this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2024
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Japan had been trying to pull off this trick for years. There's an easier solution. It's called immigration, but Japan has been ruled by conservatives who refuse to see a difference between nationality and ethnicity. There are a lot of nurses from developing countries that would be a lot more effective than a can of Pepper.
Japan also has a problem much like exists elsewhere, that older voters are the ones who vote most, so their interests and views get disproportionately represented in election results. I'm sure that's only exaggerated in a country that's so lopsided in its age distribution as Japan is. I also wouldn't be surprised at all if it were to turn out that elderly voters tended to be more xenophobic and resistant to changes in immigration policy.
Japan really needs to get it sorted out soon, though, as they are desperately in need of work in all sorts of fields, but moving there is such a massive pain that it really doesn't seem worth it unless you live in a developing country where you can go to Japan, do a few years of work and go back with enough money to buy yourself a home. Like, I looked into it for a laugh a month or two ago, and I actually have work experience that would qualify me for a visa as a skilled worker, but there's no way I would consider going. You could only use it for a maximum of 5 years, it cannot be renewed, as far as I could tell, it also cannot be reapplied for, and it's ineligible to serve in any capacity for establishing residency. You also cannot bring your family with you. That's a pretty hard sell for all but the most desperate of people to uproot their lives for, even before you get into Japan's famously terrible work culture.
I do understand a certain reluctance towards migration that doesn't result in cultural assimilation to a fair extent, especially considering how big of an export Japan's cultural products are, but xenophobic reactions to any possibility of change are going to back Japan into a corner where they have to pick between collapsing as a society, or just opening the floodgates to immigration in a way that will leave them way more susceptible to the sort of massive cultural shift that so many Japanese voters seem to fear. In my layman's opinion, they would do far better to go about massive work culture reform and allow much more immigration with an immense amount of support for people learning the language and culture, and assistance in integrating into the community. It'll probably be painful for all involved, but the result of kicking this can down the road perpetually will be far more painful, and they'll have nobody to blame but themselves.
Their voting system is somehow the worst of both worlds. It's FPTP for rural seats, but proportional for inner city seats. So conservatives end up sweeping the rural seats, and also steal seats from inner city seats that would have gone to progressives if they have an FPTP system across the whole country.
I'll take minor issue here. If you have a 4-year degree and a company sponsor (sometimes equivilent work experience, but that requires documentation and expenses a company won't typically want to pay) in a white-collar job, getting here is pretty easy. Even somewhat easier for English teachers. Max visa is 5 years, though they can be renewed. After 5 years, one can apply for citizenship (though must renounce others). Permanent residency is available from 1 (highly-skilled professional), 3 (points system on any 3-year visa with a couple asterisks; marriage), or 10 (not enough points in system, 10 years of working in Japan , and on 3-year visa), and more I don't know about
Japan actually has a lot of foreign nurses (largely from the Philippines as with many countries). It is a higher barrier to entry due to needing to know not only regular and business japanese but also medical jargon and be able to pass tests in japanese on it.
I imagine immigration in that sector will grow (it's not mutually exclusive to robotics), particularly as the older generations die out.
I remember going to see a high-tech nursing home, where they had video conferencing with doctors and remote sensors for falls and things like that. That was in about 2000 or 2001. Yes, they are still talking about it.