The Japanese Government and Immigration: A Duality of Policy in Media and Government Documents

The Japanese government implemented what can be perceived as a short-term fix for the lack of available workforce by easing immigration restrictions and supporting a rapid influx of international workers at a level never seen by the country. To better understand the reality and prioritization of immigration in Japan, this paper will compare documents released by governmental agencies with written newspaper articles directed towards domestic and international audiences. This comparison will expose and highlight the dissonance in perspectives concerning the effectiveness of Japan’s immigration policy. Through examining Japan’s domestic newspapers and policies and outward-facing media, including governmental agencies’ documents aimed at international audiences, this dissonance emerges to reveal a cacophony of competing views over the current stage of immigration policy. Moreover, this comparison unveils how Japan walks a tightrope of fluctuating communication strategies to showcase effective immigration, such as assimilation and diversification, while enacting policies that support the use of immigration for economic purposes merely for short-term support, and how that dissonance is bleeding into the perceptions of media.