A dispute has erupted between a group of Chinese apprentices and strawberry farms in Japan after one farm sacked a group of students and tried to force them to leave the country.A total of 15 apprentices have fled from the farm operators and are demanding a total of about 52.25 million yen in unpaid wages for the past three years.Sources close to the case said that the 15 male apprentices, from China’s Shandong and Heilongjiang provinces, came to Japan in the spring of 2005 as farm trainees. After one year of training, they got work at seven strawberry farms and expected to continue their jobs until this spring.

However, in December last year the Choboen strawberry farm in Tsuga informed five of the apprentices that they were being dismissed due to a poor harvest. The farm had a guard accompany them and put them on a bus to Narita Airport and tried to make them return to China, which caused a scuffle to break out.

The five apprentices contacted the Tokyo-based Zentoitsu Workers Union [an ally of NUGW Tokyo Nambu], which supports foreign trainees and skilled apprentices, and 10 foreign workers from six other farms joined up with them afterwards.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080129p2a00m0na022000c.html

JAPAN’S POPULATION DECLINE

“By 2050, Japan’s population will have shrunk from the current 127 million to about 90 million, and to about 40 million by the end of the century. By my calculations, we need 10 million new immigrants by midcentury to survive as a nation,” Hidenori Sakanaka, former head of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, said at a recent symposium in Osaka on Japan’s future as an immigrant nation.?

Over the past few years, as the reality of the combination of a declining birthrate and rapidly aging population set in, politicians, the Justice Ministry, and powerful business lobbies like the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) have offered various proposals on how certain numbers of skilled foreign workers might be admitted.

Estimates by the government, the United Nations and various human rights groups have shown that, in order to maintain current living standards and economic output, Japan will need up to 30 million foreigners by 2050.

But over the past few years, most government proposals for bringing in foreign laborers have emphasized limiting their numbers and the length of time they are allowed to stay.

Sakanaka and other immigration experts worry such thinking will lead to policies that will discourage ? rather than encourage ? foreign workers from coming to Japan.

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May lead to better services, more control

Under the new system, long-term foreign residents will get registration cards at airports and local immigration offices, which will then be used to register their information at local governments.

The data will be controlled in a similar manner as for Japanese citizens, and used to compile information for taxation, health insurance programs and census-taking. Special permanent residents, including those in Japan before the war and their descendants, are also expected to be listed in the new registry system.

Makoto Miyaguchi, an official of Minokamo, Gifu Prefecture, which has a large Brazilian population, said the current law is not sufficient to provide administrative services for foreigners in his city.

“Since the current system does not gather detailed information, we have often been unable to give adequate services for foreigners in the area,” including school guidance for parents and information on welfare services, he said.

Approximately 10 percent, or 50,000 residents, in Minokamo are registered foreigners.

Miyaguchi said that both his city and its foreign population will benefit from the overall detailed management, since it will be able to better track locations and the status of foreign individuals and households.

But while some suggest that the new system will view foreigners as legitimate residents instead of objects of supervision, others say it will only strengthen government control over foreigners while providing minimal improvement in their lives.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080126a1.html

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Justice have decided to abolish the Alien Registration Act’s system of residence administration, and adopt a register system similar to the basic resident register system for Japanese, it has been learned.Registration of foreigners under the act, which formerly involved fingerprinting, will end and certificates of alien registration for special permanent residents such as North and South Koreans residing in Japan will be done away with, though it is yet undecided whether new certificates will be issued in their place.

Both ministries plan to establish a framework plan for the new system by the end of March, and submit related bills to regular Diet sessions next year.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080125p2a00m0na004000c.html

Japan is looking to tighten controls on foreign residents to crack down on undocumented aliens and ensure that all households receive public services, Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama said Friday.

Japan largely sees itself as ethnically homogeneous and has consistently rejected wide-scale immigration despite having one of the world’s lowest birth rates.

It requires foreign residents to carry registration cards which are issued by municipal offices.

The system is often criticized as ineffective as foreigners do not need to re-register when moving and local offices often do not check with the central Immigration Bureau on applicants’ legal status.

“It doesn’t make sense that the foreign registration card is issued to people the Immigration Bureau considers illegal stayers,” Hatoyama told reporters.

He said the ministry is looking at “integrating administration concerning immigration control and registration of foreign residents.”

Specifically, the government is considering a new identification card issued by the central government and requiring residents to register every change of address, a ministry official said.

But the official said the government will likely exempt Koreans and Chinese whose families have resided in Japan for generations and currently still have to carry foreigners’ cards.

Some 700,000 Koreans live in Japan, mostly a legacy of those who immigrated or were enslaved during colonial rule, forming the largest minority group.

Human rights groups have long argued that the registration system prevents people of foreign origin from integrating in Japan.

Local authorities used to collect fingerprints of all foreign residents, even if their families lived in Japan for generations, under a system abolished in 2000.

But Japan last year started fingerprinting foreigners when they enter the country under a US-inspired system to prevent terrorists from entering.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20080125-114770/Japanese-govt-looks-at-tighter-controls-on-foreigners

Kazuo Kitagawa, secretary-general of ruling coalition partner Komeito, has voiced support for opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) leader Ichiro Ozawa’s suggestion of considering submitting a bill to give foreigners with permanent residence status the right to vote in local elections.”I would like a bill to be compiled and submitted,” Kitagawa said of the proposed move, adding that there had been arguments against it within the DPJ. “If they compiled it I would welcome that,” he said.

In a news conference on Tuesday, Ozawa said, “I’ve stressed before that the right for foreigners to vote in local elections should be granted. I’ve been criticized by long-time supporters, but the bottom line doesn’t change.”

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080124p2a00m0na011000c.html

Local governments in central Honshu unveiled a charter on Monday urging companies to help foreign workers adapt to Japanese society, officials said.

The Aichi, Gifu and Mie prefectural governments as well as the Nagoya Municipal Government have worked out the charter in cooperation with local business organizations including the Chubu Economic Federation.

The six-point charter urges companies in the region to improve working conditions for foreign workers, provide them with opportunities to deepen their understanding of Japanese culture and customs and help them and their families to integrate themselves into regional communities.

As of the end of 2006, there were approximately 310,000 registered foreign residents in these prefectures, accounting for about 15 percent of some 2.08 million across the country.

It has been pointed out that the employment of foreign workers, most of them working at factories, is insecure, and that many of them are not covered by social security programs. Moreover, they often have problems involving their children’s education and communication with Japanese residents because of language barriers.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080121p2a00m0na027000c.html