From criminality to inclusion? Law and media framing of migrants in 1987–1990 and 2016–2019 Japan

Abstract

ABSTRACT Immigration law and policies shape public understanding of immigrants by categorizing the population into dichotomies of ‘illegal’ or ‘legal,’ and ‘skilled’ or ‘unskilled.’ Within such processes, scholars emphasize the importance of media which diffuses policy rhetoric, and thus set the tone of public discussion. Yet, research on how immigration laws may shape media framing is scant, leaving questions of how and to what extent legal rhetoric do or do not translate into media. By creating a unique data set of 1929 Japanese newspaper articles during periods of immigration policy activity, in which government officials expanded the definition of ‘skilled’ workers, I investigate how legal discourse influences the media portrayal of foreigners. Taking a mixed methods approach, the quantitative results show that regardless of the ideological leaning of media outlets there is a significant increase in positive media framing concerning foreigners. Nonetheless, the qualitative results show that the distinction between ‘us’ and ‘them’ remains strongly intact through subtle forms of othering that justify the use of social control via policing and surveillance.