Opening borders for workers: Abe’s profound influence on Japan’s immigration regime

Japan grapples with labor shortage due to low birth rates and an aging population, prompting recent governments to bring in more foreign workers. Under the leadership of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, significant immigration reforms were introduced between 2012 and 2020, aiming to alleviate these challenges by increasing the foreign population. However, despite these efforts, the government has continued to uphold the long-standing status quo of not having a formal immigration policy, mainly to balance business and nationalist interests.

This status quo originated with Japan's 1990 immigration system, which recruited highly skilled foreign workers and denied entry for unskilled workers. However, Japan created ‘side-door’ policies, such as the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) and visas for descendants of Japanese emigrants, to admit unskilled foreign workers to address labor shortage while upholding its immigration status quo.

In this vein, Mr. Maximilien Xavier Rehm, a Ph.D. candidate from the Graduate School of Global Studies, Doshisha University, investigated whether Abe’s reforms have propelled Japan toward becoming a ‘country of immigration’—a country with a formal immigration policy—without openly admitting it. His research, made available online on October 09, 2024 in Japan Forum, assesses whether these incremental reforms have led to long-term changes in Japan’s immigration trajectory.

Rehm highlights his motivation for the study, “I have been living in Japan for nearly ten years, where I completed my M.A. and am now in the final stages of my PhD. As a foreigner here, I care about Japan's success in addressing demographic challenges and the well-being of foreign residents. While my experiences do not bias my academic analysis, they inspired me to research Japan's migration policy.”

To this end, Rehm used a specific incrementalist approach, known as the mechanisms of institutional change, from the field of historical institutionalism to analyze how institutions like laws and policies gradually evolve and eventually change the status quo through two mechanisms: ‘layering’ (adding new rules to existing ones) and ‘displacement’ (gradually replacing old rules with new ones). To support his analysis, Rehm gathered information from government-released data, policy proposals, and whitepapers.

Rehm found that Abe’s immigration reforms led to incremental (small and gradual) changes rather than fundamental or big changes in Japan’s immigration status quo. For instance, reforms like the 2017 Technical Training Act, the 2018 decision to admit 4th generation Japanese emigrants, and the 2019 Specified Skilled Worker 1 (SSW1) system have expanded foreign labor pathways. However, they largely maintain the status quo and fail to address structural issues. While some reforms, such as the 2012 Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) system, the 2017 Nursing Care residence status, and the 2019 SSW2 residence status, could eventually replace existing immigration systems, their full impact is yet to be seen.

Despite these limitations, Abe’s tenure saw a notable increase in Japan’s foreign population, driven by the expanded use of activity-based visas, which restrict workers to specific sectors. Although new activity-based visas, such as SSW2 and HSP, offer some benefits, like the possibility of permanent residency, most foreign workers still come through restrictive visas as technical interns or working students. Overall, Japan's immigration system continues to rely on the old ‘side-door’ pathways from the 1990s to admit foreign workers, especially low-skilled ones.

Under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s term from 2021 to 2024, Japan’s immigration policy has continued to follow the framework set by Abe, with a potential shift in the horizon. However, the possible replacement of the TITP with a similar system in 2027 and the expansion of the SSW system indicate a slow transition toward ‘front-door’ pathways for foreign workers of all skill levels. Rehm firmly says, “Abe’s reforms did not fundamentally change Japan’s immigration status quo, but they have set the stage for Japan to potentially evolve into a ‘country of immigration’ in the short to medium term.”

These findings are valuable for political scientists, media, and foreigners in Japan. Rehm emphasizes, “Any prediction about the future is uncertain, if my analysis is correct or influences policymakers, policy outcomes for foreigners in Japan could improve in the next 5 to 10 years.”

To conclude, Rehm's research holds promise for those hoping to see Japan tackle its demographic challenges by adopting a more comprehensive and formal immigration policy, ultimately contributing to a more diverse and sustainable society.

About Maximilien Xavier Rehm from Doshisha University, Japan
Maximilien Xavier Rehm is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Global Studies, Doshisha University, Japan. He received an M.A. in International Relations from Ritsumeikan University. He has extensively researched Japanese politics, particularly migration and foreign policy, resulting in numerous publications. Rehm was a teaching assistant for courses on Islam and Cultural Pluralism and Immigration and Refugee Studies. In November 2022, he won the Association of Global Studies Conference Presentation Award for his compelling work on Japan's immigration policy. He is also a member of several prestigious organizations, including the European Association for Japanese Studies and the Japanese Association for Migration Studies. More information on Mr. Rehm can be obtained at www.mxrehm.com.

Funding information
This work was partly supported by JST, the establishment of university fellowships towards the creation of science technology innovation, Grant Number JPMJFS2145. The author declares no conflict of interest. 

Media contact:
Organization for Research Initiatives & Development 
Doshisha University 
Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0394, JAPAN 
E-mail：jt-ura@mail.doshisha.ac.jp