TOKYO, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday launched a new office within the Cabinet Secretariat tasked with addressing concerns about the impact of Japan's growing foreign population, local media reported.
The office will share information on issues related to foreign residents in the country and coordinate responses among relevant offices such as the Immigration Services Agency, the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Kyodo News reported.
At a launch ceremony at the prime minister's office, Ishiba said the new office will ensure that people's concerns about foreign residents are heard, including claims of disproportionately high crime rates and alleged abuse of the social security system.
Ishiba said Japan sees the inflow of foreign nationals as a key driver of economic growth, but "it's important for us to take stricter responses to those who do not follow our rules and rework the existing system if it does not match the reality."
The office, staffed by around 80 officials, has been established at a time when the topic of foreigners has become one of key issues in campaigning for Sunday's election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of Japan's parliament, the report said.
Sanseito, an ultraconservative minor party which is gaining in popularity, has led calls for tougher regulations of foreigners and has campaigned on a "Japanese First" platform that calls for limiting the intake of foreign workers to Japan. ■
