Vstop zavrnjen: Japonske mejne omejitve v času izrednih razmer med pandemijo Covida-19

With the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 and the resulting COVID-19 pandemic, Japan adopted controversial policies to contain the virus. Unlike many highly developed countries, it enacted strict policies banning entry through its borders to all non-Japanese citizens regardless of their residency status. The further peculiarity is that these measures equalized low-skill and high-skill foreign workers, affecting them identically. Along with describing how the emergency has been handled in relation to foreign nationals, this article highlights how pre-existing socio-cultural dynamics of differentiation between “insiders” and “outsiders” have evolved in response to the pandemic.Z izbruhom virusa SARS-CoV-2 in posledično pandemije Covida-19 je Japonska za zajezitev virusa sprejela sporne ukrepe. V nasprotju s številnimi visoko razvitimi državami je vsem nejaponskim državljanom, ne glede na njihov bivalni status, strogo prepovedala prehajanje meja. Ti ukrepi so enako prizadeli tako visoko- kot nizkokvalificirane tuje delavce. Članek obravnava izvajanje izrednih ukrepov v povezavi s tujci, hkrati pa pojasnjuje razvoj že obstoječe sociokulturne dinamike razlikovanja med »našimi« in »vašimi« ob soočenju s pandemijo