The economic crisis and foreign workers in Japan: why does Japan treat migrant workers as second class citizens?

The global recession has been affecting the Japanese economy since the fall of 2008. When the problem of “haken-giri” (the layoffs at temporary staffing agencies) made headlines in Japan, the issue of unemployment among foreign workers of Japanese ancestry also began to attract attention. Although unemployment among irregular workers has been put under the microscope, recruiting activities for jobs in Japan continue in Brazil. In this paper, the author first presents, how Japanese factories use foreign workers as a convenient work force, and then presents the quality of life of foreign workers. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the realities of foreign workers’ lives in Japan. Focusing on the position of foreign workers continue as irregular workers and have unstable status in Japan, the author discusses why it is not possible for Japanese society to accept foreign workers, even though they provide indispensable manpower.