Kono flags crackdown on expat ‘welfare cheats’
Taro Kono | TOMOKO OTAKE

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Kono flags crackdown on expat ‘welfare cheats’

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Staff Writer

In a move that could affect a number of foreign residents in Japan, the government will consider toughening eligibility requirements for welfare benefits as part of its budget review, Taro Kono, the newly appointed minister on administrative reforms, said Friday.

Kono, 52, an outspoken Lower House member who also holds the posts of National Public Safety Commission chairman and minister in charge of disaster management, said he will follow through with a proposal he made last year to cut back on welfare assistance to foreign residents on mid- to long-term visas.

Kono made the proposal in August last year as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s project team to eliminate wasteful spending.

In an interview with The Japan Times at the time, Kono talked of the need to limit welfare outlays by denying access to public aid for a certain period after a person’s arrival or their visa renewal. He said this was necessary to also prevent abuse by those coming here just to receive welfare.

“I don’t think I should change my principles and opinions because I became a minister,” Kono told reporters Friday. “I’d like to make my argument within the government when the right time comes.”

He said the possible changes to eligibility requirements will be taken up in the so-called autumn review of the government budget outlays scheduled in November, where 5,000 programs across all government ministries will be scrutinized.

Of the 5,000, social security — including welfare programs — will be high on his agenda, he said, referring to Japan’s international pledge to achieve a government budget surplus by fiscal 2020.

“Social security spending is expected to grow (due to population aging) by ¥500 billion every year,” he said. “That means the outlays will expand by ¥2.5 trillion over the next five years. No matter how much the nation’s economy grows and tax revenue rises, there’s a limit to the amount we can spend. We will have no choice but to cut off low-priority programs.”

All of the autumn review sessions will be broadcast live on NicoNico, an online video-sharing service, and the results will be reflected in the fiscal 2016 budget, outlines of which will be decided by the end of the year, Kono said.

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Taro Kono | TOMOKO OTAKE

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  • Hendrix

    Another good example of institutional racism in Japan, blaming foreigners and targeting them…. welfare payments to foreign residents are miniscule compared to for example the tax payers money squandered on the fiasco at Fukushima, plenty of other examples.. of course they still want foreigners to pay tax, but no welfare or no right to vote… this is just the beginning, more scapegoating of foreigners to come i bet.

  • Liars N. Fools

    And ALL crime is committed by those Chinese and Koreans……

  • Liars N. Fools

    And ALL crime is committed by those Chinese and Koreans……

  • Clickonthewhatnow

    And they can’t just investigate suspected welfare frauds instead of making changes that affect all foreigners because?

    • J.P. Bunny

      Because it’s easier to go after the foreigners than clean their own dirty closets. The woman arrested years ago for the curry poisoning had been eligible for full physical disability payments, even though she was perfectly healthy. How many children are still helping their parents with their pensions accounts even though they died years ago? I guess it is a lot easier to deny a foreign trainee welfare payments for injuries obtained on the job than to stop pension payments to people who obviously died decades ago.

  • thedudeabidez

    Due to the declining birthrate and greying population, Japan’s social welfare system is doomed unless they get more younger working people to pay into it. That is fact. No amount of trimming corners is going to save it. Short of a massive and unlikely baby boom, Immigration is one way out of the hole they are facing, but rather than embrace a few more foreigners who are eager to work in Japan, the LDP resorts to the same old foreigner-bashing racism. Another effort to distract the public from the fact that they have no idea on how to solve the essential problem.

    Does Mr. Kono have any figures on how many foreigners are taking advantage of the welfare system? Could he also put those figures In context compared to the amount of native-born Japanese who are “taking advantage” of the welfare system? Yeah, I thought not. Smear campaigns rarely do.

    Given how strict visa regulations are, and given the minuscule amount of refugees Japan admits, the odds that anyone coming here without the intention to work and pay taxes could even receive welfare benefits is ridiculous. There is also the Supreme Court ruling from last year determining that long term foreign residents, even those on permanent visas, are no longer legally eligible to receive social benefits. This in and of itself is a travesty: you can live in Japan for decades, pay your taxes regularly like every other citizen, and then be denied benefits simply because of your race.

    The LDP is a racist party, pure and simple. No surprise, given its roots in the same ultra-nationaist politicians who brought us World War II and the emperor-worship/foreigners are sub-humans fascism of that lovely era in which the current P.M.’s politico grandfather prospered. People laugh at Donld Trump’s blowhard prejudices; there are 100 Trumps in the LDP.

    • Hendrix

      Kono doesnt have any figures its a pure racist witch hunt, pretty disgusting really how Japan gets away with this stuff, its nothing new either.. and the world gives them the Olympics, well they can stick that up their you know what..

  • Steve Jackman

    Yes, with Japan’s national debt approaching 250 percent of its GDP, it is the most indebted country in the world. This ought to certainly fix that problem in a jiffy!

  • Ahojanen

    Slightly off the article focus. I am wondering if international residents are qualified to receive Japan’s pension. For I understand that anyone should fulfill the minimal 25-year accumulated payment for qualification. Such a long-term requirement ignores global human mobility, and seems highly demanding and even discriminated against local foreign tax/social benefit payers with no prospect of return.

    We need a structural reform making the pension programme more affordable and inclusive to newcomers, for instance by lowering a payment period up to 5-10 years (but received pension should be limited in terms and amount). Or by financing the programme with other taxes.

    Forget if I am wrong, I have yet to update myself on this issue…..

    • Clickonthewhatnow

      When a foreigner leaves Japan, they are entitled to up to 3 years of pension payments they have made paid out to them in a one time payment. Generally, that is in within the turnaround time of short-term foreign residents. Anyone staying longer than that is probably here for the long haul, or thinking about it.

      • Steve Jackman

        So, if a foreign worker pays pension premiums in Japan for twenty years and is a citizen of a country with which Japan does not have a special treaty (which is most countries of the world), that worker is entitled to a refund of three years of the twenty years of pension premium he paid. What a great deal!

    • AmIJustAPessimistOrWhat?

      According to a discussion with local Kuyakusyo employee in January 2015, the system is going to undergo, or is already undergoing something along the lines you suggest. Sorry my account is not very formal. It is a necessary to update on the current status.

  • TokyoMommy

    You pay taxes for X amount of years, have family here, etc. you should be treated like everyone else. Although I agree that people should not be given hand outs for doing nothing and sucking the system dry (yes, I have run into a fair share of foreigners doing just that, and frankly they should leave) there are people who are definately qualify for the benefits.

  • Steve Jackman

    The worst part of this is that the Japanese government has no qualms about siphoning off money from foreign residents in other areas, while at the same time it is not willing to help them when they’re in need. There seems to be a definite double standard here.

    For example, all foreign workers in Japan are required to pay pension premiums into the national pension scheme. Many of these workers leave Japan within 25 years, after having worked here for 10, 15 or 20 years. In most cases, the Japanese government keeps all or a portion of their pension premiums when they leave Japan, without giving them a full refund of the premiums they have paid and without offering them any pension benefits in return.

    This happens when foreign workers leave Japan after paying pension premiums in Japan for up to 25 years and if they are not citizens of a country with which Japan has a special treaty (which is most countries of the world). In some cases, the foreign worker is entitled to a partial refund of only up to three years of the pension premiums he or she has paid, but no pension benefits (the maximum refund possible is only 3 years, even if you have paid into the system for 20 years).

    The Japanese government has probably made millions of dollars from foreign workers this way by confiscating their pension premiums without giving them any benefits or a full refund in return. I propose that the Japanese government use these confiscated funds to set up a scheme to help those foreign residents who find themselves in need of welfare benefits.