The number of cats kept as pets is on the way to overtaking that of dogs in Japan, while the number of children continues to drop steadily. In the fast-aging nation with people increasingly living alone, cats are finding favor because dogs are more demanding and need to be walked, according to Kaoru Souma, secretary general of Japan Pet Food Association.
I’ve been saying that the current unsustainable demographical trends in Japan will require the liberalization of migration policies which would allow inflows of foreign workers to offset the nation’s swiftly declining fertility rate (negative population growth).
Chart from Wikipedia.org
So far, rigid bureaucratic requirements has posed as a stumbling block, but this seems likely to change.
From Japan Times,
Non-Japanese applicants hoping to become certified nurses could see the government's notoriously rigorous exams get easier with the inclusion of English-language tests and a new set of communication exams based on basic Japanese.
Non-Japanese hoping to become care workers took the certification test for the first time Sunday, while those aspiring to become certified nurses have been applying for the exam since fiscal 2008.
But the low pass rate is prompting the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry to consider changing the system.
As I wrote last year
I’d bet cultural inhibitions extrapolated through politics will eventually pave way to embracing reality.
And reality check translates to policy changes.
We have been forecasting that Japan, given its demographics, will eventually be compelled to liberalize its labor markets, despite the popular aversion to accept migrant workers.
Here is what I wrote in 2009,
And as its economy recovers, Japan's dwindling population (see the above chart from japanfocus.org) will endure strains from labor shortages.
While Japan can easily absorb more foreign workers when it is deemed as politically convenient, it would bear additional costs from the "learning curve" to integrate foreign workers to its society.
I guess the political pressures for such liberalization appears to be mounting, and seems even to emanate from the political class.
It isn’t just Japan’s demographic conditions that have been impelling for such changes but likewise China’s demographic trends—where the latter may provide competition for foreign workers.
This from Japan Times,
Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara called Wednesday for appropriate rules to accept more foreign workers ahead of an anticipated severe labor shortage in rapidly aging Japan, warning that China's eventual "supergraying society" could soak up migrant workers…
"If China seeks nurses and caregivers from neighboring Asian countries in 10 to 20 years' time, Japan, which already suffers from a shortage of staff, will compete with a country that has 10 times more people to secure medical workers," he said.
The foreign minister criticized the health ministry for being reluctant to accept more foreign nurses and caregivers and prioritizing the employment of existing qualified Japanese who are not working right now.
I’d bet cultural inhibitions extrapolated through politics will eventually pave way to embracing reality.
