Why doesn't immigration cause protests in Japan?

Nathan Cofnas published a message on social media where he wondered why increased immigration in Japan does not cause similar resistance as in Western countries. His conclusion was that "ethnonationalism isn't very popular."

He had added a figure to the title of a story in Foreign Policy Magazine, saying that "Japan Radically Increased Immigration - and No One Protested." Half of the answer to Nathan's question is provided by the story, describing that immigrants in Japan have to work in the country and are not supported by the social welfare system - read "taxpayer's money" - as in Europe.

The other half of the explanation can be seen in the statistics shown on Wikipedia. At the end of June 2022, there were 2,760,635 foreigners residing in Japan. The most important ethnicities were Chinese, Vietnamese, South Koreans, Filipinos, Nepalese, Indonesians, Americans, Thais, and Taiwanese.

This list is completely different from the ethnicities of immigrants in Europe, especially those raising negative attitudes among ethnically Europeans by committing rapes, terrorism, and other illegal activities. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why immigration is considerably more popular among Japanese than Europeans. 

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
100 percent of the violence is related to migration
A Finnish police officer is afraid to speak about the problems of immigration
Sweden already in trouble - Finland following

Palestinian responsibility

I believe that it is in the interest of both Israel and Palestine to establish lasting peace, a two-state solution, and cooperation between these historically mutually hostile nations. I also think that many, perhaps even the majority of people belonging to these nations, share my view.

So the question remains, why hasn't such an understanding been reached despite more than seven decades having passed? The answer consists of several parts. 

By far the most crucial aspect to understand is that while Palestinians may lose a hundred battles, Israel cannot suffer a single defeat. This is because Israel as a democratic state does not annihilate defeated Palestinians, whereas among the Palestinians, there are millions of people and even numerous organizations, with the most significant being the Hamas controlling the Gaza area, whose sole aim is to drown the Jews in the Mediterranean sea.

As an outcome of what I have written above, the citizens of Israel understandably do not dare to take any unnecessary risks. And since Palestinians occasionally launch minor or major attacks against them, they prefer to rely on their military power rather than peace-oriented agreements, even if backed by any superpower.

The significance of the latter has become even more essential after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014, despite the safeguarding of its independence by superpowers. An agreement was made when Ukraine obtained independence, where it agreed to hand over the Soviet nuclear weapons located on its territory to Russia. Without that agreement, Russia would not have dared to invade Ukraine in 2014 or again in 2022.

All of this means that it is specifically the responsibility of the Palestinians to promote peace between Israel and Palestine. It requires actions that inspire trust among the two nations so that even Israel finally dares to agree on the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Palestinians: acknowledging facts is the beginning of wisdom!
A new Government for Israel, but why doesn´t it solve anything?
Explanation of Finnish attitudes towards Israeli and Palestinians

Palestinians: acknowledging facts is the beginning of wisdom!

The Palestinian extremist organization Hamas has carried out a massive terrorist attack in Israel today, resulting in the killing and assault of women and the shooting of anyone in their path (I won't provide a link, but supporting material for this viewpoint can be found, for example, on messaging service X). This is in no way acceptable, even considering Israel's establishment over 70 years ago in the Middle East despite the fact that it was difficult at the time.

Next, we can expect to see Israel striking Hamas's support areas in Gaza and causing significantly more damage to Palestinian property than Muslims could achieve even with a surprise attack. Palestinians can only blame their war-mongering leaders for all of this.

The fact is: Palestinians had an alternative. This was articulated by Finland's President Juho Kusti Paasikivi, who stated after World War II, "Acknowledging facts is the beginning of wisdom." By this, he meant that Finland had a large and dangerous neighbor to the east with whom it had to get along.

Based on this, Finland adopted a neutral stance towards the Soviet Union and established a close commercial partnership that benefited both parties. At the same time, Finland refrained from needlessly provoking its eastern neighbor but ensured the readiness of its own military forces.

This approach continued beyond the collapse of the Soviet Union until Putin's Russia's attack on Ukraine. At that point, Finland realized that the facts had changed as Russia had shown that it cannot be trusted. Therefore Finns sought NATO membership at a time when Russia's military forces were tied down in Ukraine. This way, Finland's security is still assured, but it remains open to cooperation with Russia if it returns to the community of civilized nations by recognizing Ukraine's 2013 borders and making peace.

For Palestinians, it would be wise to accept the existence of Israel, acknowledge its overwhelming military capability relative to their own, and work together with Israelis while abandoning the foolish dream of driving Jews into the Mediterranean. By doing so, time and economic prosperity would gradually improve the bitterness between Jews and Palestinians, ultimately providing Palestinians with the opportunity to live as part of Israel or even as an independent state, if both parties believe they can trust each other.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
History of Finland XV: Paasikivi-Kekkonen doctrine
A new Government for Israel, but why doesn´t it solve anything?
Explanation of Finnish attitudes towards Israeli and Palestinians

Finnish women have enjoyed a privileged position since medieval times

Finland was one of the first countries to grant women the right to vote and stand for election, so we have an exceptionally long and still ongoing tradition of political gender equality. And, of course, this is closely tied to the generally good societal position of women.

However, it is unclear how long gender attitudes persist in places undergoing significant societal changes. This question was studied by Swedish researchers Taylor Damann, Jeremy Siow, and Margit Tavits by analyzing the teeth of about ten thousand medieval individuals from 139 archaeological sites.

The researchers used differences in the dental health of women and men as a measure of disparities in nutrition and healthcare. Additionally, they compared these archaeological measurements to data on gender norms from surveys conducted in the same geographical areas.

The result was quite clear, as historical indicators of gendered health disparities were significantly linked to modern gender equality norms in the same locations. However, this connection weakened in places where significant population turnovers had occurred over history, meaning that new populations brought their own attitudes with them.

In other words, the gender attitudes of population groups can persist across generations, even for extended periods, spanning hundreds or thousands of years, despite major societal, economic, and political changes. This seems to be the case in Finland as well, as the study included one Finnish site, Luistari in Eura.

Based on the analysis of dental remains, women from Luistari's medieval population had even been "more equal" than men, meaning they received better nutrition and healthcare. Among all 139 sites, Luistari women ranked as the 16th best-treated.

Thus, Finnish women have enjoyed a privileged position since medieval times. This strongly equal position of women in society applies more or less to the entire Northern European population, including Scandinavians and Balts.

The original thought in Finnish:
Suomalaisnaiset olivat jo keskiajalla tasa-arvoisempia kuin miehet

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
"Woke" pushes American science academies to favor women in their membership selections
History of Finland XI: Finnish democracy and gender equality for women
Discrimination against women?