ABSTRACT
Since the 1980s, Japan has become home to increasing numbers of longterm residents from a wide range of countries: the number of registered foreigners rose from just over 1,200,000 in 1991 to over two million by 2006 (National Institute of Population and Social Security Research 2009), a figure that does not take account of foreigners living illegally in the country. The latest migrants have been termed ‘newcomers’ in contrast to the established ‘oldcomer’ Korean and Chinese communities (Kashiwazaki and Akaha 2006). The arrival of nikkei from South America after the 1990 revision of Japan's Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and the rise in international marriages involving wives from Thailand, the Philippines, and other Asian countries have been key contributors to this trend; others include rising numbers of international students (Shao 2008) and recent agreements to accept nurses and carers from the Philippines and Indonesia from April 2007 (Shikama 2008, 56) and August 2008 (Japan Today 2008), respectively. 1 Nevertheless, Japan still has the smallest percentage of resident foreigners among the developed countries, 1.6 percent, compared to 12.9 percent and 8.8 percent for the United States and Germany, respectively, in 2005 (Lam 2009, 4–5).
