The country of the rising sun, getting older, is depopulating: immigration has always been taboo. But the decline in births and the workforce have put the government with its back to the wall
For years now in Japan, the oldest country in the world, more elderly diapers have been bought than baby diapers. And this fight against incontinence produces mountains of waste, which must be disposed of and stimulate imaginative methods of recycling. In the public baths of the prefecture of Tattori, for example, the inhabitants know very well that the water is heated precisely by those senile absorbents transformed into special eco-bales. This detail, perhaps funny and bizarre, however, tells a very serious reality. Japan, getting older, is depopulating. Demographic forces that slowly crumble some fixed points of the politics of this country. Immigration has always been taboo. But the decline in births and the workforce have put the government with its back to the wall.
The industrialists and the community of entrepreneurs have been asking for it for some time, since they could not find and do not find enough employees; then the coronavirus, as in the rest of the world, made things worse. And so the Japanese liberal party, center-right and pro business, listened and made a decision in some historical ways: to open the door – certainly not open it – to immigration. Therefore, at least a little, one of the ideological pillars of Japanese society creaks: the ethnic and cultural homogeneity of the inhabitants.
From 2022, the government decided, immigrants who perform specific jobs (not highly skilled) will be able to apply to stay in the country indefinitely, together with their families. Workers in 14 sectors, including agriculture and nursing, were allowed to remain alone for up to five years and without family members in 2019. The government was trying to get 345,000 workers in. But the pace of entry proved to be too slow almost immediately, and Covid then blocked everything. Today the government tries to be more welcoming; However, there are very few foreigners: at the end of 2020, they were 1.7 million out of a total of almost 126 million inhabitants across the country, and only 2.5% of the workforce.
But the Japanese depopulation leaves no way out. Every day, on average, the population is reduced by a thousand people. The 65-year-olds are a third of the country and by 2050 they should reach 40 percent. By that date, the population of working age will have fallen by 24 million compared to today. Toshihiro Menju, head of one of Japan’s first think tanks, has a realistic attitude and tries to advise those who govern: “the decline in the population is an increasingly serious problem – he said – if we want to be seen as an attractive destination for foreign workers. , we must prepare adequate structures to welcome them, and be good at communicating it “.
Historically, Japan has relied heavily on robots for repetitive tasks. It is not that easy, however, to replace the human being. As happens in a factory in Asahikawa where workers still peel pumpkins, despite the fact that 60% of the work is automated. This is because part of the skin must be left, as it enhances the flavor of the stew, and the robots cannot do this.
Therefore a certain type of manpower, for example in agriculture, manufacturing, assistance to the elderly, will be needed more and more. Japan has not treated her very well so far. Poor wages, long hours, neglected rights. There was a bad story that made the authorities promise to reform the immigration agency. A 33-year-old Sri Lankan girl died after ending up in solitary confinement because her student residence visa had expired. The family filed a lawsuit against the director and deputy director of the facility. In a recent interview, Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa stated that “such incidents must never happen again”.
They will probably happen again. But maybe Japan will really start welcoming its foreign workers better. He needs it.
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