51.3% in Japan support bill to accept more foreign workers: poll

The nationwide telephone poll conducted over the weekend found that 51.3 percent were supportive of the bill, approved by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet on Friday, while 39.5 percent opposed it.

Of those who were in favor of the bill, serious labor shortages in domestic industries were cited as a major reason by 43.8 percent, the biggest proportion, followed by 29.5 percent who said Japan's population is unlikely to grow and 22.2 percent who pointed out that the world's third-largest economy needs to be more internationalized.

So if 29.5% think that the population is unlikely to grow doe that mean that the rest think it will? I wonder just who they talked to. Anyone with a television or that can read a newspaper has heard for years now that the population is shrinking and the government wants them to "get busy".

They are asking some pretty naive folks.

Oh and 51% were supportive! What an OVERWHELMING majority!

Now I suggest you reread it yourself. Of the 51% who supported the initiative 29.5% sited (sic) the population being unlikely to grow.

I hate to go over this again, but you are misreading the sentence. 29.5% of those who supported the initiative cited the reason as being the population. Other people cited other reasons, such as labor shortages. Those who gave "labor shortages" as the main reason did not deny population shrinkage. In other words there were not 70.5% of the respondents who denied population decline as a reality. We don't know how many of them might deny population decline, as the question wasn't asked. Trust me. I am very good with words in my native language.

Says something that I would get voted down for explaining English comprehension. I wonder how many of my down-voters are paid to teach English?

The only reason that 51.3% in Japan support it is because unlike other nations, Japan hasn't been overwhelmed by a massive illegal immigrant problem. In Japan an illegal immigrant is a visa overstayer. In other countries they don't even have visas to start with. Japan is seeking a "controlled" immigration to deal with their labor shortage and avoid immigration problems at the same time.

The refugees crisis in Europe is completely different from regulated immigration.

As long incoming foreigners are job placed and have no criminal records where they come from, there's zero reason to fear them.

Japan is a rich country, the rich need the poor to do menial work, that's how the world is. Modern Japan is faded to support more and more English speakers in the future.

... our dear Japan will be an international nation.

It already is, my friend... look around. Is it so bad?

When Japan stops looking and feeling like Japan...

What is Japan? Are you saying that suits, baseball, cars, toilets, shoes, TV, English signs and names etc etc etc are NOT Japanese? Have those things somehow stopped Japan from 'feeling like Japan'? These changes are part of evolution, why are they so fear inducing to some people?

I do agree with your post though, I think the Japanese are just not capable of understanding that some people who look different to them also call Japan 'home'. They just cannot get around it, as they have the 'us and them' thing pounded into them from a young age. The Japanese will invariably treat any newcomers with passive-aggression. They will make them know that they are not a valued part of Japan.

Meanwhile, this does not happen to Japanese who choose where I am from as home. They have equal footing to those that were born there. 'My country' is doing much better than Japan economically. People are also MUCH happier there. Sorry in advance if some of this happiness and work/life balance culture seeps into Japan...

“Japanese should be careful what they wish for. Mass immigration and multikulti aren’t doing so well in the West.”

Agree with you 100%. But to be fair, it’s only 51.3, so we can round it off to about 1/2 of Japan’s population. Not really the “majority “ ......know what I mean.

51.3% in Japan support bill to accept more foreign workers

And the other 48.7% didn't want to clean the toilets, work in convenience stores at inconvenient hours, work for a pittance on the farms or work long hours in the factories. In other words, they just wanted their cake and eat it.

You should read it again. The article said 29.5% cited lack of population growth as the reason for needing foreign workers.There was nothing at all about how many polled believe the population will shrink.

Now I suggest you reread it yourself. Of the 51% who supported the initiative 29.5% sited the population being unlikely to grow.

Of those who were in favor of the bill, serious labor shortages in domestic industries were cited as a major reason by 43.8 percent, the biggest proportion, followed by 29.5 percent who said Japan's population is unlikely to grow 

Hence the question; of the 49% who did not support or had no opinion on the issue, Did they think it would?

Here is the thing, no way to know how the questions were asked to get the responses given, and once again a truly small sampling of the population, not to mention the demographics of the poll being stated either.

My question was meant to be sarcastic.

If Japan Inc. had spent the past few decades updating, improving and innovating perhaps they wouldn’t need this imported cheap labor. It’s bad luck for the army of listless , unambitious and low skilled young Japanese as now they have to compete with brighter, stronger and hungrier immigrants. May be just what the doctor ordered. Any new energy is welcomed, but it has to be managed properly and companies taking on these new workers are going to have to learn to communicate!

How much will this percentage shift negatively when Japanese people face the reality of significant foreign populations living in their neighborhoods? When Japan stops looking and feeling like Japan, attitudes toward foreign workers will sour greatly. It's one thing when it's mainly Tokyo and a few other urban centers that have significant foreign populations. But mid-size cities and rural areas need workers as badly as or worse than Tokyo.

Japan is about 30 years ahead of Europe or America in facing the demographic crisis of low birthrates and an aging population. Europe and the U.S. have sidestepped that crisis by importing massive numbers of foreigners to prop up the population, and thus they are 30 years ahead in dealing with the demographic crisis brought about by high levels of immigration.

Keep going. That’s the way it starts. Soon all doors will be torn down and our dear Japan will be an international nation.

You should read it again. The article said 29.5% cited lack of population growth as the reason for needing foreign workers.There was nothing at all about how many polled believe the population will shrink.

And, yes, 51% is surprisingly supportive, especially for a country like Japan. I would wager there are very few countries in the world that could top 50% on this question.