Japan opens door wider to foreign blue-collar workers despite criticism

Filipina Gladys Gayeta, 22, a trainee at Starlite Co. car parts factory, works with her fellow trainee worker in Akitakata, Hiroshima prefecture, western Japan November 28, 2018. Picture taken November 28, 2018. REUTERS/Linda Sieg

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan, in a major policy shift, enacted on Saturday a law to let in more foreign, blue-collar workers to ease a labour shortage, despite criticism it was too hastily crafted and risked exposing the workers to exploitation.

Immigration has long been taboo in a country where many prize ethnic homogeneity, but the shrinking, ageing population has increased pressure to relax strict controls on foreign workers.