[Japan] Can Japan absorb foreign influx? / The Japan Times, 24 Jan 2006

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20060124zg.htm
Debito Arudou
"When discussing the recent ethnic riots in France, The Economist newsmagazine ('Minority Reports,' Nov. 10, 2005) posed an important question: How come some countries assimilate immigrants more peacefully than others?It concluded that five basic things are necessary: lingua franca skills; income; mobility; home ownership; political representation; intermarriage. This article will discuss how well Japan does on this scale, and offer suggestions on how it can do better."