How Japan intends to attract 300,000 foreign workers | World

Ten years ago, when I lived inside Japan, a tall Caucasian American, I rarely met other non-Japanese residents. Even in the capital, Tokyo, he sometimes has surprised looks from the locals.

The driving force is demographic change: the Japanese population is aging rapidly and narrowing. Add to that other factors, including unprecedented foreign tourism, as well as mbadive preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The result is a country that desperately needs more workers to fill vacancies.

This impending demographic crisis did not take the country by surprise. he has been known for decades. But as successive governments have been reluctant to take significant action, the problem has become much more urgent.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to bring more low-paid foreign workers. But his proposal to bring hundreds of thousands of people to fill posts by 2025 is very controversial. Especially in a country that traditionally avoids immigration.

In early December, the Japanese Parliament accepted this proposal in a controversial and unprecedented step. In practice, Japanese congressmen voted in favor of an unprecedented number of immigrant workers – 300,000 over the next five years, starting in April.

The new law comes at a time of historic upheaval in Japan, the impact of which can shape the country for generations.

Older, more alien

Bhupal Shrestha is a university professor residing in Suginami, Tokyo, a residential area known for its narrow lanes with second-hand clothing stores and antique shops. He has been living in Japan for 15 years, but his way of getting a "permanent resident" visa was far from peaceful.

Shrestha was the victim of "discrimination in fundamental areas, such as obtaining housing, opening a bank account, applying for a credit card". He also says that it is difficult for immigrants themselves to talk about the government policy that concerns them.

"Japanese society opens to immigrants, but they remain conservative in some places," he said. "I think it's because of the lack of opportunities for cultural exchange with these strangers."

Born in Nepal, Shrestha is one of 1.28 million foreign workers living in Japan, a record number, compared to 480,000 in 2008. However, immigrants make up only 1% of Japan's population compared to 5% in the United Kingdom or 17% in the United States. Almost 30% of foreign workers from Japan come from China. The others come from Vietnam, the Philippines and Brazil.

The number is low because immigration is not encouraged. As an island country, Japan has been fiercely isolationist. Until the mid-nineteenth century, those who entered or attempted to leave the country could be punished with death. Now, however, modern Japan is considered homogenous, with a strong cultural identity.

Historically, national concerns about immigration are related to a number of factors: from the perception that foreigners would "take jobs" from natives to cultural destruction, fear of a rise in violence in the country, recognized worldwide by victims crime rate.

But the big problem is this: the number of ethnic Japanese is decreasing.

The population decreased by almost one million between 2010 and 2015. Last year, there were 227,000 more. At the same time, the number of residents over 65 reached 27% of the total population, a record. According to estimates, this group of older people is expected to increase further to 40% by 2050.

In May, the rate of availability of available jobs reached its highest level in 44 years: 160 per 100 workers. In other words, there are many jobs available that older Japanese can not and younger Japanese do not want to do.

"The situation is very bad," said Shihoko Goto, senior consultant at Woodrow Wilson Center, a US-based think tank. She recalls that in the past, immigration was not "seen as part of a broader solution to some of the problems Japan is currently facing".

While some companies and politicians support Abe's projects, others wonder how this could change Japanese society.

In Search of Workers

"Few Japanese have work experience and coexist with foreigners," said Masahito Nakai, an immigration lawyer in Tokyo.

But he says people are starting to understand that something needs to be done. "The Japanese realize that the country can not be without their help."

The most urgent need concerns sectors such as construction, agriculture and shipbuilding, all over the country. The hospitality and retail industries are also demanding more and more English and other language skills as tourism continues to grow.

Nursing and home care areas are also increasing, as more workers are needed to care for the growing elderly population. According to a report released in November, more than 345,000 foreign workers are expected to move to Japan to fill positions in all of these sectors over the next five years if Abebe's proposals are approved.

To date, the country has bypbaded the importation of foreign workers using a "temporary in-house technical training program".

This allows young workers to work in low-paid jobs for three to five years before returning home.

But this initiative has been criticized for exploiting workers in fields ranging from low wages to poor working conditions. Last year, the press reported the case of a 24-year-old Vietnamese who had joined the program and treated radioactive nuclear waste as part of the cleanup of the city of Fukushima, affected by a nuclear disaster in March 2011. The program was criticized years ago. Many consider it a "disguised servitude".

Abe now wants to allow low-skilled workers to stay in the country for five years. It also aims to introduce a renewable visa for qualified persons, who would be allowed to bring their families. The government's goal is for the new visa regime to be launched in April.

Abe is reluctant to describe these workers as immigrants and their detractors are afraid that their plan will make it easier for them to gain permanent residence.

It is also feared that foreign workers will group cities together and not live in rural areas, where they are most needed. At the same time, human rights defenders fear that Japan has not yet learned how to adequately protect foreign workers from exploitation.

Takatoshi Ito, professor of public and international relations at Columbia University in the United States, says he believes that Japanese society "is waking up to globalization".

"Until now, the majority [dos trabalhadores estrangeiros] contributes to economic growth by occupying jobs that the Japanese are unwilling to accept."

But immigration law attorney, Nakai, says that obtaining a visa is only a beginning and that the only way to get a visa is at the beginning. badimilation of Japanese culture can be difficult. He points out that gaps in language and cultural knowledge are the main challenges facing foreign workers.

"If taxpayers are in agreement, the government should at least offer free or cheap Japanese courses at first," Nakai said. Others think that there is not much publicity in general.

"I think Japanese society is not very open to trade.The inhabitants of the same apartment [bloco] for example, do not speak," said Bhupal Shrestha. "If they do not even speak, how can we think of a truly multicultural society?"

Chikako Usui, professor of sociology at the University of Missouri in the United States, says that various factors, ranging from Japan's isolationist history to its own perception of homogeneity, constitute a obstacle for immigrants.

It highlights the set of unspoken rules and subtle social cues that permeate Japanese society and tire natives, thus contributing to the discomfort of foreigners.

According to Usui, many people wonder how foreigners could absorb everything, from the good label on recycling to silence in public transport, or even anticipate what foreigners think.

The specialist emphasizes the Japanese concept of "kuuki wo yomu" or "air reading", spread throughout Japan and involving an almost telepathic understanding of the social minutiae of everyday life: "The Japanese people I do not really think it's possible for strangers – in fact, [nem] I was able to do it [no Japão]. "

Goto, of the Woodrow Wilson Center, says he There is a strict code about what it means to be Japanese. "It's not just about citizenship: it's about race, language, body language, all these subtle things that a non-Japanese would not have", explains -t it.

"But there is more and more a more open perspective," she adds. "I think the Japanese have more opportunities to rub shoulders with people who do not look like them in a way that was conceivable 10 years ago."

As society ages and the Olympics get closer, Japan is increasingly eager to discover how to bring the foreign labor force desperately needed.

Those who settle in a country need to know "what they are getting into," says Shrestha. He likes to live in Japan, but says it's a place where "hard work is worshiped and the rules followed." "It's better to have knowledge of Japanese culture and the rules of daily life," he adds.