Japan’s move toward opening its doors to more foreign workers is widely seen as a must to better cope with an expected shrinkage in the working population. Potentially broadening the scope of non-Japanese workers accepted into a country that for years has kept a firm grip on immigration
Japan’s move toward opening its doors to more foreign workers is widely seen as a must to better cope with an expected shrinkage in the working population.
Potentially broadening the scope of non-Japanese workers accepted into a country that for years has kept a firm grip on immigration would also mark a major policy change.
But the challenges facing an aging Japan are manifold as observers call for a clear-cut, rather than makeshift, approach, and stress the need to create a society easier for foreign nationals to live and work in.
« It’s a natural turn of events » to accept more foreign workers, said Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives.
« Given the situation Japan is in and its future, we’ve already entered a phase in which we need to seek help not just from highly skilled workers, » Kobayashi said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed Cabinet ministers the same day to make preparations for Japan to accept more foreign workers by offering a new residential status starting next April.
The plan being considered would set a five-year limit on residence under the new status, a point the government uses to distinguish the step from encouraging immigration.
That may help conservatives, a major support base for Abe, but observers say the country needs to have a serious immigration debate for its future.
The country had a record 1.28 million foreign workers as of October last year. Chinese workers made up the largest portion, at nearly 30 percent, ahead of workers from Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brazil, according to government data.
Currently, Japan offers limited paths to working legally.
Foreign nationals are given residential status to work in a range of fields such as education, business management, law and health care.
