Research On The Evolution And Trend Of Japan's Foreign Labor Policy

Since the 1980s, the development of high-tech industries has promoted international division of labor and specialized cooperation, speeding up the process of economic globalization. Facilitated by market mechanisms, the allocation of labor resources around the globe has been greatly promoted and transnational labor mobility has become more frequent. Due to the increasing influence of foreign labor on the social and economic development of the host countries, foreign labor policy has received great attention in many countries.This thesis focuses on Japan's foreign labor policy. It analyzes the history, evolution, current situation and development trend of Japan's foreign labor policy, providing an opportunity to help promote the cooperation and exchange between China and Japan. Further, exploring Japan's foreign labor policy under the background of continuous economic cooperation in Northeast Asia can also contribute to a better understanding of the complementation of population and labor resources of China and Japan. By carrying out extensive cooperation in human resources, greater development can be achieved in terms of cooperation among Northeast Asian countries.Japan's foreign labor policy originated after World War Two. In the post-war economic recovery period, Japanese emigrated in large numbers to Southeast Asia and South Africa. In 1956, Japanese economy began to develop rapidly with an increase rate of 7 to 8 percent. Domestic employment opportunities were quickly expanded and per capita income increased, which slowed down Japanese emigration. At the same time, after a brief baby boom in the postwar era, the birth rate in Japan dropped significantly. In 1974, Japan's total fertility rate dropped to 2.05, marking its population transformation which only took 30 years.In the mid 1980s, due to factors such as the prosperity of the bubble economy, the decrease in labor supply and the shortage of transferable rural labor, Japan was faced with a structural shortage of labor, especially in the manufacturing and building industries. This created a huge demand for foreign workers. In June 1988, the Japanese Cabinet approved an employment strategy plan and established the principle of absorbing large numbers of specialized and skilled workers while limiting the inflow of unskilled workers. Since then, a series of foreign labor policy have been implemented which focus on the introduction of skilled workers. These policies include accepting people of Japanese ancestry to work in Japan, imposing stricter limitation on unskilled workers, and defining trainees'status of residence in Japan. Foreign workers with specialized skills can therefore enter Japan more easily.In the early to mid 1990s, the economic depression caused by the burst of the bubble economy relieved the shortage of labor in Japan, but did not improve the situation completely. Japan still carefully moved forward with the process of opening up its labor market to the outside and the number of foreign workers has kept growing. As of 2000, the number of foreign residents in Japan (not including illegal foreign residents) reached 1,686,400.Entering the 21st century, the problems of low fertility rate and population aging in Japan have worsened and the population has shown the tendency of negative growth. Meanwhile, with the economy back on its feet, there is a greater demand for labor and therefore, the problem of labor shortage becomes more prominent. According to statistics by the Ministry of Justice and Tokyo Employment Service Center, in 2005 and 2006, the number of foreigners registered in Japan and the number of foreign workers has grown considerably and rapidly.Although the introduction of foreign labor can temporarily relieve labor shortage to some extent, the problems involved should not be overlooked. A large proportion of people whose status of residence are skilled workers end up doing unskilled labor. The Industrial Training and Technical Internship Program has deteriorated into a means of bringing in unskilled workers, causing a series of problems such as social security issues, education problems, crimes committed by foreigners and illegal stay. All these have prompted the Japanese to engage in deep reflection and heated discussion about its foreign labor policy, which is in the critical stage of adjustment at the moment.In order to alleviate the negative effects of sharp labor decrease, Japan will gradually open up its labor market in the future, introduce more high-end talents, implement more flexible employment permission system, take full advantage of the Industrial Training and Technical Internship Program, and improve the social security system. However, as a nation made up of one single ethic group, Japan has always valued its cultural integrity and will continue to limit immigrants from other countries and hold conservative attitude toward unskilled workers.In recent years, the exchange between China and Japan has been thriving. To adapt to possible future adjustment in Japan's foreign labor policy, China should take various measures such as expanding technician export, formulating policies which encourage labor export, and improving supervision mechanisms to protect the rights and interests of Chinese laborers working abroad, expand labor export to Japan, and push the human resources cooperation between China and Japan to a new level.