Can Japan Aid in Refuge Crises?

By Tyler Armstrong

From the Syrian refugee crisis of 2015 to the current Venezuelan and Haitian refugee crises, global leaders are continually pressured to determine what they can do to contribute to an ongoing global welfare issue.[1] Japan, as a member of the G7, has been criticized in the past for its refusal to allow a significant – or even nominal – number of refugees to enter its borders.[2] While Japan undoubtedly offers significant sums of money in the form of charitable donations to the United Nations’ refugee fund, should the country also be expected to allow dislocated persons into its small island nation?[3]

Historically, Japan’s immigration policies and procedures have instituted a variety of challenges to potential immigrants. Since the end of World War II, Japan has been the “only advanced industrial democracy that has closed its borders to unskilled labor,” presumably to ensure job opportunities for nationals.[4] Instead of resorting to foreign labor in the wake of 1960s labor shortages, like many other countries, Japan opted to “automate, shift production abroad, and take advantage of alternative sources of domestic labor such as women – many of which had traditionally remained in the home – students, elderly persons, and rural migrants.”[5] This shift allowed Japan to maintain its closed border priorities while temporarily adding members to its labor force because the country merely tapped into some of its own unutilized human capital. When labor shortages threatened economic peril in the mid-to-late 1980s, Japan established what was known as the Technical Intern Training Program (“TITP”).[6] Though monumental in terms of Japan’s approach to immigration, the TITP was never meant to be permanent. The purpose of the program, as explained in the Technical Intern Training Act, is to promote “international cooperation by transferring skills, technologies, or knowledge . . . to developing regions.”[7] Article three of the Technical Intern Training Act states that “[t]echnical intern training shall not be conducted as a means of adjusting labor demand and supply.”[8] Despite this hollow provision,  Japanese industries increasingly rely on the TITP to furnish “de facto guest workers” to compensate for “acute labor shortages.”[9] Unfortunately, abuses were rampant among TITP participant companies, including the prevalence of excessive overtime, lack of adequate payment, and the withholding of passports.[10] Though Japan has improved measures significantly to improve the welfare and safety of foreign workers, it begs the question of whether a large influx of displaced foreign persons would be feasible.

While geographic space in Japan is limited, there is sufficient room to house several million potential immigrants or refugees.[11] According to the Japanese government, “some eight million dwellings” in Japan are unoccupied.[12] Thriving suburban areas during the time of post-war economic prosperity now lay blighted and nearly abandoned, even near large cities like Tokyo.[13] While many Japanese have left the inaka – countryside – because desirable jobs tend to be closer to larger cities, an influx of lesser skilled foreign workers to these all but deserted towns may be extremely beneficial.[14] As an example, Germany has seen significant progress after welcoming over a million refugees from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.[15] While admitting so many asylum seekers has been the cause of significant backlash by various right-wing groups, Germany is seeing results in integrating these newcomers into society as well as into the workforce.[16] The German government believes that successful integration into the workforce is the best way of measuring integration into society as a whole.[17] By allowing refugees to seek gainful employment, Germany has likewise permitted them to immerse themselves within society, create relationships, achieve relative financial security, and most importantly has given them a sense of normalcy.[18] At the same time, labor force participation by refugees and asylees benefits Germany by increasing tax revenues, reducing costs associated with welfare, and alleviating shortages in certain industries.[19]

While Germany’s experience in welcoming so many refugees is admirable, there is no way to determine that the same result would manifest in Japan. An impressive 44 percent of the refugees in Germany report having a solid grasp on the language, eliminating many of the initial difficulties that existed upon arrival.[20] While these numbers in Germany appear promising, the German language is relatively easier to learn than Japanese, measured with English as the baseline language.[21] If Japan were to adopt the German model in permitting entry of a significant number of refugees, substantial care should be taken to ensure all with opportunities to participate in language learning programs.[22] While some local governmental bodies in Japan are already initiating language support groups and programs, there may be room yet for further improvement by calling for government-sponsored “semi-mandatory orientation and social integration programs” on a country-wide scale.[23]

Ultimately, while many may criticize Japan for not granting a larger number of asylum applications, reality brings to question whether such a move would be beneficial in the end. So long as Japan remains willing to contribute to the United Nations’ refugee fund, perhaps the most mutually beneficial strategy will be graciously accepting the country’s charitable donations.

[1] See Patrick Wintour, Hopes for Refugee Crisis Plan Fall into Chasm Between G7 and Trump, The Guardian (May 26, 2017), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/26/trump-set-to-clash-with-other-g7-leaders-over-refugees-and-climate; see also Edward Alden, Why Are Haitian Migrants Gathering at the U.S. Border?, Council on Foreign Relations (Oct. 1, 2021), https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/why-are-haitian-migrants-gathering-us-border; Tipping Point for Venezuelan Refugee and Migrant Crisis, Norwegian Refugee Council (June 16, 2021), https://www.nrc.no/news/2021/june/tipping-point-for-venezuelan-refugee-and-migrant-crisis/.

[2] Fifield, Anna, As Europe Makes Room for Refugees, Some in Japan Ask: Why Not Us?, Wash. Post (Sept. 8, 2015), https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/09/08/as-europe-makes-room-for-refugees-some-in-japan-ask-why-not-us/.

[3]  See id.

[4] Yunchen Tian & Erin Chung, Is Japan Becoming a Country of Immigration? Why More Foreign Labor Doesn’t Imply Liberalization, Foreign Aff. (Aug. 3, 2018), https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/japan/2018-08-03/japan-becoming-country-immigration.

[5] Id.

[6] What is the Technical Intern Training Program? Japan International Trainee & Skilled Worker Cooperation Organization, https://www.jitco.or.jp/en/regulation/index.html#:~:text=The%20Act%20on%20Proper%20Technical,Refugee%20Recognition%20Act%20(Act%20No. (last visited Oct. 21, 2020).

[7] Act on Proper Technical Intern Training and Protection of Technical Intern Trainees (Technical Intern Training Act), Art. 1, https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/policy/employ-labour/human-resources/dl/2-00.pdf (last visited Oct. 22, 2020).

[8] Id.

[9] Menju Toshihiro, Japan’s Immigration Policies Put to the Test, Nippon.com (Nov. 18, 2019), https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/d00515/japan%E2%80%99s-immigration-policies-put-to-the-test.html.

[10] Pollman, Mina, Is Japan Ready to Welcome Immigrants? Diplomat (Jan. 22, 2020), https://thediplomat.com/2020/01/is-japan-ready-to-welcome-immigrants/#:~:text=Driven%20by%20demographic%20and%20business,to%20become%20permanent%20residents%20thereafter.

[11] See Jonathan Soble, A Sprawl or Ghost Homes in Aging Tokyo Suburbs, N.Y. Times (Aug. 23, 2015), https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/24/world/a-sprawl-of-abandoned-homes-in-tokyo-suburbs.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share. Japan is “slightly smaller than the state of California.” Japan – Location, Size, and Extent, Nations Encyclopedia, https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Japan-LOCATION-SIZE-AND-EXTENT.html (last visited March 8, 2021).

[12] Id.

[13] Id.

[14] Deborah Milly, Japan’s Labor Migration Reforms: Breaking with the Past? Migration Policy Institute (Feb. 20, 2020), https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/japan-labor-migration-reforms-breaking-past.

[15] Stefan Trines, The State of Refugee Integration in Germany in 2019, World Educ. News & Revs. (Aug. 8, 2019), https://wenr.wes.org/2019/08/the-state-of-refugee-integration-in-germany-in-2019.

[16] Id.

[17] Id.

[18] Id.

[19] Id.

[20] Seikou Kita & Helen Dempster, Five Years Later, One Million Refugees Are Thriving in Germany, Ctr. Global Dev. (Dec. 4, 2020), https://www.cgdev.org/blog/five-years-later-one-million-refugees-are-thriving-germany.

[21] Language Difficulty Ranking, Effective Language Learning, https://effectivelanguagelearning.com/language-guide/language-difficulty/ (showing that German is classified as a Category II language, while Japanese is placed in category V).

[22] Menju Toshihiro, A Crying Need for Japanese-Language Instruction Among Immigrants, Nippon.com (Dec. 10, 2019), https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/d00520/a-crying-need-for-japanese-language-instruction-among-immigrants.html.

[23] Id. (explaining that the governments of Germany, South Korea, and other countries bear the responsibility of providing and maintaining integration programs, including language instruction, to foreigners entering society).