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This is an opinion piece backed up with practically no information whatsoever. If you want to know about immigration policy in Japan, you need look no further

This is an opinion piece backed up with practically no information whatsoever. If you want to know about immigration policy in Japan, you need look no further Japan's ministry of foreign affairs website. For example, here are the categories where you can get a long term visa [0] You will notice there is a points system [1]. You need 70 points to get in. A degree gives you 10 points. A salary of ~$100K gives you 40 points. Being under 30 gives you 15 points. Having 5 years of experience gives you 10 points. N1 on JLTP gives you 15 points. I mean, it's ridiculous. And this is a 5 year visa with relaxed permanent residence requirements, ability to sponsor your parents, ability to work in any field (even jobs that aren't related to your skill set!!!). The list goes on! And if by some incredibly unfortunate circumstance you can't qualify for that, there are still over 10 categories where you basically only need a relevant university degree and a job offer for a 3 year visa. And if that isn't enough, you can start a company in Japan with about ~$50K and sponsor a business visa for yourself. My wife is Japanese and I'm here on a spousal visa. The application process took 1 week and was free. I am also eligible for relaxed permanent residence status. Seriously, compare this to your home country and then come back and tell me that Japan doesn't want immigration. Now if you want to know why Japan doesn't have a lot of immigration, it's because it is difficult for foreigners to live here if they can't speak Japanese and/or they can't accept Japanese culture. But as far as the government is concerned, the red carpet has been rolled out for a long time. If you have an established company in many foreign countries and wish to open a branch office in Japan (so that you can transfer people here), the government will even give you free assistance! [0] - http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/long/index.html http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/long/index.html [1] - http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_3/en/pdf/point_calculation_forms.pdf http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_3/en/pdf/point_calculat...

zcbenz 9y ago
What's more, if you get 80 points, you can apply for permanent residency after staying Japan for only 1 year.
jpatokal 9y ago
Japan's primary problem, though, is not a lack of skilled professionals (although as someone involved in hiring bilingual IT professionals there, I can assure you that's a problem too), but a lack of unskilled/low-skilled workers to work in agriculture, nursing, etc. And Japan is not at all keen on this type of immigration. As a simple example, Japan invited a bunch of Filipino nurses to work in Japan for a while, and they could stay if they completed the Japanese national nursing exam... in Japanese: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/pinoyabroad/253140/13-pinoy-nurses-pass-tough-japan-nursing-exams/story/ http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/pinoyabroad/253140/13-pi... Surprise surprise, the pass rate was 8%, and many of those who passed have returned home: http://news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/04/13/16/some-filipino-health-workers-turn-backs-on-opportunities-in-japan http://news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/04/13/16/some-filipi... Instead, there's ever-increasing abuse of various "trainee" and "language student" visa programs to cycle in and out what amounts to indentured labor, with zero prospects for actually staying in the country: http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/travel/welcome-to-the-worlds-worst-internship/news-story/eeda395f79c84f4afde4744837724505 http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/travel/welcome-to-th...
- mikekchar 9y ago
  Yes, the Filipino nurse situation was a debacle (and for the most part continues to be). However, the government has been routinely extending visas for those involved [0]. The reality of the situation is that it is very hard to live here if you are a foreigner with that kind of job. In the town where I live something like 22 of the 130 or so foreigners who live here are Filipino nurses. I've met some who have stayed for 4-5 years, but most cycle through pretty quickly -- not victims of immigration policy, but more victims of not being able to live and work in Japan without speaking Japanese. My wife used to work at the retirement home nearby and it is a hard job. It is completely unrealistic to bring in foreigners to do it unless they have extensive experience with the Japanese language and Japanese customs. The same can also be said for other kinds of "cultural" visas. I've only ever met 1 person on a cultural visa and her stay was a disaster. I know some people on the city council and they decided never to do it again. As for migrant workers... or even non-migrant workers who are willing to farm. I have no idea what the government intends to do, but it's getting desperate out my way. I live in Shizuoka prefecture and we're losing something like 10% of our population every year and nobody wants to farm. I've met a couple from England who got visas to farm here and they have done very well by renting land (which you can get virtually for free). But I agree that something needs to be done. So, no, it's not nirvana by any stretch of the imagination. But I think the image that people have (fuelled by stories like the one that started this thread) is grossly misaligned with reality. [0] http://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/02/03/17/japan-to-extend-stay-of-caregivers-trainee-nurses http://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/02/03/17/japan-to-extend-st...
andy_ppp 9y ago
Yes, I was shocked when I arrived how easy it actually is to get a working visa! Almost anywhere else is more difficult.
cgarrigue 9y ago
Salaries in Japan are much lower than in the Bay Area: many Japanese companies use a salary grid and reaching the 10 million yen mark requires decades in the same company. It might be possible to get such a salary much earlier in some startups, and it is certainly possible for people detached from a foreign company. For everybody else following the same route as Japanese people the highly skilled professional visa is very difficult to get.
fzeroracer 9y ago
This ignores the issue that while Japan opens the red carpet for people to move and work in Japan, once you get past the welcoming mat you enter the vaunted Japanese Business Grind where you get to deal with incredibly long working hours, abuse and shitty pay. This is before you even start talking about black companies. The reason why foreigners have trouble accepting Japanese culture is because work culture in Japan is so incredibly toxic except in rare circumstances that you don't bother adapting and you don't bother learning.
- RandomInteger4 9y ago
  Black companies? As in Black Market or Yakuza?
  - micaksica 9y ago
    "Burakku Kigyou" are (usually) white-collar 'sweatshop' type companies. Long hours, bad pay. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term)
- jpatokal 9y ago
  Not sure what's up with the downvotes: that's a harsh but accurate assessment of what it's like to work at the average large Japanese company.
darklajid 9y ago
I just got a (admittedly: limited to 2 years for now, bound to the corporate sponsor) working visa for Singapore. Looking at your description: - I don't have a recognized degree (I do, but .. it's complicated) - I never had, nor will for the foreseeable future, reach 100k USD (DE doesn't pay like that, neither will SG in the future based on sources like Glassdoor etc.) - I'm over 30 I guess what I'm trying to say is: For me the list you provided is merely a curiosity and doesn't feel like I would have a good way to migrate to Japan if I'd like to. It was trivial for Singapore. "Incredibly unfortunate circumstances" seem to imply that you believe that nearly anyone can check all the boxes. Which for the salary requirement alone seems rather insane from my European point of view. That said: I have no clue about immigration requirements for Germany, so I cannot compare Japan to my home country. DE might be worse.
- StudyAnimal 9y ago
  Germany is very immigrant friendly. No cultural bullshit, everyone speaks English and German is easy to learn. Fuck Japan they are just putting up bullshit barriers cos they are racist. Stay in germany.
- jaredklewis 9y ago
  Indeed, the kind of visa discussed is actually one of the more difficult ones to get. Most people come in on category based visas which have more restrictions, but more lax requirements. Usually a university degree (for young folks) or a bunch of industry experience (for folks like yourself) is enough. No big salary or young age required.
tanilama 9y ago
> A salary of ~$100K gives you 40 points That is incredibly high for Japanese standard... Even Google JP engineers might not be paid for that much, and they are the top of the food chain. Most engineers I know, their salary is around 40k-50k a year. Apparently, Japan doesn't want below exceptional engineers in their country, which is a fair requirement, but hardly a welcoming one.
- pyroinferno 9y ago
  >Most engineers I know, their salary is around 40k-50k a year. Really? I was getting paid around that for my first internship. Do you live in the States?
mnm1 9y ago
So just be in your twenties with a degree, making $100k, and have 5 years of experience and you're in for five years. Why would someone like that want to move to Japan when they could flourish just about anywhere else in the world including many places where the business culture doesn't amount to white collar slavery? These are the same type of insane regulations the current administration is, appropriately, criticized for trying to bring to the U.S. Seems like an extremely high bar to me.

zcbenz 9y ago

What's more, if you get 80 points, you can apply for permanent residency after staying Japan for only 1 year.

jpatokal 9y ago

Japan's primary problem, though, is not a lack of skilled professionals (although as someone involved in hiring bilingual IT professionals there, I can assure you that's a problem too), but a lack of unskilled/low-skilled workers to work in agriculture, nursing, etc. And Japan is not at all keen on this type of immigration. As a simple example, Japan invited a bunch of Filipino nurses to work in Japan for a while, and they could stay if they completed the Japanese national nursing exam... in Japanese: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/pinoyabroad/253140/13-pinoy-nurses-pass-tough-japan-nursing-exams/story/ http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/pinoyabroad/253140/13-pi... Surprise surprise, the pass rate was 8%, and many of those who passed have returned home: http://news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/04/13/16/some-filipino-health-workers-turn-backs-on-opportunities-in-japan http://news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/04/13/16/some-filipi... Instead, there's ever-increasing abuse of various "trainee" and "language student" visa programs to cycle in and out what amounts to indentured labor, with zero prospects for actually staying in the country: http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/travel/welcome-to-the-worlds-worst-internship/news-story/eeda395f79c84f4afde4744837724505 http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/travel/welcome-to-th...

mikekchar 9y ago
Yes, the Filipino nurse situation was a debacle (and for the most part continues to be). However, the government has been routinely extending visas for those involved [0]. The reality of the situation is that it is very hard to live here if you are a foreigner with that kind of job. In the town where I live something like 22 of the 130 or so foreigners who live here are Filipino nurses. I've met some who have stayed for 4-5 years, but most cycle through pretty quickly -- not victims of immigration policy, but more victims of not being able to live and work in Japan without speaking Japanese. My wife used to work at the retirement home nearby and it is a hard job. It is completely unrealistic to bring in foreigners to do it unless they have extensive experience with the Japanese language and Japanese customs. The same can also be said for other kinds of "cultural" visas. I've only ever met 1 person on a cultural visa and her stay was a disaster. I know some people on the city council and they decided never to do it again. As for migrant workers... or even non-migrant workers who are willing to farm. I have no idea what the government intends to do, but it's getting desperate out my way. I live in Shizuoka prefecture and we're losing something like 10% of our population every year and nobody wants to farm. I've met a couple from England who got visas to farm here and they have done very well by renting land (which you can get virtually for free). But I agree that something needs to be done. So, no, it's not nirvana by any stretch of the imagination. But I think the image that people have (fuelled by stories like the one that started this thread) is grossly misaligned with reality. [0] http://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/02/03/17/japan-to-extend-stay-of-caregivers-trainee-nurses http://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/02/03/17/japan-to-extend-st...

andy_ppp 9y ago

Yes, I was shocked when I arrived how easy it actually is to get a working visa! Almost anywhere else is more difficult.

cgarrigue 9y ago

Salaries in Japan are much lower than in the Bay Area: many Japanese companies use a salary grid and reaching the 10 million yen mark requires decades in the same company. It might be possible to get such a salary much earlier in some startups, and it is certainly possible for people detached from a foreign company. For everybody else following the same route as Japanese people the highly skilled professional visa is very difficult to get.

fzeroracer 9y ago

This ignores the issue that while Japan opens the red carpet for people to move and work in Japan, once you get past the welcoming mat you enter the vaunted Japanese Business Grind where you get to deal with incredibly long working hours, abuse and shitty pay. This is before you even start talking about black companies. The reason why foreigners have trouble accepting Japanese culture is because work culture in Japan is so incredibly toxic except in rare circumstances that you don't bother adapting and you don't bother learning.

RandomInteger4 9y ago
Black companies? As in Black Market or Yakuza?
- micaksica 9y ago
  "Burakku Kigyou" are (usually) white-collar 'sweatshop' type companies. Long hours, bad pay. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term)
jpatokal 9y ago
Not sure what's up with the downvotes: that's a harsh but accurate assessment of what it's like to work at the average large Japanese company.

darklajid 9y ago

I just got a (admittedly: limited to 2 years for now, bound to the corporate sponsor) working visa for Singapore. Looking at your description: - I don't have a recognized degree (I do, but .. it's complicated) - I never had, nor will for the foreseeable future, reach 100k USD (DE doesn't pay like that, neither will SG in the future based on sources like Glassdoor etc.) - I'm over 30 I guess what I'm trying to say is: For me the list you provided is merely a curiosity and doesn't feel like I would have a good way to migrate to Japan if I'd like to. It was trivial for Singapore. "Incredibly unfortunate circumstances" seem to imply that you believe that nearly anyone can check all the boxes. Which for the salary requirement alone seems rather insane from my European point of view. That said: I have no clue about immigration requirements for Germany, so I cannot compare Japan to my home country. DE might be worse.

StudyAnimal 9y ago
Germany is very immigrant friendly. No cultural bullshit, everyone speaks English and German is easy to learn. Fuck Japan they are just putting up bullshit barriers cos they are racist. Stay in germany.
jaredklewis 9y ago
Indeed, the kind of visa discussed is actually one of the more difficult ones to get. Most people come in on category based visas which have more restrictions, but more lax requirements. Usually a university degree (for young folks) or a bunch of industry experience (for folks like yourself) is enough. No big salary or young age required.

tanilama 9y ago

> A salary of ~$100K gives you 40 points That is incredibly high for Japanese standard... Even Google JP engineers might not be paid for that much, and they are the top of the food chain. Most engineers I know, their salary is around 40k-50k a year. Apparently, Japan doesn't want below exceptional engineers in their country, which is a fair requirement, but hardly a welcoming one.

pyroinferno 9y ago
>Most engineers I know, their salary is around 40k-50k a year. Really? I was getting paid around that for my first internship. Do you live in the States?

mnm1 9y ago

So just be in your twenties with a degree, making $100k, and have 5 years of experience and you're in for five years. Why would someone like that want to move to Japan when they could flourish just about anywhere else in the world including many places where the business culture doesn't amount to white collar slavery? These are the same type of insane regulations the current administration is, appropriately, criticized for trying to bring to the U.S. Seems like an extremely high bar to me.