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Development of Immigration Policy in Japan

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Development of Immigration Policy in Japan
Development of Immigration Policy in Japan

I Introduction: Immigration Flow

Any gGaijinh that has come to Japan may have had the awkward feeling of an invisible barrier that is felt in the immigration policies of Japan. A country that is an island could be a reason of the peculiar (from the world standard) policies that the Japanese government has implemented throughout history.
My paper is divided in four sections. The first point that we should discuss is the chronological development of immigration flow in Japan. In particular, we will focus our attention on the history since World War II. Secondly, we will analyze the development of integration policy in Japan. Following that, we will consider the main issues recently discussed. Thirdly, we will examine the admission and control policy in Japan, as well as we will deal with the main issues recently caused by social changes. Lastly, we shall conclude with a criticism of a lacking a comprehensive administration office for integration policy. In Japan, the chronological development of immigration flow can be illustrated by the six periods shown in table 1.

Table 1. Chronological development of immigration flow 1639-
(1) No immigration during the isolation period (1639-1853).
(2) Opening the door, large emigration and colonial immigration (1853-1945).
(3) Strictly controlled immigration and emigration (1945-1951).
(4) Strict immigration even during the time of advanced economic growth (1951-1981).
(5) Strict immigration but refugees accepted and aliensf rights are improved (1981-1990)
(6) Relatively strict immigration but ethnic repatriates (front door), trainees (side door) and irregulars (back door) come to work as unskilled workers (1990- ).

1) Old Comers and New Comers

The number of registered foreigners has increased rapidly over a recent twenty-five year period as shown in table 2.able @Koreans are the major foreign group. Many of them are descendants of immigrants during the



References: Cabinet Office. (2001). Gaikokujin rôdôsha mondai ni kansuru seron chousa (Opinion Polls Concerning Foreign Workers in Japan). Hammar, T. (1990). Democracy and the Nation State: Aliens , Denizens and Citizens in a World of International Migration (Ed.). (1998). Heisei 10 Nenban Shuutsunyûkoku Kanri (Immigration Control, 1998 ed.) .Tokyo: Ôkurashô Insatsukyoku, Iguchi, Y. (2001) Gaikokujin rôdosha shin jidai (New Age of Foreign Labor). Tokyo: Chiukuma Shobo. Kajita, T. (1994). Gaikokujin rôdôsha to Nihon (Foreign workers and Japan). Tokyo: Nihon Hôsô Kyôkai. Kashiwazaki, C. (2000). Citizenship in Japan: Legal Practice and Contemporary Development Komai, H. (2001). Foreign Migrants in Contemporary Japan. Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press. Kondo, A. (2001). Comparative Citizenship and Alien fs Rights. In A. Kondo (Ed.), Citizenship in a Global World: Comparing Citizenship Rights for Aliens Kono, S. (1994). International Migration in Japan: A Demographic Sketch. In W. Koyama, N. (1998). Zairyû Shikaku gEijûsha h ni tsuite (On the Status of Permanent Residents) Kokusai Jinryû (The Immigration Newsmagazine) no Kuroda, T. (1988). Gaiji hô (Foreign Affairs Law). Tokyo: Gyôsei. NIRA/ Citizenship research group (Ed.), (2001). Tabunka shakai no sentaku; citizenship no shiten kara (Choice of Multicultural Society: From the perspective of citizenship). OECD. (2001). Trends in International Migration. SOPEMI 2000 ed. Paris: OECD Population Division of the UN (2001) Sakanaka, H. (2001). Nihon no gaikokujin seisaku (Alien Policy in Japan). Tokyo: Nihon Kajo Shuppan. Tanaka, H. (1995). Zainichi Gaikokujin (Alien Residents in Japan). New Version. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (1999). Report of the Mission for Revitalization of Asian Economy -Living in Harmony with Asia in the Twenty-first Century -. In http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/asia/mission99/report/index.html. The Ministry of Justice. (2000). Basic Plan for Immigration Control. The 2nd edition. In http://www.moj.go.jp/ENGLISH/IB/IB2000/ib.html. UNHCR (2000), The State of the World fs Refugees 2000. Geneva: Oxford University Press. Yamawaki, K., Kondo, A. & Kashiwazaki, C. (2001). Taminzoku kokka Nihon no Kôsô (Vision for Japan as a multiethnic country)

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