In January, Japan saw the only way to curb its extremely low birth rate and aging population in the countryside: 7,500 euros to move from the city. A few months later, one word explained that things were not going any better: akiya. The last of the desperate measures took place a few weeks ago: luring single women in exchange for money and a husband. When the bullets run out, Japan does something it has never done before: it opens up to immigrants.

We accept foreigners. The New York Times recently told the story of the Hizatsuki Confectionery company, located in a mountainous region north of Tokyo, which has been producing rice crackers since 1923. They hired their first foreign workers four years ago, and today the company is experiencing the same problem. The rest of “rural” Japan: Can’t find enough Japanese workers, and the solution seems pretty obvious.

We have been counting this for months, Japan is mired in an extremely uncertain demographic crisis, the population is decreasing and rapidly aging without a generational change due to low birth rates. This has forced Japan, which has been largely closed to immigrants for centuries, to allow foreign workers into the country and potentially stay there indefinitely.

Don’t let them go. In June, a new government measure for rural areas was announced from 2027: Foreign apprentices will be allowed to change jobs in the same sector for the first time. The idea was to improve conditions to scare away possible exits to urban areas.

In the background is a problem they identified through a study: Less than half of foreign workers and students in Japan’s rural areas want to stay in their current area when looking for or changing jobs.

We explain the numbers. Just 20 years ago these data would have been unimaginable, but today foreign apprentices represent 20.1% of all foreign workers across the country. However, some provinces show more dependence; specifically Miyazaki with 59.8%, Ehime with 53.1%, and Kochi with 52.7%.

It’s a slow transition. The truth is that this paradigm shift has been under wraps for some time, but in some rural areas where labor shortages are particularly acute, some of Japan’s most important companies, such as Hizatsuki Confectionery, are now discovering how to do it. We are hosting foreign workers for the first time.

The problem here is twofold, as these are enclaves where few languages ​​other than Japanese are spoken, and communities tend to be more cautious about integrating newcomers. So the key lies in companies’ ability to persuade foreigners to stay.

Necessary. This is the word chosen to describe the situation of immigrants by Yuki Hashimoto, a senior researcher at the Research Institute of Economics, Trade and Industry (RIETI) in Tokyo. “Foreign workers are very important. Without them, they will go bankrupt,” he adds.

In fact, it’s such an important element that they’re not just welcomed with open arms. In the absence of a national system to assist foreign workers with basic issues such as language assistance, local companies and municipalities are creating their own long-term support methods. Like? Having translators in the factories or, more importantly, increasing their base salaries at the same rate as the local people was something that no one in the country normally did.

2023, key. Last year was a defining moment. Policies were later adopted that made it possible for a wide range of foreign workers to remain in the country long-term. This was not a trivial matter; It was a big change for a country that had tried to keep immigration at a slow pace for fear that any increase in foreign population could trigger social unrest.

Not only this. The measure also made clear the extent to which the demographic crisis is affecting the country’s workforce. Even Japan’s new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, has advocated hiring more foreigners to fill the labor shortage.

It’s an unusual paradigm shift for a society like Japan, so attached to its history and culture that it seems closed off to the rest of the world.

Image | David Stanley, Sgroey

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