In the early 1990s, just as Japan’s “immigration problem” was becoming more serious, the country entered a prolonged depression. As a result, the labor shortage became less severe, employer demands for more immigrants decreased, the intense public and media debate over immigration subsided, and even Japanese academics lost considerable interest in the issue.

Although many of the impending immigration issues Japan was facing in the early 1990s have been postponed on a latter date, the immigration problem was still there. The labor shortage has persisted among smaller, delegating companies, the foreign-born population in Japan has continued to grow, and long-term residence or permanent settlement among immigrants has become more common (Tsuda 1999, Hirano et. al. 2000).

And the laws were set to crueler.

The penalties for overstaying will stiffen with the revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law that took effect last November 25, 2004.

The upper limit of fines will go up radically:

For visa violations or illegal entry, the fine can reach 3 million yen, up 10-fold.

Those who encourage employment of people without legitimate residential status can be fined up to 3 million yen.

Foreigners who become engaged in activities other than what they are authorized to do under their visas can be fined up to 2 million yen, also up 10-fold.

"I doubt these people will actually be able to pay millions of yen. If they cannot pay, they will be detained and must provide labor before they are deported. And to tell you the truth, I don't think (the government) actually expects them to pay, either.", said lawyer Satoshi Murata, who specializes in labor issues pertaining to foreigners in Japan.

Under the revised law, people who have overstayed their visa will be able to leave Japan voluntarily -- instead of being deported -- under certain conditions, including no past record of deportation. These people can return to Japan only after one year.

On the other hand, people deported for a second time for an immigration violation will be banned from entering the country for 10 years, instead of five years which was set before. The entry ban on first-time deportees will remain unchanged at five years.

Immigration authorities say the revised law is aimed at encouraging visa violators to turn themselves in.

"But I think that all it does is increase the number of stowaways, and overstayers will just find more ways to remain hidden," Murata warned.

According to data collected by the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau, there were 219,418 people in Japan overstaying their visa on the late 80s and the number peaked in 1993 with 298,646 and has since been steadily declining.

"True, the number has declined, but not fast enough," said a senior official of the Immigration Bureau. "With the revised law, we are hoping for a further decline in the number."

On its Web site, the Immigration Bureau cites the presence of overstayers and illegal entrants as among reasons for the Japanese people's sense of anxiety over public safety.

The official denied a direct link between crimes by foreigners and overstayers and illegal entrants, but said that a recent ministerial meeting aimed at combating crime took up the topic of "overstayers being the breeding ground of foreign crime."

Lawyer Murata, however, said he doubts whether the revised law will resolve the various issues pertaining to foreigners in Japan.

"This law is basically (geared for allowing overstayers to either) return home on their own or being forced to leave, and does not solve the fundamental problem of Japan's non-acceptance of foreign workers," Murata said.

The underlying problem, he said, is Japan's failure to accept foreign workers for manual labor even though certain sectors of the economy, including construction and agriculture, need them.