Why is Japan relaxing its immigration laws?

The change appears to mark a significant turnaround for the right-leaning administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. As recently as three years ago, Abe said on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly that “there are many things that we should do before accepting immigrants.”

To cope with labor shortages resulting from a declining population, he advocated for more women in the workplace, delaying retirement and using robots to do jobs once filled by humans.