TOKYO (Reuters – Japan’s government is exploring allowing certain blue-collar workers to remain indefinitely in a significant shift that will open the country to foreigners, a Justice Ministry official stated on Thursday.

In 2019, the law that allows “specified skilled workers” to live in fourteen sectors, such as agriculture, construction, and sanitation for up five years without any family member was implemented.

These restrictions had been mentioned by businesses as reasons they weren’t willing to hire this kind of help.

If the revision goes into effect, these workers from Vietnam and China would be allowed renew their visas indefinitely, and their families could travel with them as well, like other skilled foreigners.

Japan’s long-held taboo on immigration is due to Japan’s desire for ethnic harmony. However, there has been increasing pressure to make Japan open its borders because of a severe labour shortage and the aging population.

Toshihiro Menceju, the managing director at Japan Center for International Exchange said that Japan’s shrinking population is a serious concern and that it must communicate to the world it can welcome overseas workers.

According to data from government, the 2019 law was intended to bring in 345,000 skilled workers over five years. However, the average intake of these workers has remained at about 3,000 per month until the COVID-19 epidemic sealed the border.

Japan was home to 1.72million foreign workers as of the end of 2020. That’s just 2.5% from its total population of 125.8 billion.