Leaving the Back Door Ajar: Unskilled Foreign Workers in Japan

Abstract

With the revision of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act in the 1990s the Japanese Government introduced new policies for the acceptance of foreign labour into society. Whereas formal policies for admitting skilled foreign workers were introduced, a formal policy for admitting unskilled foreign workers has been lacking up until this date. Instead, the respective workers came to enter Japan through certain backdoor policies and have been doing so ever since. This thesis will provide insight into the reason why this is by explaining the impact that conservative political elites have upon immigration policymaking. It will reveal that their presence forms an obstacle in formalizing any such policy to admit unskilled foreign workers, whereas continuing to admit them through backdoor channels only enhances vulnerability to exploitation.