A Japanese initiative to foster closer ties with African nations has triggered a wave of xenophobic complaints, after inaccurate media reports suggested it would lead to mass immigration. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced this month that it had designated four Japanese cities as 'Africa hometowns' for partner countries Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania.
The programme, announced at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, involves personnel exchanges and events between the cities of Imabari, Kisarazu, Sanjo and Nagai and the African nations. However, media coverage in the four countries and Japanese-language references to the articles have sparked an ugly backlash on social media, with thousands of angry calls and emails to city offices.
Some critics appeared to believe that 'hometown' status meant people from the African countries would be given special permission to live and work in Japan. 'If immigrants come flooding in, who is going to take responsibility?' said one social media post. Another post on X claiming Kisarazu was 'seriously considering handing over the city to Africans' attracted 4.6 million views.
City officials have been overwhelmed by complaints. An official in Sanjo said the town received 350 phone calls and 3,500 emails since Monday, while Imabari fielded 460 calls and 1,400 emails. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi called the claims baseless, stating there were no plans to promote accepting immigrants or issue special visas.
The mayors of the affected cities also sought to correct the record. Kisarazu Mayor Yoshikuni Watanabe noted the city had hosted Nigerian athletes during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and said the project would not lead to accepting migrants. Sanjo Mayor Ryo Takizawa said it was not true that the city had requested to accept migrants from Ghana. The controversy was partly attributed to a Tanzania Times article headlined 'Japan dedicates Nagai city to Tanzania', with the word 'dedicates' translated into Japanese as 'sasageru', which could imply the town was being 'sacrificed'.
Nigeria's government also appeared to misunderstand the programme, describing Kisarazu as open to 'Nigerians willing to live and work' in Japan. Japan's foreign ministry has reportedly asked Nigeria to issue a correction, while JICA said several media organisations had published articles containing 'inaccuracies and potentially misleading information' and urged them to correct the record.
