Hoo boy. A lot of people have been talking about a recent measure taken by the Japanese government, wherein the offer immigrants and Nikkei (Japanese who lived abroad/foreigners of Japanese descent who have moved back to Japan) $3,000 to leave Japan and and never return to work.
Jiro Kawasaki, "a former health minister and senior lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party" said: “We should stop letting unskilled laborers into Japan. We should make sure that even the three-K jobs are paid well, and that they are filled by Japanese. I do not think that Japan should ever become a multiethnic society.”
Japan's always had its issues with immigrants, but this is incredibly stupid. For one, Japan already has a labor force issue. It's an aging society, where nearly 1 in 5 Japanese are 65 or over, and not enough babies or young people. Its population rate is too low; an average of 1.32 in 2006. Immigrants would help that. "It could also hurt Japan in the long run. The aging country faces an impending labor shortage. The population has been falling since 2005, and its working-age population could fall by a third by 2050."
Articles at here and The Economist.
I'd write more but running off to dinner. :p
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