Radical GOJ immigration plan under discussion

     Japan Times: Foreigners will have a much better opportunity to move to, or continue to live in, Japan under a new immigration plan drafted by Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers to accept 10 million immigrants in the next 50 years.      "The plan means (some politicians) are seriously thinking about Japan's future," said Debito Arudou, who is originally from the United States but has lived in Japan for 20 years and became a naturalized citizen in 2000. "While it is no surprise by global standards, it is a surprisingly big step forward for Japan."     The group of some 80 lawmakers, led by former LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa, finalized the plan on June 12 and aims to submit it to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda later this week.The plan is "the most effective way to counter the labor shortage Japan is doomed to face amid a decreasing number of children," Nakagawa said...However, the immigration plan calls for the goal to be achieved soon and for the government to aim for 1 million foreign students by 2025. It also proposes accepting an annual 1,000 asylum seekers and other people who need protection for humanitarian reasons...Arudou, a foreigners' rights activist, noted the importance of establishing a legal basis for specifically banning discrimination against non-Japanese."Founding a legal basis is important because people do not become open just because the government opens the door," he said...But wait, there's even more to this excellent article here.Here is the link to the Japanese Immigration page.