Japan aims to open door wider to
blue-collar workers
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[November 02, 2018]
By Linda Sieg
TOKYO (Reuters) - Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe's cabinet approved draft legislation on Friday to open the door to
more overseas blue-collar workers in sectors grappling with labor
shortages, a controversial policy shift in immigration-shy Japan.
Japan's immigration debate is heating up even as U.S. President Donald
Trump puts the topic front and center for next week's Congressional
mid-term elections.
Immigration has long been taboo as many Japanese prize ethnic
homogeneity, but the reality of an aging, shrinking population is
challenging such views.
Despite misgivings in Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), parliament
is likely to adopt the revisions in the face of intense pressure from
businesses battling the tightest labor market in decades, although
opposition parties could delay.
The revised law would create two new visa categories for foreigners in
sectors with labor shortages. While not spelt out, they are expected to
be more than a dozen, from farming and construction to hotels and
nursing care.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2018/Nov/02/images/ads/current/Peasley_sda_prom_050214.png)
Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita on Thursday ruled out a numerical
cap, but media said 500,000 blue-collar workers could be allowed in over
time, up 40 percent from the 1.28 million foreign workers now forming
about 2 percent of the workforce.
Workers in the first visa category must have a certain level of skills
and Japanese language ability. They would not be allowed to bring family
members for a stay of up to five years.
But those with higher skills, in the second category, could bring family
and eventually get residency.
Japan has grown more accepting of foreign labor but the focus has been
on professionals and the highly skilled.
For blue-collar workers, employers mostly rely on a "technical trainees"
system and foreign students working part-time, loopholes critics say are
abused.
"Today it is quite difficult for foreigners to get ... jobs as security
guards," said Shigeki Yawata, security manager at security firm
Executive Protection Inc, which has employed non-Japanese for more than
a dozen years. "The Olympic Games are coming up and the government is
working on inbound tourism, so we would like to have more foreigners,
too."
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![](../images/110218pics/news_q33.jpg)
Japanese security firm Executive Protection Inc. employee
59-year-old Antonio Nathaniel King of the U.S. patrols on the street
at Roppongi shopping and amusement district in Tokyo, Japan November
1, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato
![](../images/ads/current/fitzpatrick_lda_SPONSOR_2017.png)
LDP lawmakers signed off on the bill after heated party debate. Many
expressed concerns about crime and a negative effect on wages.
Opposition politicians accuse the government of undue haste without
protecting foreign workers' rights.
"The LDP decision was ... pushed by businesses with a serious
shortage of workers," said Toshihiro Menju, managing director of the
Japan Center for International Exchange, a think tank.
Abe has said the changes do not constitute an "immigration policy",
out of an apparent desire not to upset his conservative backers.
Many experts differ.
"I think this is a de facto shift to an immigration policy,"
Hidenori Sakanaka, a former head of the Tokyo Immigration Bureau,
told Reuters.
The tiny nationalist "Japan First Party" has protested against the
changes for reasons such as fears foreigners would inflate welfare
rolls and crime rates, it says on its website.
A recent survey by the Yomiuri newspaper, however, showed 51 percent
of Japanese voters favored letting in more unskilled foreign workers
and about 43 percent backed recognizing "immigration" - about the
same percentage as those opposed.
"I think it’s a good thing as long as there is a support system for
the foreigners," said retiree Yoshio Sai. "I wish they could make
more work opportunities for us old people too."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2018/Nov/02/images/ads/current/chicagost_sda_FFARM_2018.png)
(This story fixes spelling of name in 11th paragraph)
(Additional reporting by Ami Miyazaki and Mayuko Ono; Editing by
Nick Macfie and Clarence Fernandez)
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