extreme volatility and hostile manner can be seen as personal and thus temporary, but some of the ideas he is purveying have a broader resonance in the United States that could persist after he is gone. The central role that America plays in the security of the Indo-Pacific gives Japan little choice other than to adapt to whatever extreme weather emerges from Washington, DC. The more forward-leaning stance Japan has taken on defence, first under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and then with the new National Security Strategy under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in 2022, has had the dual purpose of increasing Japan's contribution to joint deterrence operations with America and creating more long-term options for national security in case relations with Washington become more fractured. Continuing and even enhancing this strategy remains Japan's only viable plan. What Japan could perhaps invest even more time in is in its already impressive diplomatic efforts in north-east and south-east Asia. To cope with the Trump "typhoon" and to increase Japan's own leverage over Washington at any time of crisis, it makes sense to work more closely with other countries that face the same pressures, starting with South Korea but also extending south to Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan itself. All these countries are facing hostility from Trump over trade while also needing to invest more in their own security and economic resilience, in a region in which the two superpowers, China and the U.S., are both unavoidable presences but also habitual bullies. It therefore makes sense to work together on trade, technology, security and other issues as much as possible, to increase bargaining power as well as resilience. Japan has a key role, as well as opportunity, to drive this regional collaboration. The contradictory fears of entrapment and abandonment can never be eliminated, but through collaboration they can perhaps be mitigated.
Kyodo News
5 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Japan, U.S. discussing scenario for nuclear weapons use: sources
TOKYO - Japan and the United States have been discussing a scenario, in which the U.S. military would use nuclear weapons in the event of a contingency, during talks on so-called extended deterrence, sources close to the two countries said Saturday. It is the first time the allies have delved into the issue, in a sign that they are seeking to strengthen the U.S. nuclear umbrella, under which Japan is protected, amid intensifying military activity by China, North Korea and Russia, the sources said. Japan is the only country to have experienced an atomic bomb attack and has long advocated for a nuclear-free world. However, it also relies on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for defense. The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and a second one three days later on Nagasaki in the final days of World War II. As part of the extended deterrence talks in recent years, Tokyo and Washington have held multiple tabletop exercises to strategize a scenario in which a conflict broke out in East Asia and the United States is pressured to use nuclear weapons, according to the sources. With that in mind, Japan and the United States reviewed how to coordinate and how to deal with issues stemming from the possible use of nuclear weapons, such as managing public opinion. Discussions also broached how much information the United States can share with Japan, the sources said. In December, the countries announced their first guidelines for extended deterrence -- including U.S. nuclear protection -- to better tackle regional security challenges. But details were not revealed due to the sensitivity of information related to national security, according to a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official. Diplomatic sources said the guidelines stipulated the steps the countries would take should the United States use nuclear weapons under Article 5 of the bilateral security pact. Article 5 obliges the United States to defend territories under Japan's administration from armed attack. The sources close to the nations also said the guidelines made it clear that Japan can convey its thoughts on a possible nuclear weapons use. Since extended deterrence talks were established in 2010, senior-level discussions, led by top foreign affairs and defense officials, have been held once or twice a year. The dialogue was upgraded in July 2024, with the first-ever ministerial talks on the issue held in Tokyo to better coordinate the alliance with an eye on China's military buildup and North Korea's missile and nuclear development.
Kyodo News
6 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Japan, U.S. ministers reached trade agreement in mid-June: sources
TOKYO - Japan's chief negotiator reached an agreement with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in mid-June on a deal offering massive Japanese investment in the United States in exchange for a reduction in tariffs, sources close to the matter said Saturday. Over the following month, Japan focused on convincing U.S. President Donald Trump through Lutnick of the advantages of the agreement, with the proposal of expanding imports of U.S.-grown rice used as the final bargaining chip. The trade deal, announced by Trump on July 23, includes tariffs on Japanese cars set at 15 percent -- lower than the 27.5 percent that was to have been levied -- in exchange for $550 billion of Japanese investment in the United States. During the course of the negotiations, which spanned around three months from mid-April, Japan identified Lutnick as the only person who could communicate "directly and on a deep level" with Trump due to their close friendship of over 30 years, and directed its efforts on him, according to one of the sources. Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, built trust with Lutnick not only through in-person talks but also through dozens of phone calls, the source said. Believing that Lutnick placed a high priority on economic security amid China concerns, Japan emphasized its willingness to contribute to strengthening U.S. domestic supply chains and eventually reached an understanding with him. Trump, however, maintained a hardline stance even in late June, venting frustration that Japan does not import significant amounts of American cars and rice. "I'm not sure we're going to make a deal. I doubt it," he had said, while demanding additional concessions in exchange for lowering tariffs. The tide turned on July 22 immediately following Japan's upper house election. A sudden meeting was arranged for the following day between Trump and Akazawa, who was in Washington for an eighth round of talks. Akazawa and Lutnick began to "rehearse" in preparation for the talks, with Lutnick suggesting that a total investment of $400 billion be proposed in the expectation that Trump would ask for $500 billion. A board was prepared by U.S. officials to clearly show Trump how much Japan would investment. But Trump demanded even more, leaving Akazawa no choice but to agree to $550 billion. A senior official of the prime minister's office acknowledged that the deal does not align with World Trade Organization rules or the Japan-U.S. trade agreement that took effect in January 2020, but also conceded that Trump "is a president who genuinely believes in protecting his country through tariffs."
