Shrinking Japan set to pass controversial bill to allow for more foreign workers in labour-hungry sectors

The Japanese government moved closer on Friday to securing passage of a bill through parliament to allow more foreign workers to enter the country, despite concern that the plan lacks detail and may not ensure proper working conditions.

Enactment of the legislation would pave the way for Japan to formally open its doors to blue-collar labourers, in a major policy shift for a country that has basically granted working visas only to people with professional knowledge and high skills such as doctors, lawyers and teachers.

The bill to revise the immigration control law was passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday and is expected to be voted on during a House of Councillors plenary session. Opposition parties earlier on Friday sought to block the bill’s passage by submitting motions, but they were voted down by the ruling parties.

The government is aiming to launch the new visa system for foreign workers in April. It is expected to cover 14 sectors, including nursing care, construction and farming, identified as suffering from labour shortages amid Japan’s ageing population and falling birth rate.

With hundreds of thousands of foreigners eventually expected to qualify for the new visas, the government will compile by year-end a set of measures for workplaces and municipalities to help the workers settle into communities.