Julian Ryall speaks to Hidenori Sakanaka, director of the Japan Immigration Policy Institute.
An estimated 2.2 million foreigners had settled in Japan as of 2009, but Hidenori Sakanaka, director of the Japan Immigration Policy Institute, believes that if Japan is to avoid a crisis caused by a shrinking workforce obliged to support a rapidly ageing population, the country needs to open its doors to many more people from overseas.
While one in every 10 people in countries such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom are originally from another country, foreigners account for a mere 1.74% of the population of Japan. Sakanaka is calling for a public debate on the issue of foreigners coming here to work and says Japan needs to learn from the experiences of Europe.
Question: Japan welcomes fewer immigrants than other advanced industrial nations; why is that?
Answer: Prior to 1990, few foreigners were accepted to come and live in Japan because we already had an enormous population. At that time it was the same as the populations of Britain and France combined so there
was no need to bring people to Japan
to work.
From the 1950s, France and Germany had “guest workers”, but if some localities in Japan had a shortage of labour, then the government was able to move people to that area from other parts of the country, or introduce women into the workforce. But with the arrival of the “bubble years”, we suddenly had a shortfall in workers and the rules were relaxed for skilled immigrants.
Q: Why are you so strongly in favour of increased immigration?
A: Of the world’s most developed nations, Japan’s population is contracting the most rapidly. We are also ageing at the fastest rate of all the OECD countries. I have believed for a long time that in order to deal with the problem of a shrinking population, we should accept a lot more immigrants.
In 50 years, the Japanese population will have shrunk by 40 million people; that’s one-third of the present population. I feel that in the next 50 years we have to accept 10 million immigrants as part of a national policy.
At the moment, the Japanese economy and every aspect of life here is being affected by the problem of population. Japan’s strength in the world is waning.
Q: But haven’t policies been introduced to encourage Japanese to have more children?
A: Japan’s policies to encourage people to have more children are very similar to those in France, such as supporting families with extra benefits. However, they appear to have had no effect on total fertility rate trends. One estimate puts the [birthrate per woman] at 1.21, a fall from the 2007 figure of 1.34. I believe the campaign to encourage people to have more children has already come too late for Japan.
Q: What will be the economic benefits of mass immigration?
A: I don’t want to emphasise the economic benefits of increased immigration, but I do want to underline the benefits of an increase in the working population.
In areas outside the big cities in Japan – Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku – small communities are shrinking and people are ageing rapidly. They have no one to run their businesses, no young people to contribute to the local economy. I want to open up this country, not simply relax the rules.
Over the next 50 years we will lose one-third of our population, and in 100 years we will have just one-third of our current population. I want to increase the number of people between the ages of 15 and 45.
Thirty years ago, the demographics were such that 10 young working people supported one person over the age of 65 through tax payments. That figure is presently three to one. In 50 years, that will drop to about one to one.
Q: How might immigration be achieved most effectively and harmoniously?
A: Incorporating immigrants into the population can cause problems – such as the issue of religion – and we are learning about these things from Europe’s experiences.
There has been a large fall in the number of people attending universities in Japan and that means there are a lot of places available for foreigners to study at our universities. We should accept them into our schools and this will help to educate them about this country, making it easier for them to fit into Japanese society.
We need an education-related immigration system, such as in Germany and Sweden, where foreign students are taught the language, the culture and the local way of life.
The Japanese government could then take on these people as workers when they have finished their training, and even grant them Japanese nationality.
Q: How can we overcome domestic reservations about your proposals?
A: I want to reduce the chance of a negative impact on the society that already exists here to near zero, and we are learning a lot from Europe’s experiences. Those include the problems Germany has had with Turkish workers, such as the issues of social integration.
One big thing is language and cultural differences, and we know that Germany and France do a lot of work on education and integration of immigrants. There have been many problems among second-generation immigrants, such as the high crime rate, but that is the result of low levels of education, and of discrimination, leading to poor job opportunities and increased unemployment.
If we can develop immigrants’ talents here, then they will be able to integrate. If they have stable jobs, then they are already integrated and should be able to avoid problems and the issue of discrimination.
Q: How are you encouraging the public and the authorities to re-think their position on immigration?
A: At the moment, the government fears the Japanese people are against accepting immigrants. But by having these things aired in the media I believe we could begin to see a very positive movement in the debate.
This is a process, not a single action. Public discussion will make the issue a lot less scary.