The aim of this study is to compare the definitions of integration regarding immigrants in other developed countries in order to delineate the similarities and differences and to infer the implications for the possible policy measures in Japan in the near future. The literature survey centers on the publications of institutions related to national governments and international agencies, which are written in English or French.
In this article, the concepts and indices of "immigrant" and related categories of persons are discussed before the comparison of the concepts of "integration" and related categories of adaptation processes or situations. Immigrants are often defined by socioeconomic and psychological criteria in some countries (Belgium, France and the Netherlands), but they are often defined by statistical or legal criteria in others (Sweden and the UN). The indices of "immigrant" often derive from demographic statistics divided by birthplace, language and nationality (citizenship). It is also useful to distinguish between nationality (citizenship) acquired by birth and nationality acquired by naturalization.
The concepts of integration and related processes or situations are compared based on the government publications from Belgium, Canada (and Quebec), France and the Netherlands. In most cases, the concept of integration includes at least one of the following three elements: becoming an integral part of the whole society; maintaining the cultural differences; and giving mutual impacts. However, the definition differs between countries, between institutions of the same country (France) and between reports of the same institution (the Netherlands). These differences are partly due to the approaches to integration (individual versus group). The relationship between integration and other related concepts are also different partly due to the same reason and partly due to the ambiguity of the term, "integration".
Finally, the following two policy implications are derived: the need for collection and analysis of statistics divided by nationality and birth place; and the need for further research in government-related institutions to prepare for the future integration policy.