"Population Ruin: Japan Reborn Through Immigration"

2023/10/18

Every day across Japan, news of population decline repeats, reporting that this year has hit a record low. In local elections, maintaining the population has become a focal point, and the government claims to be tackling "unprecedented" measures against the declining birthrate. Unfortunately, the chances of these efforts bearing fruit are extremely low. This is because the number of women of childbearing age is smaller in younger generations; even if the birthrate improves slightly, it is merely a drop in the bucket. According to the future population projections of the National Research Centers and Institutes of Population and Social Security looking ahead to 2070, there is not a single year in which the population increases from the previous year.

This book looks at Japan, a country unable to face the "immigration" issue head-on despite a massive population decline of 800,000 people per year. Defining this as the "immigration dilemma," it clarifies why immigration became a political taboo and proposes a way to break free from this dilemma.

Simply put, due to political disputes over local suffrage for permanent residents that intensified around 2010, and territorial disputes between Japan, China, and South Korea occurring at the same time, arguments that adopting immigration policies would lead to a takeover by Chinese people and the prevalence of hate speech turned the immigration issue into an emotional one, making objective discussion impossible.

On the other hand, in Germany, there was a time when immigration issues involving Muslims were considered taboo, but the Immigration Act was passed in 2004. This allowed the country to escape population decline, and as a result, they are drawing out the potential of immigrants to the point where startups by immigrants account for one-third of all new businesses.

Looking back, the island nation of Japan has developed by accepting foreigners and foreign cultures since ancient times and sublimating them into Japanese culture. The term "Imakino-tehito" from the era of Prince Shotoku means "newly arrived foreigners" (newcomers). This implies that there were also "old-comers" in that era. In this way, Japan has accepted foreigners and foreign cultures many times throughout its history.

Accepting immigrants is not contrary to Japanese tradition. Rather, hasn't Japan developed its own unique culture by accepting foreign cultures and immigrants to spark innovation? The message of this book is that immigration is an old yet new way to open up Japan's future.

"Population Ruin: Japan Reborn Through Immigration"

Toshihiro Menju

Asahi Shinsho

256 pages, 935 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations, titles, etc., are as of the time of publication.