The Doubtful Guest

Tokyo finally grasps the migration nettle

Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun has revealed the government will introduce a points-based skilled migration program by the end of the year. It's a reform that's been considered for a long time, but the tsunami and nuclear crisis seems to have convinced the government to finally seize the day.

Immigration in Japan, which is nearly ethnically homogenous, is always a touchy issue. Public opposition or, perhaps more accurately, caution, has seen Japan's political leaders take tiny and often misguided steps towards opening the country up to greater immigration.

Now, all eyes are on the disaster, so voters are less likely to oppose, or even notice, the introduction of a long-overdue migration system of the kind that has served Australia, Canada and the US so well.

The timing is also serendipitous because the exodus of foreign nationals after the quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis has seen a host of jobs become available, many of which can't be filled with local staff.

Japan's leading businesses are also pushing for this kind of reform as they look to boost their global competitiveness to keep pace with their rivals in China, India, South Korea and elsewhere in Asia.

The Yomiuri report suggests that points will be awarded to skilled migrants based on their education, work experience and annual income. It is expected to apply to the academic, technology and corporate sectors. Bonus points will be given for Japanese language skills.

The government also intends making it easier to obtain permanent residency and easing work limits for spouses for some visa holders.

It can't come soon enough for the beleaguered economy, which is battling population decline, weak demand, structural problems and now an unprecedented combination of natural and nuclear disaster.

With Keynesian-style stimulus programs off the table as the government finally begins to tackle debt levels, increasing immigration is increasingly being viewed as one way to spark economic growth.

Hidenori Sakanaka, a former top immigration official turned NGO leader, said the recent disaster made it even more vital for Japan to open up to immigration. "A falling birth rate and an ageing population mean that the country has far too few young, productive workers," the head of Tokyo's Humanitarian Immigrant Support Centre said in a recent article published in the Wall Street Journal.

"This will become even more noticeable as the current working generation begins to retire. Unless radical policies are implemented, it is simply a matter of time before manufacturing, consumption, tax receipts, fiscal health, the pension and welfare system, and the very ability of people to make a living will all collapse under the inexorable dual pressures of rapid ageing and rapid declines in the young working population.

Book Review: The Doubtful Guest

Edward Gorey and Ralph Steadman are my favorite artists. I was browsing through a bookstore not too long ago and I found an old copy of The Doubtful Guest, which is my personal favorite book that Gorey wrote. If you’re not familiar with the author I would backtrack and read my review of The Gashlycrumb Tinies . You might also enjoy the book Ascending Peculiarity, is a perfect example of just what is so great, strange, and inimitable about his work. First of all, here is a picture of the eponymous guest, over on the right. This odd fellow in the scarf–I have no idea what it is actually supposed to be–arrives at a house full of stodgy Victorian people. When Gorey draws adults, they are usually very, very serious and grim-looking. Like the people who have to deal with the Guest.