What Does an Increase in TV Shows about Foreigners Wanting to Come to Japan during COVID Says about Japan's Perception about the Outside World?

Turn on Japanese TV and one often sees programs about foreigners living in the country. The shows have foreigners introducing their cultures to a Japanese audience, stories about foreigners who lived in the country for decades and how they interact with the community, and unfortunately, many foreigners who choose to caricature their own cultures to make a living as foreign TV stars. But as COVID rages on and Japan remains firmly shut to the very idea of accepting new long-term foreign residents, TV shows about foreigners have also evolved somewhat in line with the changing attitudes during COVID.

One of the most timely evolution is the emergence of shows about foreigners who want to come to Japan but cannot, because of COVID-related restrictions and/or dramatic increase in prices and hassle associated with entering Japan. In rather dramatic fashions, these shows welcome the foreigners to talk about why they are so keen to come to Japan even during such times of uncertainty and based their specific interests in Japan, bring on Japanese experts or practitioners of those specific interests for video calls and long-distance meet-and-greets. 

Given that the foreigners who are invited to these shows ultimately cannot come to Japan due to COVID, it is easy for the shows' producers to get emotional. The emotions of longing among the foreign guests, stemming from the inability to be in Japan, come together with those of gratitude after the producers connect them with Japanese individuals who share their interests. As the episodes progress, the audience follows the development of remote friendships, interspersed with stories of COVID-related misfortunes in the hometowns of the foreign guests, further allowing the emotions of sadness and warmth to mingle.

Surely, providing a COVID-fatigued populace with heart-warming friendships certainly boosts morale in a country that is facing some serious economic difficulties at the grassroots level, but producing good feelings does not necessarily require the presence of foreigners. The fact that foreigners are not only used but front-and-center in these shows speaks to their importance about how Japan and the Japanese people see themselves vis-a-vis the rest of the world during the continuing global struggle against the pandemic. The shows' producers, intentionally or inadvertently, are sending certain messages to the audience.

One is a continuing theme of Japan as an important and exceptional country on the global stage. Even before COVID, there has been a consistent routine among Japan's self-promotion as the world's best in many different things, worthy of foreigners to come and admire. During COVID, there is an implicit desire to promote the idea that Japan has handled the pandemic better than elsewhere, adding to the long list of its "world's best." The emphasis on showing the different COVID realities of foreigners' home countries and Japan in these shows drives home that point.

Related to the message that Japan has handled COVID well, there is a need to bring on evidence that foreigners' image of Japan not only did not worsen during COVID but got better because of Japan's superior balancing of restrictions and freedoms of daily lives, as well as the lack of a massive death toll. While the need to find pro-Japanese foreigners has always been great, the need to find such individuals have become even greater during the COVID era, if only to confirm that Japan has done extremely well, compared to other countries, in handling the COVID crisis.

Yet, finding foreigners ready to praise Japan's handling of COVID may also be a subliminal criticism of the Japanese government on the part of the TV producers. After all, if Japan is handling COVID so well, and there are so many foreigners who long to come to Japan during the COVID era, why is the Japanese government insistent on keeping the borders closed to these nice people? By encouraging Japanese viewers to see foreigners not as a source of disease but a source of Japanese soft power, the shows may be encouraging viewers to see more open borders during COVID as beneficial rather than dangerous.

It is hard to say what messages the shows' mostly Japanese viewers will really come away with. But one thing is for sure. The shows are popular enough that they are not only becoming more frequent but also moving into prime-time evening slots. It shows that even with the borders shut, many Japanese viewers are keen to see foreigners remain interested in Japan and understand how they feel, even if the views of the foreigners on these shows remain unabashedly and one-sidedly pro-Japanese. Perhaps the resulting view of foreigners in Japan becomes distorted, but it is better than having no interest at all.