Japan Seeks (Some) Migrants

Dang Son, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Long closed to most immigration, Japan looks to open up amid labor shortage, is today’s headline in the Washington Post. Specifically, Japan announced today that it would be allowing “more foreign workers in blue-collar positions to stay indefinitely and bring their families with them.”

That’s a pretty big deal because Japan has not been particularly big on immigration in the past. As WaPo writes:

For decades, immigration was a political taboo, with concerns about culture and ethnic homogeneity often espoused by Japan’s powerful right-wing. The country accepted only modest numbers of immigrants, often making strict requirements of them. Only select groups, such as the families and descendants of Japanese emigrants who had made new lives in Latin America, were offered permanent residency.

So, why the change of heart? Like many countries, Japan is still reeling from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, including a labor shortage. Moreover, Japan has both a declining population and an aging one. It’s getting harder to look in house, as it were.

-KitJ