The country that's been dragged in to Australia's 'monoculture' debate

IN BRIEF

One Nation and the Opposition have likened Japan to a monocultural society.

Experts have told SBS News that monoculturalism is a 'made-up' term and report multiculturalism is on the rise in Japan.

When Pauline Hanson called for Australia to become a "monocultural" society at the National Press Club earlier this month, she reached for Japan.

But as the country became shorthand in Australia's debate over immigration and multiculturalism, experts say the comparison obscures more than it explains.

Japan, with a population around four times larger than Australia — was praised by the One Nation leader as a model of monoculturalism.

"Japan has a monoculture, so what's wrong with Australia having a monoculture?" Hanson told Seven's Sunrise program last week.

Opposition leader Angus Taylor was asked what he thought of the statement but told Channel Nine's Today show last week "I don't know what a monoculture means".

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But he did make clear, "I hear ... it's something like looking like Japan. I don't want Australia to look like Japan."

On Monday Liberal backbencher Andrew Hastie sought to criticise Hanson's vision, but also dampened the idea of multiculturalism, which the prime minister gave an impassioned defence of on the same day.

"How do you police that (a monoculture)? Do we want government more involved in our lives, policing who fits into Pauline Hanson’s definition of Australian culture and who doesn’t?

"Monoculture and multicultural — they’re two extremes in a sense," Hastie told the ABC's Background Briefing programme.

Experts have cast doubt on the characterisation and pointed to the economic uplift migration has brought Japan's manufacturing industries.

Peter Chai, a research associate in political science and economics at Waseda University in Tokyo told SBS News that population data shows that Japan is not a monoculture.

"Right now, foreign labour makes up around three to four per cent of the population. So, compared to some Western countries, that level is still low, but compared to historical levels in Japan, that is actually a very high level," Chai said.

"There's been a huge increase in [immigration] in recent years and with that ... Japan is becoming more diverse in terms of its population and ethnicity".

A 'made-up' term?

In agriculture and farming, a monoculture can be simply defined. It's the practice of growing a single species of crop over an area of land.

When applied to sociology, the term can take on multiple meanings. It can reference limited diversity within ethnic, linguistic or religious groups and even describe norms in food and fashion.

But Professor Alan Gamlen, director of the Australian National University's Migration Hub, believes the notion of a monocultural population is a myth.

"A monocultural society is a made-up term ... there are no existing countries where there is such a thing," Gamlen said.

"There is the question, to what extent has a government in a particular country tried to and succeeded in homogenising diverse ethnic groups into a single national population.

"Even countries like Japan and South Korea, which are sometimes cited as quite monocultural, actually have high degrees of internal diversity."

Kaori Okano, a professor of Asian and Japanese studies at La Trobe University told SBS News she wasn't surprised to hear that Japan had compared to a monoculture.

"This view to see Japan as a monoculture is a kind of typical response from white Australians who see Japan as full of East Asians and ... perhaps are not able to tell the difference" between different Asian ethnic groups.

While Okano said Japan has historically taken a hard-line stance on immigration, the early 1990s marked a shift in its policy.

"Until 1991, Japan did not accept unskilled labour ... [change] came about because of pressure from the vehicle manufacturing industries because of labour shortages."

Today, immigration to Japan continues to increase, driven by an ageing population, low birth rates and contemporary labour shortages (particularly in essential industries including health and aged care).

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's International Migration Outlook report, approximately 177,000 long-term and permanent migrants entered Japan in 2024. That represented an 8.6 per cent increase compared to the year prior.

The report detailed that around 63 per cent of migrants moved to Japan for employment purposes, while just one per cent were humanitarian migrants. Foreign residents typically migrated from countries including China, Vietnam and South Korea, according to separate 2025 data released by Japan's Immigration Services Agency.

The figures suggest that in the last decade the number of foreign workers in Japan has almost tripled.

Chai said he has witnessed this rise in multiculturalism first-hand.

"One problem with Japan right now is that Japanese people are not so invested in low-pay jobs anymore and that's a natural thing for an advanced economy ... people want to work for higher pay and better working conditions.

"The most visible foreign labourers are people working in convenience stores and in restaurants; you don't see many Japanese [workers] anymore."

However, Chai believes Japan's "integration policy is lacking" — presenting barriers especially for migrants working in agriculture and manufacturing sectors in rural parts of Japan.

A 'more nuanced understanding'

While Japan's Immigration Services Agency reported there were more than 4.1 million foreign residents at the end of 2025, Okana believes this figure could be much higher. She estimates between eight to 10 million people, "minimum", with non-Japanese ethnicity live in the country.

That's because, unlike Australia, Japan does not collect data on the ancestry of its citizens during its population census.

Okana said that means Indigenous groups like the Ainu or Okinawan peoples, diaspora communities, workers and students who become Japanese citizens do not have their heritage officially recorded.

"It is a very simplistic view and if you look to Australia, it is quite obvious there are so many people who have an Australian passport but have a different ethnicity and that is the case in Japan as well".

Japan has multiple Chinatowns and Koreatowns scattered across the country. The Tsurumi ward, located in the city of Yokohama, is also renowned for its multicultural community, including a large South American population.

Chai said while some older generations remain "attached to the idea that Japan is monothetic", his research indicates that younger Japanese populations are increasingly embracing difference.

For Gamlen, North Korea serves as the closest example of a monocultural society, with more than 99 per cent of the population reportedly ethnically Korean. He claimed that comparison should also serve as a warning for One Nation.

"This is a place where a totalitarian regime has forced conformity on a population and ... I don't think any liberal democracy really wants to follow that path."

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