This page has sections on:
Japan Diet passes controversial bill to revise immigration law Japan's parliament on Friday passed a bill to revise an immigration and refugee law to enable authorities to deport individuals who repeatedly apply for asylum status, despite objections from some opposition parties. Mainichi, 2023.
'I'll be killed': Asylum-seeker fears for his life as Japan passes revised immigration law Refugee status applicants in Japan and their supporters are voicing concern over the revised immigration law, passed in the Diet on June 9, which will allow the Japanese government to send asylum-seekers back to their home countries after their third request. Mainichi, 2023.
Japan to expand skilled worker visa system to address labor shortage Japan's Cabinet on Friday approved a plan to expand the scope of industries covered by the blue-collar skilled worker visa that creates a path to permanent residency for foreigners, in a major shift in the country's restrictive immigration policy. Mainichi, 2023.
Japan looks to scrap foreign trainee program for new system This article discusses a plan to replace the current programme with a new scheme and discusses what kind of approach is needed to deal with the problems in the programme now. Kyodo News, 2023.
Editorial: Human rights must be top priority as Japan moves to remake foreign intern system This editorial argues that the Technical Internship Training Programme should be ended and warns about replacing it with a new programme that continues to emphasize training rather than providing better conditions for migrant workers. It explains some of the main problems with the current programme and what action needs to be taken on those. Mainichi Shimbun, 2023.
FOCUS: Moment of truth as Japan eyes review of foreign "trainee" workers An overview of the current situation and problems with the Technical Internship Training Programme, especially trainees getting into debt to join the programme, and a review of opinions about what kind of programme should replace it. Kyodo News, 30 Aug 2022.
Japan’s Approach to Ukrainian Refugees Is What Its Refugee Policy Ought To Be "Japan’s willingness to embrace Ukrainian refugees stems from its hierarchical view of the world and its economic-first view of migrants." This article looks at Japan's harsh policy towards asylum seekers and the more favourable treatment of refugees from Ukraine, and argues that this is because Japan has a "utilitarian-functional type of policy" which treats refugees and migrants in terms of how useful they are seen to be for Japanese society. The Diplomat, 11 Apr 2022.
Japan’s Self-Destructive Immigration Policy "Criminalizing asylum seekers and stigmatizing immigration is only worsening Japan’s demographic crisis." This article compares Japan's punitive (negative, harsh) approach to refugees and migrants with its need for workers because of its aging society. The Diplomat, 4 Jan 2022.
Japan looking to allow more foreigners to stay indefinitely in a major immigration policy shift This article discusses the possibility of Japan making it easier for foreign workers to bring their family to Japan and stay for as long as they want to. This would build on a change in the immigration law in 2019 that allowed "specified skilled workers” in 14 sectors such as farming, construction and sanitation to come to Japan but only to stay five years and not to bring family. CNBC, 17 Nov 2021.
Special Permission for Residence A short explanation of the Special Permission for Residence system which can be used to give undocumented foreigners a visa to stay in Japan, as well as why some foreigner workers in Japan are undocumented and what kind of people they are. From Asian People's Friendship Society, an organisation providing support and counselling for foreigners, especially undocumented migrants, in Japan.
Scant Hope for Japan’s “Illegals” Under Proposed Reforms Immigration scholar and advocate Suzuki Eriko of Kokushikan University explains criticisms of the Japanese government’s proposed refugee immigration law reform, first introduced in 2021 and re-introduced in 2023, which seek to make it easier to deport foreign nationals, including refugees, who have no residence rights. She considers problems with using detention for these people, the situation of those issued with deportation orders, the way that provisional release works, and the history of 'illegal' migrants in Japan who were accepted as migrant workers through the 'back door' by the government until the 1990s because they were needed economically but treated more strictly after that. It also explains the story of Miracle, a 17-year-old Ghanaian, who has lived in Japan all her life, but still has no legal residency status. nippon.com, 2021. Japanese version here: 入管難民法「改悪」から問い直す外国人労働者の受け入れと排除
Japan Needs to Reform its “Black Box” Approach to Immigration Law There is growing concern over the large number of foreign nationals without legal status in Japan who are locked up in detention facilities for years as their cases play out. Former immigration official Kinoshita Yōichi argues that Japan’s ambiguous immigration laws allow officials to arbitrarily decide who is incarcerated and who gets permission to stay. Mainichi, 2021.
Japan’s Changing Immigration and Refugee Policy This article considers different views on the recent proposed changed to the immigration law, the history of Japan's refugee policy, its current strict acceptance policy and conditions in detention for asylum seekers and migrants. The Diplomat, 12 March 2021.
Foreigners in fear of Japan's immigration proposals Foreign communities in Japan, and their local supporters, are calling for lawmakers to scrap proposed changes to the country's immigration law. The revisions, which critics describe as inhumane, involve the forcible deportation of asylum-seekers who fail to prove a case to stay as refugees. NHK World, 1 May 2021.
Can Japan Embrace Multiculturalism? An article which considers various aspects of multiculturalism and immigration policy in Japan, including the use of the Technical Internship Training Programme as a backdoor for bringing foreign workers to Japan without having an immigration policy to support them. Nippon.com, 19 Feb 2020.
Japan’s immigration policy under scrutiny This article and a video that is included with it looks at criticisms of japan's very strict policy on acceptance of refugees and it use of detention for asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. NHK World, 27 Nov 2020.
Japan’s Labor Migration Reforms: Breaking with the Past? In 2019, Japan began to set aside the decades-old distinction in its migration regime between “un-/low-skilled” work and highly skilled professional employment, hoping to bring in as many as 350,000 medium-skilled foreign workers over five years to fill labor market gaps in a rapidly aging society. Nearly a year into implementation of this system, however, only a fraction of these workers has been hired, raising questions about the extent of reforms likely by a country that has long taken a guarded view of immigration. Migration Policy Institute, 20 Feb 2020.
Japan’s Immigration Policies Put to the Test In April 2019, Japan officially opened its doors to lower-skilled foreign workers under its new Specified Skills visa program. Arguing that this is just ashort-term fixes to Japan’s labor shortages, making use of the very problematic Technical Intern Training Program, immigration expert Menju Toshihiro discusses the recent reforms and the need for a more decisive shift in attitudes and policies. Nippon.com, 18 Nov 2019.
Abolish the Technical Intern Training Program, Japanese government-led slavery immediately A campaign to end the programme. Change.org, 2019.
Japan’s Technical Intern Training Programme - Learning the Hard Way? An article that explains how the TITP works, the criticisms of the harsh working conditions on the programme and possible and actual measures that could be taken to prevent abuse of trainees on the programme, especially ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Institute for Human Rights and Business, 16 October 2017. See also a longer report on the same issues Learning Experience? Japan’s TITP and the Challenge of Protecting the Rights of Migrant Workers which downloads as a pdf file.
Japan Business Federation (Keidanren)'s Fundamental Approach to Facilitating Employment of Workers from Overseas: Summary This has recommendations for measures to accept more highly skilled professional, economic infrastructure workers e.g. for construction and manufacturing), and social infrastructure workers (e.g. for nursing and domestic work). November 21, 2016. See also the Japanese version: 外国人材受入促進に向けた基本的考え方
Why Immigrant-Shy Japan Is Luring Foreign Workers: QuickTake Q&A. A short overview of immigration policies, attitudes to immigration and the reality of labour shortgages and use of migrant labour in Japan. Bloomberg, 22 Feb, 2017.
Japan desperate for foreign farmers The Japanese government will begin discussions to attract experienced farmers from abroad to a country now suffering from serious labor shortages in the agriculture industry. Nikkei Asian Review, 2 Oct 2016.
Basic Plan for Immigration Control (5th Edition) in Japanese and English. This report has useful data on foreign residents, 'illegal'/undocumented foreigners, asylum seekers and refugees and technical interns, as well as explanation of the Japanese Government's polices in these areas. Ministry of Justice, Sep, 2015.
Migrant Integration Policy Index for Japan 2019 includes information on labour market mobility, family reunion, education, health, political participation, permanent residence, access to nationality, and anti-discrimination - scroll to the Policies-Summary section and click on the icons there.
Japan: Migrants in Agriculture, IT, Health An overview of the situation. Migration News, April 2012, Volume 19, Number 2
Demographics of Japan A Wikipedia article that includes information on both minority groups of Japanese nationality and foreign residents as well as issues such as the finger printing of foreigners, treatment of undocumented ('illegal') migrants, and (in the section on language) nationality and foreigners taking Japanese citizenship
Strict immigration rules may threaten Japan's future A discussion of the plan by Prime Minister Naoto Kan in 2010 to double the number of skilled foreign immigrants in Japan. Washington Post, 28 July 2010.
Japan PM says nation should open up to migrants Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Saturday that his country, which is battling low birth rates and an ageing population, should make itself more attractive to migrants. Japan has some of the world's strictest controls on immigration, and Hatoyama admitted that he was broaching a "sensitive issue". ABS CBN News/Agence France-Presse, Nov 15th 2009.
Girl chooses Japan over parents A teenager in Japan whose parents are being deported to the Philippines has decided to stay in Tokyo with her aunt. After the family lost a three-year battle to remain in Japan, Noriko Calderon, 13, had to choose whether to stay in Japan or go with her parents. BBC News, 14 April 2009. >>> More on Filipino people in Japan and children's issues in multicultural Japan >>>
Japanese ruling may split family The Japanese government has ordered the parents of a young Filipina to leave the country within two weeks....Noriko Calderon was born and raised in Japan and speaks only Japanese but now faces being left behind or being deported. BBC News, 13 February 2009. >>> More on Filipino people in Japan and children's issues in multicultural Japan >>>
Japan mulls multicultural dawn A report on how the ageing population in Japan is forcing people to reconsider attitudes to immigration. BBC News, October 5, 2004.
Fortress Japan fears immigrant surge An article that looks at the debates in Japan about solving Japan's labour shortages with large-scale immigration. BBC News, 18 May, 2005.
Japan's trial run for migrant workers This article looks at whether migrant workers could help solve an imminent labour shortage caused by Japan's population crisis. It focuses particularly on Nikkei Brazilan immigrants, who were encouraged to emigrate to Japan from the 1990s, and on Hamamatsu city in Shizuoka that has a large Nikkei Brazilian population. BBC News, 21 November, 2007. >>> More on Nikkeijin in Japan >>>
Japan curbs 'entertainment visas' Japan has started applying stricter regulations on the tens of thousands of Filipinos who come to Japan on so-called entertainment visas. The new measure is a response to criticism of Japan's failure to curb human trafficking. Many Filipinos who arrive on such visas end up working in Japan's sex industry. BBC News, 15 March, 2005. >>> More on Filipino people in Japan >>>
Immigration Various immigration data for Japan including the foreigner population, rate of immigrants, number of new citizenships (people becoming Japanese), numbers of asylum seekrs and numbers of refugees accepted. Nationmaster.
Japan launches new immigration law A new immigration law comes into effect in Japan on Friday. Under the new regulation, those who are caught after entering Japan illegally face possible criminal charges, causing alarm among the country's growing population of undocumented immigrants....Under the new law, illegal immigrants can no longer avoid the possibility of being fined or imprisoned after being here for three years. BBC News, 18 February, 2000.
Permanent Residency (Eijuuken) in Japan: How and Why to Get It From debito.org
Debito, A. (2007). 'Japan’s Future as an International, Multicultural Society: From Migrants to Immigrants', Japan Focus, Oct 28, 2007. Despite an express policy against importing unskilled foreign labor, the Government of Japan (GOJ) since 1990 has been following an unacknowledged backdoor "guest worker" program to alleviate a labor shortage that threatens to become chronic.
Douglass, Mike & Roberts, Glenda S, (Eds). (2003). 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. This book has an excellent collection of articles on immigration and foreign workers in Japan. See below for detials of the main chapters on immigration issues:
Douglass, M. & Roberts G. S. (2003). 'Japan in a global age of migration', 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. Makes four main points: that Japan already has a history of migration and foreign workers so this is not a new issue; that migration of foreign labour cannot be prevented whatever immigration policies the Japanese government adopts; that Japan will need immigration of low-wage labour in the future; and that immigration does not impose high costs on Japanese society and economy.
Douglass, M. (2003). 'The singularities of international migration of women to Japan: Past, present and future', 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. Focuses in particular on migration of women from the Philippines into the sex industry in Japan and asks why Japan is the only country in which the majority of female immigrants have been recruited legally or illegally to work in the sex industry.
Yamawaki, K. (2003). 'Foreign workers in Japan: A historical perspective', 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 Korean and Chinese workers in Japan from the 1890s to the 1920s to argue that Japan has a long history of foreign workers and suggests similarities between the situation of foreign workers in the 1920s and in the 'bubble economy' of the 1980s.
A New Framework for Japan’s Immigration Policies By Hidenori Sakanaka, Director of the Japan Immigration Policy Institute, Former head of the Tokyo Immigration Bureau, April 2007, with an introduction by Eric Johnston, the Japan Times.