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JCCI says Japan should accept unskilled foreign workers
Japan must accept unskilled foreign workers to resolve the serious labor shortage that is hitting small and midsize companies especially hard the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a report released Thursday. The report calls for admitting unskilled foreign laborers to the nation with no restriction on the types of jobs they can…
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Kawasaki opens referendums to foreign residents
The Kawasaki Municipal Assembly enacted an ordinance Thursday allowing residents aged 18 or older, including foreigners who have lived in the city for three years or longer, to vote in referendums. Kawasaki is taking a cue from Hiroshima, the first city to adopt a similar ordinance, Kawasaki officials said. Referendums can be put forth by…
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Radical immigration plan under discussion
Foreigners will have a much better opportunity to move to, or continue to live in, Japan under a new immigration plan drafted by Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers to accept 10 million immigrants in the next 50 years. “The plan means (some politicians) are seriously thinking about Japan’s future,” said Debito Arudou, who is originally from…
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Let 10% of Japan be foreigners: Nakagawa
Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers made an ambitious proposal Thursday to raise the ratio of immigrants in Japan to about 10 percent over the next 50 years. The frankness of the suggestion reflects the seriousness of Japan’s population decline, which is marked by a rapid increase in the elderly population and a falling birthrate that threatens…
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Japan calls for greater immigrant respect
Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito said Wednesday it was important for Japanese and foreigners to live with mutual respect as the nation gradually takes in more outsiders. The prince spoke ahead of a visit to Brazil to mark 100 years since the first settlement there by Japanese. Tables have now turned with more than 300 000…
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Japan should welcome skilled foreign workers-panel
Japan should open its doors to more skilled workers from abroad in order to boost economic growth, the government’s top advisory panel said on Tuesday. The council called on the government to come up with programmes by the end of this fiscal year to create a business and living environment that would attract highly skilled…
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Where did all the babies go?
Last Wednesday, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced that Japan’s total fertility rate (TFR) ? the average number of babies born to women during their reproductive years ? rose slightly to 1.34 for 2007, even though about 3,000 fewer children were born last year than in 2006. Two years ago the TFR was…
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Good news from grass roots
First up, the labor unions (i.e. the ones that let non-Japanese join, even help run). Their annual marches in March, for example, have made it clear to the media (and employers like Nova) that non-Japanese (NJ) workers are living in and working for Japan and that they are ready to stand up for themselves, in…
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Japanese Are Loath To Rebuild Workforce Through Immigration
Politicians Avoid Issue They See as Toxic When threatened by soaring oil prices in the 1970s, Japan’s response was swift, smart and successful. It transformed itself into the most efficient user of energy in the developed world, thanks to government leadership, engineering skill and a public that embraced conservation. Now Japan faces a much more…
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Arbitrary rulings equal bad PR
In principle, people of moral fiber and legal solvency qualify after 10 years’ consecutive stay – half that if you are deemed to have “contributed to Japan.” For those with Japanese spouses or descendants (“Nikkei” Brazilians, for example), three to five consecutive years are traditionally sufficient. That’s pretty long. The world’s most famous PR, the U.S.…