Japan’s birth rate stands at around 1.4 with the world’s longest life expectancy (85.5) which is Japan’s biggest woes making it an interesting example of what can happen to a developed country that does not want immigration.
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.
Japan has restrictive immigration laws and accepts few workers from other countries.
But 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.
The draft legislation needs to be approved by parliament and is facing criticism from opposition parties, who have expressed concern about its potential impact on wages and the crime rate.
Japan’s serious Population woes
Japan’s birth rate stands at around 1.4 with the world’s longest life expectancy (85.5) which is Japan’s biggest woes making it an interesting example of what can happen to a developed country that does not want immigration.
Japan has gradually been letting in more foreign workers with many convenience stores now staffed entirely by young people from other Asian countries but their legal status in the country is of students or “trainees”.
Japan’s government needs foreign labour and a proper system to regulate and protect its foreign workers.
Businesses in Japan have long argued for changes to immigration rules to recruit workers from other countries.
But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stressed the proposed law is not an overhaul of the country’s immigration policy.
Japan will only accept foreign workers “who have specific skills and can work immediately to address serious labour shortages, only in sectors that genuinely need them”, he told lawmakers on Thursday.