New Immigration, Civic Activism and Identity in Japan

This chapter discusses immigrant advocacy groups’ influence in Japan’s immigration policy. For three decades Japan has been a new immigration country. However, immigration policy has been marked by ideational and institutional fragmentation, resulting in a deadlock lacking bold reforms and immunizing state actors to external pressure. Against this backdrop, civil advocacy has been surprisingly influential. While civic groups have generally not been included in decision-making bodies, they have altered the perception of immigration. By analysing reforms combating human trafficking, this chapter identifies factors that resulted in indirect influence of civic advocacy in this case, allowing us to gain a differentiated understanding of the limited but still significant influence of civic activism on Japan’s ‘strong’ state in immigration policy.