A Dilemma of Balance: Foreign Labour and Migration Policy in Japan

The lack of a concrete international migration policy in Japan necessitates the presence of private intermediaries in the cross-border labour market between Japan and Vietnam. This chapter describes the shifts in the de facto migration policy of Japan, reviewing the literature on how the country has sought to balance hesitation towards implementing a migration policy with its urgent need for a workforce, leading to the entry of foreign labour through measures disconnected from migration. Moreover, this chapter presents publicly available policy recommendations and reports from two prominent business organisations in Japan: Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. These business actors have lobbied to relax and introduce relevant migration policies to secure the necessary workforce. An assessment of the businesses’ official policy recommendation documents reveals the strong interest of Japanese business, regardless of firm size and geographical location, in recruiting skilled migrants. Furthermore, some suggestions in these documents have been reflected in political measures to recruit a foreign workforce in Japan.