Japan creates new agency to manage foreigner-related issues amid rising tensions
The body would serve as a cross-agency 'control tower' to respond to issues such as crime and overtourism involving foreigners, the government said.
Headed by Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Wataru Sakata, the office will have 78 employees, including those from the Immigration Services Agency, according to Jiji Press.
Japan has long sought to maintain a homogeneous population through strict immigration laws, but has gradually eased them to supplement its shrinking and ageing labour force.
The number of foreign nationals hit a record of about 3.8 million last year, although that is still just 3 per cent of the total population.
The formation of the administration body comes after a group of lawmakers in Prime Minister
Shigeru Ishiba 's Liberal Democratic Party in June proposed measures to realise a 'society of orderly and harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals'.
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