Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll

Japan Times

18 hours ago

The problems created by a record number of foreign nationals coming to Japan to visit, work and invest in real estate have emerged as a key issue in the July 20 Upper House election, with political parties offering different solutions in their campaign promises.
While pocketbook issues, especially price hikes for food and gasoline, are at the top of voter concerns, the question of Japan's policies with regard to foreign nationals are getting a good deal of attention in campaign platforms from both ruling and opposition parties and their leaders.
During a debate Wednesday between eight party leaders at the Japan National Press Club (JNPC), Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba explained his party's immigration policy by saying the government wants to take more responsibility for deciding who to let into the country and that it will not tolerate illegal immigration.
Ishiba promised to introduce a system in which the backgrounds of individuals are properly verified before they arrive in Japan.
'We will determine who they are, and those with certain past records will not be allowed to enter Japan ... and this is the first priority,' Ishiba said.
The Liberal Democratic Party's campaign promises include the establishment of a new central government coordination mechanism and stricter policies, with the goal of achieving 'zero illegal foreign nationals.' The party also says it will strengthen the management system for immigration and residency status.
The Democratic Party for the People (DPP) and Nippon Ishin no Kai are among opposition parties that have included foreign national-related policies in their campaign platforms.
The DPP says it's not against having more foreign workers but that it is merely highlighting issues faced by some regions in helping them adjust to life in Japan. The party supports the creation of local centers offering multilingual support as well as extending support for Japanese language training for foreign children.
But when it comes to purchases of real estate in major cities such as Tokyo by wealthy foreign nationals, DPP leader Yuichiro Tamaki says he favors stricter conditions.
'We welcome investment from wealthy foreigners in real estate in Tokyo or other cities. But at the same time, the purchasing and investing of real estate in Tokyo, for instance, leads to rent increases, making it difficult for ordinary Japanese, especially the younger working generations, to live in Tokyo, Nagoya or Osaka, ' Tamaki said, noting that places such as Singapore place higher taxes on foreign purchases of real estate than those paid by citizens.
Nippon Ishin's platform, on the other hand, promises to limit the number of foreign residents.
'In light of the adverse effects of the disorderly increase in the number of foreign nationals and regional friction, we will formulate a population strategy that includes measures to curb the rise in the ratio of foreign nationals and regulate the total number of foreign nationals accepted, and aim to establish a command center function to manage this strategy centrally at the national level,' the promise reads.
'The population of Japanese children is declining. On the other hand, the number of foreigners is steadily increasing,' Nippon Ishin chief Hirofumi Yoshimura said on June 30.
In some areas, he added, foreign nationals are concentrated in specific regions and that the current situation is that policies related to them have become ad hoc immigration policies.
The Japanese national flag and Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party flag. Part of the LDP's campaign platform ahead of the July 20 Upper House election includes strengthening the management system for immigration and residency status for foreign nationals. |
REUTERS
'I oppose this. It's essential to establish a clear framework for foreigner policies. Such a framework should not only address issues like education and health care, but also encompass various administrative services,' Yoshimura said.
Despite the parties' attempts to formulate policies concerning foreign nationals, however, recent polls show that these lie much farther down voters' lists of concerns than economic issues.
A JNN television poll conducted Saturday and Sunday ranked such policies in fifth place in terms of importance, with just 6% of respondents saying it was the most important issue in the Upper House election. In contrast, 30% ranked policies to deal with high prices as the top issue.
The reasons why the foreign national issue has become a focus of the Upper House contest are difficult to pinpoint, experts say. It may be a combination of general economic concerns and the recent popularity of candidates in local elections who advocated a tougher stance on foreign visitors and residents, drawing the attention of political parties nationally.
Katsuhiro Yoneshige, head of the automated news company JX Press, which develops and operates election survey engines, says that while it's difficult to point to one trigger for the rush of Upper House campaign promises on foreign nationals, there are a number of possible factors.
'These include rising prices due to the depreciation of the yen, an increase in inbound tourism, and the growing number of foreign workers,' Yoneshige said.
As for concerns about foreign real estate purchases in Tokyo making it hard for younger Japanese to live there, Yoneshige said central Tokyo housing prices are reaching levels that make it difficult even for relatively high-income households to afford.
'After 30 years of deflation, residents are not accustomed to rising prices and significant anxiety about increases in housing prices and rents,' he said, which means more intense discussion, including among Upper House candidates, about strengthening regulations.
He cited as an example a mayoral election in May in the city of Saitama, where a candidate who campaigned on strict policies toward foreign nationals did better than expected and placed third. The city is adjacent to Kawaguchi and Warabi, where security issues and hate speech directed at the local Kurdish population have become regional concerns.
Sanseito, a small right-leaning populist party , says it is pushing for limits on the number of foreign workers and tourists allowed into Japan, and wants to make it more difficult for foreign nationals to become naturalized citizens, which would allow them to stand for public office, or obtain permanent residence.
On the other hand, two other mainstream parties, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and Komeito, have basic policies that promote more foreign workers.
The CDP says it will review the overall residency system and promote the establishment of one for the employment of foreign general workers. It's also pushing for the enactment of a new antidiscrimination law.
CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda echoed some of what Ishiba said regarding Japan's demographic need for more foreign nationals.
'In this era of population decline, in nursing and child care, there is a shortage of human resources. We should create a multicultural society in which foreign nationals as well as their families are welcomed to come to Japan, work, learn, and integrate into local communities,' Noda said at the JNPC debate last Wednesday.
Komeito also supports having more foreign immigrants, but, like the LDP, also says its goal is zero foreign overstayers. The party is offering specific pledges to strengthen the system allowing foreign drivers' licenses to be converted to Japanese licenses, with the aim of reducing road accidents.
As of October 2024, there were about 2.3 million foreign workers in Japan , an increase of nearly 254,000 compared with the previous year, according to a labor ministry survey. Of the total, 570,708 (24.8%) were from Vietnam, 408,805 (17.8%) were from China, and 245,565 (10.7%) came from the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Japan received nearly 37 million foreign visitors in 2024 , a record high. Increased purchases of real estate by foreign nationals, especially in Tokyo, means property prices there and other major urban centers are surging. Wealthy foreign buyers are getting the blame from some politicians.
Ishiba emphasized that Japan needs foreign workers.
' Japan's population decreased by 890,000 last year alone . That's roughly the population of Kagawa Prefecture, and the shortage of labor is a serious issue. We are not talking about illegal immigrants, but legal ones.
'We want them to learn the complicated Japanese language and customs at the expense of the Japanese government, so that they can truly coexist with Japanese society,' he said at the debate.