Abe Cabinet migration reforms: minor additions or structural element of Abenomics?

Abstract

Shrinking population, including working age population is one of the most acute problems for Japan. Most countries solve the problem of labor shortage by actively attracting labor migrants to the country. However, Japan - one of the most mono-ethnic countries in the world - is known for its strict migration law. The migration balance in 2018 amounted to a little more than 160 thousand people, despite the fact that in order to stabilize the population, the influx of people into the country should be about 500 thousand annually. This situation is largely caused by limited migration attractiveness of Japan, where migrants still often face violations of their rights, difficulties in renting housing, employment and in everyday life due to the language barrier, complexity of administrative procedures and socio-cultural characteristics of Japanese society. Given the demographic trends, the use of labor migration to fill the shortage of labor in Japan seems to be not only reasonable, but also an uncontested option. That is why the migration policy of Japan has become one of the most important issues with regard to the well-being of the Land of the Rising Sun during the premiership of Shinzō Abe, who decided to gradually move to liberalize the migration legislation. Since 2012, initiatives and goals of the Abe administration in the field of immigration control have, in fact, affected all categories of migrants - highly qualified specialists, students, low-skilled workers, middle-skilled workers, and illegal immigrants. The article will examine what measures are being taken to attract foreigners and how liberalization of migration legislation correlates with the growth strategy of Japan - Abenomics.

Keywords

• japan
• migration policy
• migration legislation
• labor migrants
• illegal migration
• abenomics