Is Japan’s Labor Structure on Transition? Lessons from the

Brazilian Labor in the Mie Prefecture

Ananda KumaraProfessor and Deputy PresidentSuzuka International University

Mie Prefecture, Japan

1

The Issue of Foreigners: Japan Vs Selected Countries

Australia, New Zealand, Canada 1. Share of Foreign Born PopulationVaries from 19% to 24%2. Share of Foreign Ppn: 6% to20%

Japan: Foreign Ppn 1.63(2011 ）　（ 1.74% in 2008)=>Foreign Population: VERY SMALL?=>YESJapan does (did) not accept foreigners like in many other OECD countries!But………….

2

Japan has been changing: The Issue of Population

• 1. Japan’s population is on decrease!Þ 2007: 127.7mn->2050:95.15mn people

• 2. Japan’s Investment in other countries, mainly in Asia has been on increase=>Production bases R being expanded to other countries (High Yen Value, High local costs, low costs in other countries, incentives for attracting FDI in other countries, trade deficit factors etc)

“Human resources factor” ~ “Foreigners”

Date/Ref: OECD, 2009

3

Permanent Residents Vs Non-Permanent Residents

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008400000

500000

600000

700000

800000

900000

1000000

1100000

1200000

1300000

1400000

626040625450626760635715657605684853

713775742963

778583801713837521

869986912361

789096

857257885356

920398

1028839

10936091137983

117206711951641209842

124739812829871305065Permanent Residents

Non-Permanent Residents

Permanent Residents

Non-Permanent

4

Working Visa Statistics （ persons ）

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 20080

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

2737729941 31285 31766

34739

4086144496 44943

47682

55276 5732361763

67291

11052 1287415242 15668 16531

19439 20717 2080723210

29044

35135

44684

52273① Specialist in Humanities/International Services

② Engineer

Intra-company Transferee

③ Investor/Business Manager

⑤Researcher

⑥Professor(Below)5

Non-Permanent Residents & the Share of Foreign Students

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 20080.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

7.51 6.80 6.74

7.02

7.48

8.56

9.70

10.72 10.87 10.71 10.57 10.32 10.61

3.81 3.39 3.47 3.75 3.67 3.82 4.15 4.31

3.62

2.33

2.94 2.97 3.17

2.65 3.01 3.06 2.89

3.52 3.49 3.43 3.81

4.54

4.47

5.65

6.87 6.65

7.70 7.50 7.42 7.46

7.08 7.21

7.30 6.96 6.85 7.11 7.32 7.65

8.25

College Student (% of Non-Permenet Res)Precollege Student (% of Non-Permenet Res)Trainee (% of Non-Permenet Res)Dependent (% of Non-Permenet Res)

Foreign Students

Pre-College Students

Trainees

Spouse

6

An Example: Data on the Recruitment of Foreigners (2007)

Scale (No. of Employees) Working Visa Granted %

1 ～ 49 4,153 　 40.5 　50 ～ 99 990 　　 9.6

100 ～ 299 1571 　 15.3

300 ～ 999 1,042 　 10.2

1,000 ～ 1,999 458 　　 4.5

2,000 ～ 1,085 　 10.6

Others 963 　　 9.4

Total 10,262 　 1007

Foreign Registrants in Japan 1991-2010:Country-Wise

1991 Immigration Law Ammendment

2008 Lehman Crisis

2009 Assistance for Returning to Home Country

2011 Earth Quake & Atomic Energy Disaster

Others

USA

Peru

3 Brazil

1 China

2 Korea(N&S)

4 Philippines

8

2011

-

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

674,879

545,401

210,032 209,376

52,843 49,815 44,690 42,750 24,660 21,501 20,383 15,496 10,849

Korea(So

uth&North)

ChinaBraz

il

Phillippines

Peru USA

Thaila

nd

Vietnam

Indonesia

India UK

Canad

a -

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000 598,219

560,741

312,979

193,488

58,721 51,321 39,618 32,485 24,858 18,906 17,804 11,893

2006

①China 674,879 ②Korea (South&North) 545,401 ③Brazil 210,032 ④Philippines 209,376

Note: China, Philippines Increased.Brazil, Korea decreased

①Korea(South&North) 598,219 ②China 560,741 ③Brazil 312,979 ④Philippines 193,488

Note: Lehman Crisis, Earth Quake & Nuclear Accident in the East Japan etc. negatively affected the number of foreigners 9

“Special Foreigners?”

• Chinese and Koreans are very high in numbers• Foreigners in general, cannot engage in manual

work!• => An Exception:• Descendants of Japanese migrants in the (other

countries) South America. Special Permission to engage in any kind of activity, including those are restricted for foreigners in general!<=from Brazil, Peru, Argentine etc: Special Foreigners

• The Largest number is from Brazil10

Age Composition of the Brazilians (2006~2011) (No of persons)

Y0-4 Y5-9 y10-14 y15-19 y20-24 y25-29 y30-34 y35-39 y40-44 y45-49 y50-54 y55-60 y60-64 y65-70 y70-74 -

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

50,000

17,959 18,611

12,876

17,340

36,546

43,728

39,375

33,463

29,227

23,109

18,030

12,387

7,390

2,114 628

2006

2011

Note: The change of the number of Brazilians in certain categories has been drastic between 2006 and 2011.

Y0-4 Y5-9 y10-14

y15-19

y20-24

y25-29

y30-34

y35-39

y40-44

y45-49

y50-54

y55-60

y60-64

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

5.7 5.9

4.1

5.5

11.7

14.0

12.6

10.7

9.3

7.4

5.8

4.0

2.4 5.5 6.0 6.1 4.8

7.0

10.5 11.9 11.3 10.4 9.3

6.4 5.2 3.0

2006(%)

11

Age Composition of the Brazilians 2006~2011(%)

Y0-4 Y5-9 y10-14 y15-19 y20-24 y25-29 y30-34 y35-39 y40-44 y45-49 y50-54 y55-60 y60-640.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

5.7 5.9

4.1

5.5

11.7

14.0

12.6

10.7

9.3

7.4

5.8

4.0

2.4 5.5 6.0 6.1 4.8

7.0

10.5 11.9 11.3

10.4 9.3

6.4 5.2

3.0

2006(%) 2011(%)

However, when the percentage in each catery is calculated, the change is not high as in case of the numbers 12

A Questionnaire & Interview Survey in the Mie Prefecture (Brazilians)

• Mie: Rural area, but with many manufacturing firms. Automobile (Honda, and subcontracting firms etc.) and electronics industries (Sharp, Toshiba, Sumitomo Denso etc.) are popular

• 3rd largest ratio of foreign population among the prefectures

• Many Brazilian workers (3rd largest number)• 1: Aichi Pref. (25.9), 2.Shizuoka Pref.(15.9), 3.Mie Pref.

(7.1%)•

13

Registered Foreigners in the Mie Prefecture (Total)

10,441

18,688 19,313

23,926

28,203

32,457

36,988

43,621

47,55149,304

51,638 53,082

49,07646,817 45,547

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

1989 1993 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Total Foreigners in Mie Prefecture

Total Foreigners

14

Brazilians in the Mie Prefecture 1993~2011

1989 1993 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

521

6,320 6,504

10,259

13,248

15,57417,064

19,095

20,659 20,801 21,33821,487

18,461

16,65115,232

Brazilians in the Mie Pref (1993~2011)

Brazilians

Many Brazilians left Mie/Japan after 2008 (Lehman Crisis) 15

Some Basic Analysis of the Survey

• Characteristics of the Brazilian Workers verses other BRICS workers

16

Change of End Country Language Skills: "Before" Vs "Now" in Japan

Before Coming to Japan Now in Japan1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

2.69

3.77

1.69

3.5

1.67

2.71

1.49

2.61

Russian

Chinese

Indian

Brazilian

Language capability of the migrants improves as the time passes.However, the Russians in Japan and better prepared for coming to Japan, and have high Japanese language skills even before the arrival. The improvement over the time also is high for the Russians in Japan. In case of Chinese people, the level of improvement is very high, when compared to the arrival period. Brazilians show the lowest level. The level of improvement remains almost the same for the Indians and the Brazilians. 17

Change of Language Skills: "Before" Vs "Now" in All Countries

Before Coming to Japan Now in Japan1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

2.95

3.88

2.74

3.38

2.49

3.7

2.12

3.14

Chinese

Indian

Brazilian

Russian

Overall, all the respondents had improved their language capability over the time. However, the language capability of the Chinese had been the highest among the BRICs participants. In addition, the Brazilians had achieved a higher language capability when compared to the early periods. 　 (In ALL 　 COUNTRIES)

18

Highest Academic Qualifications

Brazilian Indian Chinese Russian0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

2.12

2.33

2.732.91

2.31

2.592.77

2.87Japan Overall

Point: Brazilians seem to represent the lowest academic qualifications among the BRICs migrants

19

Why Migrate? Issue of the End Country and the Highest Educational Qualification

Indian Brazilian Russian Chinese0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2

1 1.071.23

1.77

1.25 1.21

1.43

1.79

Japan Overall

Chinese tend to get their highest academic qualifications at the Migrated Country, both in Japan and other countries. This tendency is low among the Indians and Brazilians. This implies that the Indians and the Brazilians migrate mostly for “Work” while the Chinese consider the migrated country as the place for study and work. The Russians in between! 20

Length of First Employment

Brazilian Russian Indian Chinese0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

1.31

1.571.75

1.96

1.391.48 1.49

1.4

Japan Overall

Brazilians represent the shortest length of first employment in Japan, while the Chinese represent the highest. Same for the USA. This is a clear difference in Japan over other countries.However, other countries seem to be different:UK: 1.Indians, 2.Russian, 3.Chinese, 4.Brazilians1. Australia: 2.Russians, 3.Brazilains 4.Chinese 5.Indians 21

Length of Current Employment

Brazilian Russian Indian Chinese0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

1.29

1.77 1.79

2.42

1.42

1.66 1.68 1.74

Japan Overall

General Trend: The length of current employment also is the shortest for the Brazilians, while the Chinese represent the longest length. However, in the USA, the Brazilians represent the longest working experience.

22

Q19 Attachment to the Job

Indian Chinese Russian Brazilian0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

0.851

2.03

3.2

1.27 1.27

2.42

3.03

Japan Overall

Indians and the Chinese seem to stick to the same job for a longer time.But, the Brazilians and the Russians seem to change jobs quite frequently. The situation is almost the same in other countries as well. Is this a “Country-Specific Factor”? 23

Reasons for Job Change?

• Brazilians (& Indians): 1.Better Job->2.Higher Studies ->3.Company Bankrupt->4.Discrimination

• Russians: 1.Better Job->2.Higher Studies ->3.Discrimination->4. Company BankruptChinese: 1.Better Job->2.Higher Studies ->3.Conflict with the boss->4.Discrimination

All Migrants seem to attach priority for “better personal benefits” than the “company loyalty”. Discrimination also seems to be a severe problem in Japan and other countries.

24

Information Gathering: Brazilians

Friends Newspapers Internet Ethnic Groups TV0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

3.91

2.87

2.53

2.21

1.49

3.63

2.49

3.24

1.84

1.33

JapanOverall

• Brazilians (in Japan and other countries) : seem to acquire information through friends and relatives.

• Russians, Indians & Chinese mostly rely on the Internet, followed by the friends and relatives.

• There is a clear difference between the Brazilians and others.

25

Interaction with Home & Migrant Country

Family in Home Country

Home country friends

Migrant country friends

Home country ethnic groups

Migrant country ethnic groups

Migrant country embassy

Home Government0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5 Brazilian Russian Indian Chinese

Most Important:Brazilians/Indians: Home country family/Home country friends/Migrant country friends R more importantChinese/Russians: Home country family /Migrant country friends/Home country friends R more importantLeast Important:Chinese/Russians: Home country ethnic & religious groupsBrazilians/Indians: Home country government 26

Observations

Case Study: 33% of workers in this company are foreigners. The majority (75%) are Brazilians (Mie Pref) 27

Automobile Parts Manufacturing Firm: Observation 1. Accepting Brazilians, Bilingual Response

28

Observation 2: Type of Work of the Brazilians is “Changing” (From Mie)

• Brazilians R used to know as Manual Workers, and with low educational qualifications compared to many other foreigners=“Dekasegi” (contract workers etc.)

• Since recently, some exceptions have started to come up• =>1. Brazilian girl, from a Brazilian school in Mie entered a Liberal Arts

University under a special test=>Became a flight attendant (First in Japan) • 2. Brazilian Boy who graduated from a university in Mie became an

academic in a national university (other prefecture): First in Japan• Brazilian Boy, graduated from a University joined a automobile parts

manufacturing company, and got a promotion for a middle level managerial position (First in Japan)

• Many Brazilian youth are now in Universities/Graduate Schools in Mie• Foreign students, including the Brazilians, teach various courses in

schools. Language, culture, economy etc. are some topics! • =>These examples will not be just “exceptions”

29

Integration with the Community

• Current situation is different from the early years when the issues relating to neighborhood were “headaches”

• However, still, Brazilians tend to interact more with the people from the home country.

• Nevertheless, the above examples may provide some hints for understanding future trends.

• Yet, foreigners in Japan as a whole have to struggle for “braking the walls” to move smoothly with the Japanese community.

30