Immigration becomes election issue in Japan amid tough economy
YURIKA YONEDA
TOKYO -- Immigration to Japan has emerged as a key political issue ahead of Sunday's upper house of parliament election, after a surge in the number of visitors and residents from overseas in recent years.
The "Japanese first" advocacy of Sanseito, a right-leaning party formed in 2020 that aims to win 10 or more seats compared with the current two it holds in the chamber, is generating considerable buzz amid the campaign.
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Asahi Shimbun
25 minutes ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Anxiety spreads in Japan over ‘spying' prison sentence in China
China is cracking down on suspected spies in the name of 'national security.' (Asahi Shimbun file photo) Japanese nationals are increasingly fearful about working in China after a court in Beijing sentenced a Japanese employee to prison over unexplained espionage charges, industry sources say. The suspect, who works for Astellas Pharma Inc., was handed a prison term of three years and six months on July 16 by the Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court. It was the latest incident of a Japanese national being sentenced to prison in China over spying allegations. Espionage-related charges fall under the category of 'national security,' which has been prioritized by the administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Based on this category, trials of espionage suspects are not open to the public. Therefore, as the latest ruling shows, prison sentences can be issued without the public knowing what exactly the suspect is accused of doing. This uncertainty is the biggest reason that 'fewer Japanese people want to be posted to China,' said an expat of a Japanese company stationed in China. Scholars who specialize in Chinese politics or national security are also avoiding travel to China due to safety concerns. GREATER CAUTION URGED 'It is extremely regrettable that a guilty ruling has been issued,' said Kenji Kanasugi, Japan's ambassador to China, who attended the court session. He said the Astellas Pharma employee appeared calm in court. According to the Japanese Embassy, the man said he would 'consult with his lawyer' before deciding on whether to appeal the ruling. A different Japanese corporate employee said he was stationed in Beijing when the Astellas Pharma worker was taken into custody in March 2023, just before his planned return to Japan. 'The impact of the incident was huge,' he said. Ke Long, chief researcher at the policy research department of the Tokyo Foundation, said Japanese employees should be careful about their behavior in China. 'From the perspective of a businessperson, being sentenced to three and a half years without being shown any evidence is outrageous,' Ke said. 'The Chinese government's crackdown is intensifying, so Japanese nationals living in China must take this ruling seriously and exercise greater caution.' The statutory penalty under China's espionage law ranges from three years to life imprisonment. The three-and-a-half year sentence is considered 'relatively short compared with previous cases,' a senior official of Japan's Foreign Ministry said. Ke said the sentence indicates the Astellas Pharma employee did nothing serious enough to threaten China's national security. However, Ke also suggested that China may have imposed the near-minimum sentence to avoid worsening ties with Japan at a time when Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government is struggling in the Upper House election campaign. Japan-China relations have recently shown signs of improvement, including China's resumption of Japanese seafood imports. The ruling may also have been timed to prevent anti-Japanese sentiment from rising in China with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II nearing. China might have deliberately avoided ruling on sensitive dates like July 7, when the Marco Polo bridge incident occurred in 1937, and Aug. 15, the day the war ended in 1945. COUNTERMEASURES PLANNED Japanese companies have scrambled to take measures to protect workers in China from arrest by Chinese authorities. They have held training sessions for their overseas employees and tightened information management, such as reducing cross-border transfers of sensitive data. Some companies have also instructed employees to avoid bringing into China their regularly used laptops or smartphones. But is this any way to operate? 'Japanese companies cannot do business in China without worrying about the current situation,' Ken Kobayashi, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said after the July 16 ruling. 'We hope Chinese authorities will enforce laws in a way that eliminates the anxieties of Japanese expatriates and their families.' Although Chinese authorities usually encourage citizens to report suspected spies, the July 16 ruling was not reported by Chinese media. At a regular news conference on July 16, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said, 'As long as you act in accordance with the law, there's nothing to worry about.' (This article was written by Sotaro Hata, correspondent, and Masaki Hashida.)
Asahi Shimbun
25 minutes ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Fact check: Do foreigners get preferential treatment?
Editor's note: The Asahi Shimbun has established new election coverage guidelines and set up a section for fact checking, including information posted on social media, during campaigns. The newspaper conducts fact checks to determine the veracity of comments made by politicians and social media posts in which the truth may be difficult to immediately confirm. *** Polarizing information has been circulating on the internet and elsewhere during the July 20 Upper House campaign that accuses foreign nationals of receiving preferential treatment over Japanese nationals for welfare benefits. As an example, in a video posted on an anonymous X account on June 23, a personality was 'furious' and claimed that 'foreigners are given preferential treatment in welfare' as the reason. The post had been viewed more than 2.85 million times by July 15. In Upper House election campaigning, some political parties and candidates have voiced similar concerns. The minor opposition Sanseito party, in particular, has stated in its policy that it will suspend welfare payments to foreigners. To rebut such rumors, welfare minister Takamaro Fukuoka denied that the government was providing favorable treatment to foreign residents in medical or welfare benefits at a news conference on July 15. The welfare ministry's division that is in charge of welfare administration told The Asahi Shimbun that there is no preferential treatment under the system. For foreign nationals living in Japan to receive welfare benefits, their assets and level of need are investigated in the same manner as Japanese nationals. Some foreign nationals may not be eligible to receive welfare depending on their residence status. NUMBERS SHOW MINOR DISCREPANCY As part of a fact-checking exercise, The Asahi Shimbun examined how many households are actually on welfare. Using the results of the 2020 census, it calculated the percentage of households receiving benefits by nationality of the head of household. As a result, of the 54.35 million households headed by a Japanese national, 1.57 million households, or 2.89 percent, were receiving welfare benefits. Of the 1.36 million households headed by a foreign national, 46,000 households, or 3.36 percent, were being given welfare assistance. By nationality of the head of household, there were 29,000 households headed by a South Korean or North Korean national on welfare. The figure accounted for 14.43 percent of the total number of households headed by a South Korean or North Korean national. There were 5,700 households headed by a Chinese national on the welfare rolls. The figure accounted for 1.62 percent of the total number of households headed by a Chinese national. There were 5,100 recipient households headed by a Filipino, accounting for 5.41 percent of the total number of households headed by that nationality. There were 1,700 households headed by Brazilians receiving welfare assistance, which accounted for 2.17 percent of the total number of households headed by that nationality. Of all households receiving welfare benefits, including those whose head of household is Japanese, elderly households accounted for 56 percent. However, when looking at households headed by a South Korean or North Korean national, the percentage was even higher, numbering 68 percent. Among all households receiving welfare assistance, including households headed by a Japanese national, 4.43 percent were single-mother households. However, among households headed by Filipino nationals, the percentage was significantly higher, at 48.41 percent. Atsushi Yoshinaga, a professor at Hanazono University who is an expert on welfare administration, said, 'The high percentage of elderly households headed by South Korean and North Korean residents in Japan receiving welfare benefits is due to the fact that for a long time in Japan, foreign nationals have been systematically excluded from joining the national pension system, resulting in a large number of people with low pensions.' He also said, 'Many Filipinos are impoverished women who have divorced their Japanese spouses and have children.' 'In both cases, there are historical reasons and it makes sense to allow them to continue receiving social welfare,' he said. MINISTRY CONDUCTS INVESTIGATION The Public Assistance Law stipulates that all citizens in need who are Japanese nationals are eligible to receive welfare. In the case of foreign nationals, in consideration of fairness to Japanese nationals, eligibility is limited to permanent residents who can work freely in Japan, spouses of Japanese nationals, other permanent residents including third-generation overseas immigrants of Japanese descent, special permanent residents such as Korean residents in Japan, and people who have been certified as refugees. Those who are in Japan on visas that restrict their employment, such as student visas, technical intern visas and specified skilled worker visas, are not eligible. Welfare benefits are doled out on a household basis. According to the ministry, the screening process for eligibility is conducted based on the same criteria, regardless of the nationality of the head of the household. Applicants are investigated to determine if they are able to work and if they have any assets. If there are assets, they must be converted into cash and used for living expenses. In the case of foreign nationals, to prevent them from entering Japan just for receiving welfare assistance, the circumstances that led to their impoverishment along with information about the guarantor they provided when they obtained their visa will be subject to investigation.
Japan Times
27 minutes ago
- Japan Times
Komeito hears those hit hardest by rising prices
There are two key questions that voters will seek answers to in Sunday's Upper House election: The more immediate question is how do we overcome the high cost of living? And the longer-term question is how can we build a Japanese economy and social-services infrastructure that are resilient and sustainable? Parliamentarians must heed the voices of those whose lives are hit hardest by soaring prices and do everything possible to alleviate their hardship. Some argue for a tax reduction while others call for a one-time payout. Komeito holds that both are necessary, fully cognizant that neither are lasting remedies. The income-tax reduction we proposed will go into effect by the end of 2025, with 99% of taxpayers projected to receive between ¥20,000 to ¥40,000 each. As for the one-time payment, it will direct ¥40,000 to a single adult under the household municipal tax exemption and to all children under the age of 18; every other adult in that household will receive ¥20,000. When retail prices on rice began soaring, Komeito convinced the government to make available its national reserves to consumers at acceptable price points. We also called for the adoption of limited tender contracts in which the state sets prices when procuring rice, leading to declining rice prices. We further aim to roll out agricultural policies and programs that will not only boost rice production but also ensure that farmers are entitled to a viable income. Komeito recognizes that what people demand from politics above all is a sound political vision that guides the nation toward a better future, not simply stopgap measures to offset mounting consumer prices. Worker wages must outpace the cost of living and employees should rightfully expect actual increases in salaries in a growing economy. To achieve this, the most important step is to incentivize small- and medium-sized firms — which comprise some 70% of the domestic workforce — to better compensate workers. Komeito will help direct a combined private-public sector investment of ¥60 trillion over the next five years that includes reducing taxes on capital investment and promotion of exports. In addition, our party will be developing ways to raise incomes for essential workers across a host of industries and sectors, from medicine and caregiving to disability services, childcare, distribution and construction. More than 126,000 respondents took part in a Komeito policymaking survey conducted online this year. Among those responding, a sizable number complained of the amount they were having to shoulder to repay the education they received. As a result, we are working on a program in which a portion of their repayment will be income-tax deductible. We are doing so to lay the societal groundwork so that those who have had to borrow money to advance their education may avoid the specter of post-graduation financial distress. For public policy to yield tangible results, a country must be able to rely on a stable and sustainable revenue stream. Komeito is proposing the creation of a sovereign wealth fund for the investment of a measure of Japan's vast financial assets. A similar effort has already proven fruitful as a part of the national pension reserve has been invested to yield a cumulative dividend of ¥155 trillion to date. Komeito is aiming to transform Japan from a nation in perennial search of revenues to a nation that perennially generates revenues. Fanned by media reports, a growing number of Japanese are concerned over the illegal activities and disorderly conduct engaged by a small minority of foreign nationals living in Japan. Indeed, a few political parties are openly hostile toward foreign residents and are inciting xenophobia for political ends. Komeito categorically rejects such shameless exclusionist tactics. In spite of its challenges, an inclusive society in which people from abroad coexist in harmony with Japanese citizens offers far greater promise for the future than any alternative. As politicians, we need to remind ourselves where similar missteps have led Japan in the past. Granted, prescriptive policies will be necessary in addressing foreign offenders, including stricter regulations and criminal enforcement. On the foreign-policy front, U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced the imposition of a 25% 'reciprocal tariff' on all Japanese exports to the U.S. from Aug. 1. Komeito maintains that every available diplomatic channel be pursued to negotiate a fair and proper settlement without compromising its principles. If levied, the so-called Trump tariffs are sure to adversely impact the Japanese economy, particularly the automobile industry. Steps must be taken to protect small manufacturers and the agricultural sector from the projected fallout. Japan should also strengthen partnerships with nations that share free-trade agreements; additional economic-stimulus measures may be needed as well. In recognition of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Komeito released its Peacebuilding Vision in 2025 as a roadmap to help guide the international community towards conciliation, cooperation and peace. It has three core components: The first is to establish a framework to enhance through dialogue regionwide security and reassurance in Northeast Asia. The second is for Japan to serve as an intermediary to bridge the differences between those nations with nuclear arms and those without and to prepare the groundwork for Japan to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The third component is to institute regulatory oversight of advances in AI technologies, focusing on such peaceful uses as ways to combat global warming and climate change. Japan's Constitution is founded on three inalienable democratic pillars: popular sovereignty, respect for basic human rights and commitment to pacificist principles. These pillars must stand in perpetuity. Nevertheless, ideals that were yet to be identified at the time of the Constitution's drafting and new challenges in the modern era have since emerged. Komeito has consistently argued for constitutional augmentation, not amendment, with supplemental articles and/or clauses carefully examined if needed. 'To stand forever with common citizens.' Our party has faithfully abided by that founding principle for over six decades. We are proud of our track record of policymaking, developed from the ideas, aspirations and insights of ordinary people, a resource we believe has no political equal and a role that is indispensable to the parliamentary efficacy of our nation. Tetsuo Saito, a Lower House member since 1993, is the leader of Komeito. In the lead-up to the July 20 Upper House election, The Japan Times reached out to the nation's major political parties requesting an op-ed for our Opinion pages on why this election is so crucial and why their party deserves the citizens' vote. We are publishing all those who responded.
