Migration Policy in the Context of Demographic Development of Japan

Abstract

Remaining one of the largest economies in the world, Japan is experiencing a deep social and economic crisis with deteriorating demographic dynamics, that means total population decline, a reduction in the number of newborns with an increase in life expectancy, and the transformation of marital and family values and priorities towards the Western European model. The current situation is seen by the Japanese authorities as an opportunity for a qualitative change in national economy, the disclosure of its potential, improving the quality of life of the population and achieving other national goals like modernization of Japanese productive capacities and services through the introduction of large-scale robotics. The Japanese government is implementing demographic and migration reforms and introducing targeted support measures for the Japanese population and companies. Among these measures, there are fundamentally new and at the same time controversial solutions for the nationalistic Japanese society, such as the weakening of migration legislation regarding foreign labor. Now it is planned to temporarily open access to foreign citizens from the Southeast Asian countries with a similar ethno-cultural composition to the Japanese labor market in order to fill a lack of both highly skilled and low-skilled workers within the states.