Japan’s acute labour shortages are compelling companies to recruit overseas talent, even as political sensitivities around immigration intensify. A Siberian engineer, drawn to Tokyo after connecting with a partner through shared interest in Japanese verse, secured a role at Rakuten in 2024. This tech giant, spanning e-commerce to telecoms, exemplifies how firms are adapting to demographic pressures by embracing international hires, mirroring trends across Asia where ageing populations demand innovative workforce strategies.
Foreign residents in Japan have swelled to nearly four million by mid-2025, up five per cent semi-annually and double the 2012 figure, with around two million foreign workers by late last year. As reported by Japan Forward, this equates to a record 3,956,619 non-short-term residents as of June 2025, driven by necessity in sectors from tech to services amid a population decline of nearly 900,000 nationals annually from a base of about 120 million.
Rakuten’s approach stands out: since 2010, it has mandated English as the corporate lingua franca, shocking staff but enabling a diverse engineering pool where 70 per cent of its 6,000-plus developers hail from abroad, including France, the US, China, Canada and India. The company runs cultural seminars to ease newcomers into Japan’s rigorous work ethos. Similarly, Uniqlo’s parent Fast Retailing pursues internationalisation, while smaller outfits like Okinawa Denshi deploy AI intercoms for multilingual supervision in construction, and Fujitsu offers mentoring and language exchanges.
These efforts aim to dismantle barriers of language and custom, broadening talent access as domestic supply dwindles. Convenience stores now routinely employ South and Central Asians or eastern Europeans after tailored language training for service roles. Yet, immigration remains politically fraught, often evaded in discourse despite evident business imperatives.
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Experts describe this as an immigration quandary: society requires foreign labour, but the term evokes negativity. Large multinationals, already outward-focused for expansion, lead the charge; Japan Tobacco, for instance, integrates global operations with staff relocations to its Swiss-headquartered labs, aided by English dominance in science and advanced translation aids. The first non-Japanese lab head there notes a gradual normalisation, with finance and other departments following suit.
Government policies have eased long-term stays for manual workers, yet right-wing momentum complicates progress. The Sanseito party’s ascent in July 2025 elections, as covered by BBC, has hardened stances with “Japan first” appeals against perceived foreign influxes. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s appointment of a minister for harmonious coexistence with foreigners signals caution, though polls indicate broad support for firmer controls.
According to Asahi Shimbun, 66 per cent of voters see Takaichi’s tougher immigration measures as promising, reflecting frustrations with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Still, demographic realities—labour shortages amid a shrinking working-age populace—necessitate younger inflows, overriding rhetoric.
For pioneers like Indonesia’s Iyus, Japan’s inaugural foreign tour bus driver since 2013, integration involves mastering customs alongside language. With family roots now planted, including a Japan-born child, he eyes business growth via Indonesian ties, focusing on proving professionalism to build trust.
This incremental shift, propelled by economics over ideology, may gradually reshape perceptions or entrench divides. Businesses press forward, betting that sustained contributions from abroad will foster acceptance in a nation confronting existential workforce voids.