The Japan Timwes
Aug 4, 2019
By: Ko Shu-Ling
A Vietnamese worker picks tomatoes at a tomato farm in Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, in Japan, on Dec. 16, 2018. Japan, the country that brought robots to car factories, looks set to stay resolutely old school in agriculture as it seeks to attract more foreign workers to replenish an aging workforce. Photographer: Takaaki Iwabu/Bloomberg
TAIPEI – In April, Japan undertook a policy initiative meant to alleviate problems caused by its rapidly graying population, including labor shortages, rural depopulation and increasing pressure on social services.
Key to the policy is a visa plan to bring in more foreign labor over the next five years, including 345,000 blue-collar workers from China and Southeast Asia.
To attract quality workers, Japanese planners are trying to not only correct past problems, but also let “qualified migrants” stay longer, bring their families, and in some cases become citizens.
Such changes will alter the social fabric of a nation long resistant to immigration. But more generous work visas will also increase competition for migrant labor in the region, especially among advanced economies with similar demographic problems and a poor record of hosting visiting workers.
Taiwan is a case in point. [FULL STORY]
