Japan Immigration News

Opening Borders For Workers: Abe’s Profound Influence On Japan’s Immigration Regime

Release Date: 2024-11-14
Media: eurasia review
Summary: Japan faces a severe labor shortage due to low birth rates and an aging population, leading recent governments to bring in more foreign workers. Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2012–2020), significant immigration reforms aimed to increase the foreign workforce; however, Japan has maintained its long-standing position of avoiding a formal immigration policy, balancing business needs with nationalist interests.

This status quo dates back to Japan’s 1990 immigration system, which welcomed highly skilled foreign workers but excluded unskilled ones. To address labor shortages, "side-door" policies like the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) and visas for Japanese descendants were implemented to admit unskilled foreign workers without altering the immigration stance.

Maximilien Xavier Rehm, a Ph.D. candidate at Doshisha University, examined whether Abe’s reforms have moved Japan toward becoming an immigration nation in practice, even without an official policy. His research, published in Japan Forum in October 2024, applied a historical institutional approach to understand how incremental changes can shift policy through mechanisms like "layering" (adding new rules) and "displacement" (replacing old rules).

Rehm’s findings show that Abe’s reforms led to gradual, rather than transformative, changes in Japan’s immigration policies. Reforms like the 2017 Technical Training Act, 2018’s 4th-generation Japanese descendant policy, and 2019’s Specified Skilled Worker (SSW1) visa opened more foreign labor pathways but left structural issues unaddressed. Programs such as the Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) visa and Nursing Care residence status hold potential for future changes but have yet to fully impact the system.

Despite limitations, Abe’s era saw growth in Japan’s foreign population, mainly through sector-specific, restrictive visas for technical interns and students. The Kishida administration (2021–2024) has continued Abe’s framework, with possible updates like replacing TITP in 2027 and expanding the SSW system, hinting at a gradual shift to "front-door" immigration pathways for various skill levels. Rehm concludes that Abe’s reforms didn’t overhaul Japan’s immigration policy but could pave the way for Japan to become an immigration country in the near future.

These insights provide valuable context for policymakers, political analysts, and foreign residents in Japan, suggesting that Japan may adopt a more inclusive immigration policy in the next 5 to 10 years, addressing demographic challenges and fostering a more diverse society.
Tags: Immigration Policy

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