Japan creates new agency to manage foreigner-related issues amid rising tensions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba says the body will help tackle issues that have made ‘the public feel uneasy and cheated’
The body would serve as a cross-agency “control tower” to respond to issues such as crime and overtourism involving foreigners, the government said.
Headed by Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Wataru Sakata, the office will have 78 employees, including those from the Immigration Services Agency, according to Jiji Press.
Japan has long sought to maintain a homogeneous population through strict immigration laws, but has gradually eased them to supplement its shrinking and ageing labour force.
The number of foreign nationals hit a record of about 3.8 million last year, although that is still just 3 per cent of the total population.