The State of the Foreign Workforce in Japan

Over the last three decades, Japan faced considerable societal and economic challenges potentially endangering its status as one of the world's biggest economies. One of the main problems is what business journalist Noah Smith refers to as "political [and] corporate gerontocracy" in one of his newsletters: The rising life expectancy leading to an aging population, a development empowering the political old guard and conservative ideas, as well as the strict seniority-based hierarchy in the workplace, a culture that stalls innovation and potentially curbs motivation.

An influx of younger workers from other countries could alleviate the pressure on Japan's welfare systems and boost fertility rates needed to counter the "ossification" of its population, but the country's long-standing isolationist policy is one of the biggest hurdles to clear in this regard.

According to data from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, two million out of the 69 million people employed in the country in 2023 are foreign nationals. Most of these foreign nationals work in the manufacturing and service industries, which make up 43 percent of Japan's total foreign workforce.

The majority of these workers come from countries in Eastern or Southeastern Asia. For example, almost half of all foreign nationals in the workforce migrated from Vietnam or China, with a share of 25 and 19 percent, respectively. An additional 11 percent are of Filipino origin. Around 137,000 people, roughly seven percent, hail from Brazil, one of the rare instances of large numbers of non-Japanese workers coming from outside the Asian subcontinent.

Even though the country is still wary of foreigners and individualism, its policies concerning permanent labor migration have considerably softened during the later years of late Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's reign. In 2017 and 2018, Abe's government made it easier for skilled workers to obtain permanent residency permits. It also increased the number of visas available to blue-collar workers as part of the widespread economic reforms known as Abenomics. This led to a considerable increase in foreign workers admitted to the country, from roughly 1.1 million in 2016 to 1.66 million in 2019.

Despite this, Abe and his efforts are still highly controversial in some circles due to his close friendship with ex-US President Donald Trump, his tendencies for historical revisionism and his close ties to the Unification Church, a right-wing religious organization branded as a cult by some observers. Said ties were allegedly the reason behind Abe's assassination on the campaign trail for a political candidate of his party, the center-right LDP. Investigations into the connections between government officials and the so-called "Moonies" led to the Kishida administration cutting all ties with the religious sect in October 2022.