The Japanese government led by conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi insists on a policy of containing migration flows in the name of protecting national identity and social cohesion. This was discussed in recent days during a panel chaired by University of Tokyo professor Hiroshi Ohashi, reports the newspaper Asahi Shimbun, tasked with assessing the demographic and economic impact of the foreign presence and preparing, by the fiscal year, a basic policy that could include for the first time a cap – numerical or percentage – on the immigrant population.
Read more The four works stolen from the Mume
Ask the Sun
The questions are automatically suggested by 24Ore AI
based on the content viewed.
The initiative stems from an agreement within the coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party (Ldp) and the Japan Innovation Party (Ishin), which had requested an “overall cap” later softened, in the final text, to a vaguer “quantitative management” to avoid internal tensions within the Ldp. Minister Kimi Onoda, responsible for the portfolio of a ‘Society of orderly and harmonious coexistence with foreigners,’ supports the stricter line, explains the progressive daily, in contrast with sectors of her own party sensitive to pressures from businesses and rural areas affected by labor shortages.
Read more Bad weather, turning point arrives: today yellow alert in 10 regions
According to the Ministry of the Interior, foreign residents have risen to 3.9 million, equal to 3.2% of the population, while Japanese have fallen to 122.98 million, due to the ongoing long process of declining birth rates. A 2023 projection estimates that the foreign share could reach 10% by 2070, a threshold elsewhere associated with social tensions. Meanwhile, the Immigration Agency has introduced a sharp revision of the requirements to obtain permanent residence. From October 1, household income must be above the Japanese average and pension projections equivalent to 30 years of contributions, to prevent access to public benefits. The application fee for residence will also increase twentyfold, from 10,000 to 200,000 yen (1,100 euros). The new rules, according to observers, risk discouraging foreign workers in a country already marked by an unprecedented demographic crisis and chronic labor shortages. For the Takaichi government – which during the Ldp leadership race had called for caution towards flows “culturally too distant” – however, the priority will remain to preserve social balance and national identity in the face of a steadily growing foreign presence.
Read more Theft at the Mume museum, works by Antonello da Messina stolen
