The forum opened with a keynote speech by Professor Yasushi Iguchi (please refer to keynote speech material presented on our homepage), followed by a panel discussion. In the latter half of the panel discussion, the panelists responded to questions and observations from the general audience.
 

1. Keynote Speech
    The Issue of Foreign Workers: East Asian Economic Integration and the Declining Birthrate (Yasushi Iguchi)

• The issue of foreign workers is not merely a problem of how many and what kind of workers the host country accepts. It is, rather, an issue that requires discussion on East Asian economic integration, relevance to the declining birthrate, and problems in the community.
• An effective region-wide undertaking for the movement of unskilled workers, which account for the majority of cases in East Asia, still does not exist. Japan must actively take initiative for the promotion of development and reflux of human resources within the region. When we look at the actual situation of Japan, foreign workers of Japanese descent is on the rise. Every year, some 40,000 additional foreigners gain permanent residence. Japan in practice leaves its doors open to workers engaging in "so-called simple work," and the number of foreign workers including permanent residents has ascended to nearly 900,000. The period of stay is getting longer among specialists and technical workers as well, not to mention foreign nationals of Japanese descent. Only 15 to 20 percent of foreign students find employment. Among foreign workers of Japanese descent, problems such as low-wage labor, non-enrollment in social insurance schemes, and non-attendance of their children in schools remain.
• Issues related to illegal labor and permanent residence in communities are inevitable and a system to manage the employment of foreigners is necessary. Such a system should oblige users to verify residential status, create an employment database for foreigners, be linked to the foreigner registration system, and be able to respond to non-enrollment in social insurance schemes and to other problems.
• Illegal stay of foreigners with student status and others studying in Japan has become a problem. When addressing this issue, discussion should not center solely on complaints from Japanese people. Rather, there should be consideration as to whether sufficient measures are in place. The more the Japanese public views this issue as a problem, the greater the repellence from foreign students. To address this issue only in reference to crimes is problematic, considering that it does not even make clear to other countries Japan's opinions on foreign students.
• The system of intern training, which is permitted in a large number of areas, including agriculture and fishery, should be reformed to reduce incentives to flee. Moreover, there is a need to study legal labor and re-entry of trainees that meet certain standards.
• Countermeasures for the declining birthrate and countermeasures for foreign workers should not be considered as substitutes; they are complementary. It is important to accurately accept human resources of good quality in required areas, which is different from accepting workers in quantity. To do so, limits should be set for the range of "simple workers" that basically are not to be accepted, and acceptance of human resources should be conducted by establishing language proficiency, along with skills and techniques as standard for determination. Meanwhile, discussion of community issues is inevitable at this point.
• Concerning the system of acceptance, it is necessary to take advantage of "best practices" in developed countries.
• As a conclusion, the following is important. The issue of accepting foreign workers should be addressed with the future of East Asia in mind. It is not a simple issue in which the easing of immigration controls will produce an inflow of human resources. Thus, the creation of a system that will gather as much quality human resources as possible is necessary. Japan should not quantitatively compensate the reduction in population and workforce with immigrants and foreign workers. A desirable mechanism is one in which a variety of development and reflux of human resources is conducted within the East Asian region, and a part of this group resides permanently in Japan. Reform in Japan's national system, such as the adoption of a foreign worker employment management system linked to the foreigner registration system, as well as the reform of the foreigner training program and technical intern traineeship program, is essential.
• If these strategies, along with "economic integration," take effect, it is possible for Japan to be able to maintain its economic power in East Asia as we approach the mid-21^st century.

2. Panel discussion

(Tachibana)

• The essence of China's strength lies in its homogeneous labor force, backed by an enormous population. New technology and unique ideas are required in Japan. With "dynamism of diversity" as the basis for the country's future development strategy, every Japanese national should enhance one's value-adding creativity.
• Perhaps the time has come to propose and execute a comprehensive acceptance policy to maximize the contribution of foreigners within this process.
• With regard to the acceptance of foreign workers, concretely, Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) presented a recommendation in April. Keidanren stated in this recommendation that the acceptance of foreign workers should be considered in line with the following three guiding principles, and not to make up for the decline in population: (1) acceptance must be well organized to ensure sufficient control over the quality and quantity of those accepted; (2) the human rights and dignity of accepted foreign workers must never be compromised; and (3) acceptance of foreign workers should mutually benefit the countries of their origin as well as the host country.

(Kurahashi)

• There will be no progress in the foreign workers issue if the problem of foreign workers of Japanese descent, many of whom demonstrate an increasing tendency to reside permanently in Japan, is not resolved.
• Toyota City has seen a drastic rise in the number of workers of Japanese descent since the revision of the Immigration Control Act in 1990. The number of Brazilians, which was fewer than 100 before revision of the Act, has now reached 6,500. In 15 years, there has been an increase of more than 6,000 people.
• Friction arising from daily life, such as non-observance of rules to take out garbage, making noise late at night, and illegal parking are a constant, never-ending burden for community residents. However, much of the friction arising from day-to-day life is due to differences in daily customs and culture. Therefore, such problems can be resolved through understanding. Particularly, the language problem is probably the biggest factor.
• It is estimated that at least 50 percent or more of foreigners of Japanese descent are not covered by health insurance, even though they are legal permanent residents. For this reason, doctors are reluctant to treat foreigners, and face a humanitarian problem. This is caused by a systematic aspect, which combines pension and healthcare insurance. In addition, there are a number of cases in which business owners elude the burden of social insurance and do not allow their workers to enroll in these schemes. Meanwhile, workers of Japanese descent also prefer not to enroll in order to take home a larger payment.
• The issue of children's education is important. Many children cannot keep up in class due to language difficulties or refuse to attend schools because they are bullied. One of the causes is the lack of serious consideration on the part of parents about their children's education. A sufficient system for assistance is required.
• The Committee for Localities with a Concentrated Foreign Population drafted the "Toyota Declaration" on the 29^th.

(Kajita)

• Regarding foreigners of Japanese descent, numerous local governments are working hard to support them. One problem is that foreign workers of Japanese descent are not treated as legitimate workers. To discuss this issue leaving this problem aside will get us nowhere. The discussion on foreign workers of Japanese descent fully applies to the discussion on foreign workers in general.
• We cannot triumph in this world if we do not implement a prominent social and cultural comprehensive policy. Immigration control policy alone will not do. Japan lacks a comprehensive policy and local governments are paying for that.
• The period from childhood to adulthood is very important. For children, where they pass this important period when they form their identity and plan their careers is quite significant. A situation in which talented individuals residing in Japan can draw up their career design is necessary.
• Regarding the aging population with a declining birthrate, one idea is to change the definition of elderly people. As for the birthrate, an investigation taking France's 1.9 as a precedent is required. It is not possible to resolve the problem in a population with immigrants. Immigrants will assimilate to society and their birthrate will converge to that of the host country.

(Ito)

• The following fundamental perspectives are important: (1) The acceptance of foreign workers should benefit all parties, i.e. the Japanese people, foreigners, and their country of origin, through adequate management. (2) Even if Japan does not accept foreign workers, workers will find their way into Japan and obtain employment through various routes. As a result, there will be a rise in the number of undesired human resources in Japan and in the number of illegal residents. This will be a misfortune for all. (3) It is necessary to discuss how foreign workers should be accepted, rather than whether to accept them or not.
• As foreigners of various professions enter Japan, new businesses will grow and Japanese companies may continue their operations in Japan. If we reject acceptance, the "hollowing out" of industries and human resources may occur, leading to the decline of the Japanese economy within its borders.
• As a basic approach, if there is demand, working permit visas should be provided for foreigners who demonstrate a strong will to work in Japan. On the other hand, in relation to crime, since there is a drastic rise in the crime rate among foreigners with student status and others studying in Japan, basically these students should not be permitted to hold part-time jobs. In addition, Japanese language education in their own countries should be recognized. Moreover, business owners should be given the managerial obligation to verify residential status. By applying stricter regulations in these aspects, we can mitigate society's repellence towards the acceptance of foreigners who have a strong will to work in Japan.
• Specifically, the following is important when considering how Japan can accept desired and qualified foreign workers: (1) Drastically expand visa residential status categories. (2) For foreign workers that speak Japanese and have obtained certification specific to Japan, as in the case of care workers, they should be allowed to work in Japan without quantitative restriction. (3) In sectors that require Japanese, Japanese language schools should be subsidized, thus providing numerous opportunities to study the Japanese language.
• Nursing and long-term care are professions of hard labor; no one knows if there is sufficient labor supply in these fields. If foreigners can speak Japanese and know how to take care of others in practice, that they are foreigners should not be a problem.
• Regarding the concern of loss of human resources in countries of origin, there is merit for developing countries if we consider remittance of earnings in Japan to countries of origins of foreign workers and technological transfer.
• Regarding whether or not to allow simple work, response should be through drastic expansion of residential status categories and through systematical arrangement. Therefore, I am against the non-restricted acceptance of people without skills.

- Concerning Mr. Ito's observation-

(Kurahashi)

• Regarding simple work, I think that although we need some sort of restriction, it is necessary to some extent.

(Tachibana)

• Time has come to consider sharing information by linking employment management and immigration control.

(Iguchi)

• We need to indicate a vision or tactic concerning the movement of people in East Asia, and seek out the best methods of dealing with an aging population with a declining birthrate. We also need to introduce a new system that will serve as a database for managing employment and residence, and to hold a vision that allows us to solve these three issues.
• Regarding the movement of foreign students within the East Asian region, I think that the development of human resources must be reinforced.
  Under strict cost restrictions, accepting foreign helpers for long-term care and nurses is not easy; it requires close discussion. They must not turn into low-wage helpers or disposable assistant nurses. This will have repercussions on working conditions of Japanese workers as well. Moreover, quality human resources will not be secured in such ways.
• When considering the issue of foreign workers, discussion within the community is indispensable. There is a need to establish a system that links foreigner registration and employment management, thus enabling a verification of who lives in what part of a given municipality and whether or not this person is eligible for social insurance.

(Ito)

• I agree with the recognition of simple work within a certain framework. I also agree with the systematization of immigration control and employment management. Regarding helpers, there is a considerable lack of human resources in this area, and demand for it is large. I don't think it matters how many foreigners come to work in this field, as long as there are people willing to come.

3. Floor Open Discussion

(Floor 1)

• What are specific methods for the systematization of immigration control and employment management?

(Tachibana)

• This is specifically indicated in "Recommendations for Accepting Non-Japanese Workers" presented by Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation).

(Iguchi)

• Since there are various methods employed in European countries as well, "best practices" should be studied.

(Floor 2)

• Concerning long-term care workers, which is a better policy: foreigners already working in Japan, or additional acceptance of workers from overseas as a breakthrough for FTA negotiations and such?

(Ito)

• As long as foreign workers are certified, I think we should go ahead and accept workers on an entirely equal basis.

(Iguchi)

• Basically, I agree. However, even if workers are certified, for unstable jobs and helpers for long-term care, we need to come up with an idea so that workers are not tied down to adverse conditions.

(Floor 3)

• With regard to securing quality human resources from overseas, as mentioned earlier, what will happen to the countries of origin that lose these workers?

(Iguchi)

• Many people argue that movement will be extremely comprehensive. Therefore, there is no need to be deeply concerned about brain drain limited to specific areas. The Philippineshas the capacity to send out a significant labor force. A concern would be the influence in China and South Korea 20 or 30 years later, when the birthrate will drop in these countries.

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