Four papers on labor immigration

Readers of this blog know I have a deep interest in the largely subterranean transformation of Japanese society, particularly in urban areas, resulting from the increasing use of immigrant and foreign student labor, both legal and illegal.

Japan Focus has a quartet of new papers out (and a summary article) on the subjects of government response to demographic shifts, the opening of borders, immigration regulation and images of foreign labor in the media.

What Japanese Policymakers Should Know about How Government Contributes to Irregular Immigration

"Guest Workers" for Japan?

Japanese Local Governments Facing the Reality of Immigration

Migrant-support NGOs and the Challenge to the Discourse on Foreign Criminality in Japan

I want to read them all asiduously but when will I have the time? Why are there only 24 hours in a day?

Shimotsuke Spiraceae japonica
Shimonida Township, Gunma Prefecture
July 29, 2007