Japan seeks more migrants

Japan is a fascinating example of what can happen to a developed country that does not want immigration.

The country's birth rate dropped below 2.1 - replacement level - all the way back in the mid-1970s. It now stands at around 1.4. Add in the world's longest life expectancy (85.5) and you have a problem.

Japan has gradually been letting in more foreign workers. It's clear Japan needs foreign labour. Businesses in Japan have long argued for changes to immigration rules to recruit workers from other countries. Japan has restrictive immigration laws and accepts few workers from other countries. The Japanese market, however, under current severe labour conditions, is in dire need of more foreign laborers, experts attested.

Japan's cabinet has approved draft legislation to loosen the country's immigration rules. The relaxed laws would create two new visa categories to allow foreigners in sectors with labour shortages to enter the country. The new rules could allow blue-collar workers in the construction, farming and healthcare sectors to work there. Workers in the first visa category will be allowed to work in the country for five years, and bring their families if they have a certain level of skill and some proficiency in Japanese. Workers with a higher level of skills would qualify for the second visa category and would eventually be allowed to apply for residency.

 Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, said, "We want to create a country where foreigners feel that they want to live and work."

The government is eyeing the acceptance of some 40,000 foreign workers under two planned visa categories in the year after their introduction, it was learned on Saturday. In the first five years, Japan is expected to accept a total of 250,000 foreign nationals with the new work visas, government sources said. The government plans to set no ceiling on the acceptance of foreign workers under the new system, according to the sources. 

As of October 2017, about 1.28 million foreign nationals worked in Japan. Rengo, known officially as the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, also said it is imperative that the government first ensure the rights of foreign workers already working in Japan before widening the doors of immigration. It pointed to some cases in Japan where foreign trainees have been forced to work exceedingly long hours, work under dangerous conditions and in roles they were not expecting and have suffered other such work-related abuses.