What Role Do Low- Skilled Migrants Play in the Japanese Labor Markets?

The author explores trends of low-skilled migrant labor in Japan before as well as after the global economic crisis, reviews the development of migration policies especially related to low-skilled migrants, and examines new empirical findings and draws some implications for migration policy reform in Japan. In the empirical analysis, the author stresses the effects of production fragmentation on low-skilled labor, the effects of the declining youth population on mismatches in the labor markets, and those of employment strategies by enterprises on the employment of nationals as well as foreigners at the local level. Finally, the author insists on the necessity for Japan to strengthen integration policy at the local level, in addition to immigration control policy at the national level, within the context of developing economic integration in the East Asian region. Keywords low-skilled migration, fertility declines, integration This article aims (a) to identify the trends of low-skilled migrant labor in Japan before as well as after the global economic crisis; (b) to review the development of migration policies, including both immigration policy and integration policy, related to low-skilled migrants; and (c) to examine new empirical findings and draw some implica-tions for migration policy and labor market policy reform in Japan