Nipponica

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced in March 2023 that Japan would seek to accept 400,000 international students by 2033. Speaking at a meeting of the government’s Council for the Creation of Future Education, Kishida emphasized that “it is important to make further investments in people to realize a new form of capitalism.” In other words, the goal of accepting 400,000 foreign students can be regarded as part of his "new capitalism" policy.

In a related development, in February this year, the Kishida government decided to expand employment opportunities for foreign students who graduate from certified vocational schools in Japan by granting them a residency status equal to university graduates.

Interesting article that goes into the history of the Japanese government's push for more international students beginning in the 1980s. These various government programs, including the one that originally brought me to the country (Global 30), are something that I would like to cover more of and how these targets of hundreds of thousands of international students just don't mesh with the graduation prospects these students would likely have. More to come.

As of the end of 2023, there were a record 3.41 million foreign nationals living in Japan, up 330,000 from the previous year. Not only have these residents helped make up for labor shortages in the country, they also are becoming important supporters of the nation's pension system.

A good article spelling out the need for steady (and increasing) flows of foreign workers into the Japanese economy to sustain existing systems. Immigration is the answer.

Japan will need 970,000 more foreign workers than it will have in 2040 to meet the nation's economic growth target, a new estimate shows, highlighting the country's challenges in attracting and retaining overseas talent.

The cultural and monetary barriers in place that keep workers from coming to Japan are working. Incentivizing pregnancies isn't working so Japan either needs to make the country more welcoming for immigrants or double down on robotification and hope Snatcher isn't brought to real life.

In the lawsuit, the man argued that his fear of persecution could be sufficiently recognized, and that he couldn't hope for protection in his home country. The government denied the credibility of his claim, and stated, "It cannot be accepted that there are fears he would be persecuted immediately," and called for his case to be dismissed.

While I am happy for this person for winning his safety in court, it is frustrating that the government, who is trying to boost immigration, fought so hard to send him back to his country of origin. While it is never cited which country he is from, homosexuality in many African countries is illegal and punishable by prison time or worse. Japan should be a beacon for the oppressed, not a wall to climb over.

A study conducted by the Japan Student Services Organization, an independent administrative agency, found that 90,719 foreign students were enrolled in Japanese language schools as of May 1, 2023. This is the largest number since the first JASSO study was conducted in 2011, and an 83.6% year-on-year increase of around 40,000 students.

Also, the article shows that the number of foreign students overall (including universities) is almost at the pre-COVID peak. The vast majority of foreign students come from China and other east/southeast Asian nations so there is still value in the Japanese dream in the region.

Leading Japanese retailer Aeon will take on 4,000 skilled foreign workers groupwide by fiscal 2030 amid severe labor shortages in Japan's food service sector, Nikkei has learned.

The Aeon group currently employs around 1,500 under Japan's Specified Skilled Worker program, which targets foreign workers with specialized skills in shorthanded industries. They work largely at food-processing plants that supply Aeon supermarkets.

Japan's parliament on Friday enacted revised laws to replace the controversial foreign trainee program, which has been criticized as a cover for importing cheap labor. Japan seeks to ensure foreign workers will stay on longer in a bid to address an acute labor shortage in a rapidly greying society.

Under the new system, workers will be able to move after working in a job for one year provided their Japanese language and professional skills meet certain requirements.

Businesses in Japan that employ immigrant labor are getting a wake up call and hopefully exploitative practices start to die out. Props to the national government for passing immigration reform for this classification of visa but there is still work to do to raise all workers up to a better overall standard wage to catch up to the rest of the world.

The renewed exhibition room is located on the fifth floor of Mori JP Tower, Japan's tallest building, which opened in November 2023. It includes a special section featuring materials related to Chiune Sugihara (1900-1986), who issued "visas for life" to Jewish refugees during World War II while serving as a vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania, and on Shigeru Yoshida (1878-1967), a diplomat who served as foreign minister and prime minister.

Admission to the new exhibition room is free, and unlike the prior facility, it is open on Saturdays, too. It remains closed on Sundays and public holidays.

The new training and employment system that is expected to take effect in 2027 aims to foster foreign workers to achieve the specified skills visa level over three years once they've entered the country. Meanwhile, more attention will be paid to their rights as workers, and rules on job-changing are being eased to allow transfers over the course of one to two years. The retention of this workforce is an issue that will persist under the new system.

This is a good on-the-ground story about the actual lives of foreign workers trying to integrate into local communities. Also a good example of how local governments are picking up the slack from Tokyo and actually doing the hard work of making a flawed immigration system work for new immigrants and for local businesses.