Akihiro Kawakami from The Mainichi:
In Oizumi, the Sanseito's proportional representation vote share was 15.6%, surpassing the national average of 12.6%. In the single-seat constituency, the Sanseito candidate topped the polls in the town, outnumbering the ruling Liberal Democratic Party candidate.
The rise of the Sanseito could alter Oizumi's image as a town successfully coexisting with foreigners.
The influx of foreigners in Oizumi began in 1990 when Japan's immigration law was revised, effectively permitting employment for foreign nationals of Japanese descent. Oizumi's small- and mid-size businesses, struggling with labor shortages, actively recruited them, leading to significant changes in the local community. Trouble associated with the growing foreign population was frequently covered by the media.
The mayor of Oizumi is speaking out on the benefits of its foreign community but there is still a growing number of people against them.
Sara Mori & Seishi Minowa from Nikkei:
Even as Japan brings in growing numbers of foreign workers to relieve labor shortages, 38% of its municipalities had no Japanese language schools as of last November, according to government data released Friday.
The dip to 722 out of 1,892 municipalities marked only a 0.7-percentage-point improvement from a year earlier, according to the survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The tally does not account for programs aimed at exchange students.
The number of foreign nationals living in such areas jumped 21% on the year to 170,455. Okinawa prefecture had the highest share of municipalities without schools at 81%, followed by 74% in Tottori prefecture and 71% in Hokkaido. Hyogo prefecture, which includes the city of Kobe, had no such vacuums.
Hokkaido had the most foreign residents in towns without Japanese schools, with a roughly 60% surge to 21,536.
"The further into the countryside you go, the worse the labor shortages are," a prefectural official said. "There's no one who can teach Japanese."
Demand that immigrants integrate but give them no tools to do so. Sounds about right.