More Japanese open to foreign workers as labour crunch bites, despite concerns of ‘different values’

The Japanese public appears to have come around to the conclusion that more foreign workers are needed to keep the country functioning, with a new poll indicating 62 per cent of respondents support the government’s policy of granting more visas for skilled personnel.

That figure is up significantly from just 44 per cent the last time the Asahi newspaper conducted a similar public opinion poll, in 2018.

Yet there is still resistance to greater immigration in some circles, with conservatives expressing concern over an influx of foreign nationals with “different values” from Japanese people.

“Japan has traditionally been very welcoming to foreign people, and we prospered because we learned new technologies and skills from European and other countries in the Meiji era, enabling Japan to become an industrialised nation,” said Ken Kato, a politically conservative businessman from Tokyo.

“But I believe we should choose very carefully with the people who come to Japan in the future,” he said. “We need skilled workers, but we do not need people with radical ideologies who will try to change our society and cause problems.

“We do not want to repeat the mistakes that European countries made with unrestricted immigration.”

The Asahi poll, conducted between February and April and released on Monday, showed that 29 per cent of those taking part remained opposed to the government relaxing rules on visas, down from 46 per cent in 2018.

A shift to greater acceptance of foreign workers was recorded across all age groups but was, perhaps surprisingly, most pronounced among older people. Among those aged 70 or older, the rate went from 38 per cent six years ago to 62 per cent in the most recent survey.

Among people in their teens and 20s, the rate