About Unwritten

During a recent trip to Japan, I found myself noticing small details I might have overlooked before: the local servers who moved with politeness but carried a hint of exhaustion; the shop owners who smiled patiently through conversations half-lost in translation; the effort it takes, every day, to serve a constant wave of outsiders while trying to preserve one’s own rhythm of life.

There was empathy in watching it and discomfort too. Because tourism and migration are cousins. Both bring movement, exchange, and opportunity. But they also test a society’s limits of patience, identity, and belonging.

That observation stayed with me, especially now as I prepare to relocate to Paris in the months ahead. I’m not just changing countries; I’m crossing into a different culture, a new language, a slower cadence of understanding. And while my move is planned and somewhat supported, it still requires the same internal negotiation that every migrant faces: how much of myself to adapt, and how much to protect.

Immigration today sits at a crossroads between necessity and fear. Nations need new talent, new energy, new hands. But politically, immigration remains framed as a loss of jobs, of security, of identity for locals. The irony is that modern economies rely on what their politics often resist.

Administrations should design systems that welcome contribution without erasing individuality. They should invest in integration, not assimilation. Perhaps the first step would be to raise awareness and tell the truth: no modern economy functions without migrants.

Immigration is not a charity, nor is it a threat. It’s the ongoing story of how humanity moves forward one crossing, one conversation, and one compromise at a time.

And perhaps that’s what my time in Japan reminded me: every interaction, every shared moment across language or culture, is an act of coexistence. It’s messy, tiring, and profoundly human. The world isn’t getting smaller; it’s getting closer. And the challenge isn’t how to stop it but how to meet it with grace.