Thread by @observingjapan

In 2017: 1) Japan's population fell for the 9th straight year, to 125.2 million; 2) its working-age population fell below 60% of the total for the first time; and 3) its foreign population increased 7.5% to a record-high of just under 2.5 million. nikkei.com/paper/article/…

They're not necessarily *immigrants* but ever so steadily the door is opening to foreign labor to compensate for that declining native workforce.

If you can even call a 7.5% annual increase "steady."

Meanwhile, metropolitan Japan - Tokyo region, Kansai region, Nagoya region - continued to grow, and were more than half the national population for the 12 straight year.

A separate article breaks down some of the data regarding foreign residents: nikkei.com/paper/article/….

Some facts:
- One in ten twenty-somethings in the Tokyo metropolitan area is foreign
- 7% of 7-11's employees nationwide are foreign, roughly 35,000 people
- Roughly 30% of the foreign population is Chinese, with Vietnamese and Nepalese populations increasing

These are still largely unskilled workers coming via study and training programs, but the implication seems to be that even if these are not eventual permanent residents, dealing with the influx will change how Japan deals with foreign residents in numerous ways.

To that end, Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga indicated that the government will establish a cabinet committee this month to discuss legal changes regarding increasing Japan's intake of foreign workers. nikkei.com/paper/article/…

(I knew this thread would be like catnip for @Noahpinion.)

Also bears mentioning that the foreign trainee program that many of these new foreign workers are using to enter Japan has a history of abuses. While some legislative changes were made in 2016, as more arrive under the program, more needs to be done.

See:
- japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/01/0…
- asahi.com/ajw/articles/A…
- asahi.com/ajw/articles/A…
- P. 20 of the State Department's 2017 human rights report for Japan: state.gov/documents/orga…