ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to elaborate on the recent settlement of foreign workers in local communities in Japan. Due to the sudden influx of foreign migrant workers since the mid–1980s, Japanese society has experienced an unexpected change in the ethnic composition of its population. Internationalization (kokusaika) soon became one of the most frequently quoted words in documents published by local governments. Yet there is still little consistency in the policy agenda for foreign migrants at a national level, and almost no institutional arrangements have been established for the coming multi-ethnic situation.
