Global News

Businesses targeting foreigners on the increase

Number of businesses targeting foreigners in Japan is growing. Though most companies do not distinguish between foreign and Japanese customers, we are seeing an increase in services specifically targeting new markets created by an increase of foreigners.
According to the Ministry of Justice Immigration Bureau, number of foreign residents registered in Japan was 2.08 million at the end of 2006. web page monitoring This is a 50% increase compared to 10 years ago. The growth rate is high when compared to the increase in the total population being only 1.5% for the same period of time.
Number of permanent residents went up 30% (840,000). Number of non-permanent residents was up 2.4% (92,000), This group is mostly made up of technical experts and other professionals. Recently, the number of foreigners working in the IT industry has been on the rise. Overall, the number of Chinese nationals has increased most.
Though the government’s opinions are divided on the policies concerning accepting foreigners, it is most likely that the tendency of the number of foreigners to increase will not change as Japan lacks the labor force it needs to sustain its economy growth.

Though there is potential for developing the market targeting foreigners, systematic approach to providing information on housing and employment services to foreigners does not seem to be in place. By establishing websites providing information and services for foreigners as well as foreign companies, we can expect an increase in the number of users and in the provided services.