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Japan immigration

Foreign workforce of 2.2m helps Japan ease labor crunch

Young immigrants -- 31% are in their 20s -- are replacing aging Japanese workers

Filipino technical trainees hired by Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus service a vehicle in the Japanese coastal city of Hamamatsu.

TOKYO -- An influx of foreign workers has helped Japan cope with the nation's labor shortage, as working-age Japanese decline to their smallest share of the country's population on record.

The number of Japanese aged 15-64, or the working-age population, stood at 74.23 million as of Jan. 1, the internal affairs ministry reported Wednesday, a decrease of 613,028 from a year earlier. This represents a mere 59.5% of the total population, an all-time low that reflects the aging of Japan's public.

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