Japan Immigration News

Japan’s Stalled Immigration Experiment

Release Date: 2025-11-18
Media: Foreign Affairs
Summary: Japan’s new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, rose to power in part by appealing to a surge in anti-foreigner sentiment, even though Japan urgently needs foreign workers to address its shrinking labor force. Despite a long-standing political stance against immigration and the fact that foreign residents comprise only about 3% of the population, fears and misinformation about foreigners have intensified since 2025, empowering populist, nativist parties.

At the same time, Japan has been slowly expanding labor-migration pathways. Since 2018, the government has introduced reforms culminating in the 2024 creation of the Employment for Skill Development Program (ESDP), which will replace the criticized Technical Intern Training Program by 2027. ESDP aims to train foreign workers in Japan and transition them into Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) visas, eventually allowing long-term residency and family reunification. The government plans to admit up to 820,000 workers through SSW by 2030.

Japan’s model is unusual: instead of selecting skilled migrants at entry, it brings in workers based on aptitude and trains them domestically, reflecting Japan’s corporate culture of on-the-job development. Many foreign skilled workers start as international students, whom Japanese firms increasingly recruit.

This gradual, training-based system helps foreign workers adapt to Japanese workplaces and eases public concerns about cultural cohesion. But it also has drawbacks: it is slow, risks losing workers to other countries, and depends on Japan’s ability to enforce worker protections and eliminate exploitation. Implementation will require coordination across ministries, oversight of employers, and accountability for recruitment agencies.

The biggest threat is political. Populist actors—especially the far-right Sanseito—are intensifying anti-immigrant rhetoric, filling the vacuum created by decades of government ambiguity about immigration. Misleading comparisons with Europe and the U.S. are hardening public attitudes and could undermine reforms.

Despite these challenges, Japan’s approach could become a model for other countries facing demographic decline and anti-immigrant populism. If successful, it could show how to expand a foreign workforce without triggering social backlash; if it fails, it may reinforce the idea that even carefully managed migration is politically untenable.
Tags: Immigration Policy

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