Nipponica

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.

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.

Kimi Onoda, a first-time Cabinet member, was tapped for two roles: economic security minister, and “minister in charge of a society of well-ordered and harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals.”

Onoda said she was looking to work closely with relevant government agencies to enforce stricter measures against unruly foreign residents and to revise the country's insufficient immigration policies.

“The current reality is that the people are feeling anxious, dissatisfaction or a sense of unfairness due to crimes, nuisances and inappropriate use of various systems by a small number of foreign nationals,” Onoda said at a news conference Wednesday. “While we must not fall into xenophobia, ensuring the safety and security of the public is essential for economic growth,” she said.

At 42, Onoda is the youngest member in Takaichi’s Cabinet and one of only two women appointed as ministers. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she has an American father and a Japanese mother.

My response to this new posting in the cabinet would be different if it was to better help integrate foreign people into Japanese society. But, as per usual, Onoda is going down the well trodded xenophobic route and targeting them instead.

The government will begin considering whether to set a cap on the number of foreign nationals accepted into Japan, Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said on Friday. A project team was established within the Immigration Services Agency that day to start full-fledged discussions on the matter.

According to a list of issues presented by Suzuki on Friday, Japan has traditionally lacked a consistent policy on accepting foreign nationals. “The time has come to begin detailed discussions on how to address the impact and challenges that foreigners will have on society in the medium to long term,” Suzuki said.

It was only a matter of time until something like this would happen but I have serious doubts that any substantial change will come of it or any reform of the immigration system. This is only to play to the base. Japan can’t survive without immigration.

The mayor of this west Japan city has urged for a calm and unbiased response over numerous complaints received after his city and three other municipalities were designated as "hometowns" for African countries as part of a new initiative by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The "JICA Africa Hometown" program aims to foster talent serving as a bridge between Japan and Africa. The Japanese government-sponsored agency on Aug. 21 designated four cities, including Imabari, as 'hometowns' for African nations. This has led to the spread of false claims on social media, saying it will "increase immigration," and protest calls to these cities. In response, Imabari Mayor Shigeki Tokunaga clarified during an Aug. 26 press conference, "This is purely a project for international exchange, with no intention of promoting immigration policies."

I knew this would happen when the original stories on this conference were published. Everyone knows how sensitive the subject of immigration is in Japan and especially from the global south. All comms and stories should have been fact checked and proofread both in Japanese and in the languages where these stories are published. Total cluster.

Japan is considering allowing foreigners under its revamped trainee program to change jobs after two years at their first workplace, provided they remain in the same industry, in seven of the program's 17 sectors, a government source said Monday.

Foreign workers are, in principle, not allowed to change jobs under the current training scheme, which has been criticized for labor rights violations such as long hours and low wages, leading some to desert their workplaces.

Translation is that you come to Japan as an indentured servant for two years rather than permanently. An improvement over the current system, sure. But maybe we should treat people with dignity rather than mistrust as a start and see what happens.

A policy proposal on coexistence with foreign residents in Japan has drawn a strong response after it was compiled by Shizuoka Gov. Yasutomo Suzuki at a meeting of the National Governors’ Association held in Aomori Prefecture in July.

The proposal calls on the central government to establish a comprehensive basic law and set up a central coordinating body for multicultural coexistence policies.

According to the prefectural government, as of Monday morning, it had received approximately 200 emails and phone calls. Many were critical, with comments such as, “It is unreasonable to use tax money to support foreigners,” or “This is inhospitable toward Japanese people.”

A friendly reminder that racism is everywhere.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency is set to designate at least four cities in the country as “hometowns” for certain nations in Africa at the 2025 Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

The agency, which assists with implementing development assistance in developing countries, will assign the city of Nagai in Yamagata Prefecture to Tanzania, Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture to Nigeria, Sanjo in Niigata Prefecture to Ghana and Imabari in Ehime Prefecture to Mozambique.

The purpose stated in the article is that it will promote two-way dialog and bring more population to these cities in Japan. But with an immigration system like it is now, is it realistic to expect that Africans could immigrate to Japan?

Japan's immigration authority is intensifying efforts to crack down on suspected abuse of the business manager visa program, which is intended to help foreign entrepreneurs start businesses in the country.

The heightened scrutiny follows the recent arrest of a Sri Lankan national accused of assisting compatriots in illegally obtaining business manager visas through the use of fictitious companies and falsified documents.

Many experts argue that Japan's business manager visa is prone to abuse because it is subject to less oversight than other residency categories, enabling individuals to set up shell companies to help others obtain or extend visas.

Yes, people abusing the system should be found and removed from the country. But the infographic in this article shows that people on this visa are a mere fraction of the total of foreigners in the country. Good to stop the misuse of the system but I hope that these people aren't the designated scapegoats for the anti-immigrant wave.

Japan's central government has yet to adopt a comprehensive national immigration policy despite a rise in foreign workers, leaving government agencies and local governments to handle issues individually, often in a haphazard manner.

The local governments want unified guidance at the national level but Tokyo is dropping the ball. There would be so much benefit and cost savings to centralize this kind of support but no political will to implement. Just another Thursday in Japan.