Tokyo
CNN
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Japan has worked hard to attract foreigners and boost the economy, but now too much awareness is spurring the creation of a new task force as voting competition heats up ahead of Sunday’s national elections.
This issue lies on the political agenda ahead of the Senate election. This is part of the Fringe Party, nodding to the rhetoric of US President Donald Trump’s nativeist rhetoric and promoting “Japan’s first” policy.
Isba Prime Minister on Tuesday launched a task force officially ordered to promote the association of harmonious coexistence with foreigners, citing “nuisance or nuisance behavior with foreigners” and “various abnormal use” government systems “crime or nuisance behavior”;
The world’s fourth largest economy has a long history of strict immigration policies and a strong cultural tension of isolationism.
However, as the population ages rapidly and the birth rates are rising rapidly, Japan is gradually opening up to foreign workers, looking for more international tourists.
Pulling up a drawbridge could exacerbate the demographic crisis and put the tourism industry at risk, experts warn.
Here are what we know about the task force and why foreigners have become election issues.
Isba described the new office as a “command center” coordination policy for both Japanese and foreigners. Among the areas it covers are immigrants, land acquisition by foreigners and unpaid social insurance, Isba added.
He vowed to “take strict action against those who do not follow the rules.”
There were no more specific details, but the government said last month it plans to amend its policy to ban tourists and foreign residents with unpaid medical expenses.
Japan’s foreign population has jumped from 2.23 million to 3.77 million over the past decade, but they still only account for 3% of the total population of over 120 million.
More noticeable is the surge in tourism over the past few years, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic.
A record 21.5 million foreign tourists visited Japan According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, this is the first half of this year. Last year, according to UN tourism, Japan was the eighth most visited country in the world by tourists and was the top of Asia.
The influx has frustrated many residents, whose lives are hampered by tourists gathering in their neighborhoods for sightseeing, shopping or scenic photography opportunities.
Authorities urged convenience store mountains to be temporarily blocked from convenience stores as visitors requested private baths as public baths rose sharply as public hot spring resort areas warning low water levels.
Some blame tourists for causing inflation and contributing to the shortage of certain supplies, including rice, which is Japan’s most important staple.
Others have problems with foreign residents who have been reportedly circumventing public health insurance and are reportedly snatching the country’s real estate It will boost prices.
A Tokyo retiree who worked for a trading company told CNN he believes foreign workers are taking away jobs for Japanese people.
“They came to Japan because they couldn’t make a living in their country,” said the 78-year-old, who asked them to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the debate.
“Because the cultures are different, it’s impossible to live together.”
Kouyama Nanami, a 23-year-old office worker, said he read it on the news that a large amount of welfare assistance has been donated to residents during the day.
“I don’t think AIDS is prioritized for the Japanese,” she said.
Tanabe, a sociology professor at Waseda University in Tokyo, said many of the negative beliefs about migration, such as rising crime, stem from falsehoods and misleading claims from the campaign trail.
“There are more foreigners around us that are visible. They start to assume that public safety must be getting worse too,” he told CNN.
“As a result, negative campaigns on social media resonate with many people, leading them to think that the parties who commit to “protect” society from these imaginary threats are a better choice,” he added.
He noted that crime in Japan has declined over the past 20 years despite an increase in tourists and foreign residents. “There is virtually no difference between Japanese citizens and foreigners in terms of crime rates,” he said.
In 2023, according to a white paper by the Ministry of Justice, 9,726 foreigners were arrested on suspicion of crime, accounting for 5.3°C of the total arrested. This diagram includes both tourists and foreigners.
According to political commentators, Isba’s hands were forced as they entered the final stretch and then focused on anger towards irresponsible foreigners and unruly tourists.
Sansate, minor right wing Those who have rallyed against immigrants and advanced “Japan’s first” policies have gained traction and media coverage.
Emerging parties cannot compete for a majority, but are expected to win 10-15 seats, potentially removing the majority of Ishiba’s Liberal Democrats (LDP).
LDP and its coalition partner Komeito lost a majority in the House last year for the first time in 15 years. Isba could pressure him to go down further if he loses the Senate this weekend.
“Anti-immigrant parties such as Sansate use this as a misunderstanding of the people, a public’s fear of immigration and an opportunity for foreigners to steal votes from the LDP,” said Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer in international studies in Japan.
During Sunday’s campaign, Sansate Secretary General Sohei Kamiya said his party “is simply saying it’s unreasonable to use public money to hire foreigners or hire profitable companies.”
“This is not discrimination or hate speech,” he said.
Hall said setting up a new office could help LDPs show that “the problem is tough,” but there is a price to pay.
“If we become a society where Japan is closely monitoring foreigners until it feels unwelcome, it can have a detrimental effect on businesses’ ability to acquire the foreign workers they need,” Hall said.
The country’s birth rate plunged to another record low of 1.15 in 2024. This is well below the 2.1 required to stabilize the population in the absence of immigrants. This means that the working population will continue to shrink in the next few decades. This has deterred the outlook for the Japanese economy, which has already stagnated since the early 1990s.
To attract foreign workers, the government is trying to ease visa requirements and improve conditions.
The number of foreign employees reached a record high of 2.3 million in October last year, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The government has granted “specific skilled workers” visas to work in a variety of industries, from nursing and hospitality to construction and aviation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website shows.
During the announcement Tuesday, Isba acknowledged the importance of Japan continuing to be open-minded.
“As Japan faces challenges of declining birth rates and aging, it is essential to incorporate the vitality of the international community through the acceptance of a certain number of foreign workers and the expansion of inbound tourism.
