With Tokyo 2020 preparations underway, Japan’s issue of labour shortage is becoming more evident and creating challenges with the successful and timely completion of infrastructure to accommodate the international event. A recent headliner by The Japan Times caught massive attention when a 23-year-old construction worker of Sanshin Corp. committed suicide in the central mountains of Japan leaving a note saying he was “physically and mentally pushed to the limit”. Sanshin Corp. was subcontracted to build the Olympic stadium and it was found that this man worked 190 hours and 18 minutes overtime the month before his suicide.

This tragic case unfortunately reflects a lot of similar cases of karōshi, death from overwork in Japan, and sheds light on how this longstanding issue is only accelerating as the population ages and cannot support the country’s labor demands.

Seeking foreign help

Japan is easily known as one of the most homogenous nations in the world, which is maintained by their tight immigration policies. Foreigners make up only 2% of the population and Japanese citizenship is only recognized by blood, not by birth (The Economist, 2016). The three situations in which a person can become a Japanese citizen at birth are:

1. When either parent is a Japanese citizen at the time of birth
2. When the father dies before the birth and is a Japanese citizen at the time
3. When the person is born on Japanese soil and both parents are unknown or stateless

Most foreigners who have lived or worked in Japan between five to tens years are granted permanent residency. The number of foreign permanent residents reached a record of 2.23m in 2016, a 72% increase from two decades ago. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would prefer to raise the proportion of Japanese women who work and keep workers employed for longer in life before admitting foreigners to the country. Repercussions of this mindset are shown in hiring processes as, “83% of firms have trouble hiring, according to Manpower, a recruiting firm” (The Economist, 2016). Language policies also inhibit the attraction of foreign immigrants as everyone must pass a strict language exam to be able gain residency and work in Japan. This has posed major issues for the desperately needed low-skilled workers to do the so called “3-D jobs” (dirty, demanding, and dangerous) including major Olympic construction projects. In order to facilitate more immigration and rectify the decreasing working population, not only do immigration policies need to change, but also language policies.

Exhausted workers of Tokyo 2020

Due to the many barriers to immigration, Japan is suffering by spreading its own citizens too thin over the vast amount of work that needs to get accomplished for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The all around labor shortages seem to be hitting builders the hardest with the immense pressure to finish construction for the Olympics. Hitoshi Takahashi, vice chairman of an association of Tokyo-based demolition firms declared in an article, “If construction is resulting in people’s suicides from overwork, I want to see the project frozen.” Unfortunately, he also mentions that the price competition among building firms is extremely fierce, therefore, even if firms want to implement labor reforms like a guaranteed two days off per week, they can’t. The workers are feeling the strains of the demanding labor and approaching deadlines, one employee saying, “I’m going to fall apart if things keep on like this.” Not only is the overtime work affecting the employees physical and mental health, the overtime pay is also adding to the costs of the already over-budget Olympic construction.

Japan’s labor shortfall hit a peak in the summer of 2013, but is worsening again because of the Tokyo 2020 project because of the magnitude of workers required. Efforts to relax policies on immigrant workers in Japan seems to be underway with the HSFP (Highly Skilled Foreign Professional) point system to allow highly skilled foreign workers apply for residency after three years, new adjustments to lessen linguistic regulations, and changing attitudes towards foreigners. However, Japan will still be short of much-needed man power to accomplish the great tasks of Olympic construction in time for 2020 if they do not take drastic measures to ease restrictions on foreign workers. Nationalistic pride, although admirable, could ironically be Japan’s downfall in hosting the Olympics.

Sources:

1. http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-karoshi-japanese-word-for-death-by-overwork-2017-10
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_nationality_
3. https://www.olympic.org/news/tokyo-2020-event-programme-to-see-major-boost-for-female-participation-youth-and-urban-appeal
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_nationality_law

5. Anonymous . The Economist ; London Vol. 420, Iss. 9003, (Aug 20, 2016): 31-32.

6. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/its-population-ages-japan-quietly-turns-immigration
7. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/10/11/national/social-issues/tokyo-olympic-stadium-workers-suicide-recognized-related-overwork/#.WfA0HxNSxbV
8. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170825/p2a/00m/0na/021000c