Speaking of Yakuza (see previous post), I learned something really interesting the other day.
After a few hours of programming at Starbuck’s, an old friend of mine, call him “E,” dropped by for a coffee and a chat. Originally from Egypt, E has lived in Kyoto for more than 20 years. He’s now married to a Japanese woman and owns a small chain of English schools. Needless to say, he’s more than familiar with the Japanese laws and way of doing things.
During our conversation we got to talking about the problem of Japan’s declining birthrate. The older generation is worried that soon, there won’t be a big enough workforce to keep the country afloat – so they’ve started importing foreigner labor to help fill the gap. Continue reading »
