Migration and Integration in Japan

International labor migration by some politicians and economic interest groups is per-ceived to be a counter-measure to a declining workforce population. Against the back-drop of the German experience with its “guest worker system” in particular, others ar-gue that labor migration can never be implemented solely for economic purposes but makes fundamental changes in the structures of society necessary. Japan is no excep-tion to this debate. The economic pressure accompanying Japan’s demographic chan-ge has already triggered a fundamental change in Japan’s migration policy. This change is exemplified in Japan’s bilateral Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) with the Philippines and Indonesia. Both EPA pave the way for international care-giver migration and long-term settlement in Japan. With this they turn upside-down the hitherto given political guideline of “exclusively highly skilled” and “exclusively temporary” migration to Japan. This research project on migration and integration in Japan aims at studying Japan’s migration policy reform through a multilevel governance approach. In its center is a case study on international care migration to Japan.