Foreign Workers in the Bubble and Post-bubble Economy in Japan

The l990 immigration policy reform brought about substantial changes in migration inflows to Japan. "Nikkei", meaning people of Japanese ancestry, were welcomed as new resources to fill expanding labor needs in unskilled jobs. They formed one of the major segments of the labor inflow in the l990s. Thanks to the favorable treatment they received under the new system, they were able to choose comparatively better jobs within unskilled work than were undocumented workers.The reform brought about a significant dichotomy among foreign workers engaging in unskilled jobs. The labor market for unskilled foreign workers became segmented. drastic changes in the Japanese economy in subsequent years, however, had a major effect on foreign workers, as they did on others. This paper discusses Nikkei employment during the bubble and post-bubble period, with special regard to their job placement within the dynamic changes occurring in the Japanese economy．