For the longest time we were told about the horrors of the Sakoku Decree. Back then it was just the reason why we weren't already in Inazuma. (minus the whole part about how it wasn't out of development yet) We already heard about it since finishing the Liyue quest ages ago and it was this question of just how would we make it into a place that would kill foreigners on sight?
That was also the case with the real world Sakoku Decree or Sakoku Edict but what did we end up getting? Just a really rigid processing system that was pretty biased against but didn't outright lead to the murder of foreigners. (The Shogunate are rougher to their own people.) We have people from Mondstadt, Liyue, Fontaine and of course even some Fatui agents hanging around. And they can even do business. Hardly the same thing.
BUT what this "Sakoku" thing looks like to me is a commentary on modern day Japan. If you've ever checked out Gaijin Goombah or channels talking about life in Japan you know what I'm talking about. Japan's still a pretty closed off society even though it is nothing like the Sakoku era of its society. If you're a gaijin in Japan you will be subject to discrimination there's no doubt about it. From all accounts gaijins are these rare creatures that Japanese people don't really know how to deal with.
Some are obviously better than others. We see that in Inazuma as well. But for the most part being a gaijin in Japan is a growing experience just like we're seeing on Ritou. So it's a pretty cool way to bring up that subject in an internationally released game because just like the gaijins themselves have said, many of Japan's social issues get met with the "shoganai syndrome" or Japanese people's apathy towards solving their problems.
Now it's still much better than we see in Inazuma. (at least as far as I know) You don't get overtaxed or swindled for being foreign. And there's even the stereotype-born "gaijin card" that gives a free pass to misbehaving gaijins too since "they don't understand our culture" and all. The problems come more from Japanese people usually only dealing with other Japanese people and rarely seeing gaijins so when they do, out pops every last stereotype imaginable. My favorite has to be Gaijin Goombah's story about how somebody asked if westerners were all obese and his fellow English teacher who was Japanese decided to defend him by saying "of course they are obese because in the west they all drink too much soda!" Yes from the context I think this was meant as a friendly defense.
On the other hand there also seems to be an even heavier commentary on discrimination in the wider world outside of Japan. It is the year 2021 after all. For over a year Asians have been horribly treated worldwide. Just like some of the worst scenes we've seen in game Asians in the western world are being attacked, insulted, harassed etc. Law enforcement talks a big game but it hasn't really done much and in some less publicized cases help the bad guys much like what we're hearing from Kurisu.
I've always found it impressive when entertainment media like games can comment on real world issues like this. Good job MiHoYo! I hope it raises awareness!
