Analysis by Kei Hakata
The bill to reform the immigration law was adopted by the National Diet of Japan in December 2018. It will allow the intake of as many 345,150 foreign workers through the next five years starting from April 2019. However, the issue of foreign labour has raised a nationwide controversy. This policy brief joins the national debate on this issue from a critical viewpoint. It questions the economic rationality of the scheme and warns against negative outcomes on Japanese workers. The brief also discusses the dangers of multiculturalism, which this new policy may bring to Japanese society.