-
·
Registered foreigners top 2 million
The number of registered foreign residents in Japan at the end of 2005 totaled roughly 2,011,500, surpassing the 2 million mark for the first time ever, the Justice Ministry announced Friday. The figure was up 1.9 percent from a year ago and foreign nationals now account for 1.57 percent of the total population. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060527a2.html
-
·
Japan set to accept more skilled foreign professionals
Japan is set to accept more foreign professionals by introducing more flexible immigration policies, the government said Thursday in line with a set of policy targets adopted by a government panel and aimed at securing leadership in international society. In an attempt to attract more human resources with highly advanced knowledge and techniques from abroad,…
-
·
U.N. rapporteur raps Japan’s law on fingerprinting foreigners
A special U.N. rapporteur on racism on Thursday criticized Japan’s new immigration legislation on fingerprinting and photographing all foreign visitors as a process of treating foreigners like criminals. Doudou Diene, on his last day of a six-day visit to Japan to conduct a follow-up of his report on racism, said at a press conference in…
-
·
Diet passes bill to take foreigners’ prints, pics
Despite strong criticism from the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and human rights organizations, the bill cleared the House of Councilors with a majority vote by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito. With the revision of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law, an estimated 6 million to 7 million foreigners entering Japan…
-
·
Japan rethinks immigration policy
“Whether we like it or not, there are many foreigners who want to come to Japan. We must think about how we can accept those who want to work or settle in Japanese society, without friction,” Koizumi told members of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, according to the publicized minutes. “If we accept…
-
·
Wave of retiring workers could force big changes
All over Japan, companies are bracing for a demographic wave that will wash away many of their most experienced employees. The Japanese call it their “2007 problem.” Beginning next year, members of what Japan considers its baby boom generation will start hitting 60 and dropping out of the workforce. Some might postpone retirement, but they…
-
·
Immigration reform, political protests mark world May Day
About 300,000 people across Japan took part in various May Day events calling for better working conditions. In Tokyo, 44,000 people gathered in a park before marching through the city center, waving colorful banners to protest what they see as growing social inequalities between the rich and poor. http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/may/02/yehey/world/ 20060502wor1.html
-
·
The Rising Sun slowly sets
Unfortunately, Japan is notoriously closed to foreigners, mainly because opinion polls show that most Japanese associate foreigners with crime. As of 2003, there were only 1.9 million registered foreign residents in Japan, equivalent to only 1.5% of the population. The real number of foreigners is even lower, considering that 600,000 are ethnic Koreans mostly born…
-
·
Unlike with the French, a lack of fight spells future gloom for Japan’s workers
For about a decade the Japanese government has been loosening its labor laws. Companies that were forced to restructure in the 1990s demanded more flexibility in hiring, so the government expanded the number of job types that could be covered by temporary workers. The result has been a steady erosion of wages, since companies who…
-
·
Gov’t promises to improve livelihood of foreign residents
The panel will take up various problems facing foreign residents, including economic issues and language and other handicaps their children may face, [LDP Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo] Abe said. It will also try to ascertain how they have been accepted by local communities, he said. “Having admitted them into the country, Japan bears a certain…