Japan is famously anti-immigrant though. Almost everyone in Japan is of Japanese ancestry.

The USA was built on immigration. It's called "the great melting pot" for a reason.

A common language is a key component of the "melting" part.

But you need to take actions to build that sense of identity and make everyone feel welcome. You also want your citizens to feel like they can share their traditions and participate in others traditions.

So at some point, you’re going to have to make accomodations for everyone, at least in the most popular languages because if you want new talent, you might be dealing with a family that has to bring their aging parents along if they want to migrate, or someone’s spouse.

They did used to make immigrants change their names when they arrived, though -- if they were too unlike "regular" English names.

my great grandpa changed his name when they came to new york because it sounded too italian. I have his modified name as my middle name. Its a cool story to me that everybody in my family knows.

Even amongst the older people of the family it didnt seem like a big deal.

    > Japan is famously anti-immigrant though.

These misinformation needs to end. I'm tired of it. More than 20 years ago, this was true, but today it is certainly not. There are all varieties of non-Japanese working in convenience stores, factories, farms, and hotels all over Japan. Plus there are more non-Japanese attending uni than ever before. Many will stay for work. Plus, getting a skilled work visa in Japan has never been easier. Sure, not as easy as Germany, Australia or Canada, but still light years ahead of 20+ years ago. They even have a special highly skilled visa now that allows people to get permanent residence in 1 or 3 years. Again: 20+ years ago this was impossible to imagine. Today, it is the reality.

I live here. Wish it wasnt but sorry its still true. I wont give too much context because it would make me look horribly racist, but to put it in vague terms: Japanese people are regularly confronted with weird and bad aspects South Asians bring to Japan. These aspects would be funny annoyances in the USA, but in Japan is more serious business.

This happens regularly enough that the average city dwelling Japanese person has to confront these negative aspects on a daily basis.

This seems like the primary basis for the racism.

The secondary basis is just general racism you are familiar with. Women regularly wil take the stares to avoid getting on the elevator with me. I have seen them stop and turn 180° to the stairwell. My friend with a big beard gets lots of wacky suspicion. We are stopped at every single airport in asia for a bag search, japan, korea, and taiwan. Japanese people have told us he looks like a terrorist cultist... Hes literally just a regular fat mexican with a beard.

There are many countries around the world which conduct paperwork in more than one language.

Japan is a different country.

Japan offers a decent amount of paperwork in English. Not all of it of course but many government sites, applications etc will have both English and Japanese versions.