Immigration and Democracy in Japan

Abstract

This chapter examines the politics of immigration in Japan. It begins with an overview of the foreign community in Japan today in comparative perspective, focusing on several competing explanations for why Japan is such an outlier when compared with other advanced industrialized countries. It also examines the new visa categories that were formalized by the 1989 and 2018 revisions to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, including visas for those with Japanese ancestry and “trainees” (in the case of the 1989 revision), and visas for laborers who had previously been excluded, including agricultural workers and construction workers (in the case of the 2018 revision). Additionally, this chapter discusses Japan’s famously restrictive refugee admission policy as well as the relationship between public opinion, civil society, and immigration policy in Japan. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the ways that Japan’s immigration policy and policymaking might impact the future of Japan’s democracy. Ultimately, the chapter argues that the way that Japan deals with both the admission and treatment of foreign laborers will help shape the nature of Japan’s democracy going forward.