26 cities request emergency support for foreign workers

Thursday 18th December, 06:45 AM JST

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Dogdog at 08:29 AM JST - 18th December

This is the failure of Japan to have an adequate welfare state in place. Instead of spending the fat of the land from the good years of a cheap yen by making preparations for the inevitable bad times to come, the politicians spent the money on struttung the world stage and dishing our taxes out to any Tom, Dick or Harry, building the fifth baseball practice field in a village full of geriatrics/Kyushu, laying another shinkansen track to northern nowhere/Honshu, and building another state of the art motorway used only by the bears/Hokkaido.

This crises situation would never have happened in the UK, a similar nuclear family industrialized society to japan, where social security and housing benefits are paid regardless of previous employment status or NI contributions.

Now in these times of 'real' economic troubles - very different from 1973 where the oil shock caused a hitch in Japanese economic progression or the deflationary period 1985-95 where the japanese government had the financial resources to subsidize people into work - will come the true test of Japanese 'democracy'. Whether the Japanese people are ready to weather it out under the present system or fall for the temptations of a right wing strongman demagogue/cliche.

Personally I think japanese democracy is very shallow and was accepted as the unquestioning way to economic prosperity. With that economic prosperity gone and sure never to return by the old export economic model, the Japanese will ditch it pretty quickly for a fatherlike figure along the model of Ishihara.
franz75 at 08:39 AM JST - 18th December

Dogdog: I do prefer seeing people "working" than just staying in line to receive their unemployement benefit.

Expect the average Taro to go crazy if he get fired and hearing that cities are trying to protect foreigners.

I predict the rise of the nationalists and more crimes comitted by foreigners too.
saborichan at 08:45 AM JST - 18th December

Help! We no longer need our cheap labour and nobody else will hire them. Send them home for us!
tkoind2 at 09:16 AM JST - 18th December

Dead on comment. Sadly this is the real case. What do do with all the now useless cheap labor.

2009 looks pretty dark no matter what country you are in. But here it looks particularly dangerous because of the very weak political structure of Japan and the very easily led society. Let us hope that the political apathy that has harmed Japan may also save it from regression.
sydenham at 09:31 AM JST - 18th December

Dogdog, let's clear some things up here.

You misinterpret the Ishihara phenomenon. His popularity lies not with the fact that he is a nationalist. Rather, is is that he is viewed as holding the greater good of Japanese people in general as his first priority (whether this is actually true or not).

franz75, rightly concludes that certain smaller groups will inevitably react in unproductive ways. Unemployed foreigners and natives alike are always much more likely to resort to criminal behavior in hard times. However, I assure you that the greater masses in Japan are, at heart, socialists, whether nationalist or not.

And you should also know that the kind of social welfare system a country chooses to adopt has everything to do with social conditions in that particular country. The UK is no more dissimilar to Japan, than Sweden is to Spain, or Germany is to Canada. They are all varying degrees of the same ideal, just with differing methods of application, dependent entirely on local conditions. Just because the UK gov't is happy to hand out the dole to people who won't even try to find a job doesn't mean that it's the best system for everyone in the world. Ask people in the UK about this kind of problem and many will just shrug and give you a very Japanese "shouganai" for an answer.

Moderator: Readers, please stay on topic and keep the discussion focused on the story. Comparisons to other countries are, of course, irrelevant.
Speed at 10:32 AM JST - 18th December

Most of the stablizing factors of this society have been done away with. The "until retirement" job security that was enjoyed by most workers have been replaced by temps and contract workers. I can't emphasize enough how important job security is to maintaining stability and low-crime rates.
depasio at 10:40 AM JST - 18th December

Well its very sad but these people knew what they were getting into with temporary work, temporary meaning its only until we need you. As a foriegner in Japan your job is never secure( anywhere in the world actually) unless you own your own so always prepare for the worst. The government has to find a way to help Japanese and foreign temp workers to keep there jobs and of course they will favour the Citizens first but not in an up front manner.I think the Brazillians will be O.K. because they are a large number of them and im sure they can come together and create something wonderful to make a lively hood, their culture is so rich to be put down.May GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOOD LUCK FOR 2009
sangetsu at 10:42 AM JST - 18th December

>

This is the failure of Japan to have an adequate welfare state in place. Instead of spending the fat of the land from the good years of a cheap yen by making preparations for the inevitable bad times to come, the politicians spent the money on struttung the world stage and dishing our taxes out to any Tom, Dick or Harry, building the fifth baseball practice field in a village full of geriatrics/Kyushu, laying another shinkansen track to northern nowhere/Honshu, and building another state of the art motorway used only by the bears/Hokkaido.

This crises situation would never have happened in the UK, a similar nuclear family industrialized society to japan, where social security and housing benefits are paid regardless of previous employment status or NI contributions.

Now in these times of 'real' economic troubles - very different from 1973 where the oil shock caused a hitch in Japanese economic progression or the deflationary period 1985-95 where the japanese government had the financial resources to subsidize people into work - will come the true test of Japanese 'democracy'. Whether the Japanese people are ready to weather it out under the present system or fall for the temptations of a right wing strongman demagogue/cliche.

Personally I think japanese democracy is very shallow and was accepted as the unquestioning way to economic prosperity. With that economic prosperity gone and sure never to return by the old export economic model, the Japanese will ditch it pretty quickly for a fatherlike figure along the model of Ishihara.

Interesting, but not exactly accurate. The "welfare state" mentality is nonsense, perhaps you should compare the average employment rates of Japan and welfare heavy Europe over the last decade, and see which is lower. As of last month, Japan's unemployment rate was half that of Europe.

It's interesting to see how much an effect that American consumerism has upon the world, and seemingly, how much the world's economy relies upon it. Were it not for American consumerism, the welfare states of Western Europe would not be able to sustain themselves.

There was nothing wrong with the "old" economic model. But in recent years the governments of Europe and America have increased regulation and taxation steadily, to the point where the majority of a company's income is spent to pay for them. First, there is business tax, then personal income tax, property tax, various licensing requirements, compliance costs, land tax, utility tax, local income tax, sales tax, vehicle tax and registration, as well as fines and such. And then there are retirement contributions and healthcare. The costs of running a business are becoming endless. There really is no such thing as a true "free market economy" anymore.

People are complaining about how the US automakers do not deserve a bailout because of their inefficient business practices, but they are many times more efficient with than our government is. And, surprisingly, there are people who think that the government doesn't regulate enough, that taxes should be even higher in order to help people when "hard times" come.

What happens when industry can no longer afford to pay? Companies will close their doors, and there will be no one left for the government to tax. Then what? I guess we can become like Zimbabwe.
depasio at 10:50 AM JST - 18th December

Prostitutes, pimpms and drug dealers your job market will be flooded. now is the time for them to study CRM ( custumer relationship managment) Im just being real.
nigelboy at 10:56 AM JST - 18th December

Foreign workers, including those with Japanese ancestry, are often employed on a temporary basis.

Dear Kyodo. You shouldn't stop there. The reason why foreign workers (Nikkei Brazilian especially) are often employed on the temporary basis is because they chose to be temporary. They even have their own term for this called "Dakasegi".

The issue was somewhat addressed on the NHK news last night where a "Dekasegi" Nikkei Brazilian was interviewed. He came with his wife ten years ago and had since had four kids with the eldest being 9 years old. In the interview, he spoke in Porteguese. The eldest daughter is enrolled in Brazillian school. The aforementioned situation is very typical of the Nikkei Brazilian community which highlights the fact that many were never intended on assimiliating to the Japanese society as the "Dekassegi" term indicates.
pointofview at 12:58 PM JST - 18th December

Support for job/financial security is very important. But it`s nice that these regions took action and made the emergency request for foreign workers rather then ignoring them. Good intentions indeed. Hopefully the emergency support will help keep things a little less chaotic during these times.
Orchid64 at 01:28 PM JST - 18th December

The main issue is that, while Japan may not need these temporary workers now, the current climate of crisis is not going to be permanent. It's not so simple a situation as to solve the problem by sending the foreign workers back to their home countries because they time may come around when their labor is needed and they will be unwilling to come back. That cheap labor may be worth investing in keeping them in Japan so that they are available when needed. The Japanese people, in general, tend not to understand that the presence of foreign workers in Japan helps them by lowering the cost of products and keeping the wages of the Japanese managers high (and the profits of the companies high) by paying foreigners less.

It may be very worthwhile to support their stays in Japan with tax dollars because there may be a greater cost once the current economic crisis passes (as it will eventually). Short-term thinking (temporary workers are no longer needed) with pat answers (deport them) to problems rarely serves anyone in the long run.
nigelboy at 01:48 PM JST - 18th December

It's not so simple a situation as to solve the problem by sending the foreign workers back to their home countries because they time may come around when their labor is needed and they will be unwilling to come back

Nikkei Brazilians? No. It's been increasing even after the bubble burst. Also, there are many "repeaters" (move back to Brazil then come back to Japan" which accounted for 34% of Brazilians in 1998.

http://www.jil.go.jp/jil/happyou/98090701jil/98090701jil.html
mael at 05:22 PM JST - 18th December

They should send them home if they are no use here.

I wish my country had done the same thing before it was filled with pseudo-refugee welfare-scroungers.
elbudamexicano at 12:19 PM JST - 23rd December

Japan can not live without the foreign cheap labor, out side of Tokyo, most of the factories are running thanks to all the poor Brazilians, Peruvians, Koreans, Chinesese etc..doing all the jobs that Japanese feel they are too good to do and let the 3rd worlders do but now, even the Japanese want these 3rd world jobs!