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🇯🇵 Japanese · B2 · Society & Global Issues

Immigration

Vocabulary

  • 移民immigrant / immigration
  • 難民refugee
  • 在留資格residence status
  • 帰化するto naturalize
  • 多文化共生multicultural coexistence
  • 受け入れるto accept / receive
  • 排斥するto exclude / reject
  • 統合するto integrate
  • 出稼ぎmigrant labor
  • 永住権permanent residency
  • 国境border
  • 亡命するto seek asylum

Discussing Immigration in Japanese

Reporting what others say is crucial when discussing immigration. Japanese has several hearsay and indirect speech patterns.

Hearsay: ~そうだ

  • ~そうだ (hearsay) — reports what you heard: *日本は移民を増やすそうだ。* (I heard Japan will increase immigration.) Note: Different from ~そうだ (appearance).

Indirect Speech: ~と言っていた

  • ~と言っていた — "someone was saying that": *専門家は多文化共生が重要だと言っていた。* (The expert was saying multicultural coexistence is important.)

Formal Hearsay: ~とのことだ

  • ~とのことだ — formal way to report information: *新しい政策が発表されるとのことだ。* (It is reported that a new policy will be announced.)

Inference: ~らしい

  • ~らしい — based on evidence/information: *この地域は移民が多いらしい。* (It seems this area has many immigrants.) More objective than ~そうだ.

Expressions

  • ~そうだTo report hearsay information
  • ~と言っていたTo quote what someone said
  • ~とのことだTo report information formally
  • ~らしいTo express inference from evidence
  • 多文化共生を目指すTo say aiming for multicultural coexistence
  • 受け入れ態勢を整えるTo say prepare acceptance systems

Common mistakes

  • 雨が降るそうだ。(meaning: looks like rain)
    雨が降りそうだ。(looks like rain)

    Hearsay そうだ attaches to dictionary form (降るそうだ=I heard). Appearance そうだ attaches to stem (降りそうだ=looks like).

  • 彼は来ると言った。
    彼は来ると言っていた。

    と言っていた implies ongoing/reported speech context; と言った is a single completed statement.

  • 新しい法律ができたのことだ。
    新しい法律ができたとのことだ。

    The correct pattern is とのことだ, not のことだ.

  • 移民が多いようらしい。
    移民が多いらしい。

    Do not combine よう and らしい. Use one or the other.

  • 難民を排斥される。
    難民が排斥される。

    In passive, the subject takes が, not を.

Quick quiz

Question 1 of 5

How do you say “to integrate” in Japanese?

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