“Shrinking Society" and Foreigners:

A Case Study iu Aichi Prefecture

Abstract

　The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between “Shrinking Society” and foreigners. In these days, there is a strong expectation that problems based on depopulated society in Japan can be settled by admitting more foreigners into a country. In this paper, I try to criticize this expectation by analyzing discourses in political and business circles and my research data in Aichi Prefecture and Nishio City.

　Through these analyses, two findings are conducted.

　Firstly, on macro level, the expectation for foreigners means not for “foreign residents” but for “foreign workers”.

　Secondly, on community level, “Japanese residents” tend to have negative consciousness toward foreign residents who do not settle down in Japan permanently and participate in neighborhood association.

　These findings imply that admitting more foreigners into a country could not be the solution of “Shrinking Society”, both on macro level and community level.