Immigrants Head for the Countryside

It’s the year 2008. Judging by recent news, it seems as though Industrial Agriculture looms on the horizon here in Japan. Just what might it be like by the year 2012?

News from 2012

Immigrants head for the Countryside

Immigrants from Brazil and other foreign countries have spread across rural Japan to make up as much as one in eight of the workforce, research shows.
The findings give the clearest picture yet of “Industrial agriculture hotspots” where the largest numbers of migrants choose to live and work. The research was conducted for town hall chiefs, who are preparing to launch a campaign for millions in extra funds to help them cope with the influx.

Unlike previous generations of immigrants, many have avoided big cities and industrial regions in favor of agriculture country towns. The main industrial farming regions; some 200 small river basins throughout Japan, each composed of a plain and its surrounding mountains, has seen the largest number of arrivals relative to the size of the local population.

Figures from the Local Government Association (LGA) have revealed that 54 per cent of new jobs in Japans countryside were taken by foreigners between 2011 and 2014. The LGA said immigrants “bring much-needed skills but also place demands on council services”, including schools and housing inspection. Its report will identify five top issues for councils: the impact of population “churn” on schools, care of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, language barriers, housing inspection, and community relations.

Yamada Taro, the Conservative immigration spokesman, said: “The Government did not expect these numbers to come so quickly and has not funded local government to cope with the extra stresses. Even though the vast majority of those who have come here are good, hard-working people, the effect on local services is often catastrophic.”

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