A major reason for Japan's low potential growth rate relative to the United States and European countries lies in the fact that it expects fewer immigrants and this is reflected in a lower expected increase in its working population. One way to raise Japan's potential growth rate is evidently to ease restrictions on immigration.
I think the time has come for us to think very seriously about whether we should accept more immigrants, or whether we would prefer to remain a relatively homogeneous society and be satisfied with low economic growth. It seems increasingly necessary for Japan to decide how it wants to fit in to the global economy. 2.