This study focuses on Japan’s core framework for admitting highly skilled migrants—the “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” visa (commonly known as the Gijinkoku visa). It examines the widening gap between the system’s original intent and its practical operation, and proposes directions for institutional redesign.
Originally intended for highly skilled migrants, the Gijinkoku visa has increasingly been applied to jobs that require neither advanced Japanese proficiency nor specialized expertise. 　　

This expansion has blurred the system’s purpose and undermined its credibility, potentially fostering public mistrust and exclusionary attitudes toward foreign residents.
To explore reform options, the research compares two approaches:
(1) a principle-oriented approach, which reaffirms the visa’s original objectives and clarifies eligibility criteria;
(2) a reality-oriented approach, which redefines it as a framework for stabilizing employment among semi-skilled workers in response to current labor market realities.

As European countries have reconsidered migration frameworks amid rising social tensions, Japan likewise needs to rebuild the legitimacy and sustainability of its foreign labor system. This project seeks to contribute to the design of a credible and inclusive policy framework that reflects the realities of international labor mobility and supports sustainable coexistence in Japanese society.