Conclusion

Abstract

Japan’s economic boom from World War II until the mid 1980s did not lead to the recruitment of foreign workers, as it did in Western Europe, and during this period Japan achieved high levels of economic growth while placing little or no reliance on foreign labour.⁵⁶ Since the 1960s, Japanese companies have managed to raise labour productivity by improving manufacturing techniques and by increasing direct investment in South-East and East Asia. The employment of labour abroad became, in effect, a substitute for the importation of foreign labour. Japanese companies have generated huge trade surpluses and have helped Japan generate high per capita GNP in the world. A result of this success has been, however, that, since the mid-1980s, Japan has been transformed into one of the major destinations for foreign workers from throughout Asia.