In Japan’s Countryside, Century-Old Firms Learn to Embrace Foreign Workers

New York Times ^ | October 2nd, 2024 | River Akira Davis and Hisako Ueno

[Cronos]

A shrinking and rapidly aging population has forced Japan, which for centuries was mostly closed off to immigrants, to allow foreign workers to enter the country and potentially stay for good. Most come from other parts of Asia, including China, Vietnam and the Philippines. ...

These are areas of the country where few speak languages other than Japanese, and communities tend to be more wary of integrating newcomers. Whether companies can persuade foreigners to stay may dictate their survival.

For small and medium-size businesses, the backbone of Japan’s regional economies, “foreign workers are indispensable,” said Yuki Hashimoto, a senior fellow at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, or RIETI, in Tokyo. “Without them, they will collapse.”

Japan lacks a national system for helping foreign workers with essentials like language assistance

... Over the past four years, Mr. Hizatsuki said, he established various policies aimed at retaining the workers from Vietnam, as well as others from Indonesia, who now make up two dozen of the company’s 210 employees.

Mr. Hizatsuki estimates that in the next generation, about half the snack maker’s employees will need to be foreign workers.

[Cronos]

Japan seems to be focusing on getting workers from Vietnam, the Philippines who are good workers and at least in my personal interactions with Vietnamese and Filipinos in other (non-Japan) countries, are good people.

But the comments are pretty eye-opening as well

"while the quality of life is generally very high in Japan, the loneliness for foreigners living here might also be fearsome, indeed."

"Even white collar employees from Western countries working in Japan can find that living and working in Japan presents challenges. I met an executive from Canada who lives in Tokyo. For the most part she enjoys the experience, but she told me that at times it can be exhausting trying not to run afoul of the many unwritten rules of social etiquette in Japan."

[JonPreston]

This is called economic slavery and it has been tried in different forms over the centuries. It never ends well.

[Liz]

p

[blueplum]

I'd imagine workers from Vietnam and the PI are more likely to leave family to find work and more likely to send money back to support that family, making them stable employees who are willing not only to do repetitive factory jobs and the overtime required of them but also to blend into the company culture of teamwork over individual effort and the (somewhat mandatory) socializing afterhours with coworkers.

https://japan-dev.com/blog/japan-work-hours

[nwrep]

I am ok as long as they don’t import problematic minorities.

[Bon of Babble]

Wonder how the average Japanese feels about this?

[Mr. K]

Public castration

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

Shame on them.

Grow your own, as God designed.