Japan is at the same time a sound refutation of the view that homogeneity means dull uniformity. (This is the implication, of course, of the common assertion that immigrants have livened up the United States, saving it, presumably, from the suffocating sameness of whiteness).

Japan has as much variety—cultural, esthetic, culinary—as anyone could want. Whether it is clothing styles, amateur orchestras, motorcycle clubs, art exhibits, restaurants or museums, visitors are struck by the rich variety of Japanese life. There are endless ways to be Japanese. Thus, traditional Japanese instruments like the koto and shamisen have never been more popular, but Japan also produces internationally-known classical musicians. In addition to its own sports like sumo or judo, Japan has mastered baseball to the point that it sends Japanese stars to the major leagues.

American orthodoxy about immigration and diversity suggests that a country could not have opera without a colony of Italians, or golf and Scotch whiskey without Scots. Japan proves that a country can open itself to what it considers the best foreign influences while shutting out foreign people. Japan therefore has first-rate opera without Italians, jazz without blacks, heavy metal without Brits and some of the best “Western” science and technology without Westerners. What Japan does not have is “honor killings,” voodoo, MS-13, bilingualism or racial tension, and it will never have these things if it keeps to its current no-immigration policy.