See also:
Communities for information about multiculturalism and diversity, including local government support and policies in different communities around Japan.
Local government - some examples of local government organisations working on multiculturalism and foreign residents
East Japan pref. working to improve rising foreign population's disaster awareness With increasing numbers of foreign nationals in Japan, local governments are still struggling to convey disaster prevention information despite a decade passing since the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. Mainichi, 26 Mar 2021.
Foreign trainees a huge help, but do we have to help them, too? Foreign technical intern trainees are the lifeblood that keeps primary industries going in numerous rural communities, but many municipalities show little interest in doing anything to help the visiting workers feel at home. The article reprots on a survery about the support that local governments provide for trainees. Asahi Shimbun, 2 Dec 2020.
Survey reveals barriers to foreign-born students trying to enter Japan high schools The public high school entrance examination process for foreign nationals varies hugely from local government to local government, a national survey carried out by a student support group has revealed. Mainichi, 7 Jul 2019.
CLAIR website "CLAIR is a government-affiliated general incorporated foundation that works to support the internationalisation efforts of local governments in Japan through providing training opportunities, fostering people-to-people exchange with the JET Programme and other initiatives, supporting multiculturalism, and by carrying out research behalf of local governments etc." In particular, see this page on Multicultural Japan: "CLAIR supports the multicultural efforts of local governments in Japan through information provision, policy support, and dispatching of staff. CLAIR assists the international community of Japan through multilingual information provision."
26 cities request emergency support for foreign workers Dozens of cities and towns with large numbers of foreign residents called on the central government Wednesday for help in protecting their jobs and supporting them amid the rapidly crumbling labor environment. Japan Times, Dec. 18, 2008.
"Local Government and Resident Foreigners: A Changing Relationship" This paper by Kashiwazaki Chikako "traces the development of local government policy with regard to foreign residents".
Japanese Local Governments Facing the Reality of Immigration by Atsuko Abe. This is an older paper from 2007 that presents the results of a survey conducted on Japanese municipal governments regarding their attitudes and policies towards foreign residents. The Asia-Pacific Jourtnal Japan Focus. 3 Sep, 2007
Tokyo Intercultural Portal Site: Aiming to realize a society where everyone can live peacefully
Machimura, T. (2003). 'Local settlement patterns of foreign workers in Greater Tokyo: Growing diversity and its consequences', in M. Douglass & G. S. Roberts (Eds). Japan and global migration: foreign workers and the advent of a multicultural society. London; New York: Routledge. Available from Chuo Library総合政策 325.252/J35 & Mike. Looks at the ways that three different groups of foreign workers - Nikkeijin, legal Asian workers, and illegal Asian workers - have settled and formed communities in the Greater Tokyo area, covering Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma, which had 40% of all foreign workers in Japan at the end of the 1990s.
Tegtmeyer Pak, K. (2003). 'Foreigners are local citizens too: Local governments respond to international migration in Japan', in M. Douglass & G. S. Roberts (Eds). Japan and global migration: foreign workers and the advent of a multicultural society. London; New York: Routledge. Available from Chuo Library総合政策 325.252/J35 & Mike. Looks at how effectively four local governments in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, Shinjuku, Kawasaki and Hamamatsu have provided support for foreign migrants living in those communities.