Japan holds door for foreigners

Country passes law to attract 345,000 over next 5 years

TOKYO — Japan’s parliament has passed a new immigration law that aims to attract 345,000 foreign workers over the next five years, seeking to plug gaps in the country’s rapidly shrinking and aging workforce.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government forced through the new law despite protests from opposition parties t h a t a rg u e d the legislation was vague and hastily drawnup.

Critics also claim it fails to address the question of social inclusion and rights for foreign workers.

But the law is driven by some inescapable demographic pressures. The fertility rate has fallen to 1.4 children per women, far below the replacement rate of 2.1, while the population is already dropping by about 400,000 people a year.

That places a significant burden on Japan’s economy, with fewer taxpayers and more dependents. The proportion of people over 65 years old has already risen to 28 percent — one of the highest in the world.

Even with the new measures, Japan keeps the one of the tightest reins on immigration among industrialized nations. Yet Abe’s government must grapple with an economic future that depends of bolstering the workforce from the outside.

Japan’s upper house of parliament passed the law 161-76 last week, after a day when the opposition parties raised a series of unsuccessful blocking motions. It followed a vote in the lower chamber two weeks ago, with Abe’s ruling coalition enjoying large majorities in both houses.

It will come into effect next April.

The legislation is designed to attract “semiskilled workers” across a range of industries where shortages are most severe, including construction, the hotel industry, cleaning and elderly care.

They will be allowed in on an initial five-year visa, with the possibility to then qualify for a second type of visa for an additional five-year period.

To address concerns that the immigrants would depress wages for Japanese workers, the new law stipulates they must be paid the same as their Japanese peers.

But many other details — including rules to prevent labor abuses — remain to be fleshed out, and are due to be specified in a Justice Ministry ordinance before the end of the year.

“It is clear to everyone that the immigration bill designed to accept more foreign workers is a slipshod job far from perfection,” The Mainichi newspaper wrote in an editorial, “but the incredibly arrogant government and the ruling camp have blocked their ears to criticism and even constructive proposals on the legislation.”

Akira Nagatsuma of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan argued the new law could damage Japan’s global image.

“...The incredibly arrogant government and the ruling camp have blocked their ears to criticism and even constructive proposals on the legislation.” Mainichi newspaper editorial