{"id":14156,"date":"2016-08-22T15:33:50","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T01:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14156"},"modified":"2016-08-24T10:30:12","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T20:30:12","slug":"nikkei-japan-begins-clearing-path-for-foreign-workers-really-lets-analyze-the-proposals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14156","title":{"rendered":"Nikkei: Japan begins clearing path for foreign workers. Really? Let’s analyze the proposals."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. \u00a0The Economist (London) recently has had a couple of articles on immigration to and even naturalization into Japan (here<\/a> and here<\/a>), so it looks like PM Abe’s alleged pushes to liberalize Japan’s NJ labor market (despite these other countering trends here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>, and here<\/a>) are\u00a0gaining traction in the overseas media. \u00a0Let’s take a representative sample of the narrative being spun by the Japanese media for overseas consumption (in this case the Nikkei, Japan’s WSJ, which\u00a0recently published an incorrect article about NJ issues and refused to acknowledge its\u00a0mistake<\/a>), and see how\u00a0it holds up to scrutiny. \u00a0Original article text in bold italic<\/em><\/strong>, my comments interspliced in this regular text:<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

Japan begins clearing path for foreign workers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nikkei Asian Review, August 11, 2016, Courtesy of JK<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/asia.nikkei.com\/Politics-Economy\/Policy-Politics\/Japan-begins-clearing-path-for-foreign-workers<\/a><\/p>\n

TOKYO — The Japanese government is set to take steps to smooth the way for foreigners to enter and thrive in the domestic labor market, with the reforms targeting hospitalization, taxes and residency requirements.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The economic growth strategy devised by the central government in June highlights the need to aggressively attract foreign talent. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and others are hearing opinions from companies worldwide regarding bringing information technology specialists into Japan.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: \u00a0This focus on “foreign talent” is basically policy wonk speak for “we’re not importing unskilled labor”. \u00a0Even though we are. \u00a0And have been doing so through a government-sponsored NJ slave labor program<\/a> (this is not an exaggeration<\/a>) for more than a quarter century<\/a>. \u00a0And if we talk about this push for “specialists”, they’ve already tried that with the “Points System” visa regime<\/a>, and, as we<\/a> predicted<\/a>, it\u00a0failed<\/a>\u00a0miserably.\u00a0\u00a0Understandably<\/a>. \u00a0Read on to see why it’s going to fail again.<\/p>\n

The trade ministry aims to amend related legislation and tax rules during the regular Diet session in 2017.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

English-friendly hospitals<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare seeks to allay concerns among foreigners living in Japan about going to hospitals. Only about 20 hospitals nationwide are equipped to handle emergency cases involving foreigners. The goal is to double that number by March and raise it to 100 before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: \u00a0Nice, but up to 100 in four years? \u00a0That’s helpful\u00a0for the tourists coming for the Olympics, but that’s not exactly a huge help\u00a0for NJ\u00a0who actually live in Japan, moreover outside of the Kantou conurb (where I anticipate the majority\u00a0of these hospitals will be situated). \u00a0Moreover, 100 hospitals in a country where there are apparently, as of 1990, “8,700 general\u00a0hospitals, and 1,000 comprehensive hospitals with a total capacity of 1.5 million beds<\/a>” is minuscule (a little over one percent) and presumably not well spread out.<\/p>\n

Given that the problem is not a matter of providing medical treatment in English (if a patient is, for example, unconscious or unresponsive, language is not an issue) but rather\u00a0hospitals<\/a> actually<\/a> ACCEPTING<\/a> or TREATING<\/a>\u00a0NJ<\/a> patients<\/a> (a big problem for Japanese patients too<\/a>), merely ameliorating a language barrier (assuming all NJ speak English, too)\u00a0is more of a salve than\u00a0an actual cure\u00a0of the larger problem.<\/p>\n

The government will help cover costs arising from hiring interpreters and offering documents in English. Multilingual versions of questionnaires and hospital signs cost an average of 3 million yen ($29,619), according to estimates, and the government generally will pay half the expense. For medical interpreters and similar services, the state will subsidize a hospital to the tune of roughly 9 million yen.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: \u00a0Nice, but obviously porkbarrel.<\/p>\n

Officials also seek to help foreigners on the tax front. If a foreign worker dies in Japan due to unforeseen circumstances such as an accident, the inheritance tax applies to assets held in all jurisdictions. This discourages foreign talent with sizable assets from taking management positions in Japanese companies. Many are urging reform, and METI intends to coordinate with the Finance Ministry and ruling parties to apply the inheritance tax only to Japanese assets starting in fiscal 2017.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: \u00a0Yes, that is, if you die and leave Japanese\u00a0assets valued at\u00a0more than US $88,000<\/a> (and there are ways of getting around this too — gifting\u00a0it to your kin before you die, for example). \u00a0Clearly this is a concession\u00a0the rich expats hanging around Roppongi Hills have lobbied for. \u00a0I doubt that this will affect most NJ residents (and not least the “foreign talent taking management positions in Japanese companies”, wherever they apparently are).<\/p>\n

And (microaggression<\/a> alert:) I love how NJ die of “accidents”, not of old age in Japan. \u00a0Because implicitly they are temporary and don’t live in Japan\u00a0forever, right? \u00a0Nice, Nikkei.<\/p>\n

Talent search<\/strong><\/p>\n

The government looks to ease residency requirements for guest workers. The Justice Ministry will recognize certified foreign care workers as specialists worthy of the corresponding visa status.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Japan currently admits care workers through economic partnership agreements, but those are limited to countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines. The number of guest workers is expected to increase by allowing care givers who learn Japanese or professional skill sets at educational institutions to work in Japan. Necessary legislation is to be enacted during the extraordinary Diet session this fall, with the measures taking effect next fiscal year.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: \u00a0Yep, they tried that too before. \u00a0Until the Indonesians and Filipinas realized they were being exploited by a revolving-door visa system that deliberately set the bar too high for passing<\/a>, and decided to pass on Japan altogether. So Japan’s policymakers are moving on to the next exploitable societies: \u00a0Cambodia and Vietnam<\/a>. \u00a0Which, note, are also not kanji-literate societies; if the GOJ\u00a0really wanted to get people to pass the nurse literacy test (full of medical kanji), they would get nurses from China\u00a0or Chinese-diaspora countries<\/a>. \u00a0The fact that they won’t speaks volumes about their true policy intentions. \u00a0As does the next paragraph:<\/p>\n

The government also seeks quick passage of legislation to add the care worker category to Japan’s Technical Intern Training Program, which provides support to developing nations.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: \u00a0Meaning they’re going to bring them in too\u00a0as “Trainee” slaves exempt from Japan’s labor laws<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Researchers and other highly skilled foreign professionals likely will find it easier to obtain permanent resident status. Currently, a foreign national needs to reside in Japan for five years before gaining that status. Government agencies are debating lowering the bar to less than three years, with a decision expected this year at the earliest. South Korea allows those with PhDs in high-tech fields to apply for permanent residency after a one-year stay.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Japan also aims to cut red tape surrounding investment and establishing new enterprises in order to help foreign corporations do business. Surveys examining barriers to foreign businesses and professionals have begun, and they will inform initial reforms to be decided by year’s end at the soonest. (Nikkei)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

COMMENT<\/strong>: \u00a0These are proposals are still in the embryonic stage. \u00a0When that actually happens, that will be news and we’ll talk about it then. \u00a0Reporting on it now is still policy trial-ballooning on the Nikkei’s part.<\/p>\n

FINAL COMMENT<\/strong>: \u00a0There is nothing here that constitutes actual immigration, i.e., bringing in people and making them into Japanese citizens with equal protection guaranteed under the law. \u00a0Until that happens, there is no discussion here worthy of headlining\u00a0this as a “cleared path” for foreign workers. \u00a0It’s merely more of the same exploitation of imported laborers in a weakened position by government design. \u00a0Dr. ARUDOU, Debito<\/p>\n

============================<\/p>\n

Do you like what you read on Debito.org? \u00a0Want to help keep the archive active and support Debito.org’s activities? \u00a0We are celebrating Debito.org’s 20th Anniversary in 2016, so please consider donating a little something. \u00a0More details here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Economist (London) recently has had a couple of articles on immigration to and even naturalization into Japan (here and here), so it looks like PM Abe’s alleged pushes to liberalize Japan’s NJ labor market (despite these other countering trends here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) are gaining traction in the overseas media. Let’s take a representative sample of the narrative being spun by the Japanese media (in this case the Nikkei, Japan’s WSJ) for overseas consumption, and see if it holds up to scrutiny. For example: <\/p>\n

Nikkei: The government looks to ease residency requirements for guest workers. The Justice Ministry will recognize certified foreign care workers as specialists worthy of the corresponding visa status. Japan currently admits care workers through economic partnership agreements, but those are limited to countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines. The number of guest workers is expected to increase by allowing care givers who learn Japanese or professional skill sets at educational institutions to work in Japan.<\/p>\n

Necessary legislation is to be enacted during the extraordinary Diet session this fall, with the measures taking effect next fiscal year. The government also seeks quick passage of legislation to add the care worker category to Japan’s Technical Intern Training Program, which provides support to developing nations.<\/p>\n

COMMENT: They tried that before. Until the Indonesians and Filipinas realized they were being exploited by a revolving-door visa system that deliberately set the bar too high for passing, and decided to pass on Japan altogether. So Japan’s policymakers are moving on to the next sucker societies: Cambodia and Vietnam. Which, note, are also not kanji-literate societies; if the GOJ really wanted to get people to pass the nurse literacy test, they would get nurses from China or Chinese-diaspora countries. The fact that they won’t speaks volumes about true policy intentions. As does the final sentence, where they admit that it’s just an expansion of the”Trainee” slave-labor program, exempt from Japan’s labor laws protection.<\/p>\n

There is nothing in this policy trial-balloon article that constitutes actual immigration, i.e., bringing in people and making them into Japanese citizens with equal protection guaranteed under the law. Until that happens, there is no discussion here worthy of headlining this as a “cleared path” for foreign workers. It’s merely more of the same exploitation of imported laborers in a weakened position by government design.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,36,5,12,26,4,16,13,11,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-embedded-racism","category-bad-social-science","category-human-rights","category-immigration-assimilation","category-ironies-hypocrisies","category-japanese-government","category-labor-issues","category-media","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-8"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}