Japanese immigration policy has been restrictive. However, the current Abe administration shows some interest in relaxing the policy; in particular, they are willing to accommodate low-skilled immigrants to compensate for a labor shortage partly caused by aging population and low fertility rates. The immigration policy turn is against the findings of many previous studies including my own that natives prefer to have more high-skilled immigrants. In this lecture, I draw on Peters (2017) and explore whether this immigration policy development can be explained by business interests rather than public opinion (or both). I present paired original surveys – one with business elites and the other with the general public – and explore relationships between business interests, public opinion, and immigration policies.
Seiki Tanaka is Assistant Professor of International Relations in the
Department of International Relations and International Organization
at the University of Groningen. He studies the microfoundations of
social diversity and conflicts and how different groups of people can
co-exist within a society in an era of globalization and technological
advancement. He received his doctoral degree in Political Science from
the University of Tokyo.
Series: Yale Project on Japan’s Politics and Diplomacy Series