Why Japan isn’t more attractive to highly-skilled migrants

Liang Morita,Jamie Halsall

doi:10.1080/23311886.2017.1306952

Liang Morita, Jamie Halsall

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2017.1306952

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Abstract

In May 2012, Japan launched the Point-Based Preferential Immigration Treatment for Highly-Skilled Professionals system for highly-skilled migrants. This launch is a culmination of years of interest...

Highlights

In May 2012, Japan launched the Point-Based Preferential Immigration Treatment for Highly-Skilled Professionals system for highly-skilled migrants
Japanese employment visas are issued according to the type of work performed, and there is no official definition of a highly-skilled migrant
This paper focuses on some manifestations of Japanese exclusionism: its English language education (Section 2), the mistrust of foreigners, inequality between foreigners and the Japanese, and insistence on doing things the Japanese way (Section 3)

Summary

Introduction

In May 2012, Japan launched the Point-Based Preferential Immigration Treatment for Highly-Skilled Professionals system for highly-skilled migrants. In 2006, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (MIC) announced the Plan for the Promotion of Multicultural Coexistence and its goal of integrating minority ethnic groups, calling it tabunka kyosei, literally “many cultures living together” and translated into English as: People of different nationalities and races live together as members of local societies while recognizing cultural differences and trying to establish equal relationships. In Oishi’s (2012b) opinion, tabunka kyosei is closer to assimilative social integration than to multiculturalism because in Japan, foreigners learn the Japanese language, culture and social norms but not vice versa This contrasts with multiculturalism, because multiculturalism explicitly points to the necessity of change occurring within the majority group, which will need to accept cultural differences, and there has to be state action to secure equal rights for minorities (Vogt, 2016). Illustrations of how the mistrust of foreigners, inequality and insistence on doing things the Japanese way impact foreigners in the workplace will be provided with the help of the experiences of health professionals in the EPA programme

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion