Why is Japan such a closed society?

Question:

Will it ever become like the States, in terms of the high number of foreigners living in the country?

Answer:

Cannot explain it entirely in one post, but history man.

The United States is unique because of it's history of immigrants. You can ask the same question for many other countries. Millions of more people choose the US, then say Canada why?

Historically speaking, Japan's location, even after the opening of Japan after the Meji area, many immigrants didn't go to it, simply too far away. You didn't have millions of Irish, Italian, Germans etc landing into Tokyo Bay as you did New York City. The United States developed as a country built by immigration, Japan did not. More immigrants simply chose America and America developed because of it. Japanese society developed for the most part because of Japanese people. It's two radically different approaches but it's worked out for the most part for both countries.

It's not to say Japan is a closed society in more how it developed. Japan simply does not need millions of unskilled laborers from different countries. If you have a specialized skill that Japan needs then you could do fine. Japan is filled with Japanese people who can do most jobs out there. Like it or not, in contrast, the United States NEEDS those millions of unskilled laborers and illegal aliens.