Japanese Diaspora - Return Migration To Japan

Return Migration To Japan

In the 1980s, with Japan's growing economy facing a shortage of workers willing to do so-called three 'K' jobs (きつい kitsui, 汚い kitanai, and 危険 kiken ), Japan's Ministry of Labor began to grant visas to ethnic Japanese from South America to come to Japan and work in factories. The vast majority — estimated at roughly 300,000 — were from Brazil, but there is also a large population from Peru(non-Japanese-Peruvian with false documentation that is about 36% of total Japanese-Peruvian population in Japan) and smaller populations from Argentina and other Latin American countries.

In response to the recession as of 2009, the Japanese government has offered ¥300,000 ($3,300) for unemployed Japanese from Latin America to return to their country of origin with the stated goal of alleviating the country's soaring unemployment. Another ¥200,000 ($2,200) is offered for each additional family member to leave. Emigrants who take this offer are not allowed to return to Japan with the same privileged visa with which they entered the country. A columnist for the Japan Times, an English language newspaper in Japan, denounced the policy as "racist" as it only offered Japanese-blooded foreigners who possessed the special "person of Japanese ancestry" visa the option to receive money in return for repatriation to their home countries. Some commentators also accused it of being exploitative since most nikkei had been offered incentives to immigrate to Japan in 1990, were regularly reported to work 60+ hours per week, and were finally asked to return home when the Japanese became unemployed in large numbers.