> >> Dave Wrote:
> >> I find it strange the restriction on requiring the people who
> choose to repatriate to agree to never return.
>
Jerry Cullins wrote:
>> I don't see that restriction. I see a restriction on returning if you
> take the money from the government. This seems to make sense to me -
> the government has looked at the cost of the social programs for the
> Nikkei and decided that it is less expensive to economically
> incentivise them to return to Brazil than it is to keep paying for
> those social programs.
>

More likely, the government is looking at focus group polling since
there is an election due this year.

I have lived and worked in Toyota-ville for the last 17 years. Last year
(and for all of the preceding 5 years) the average Brazilian auto
industry worker earned about 360000 yen per month including overtime.
Those with forklift licenses etc, earned more. ie roughly a little more
than say, an American academic working in Hokkaido or Kyushu etc. Most
of these unemployed workers have already paid more nenkin contributions
than the repatriation payment, and a lot more than the 70% refund of the
first 3 years of nenkin contributions.

> If they chose to return on their own, without taking the money, I
> haven't seen anything to indicate that they wouldn't be able to return
> later when jobs were available.
>

It was stated quite explicitly at the public meetings in Hamamatsu
(Honda-ville) that a) they could not return - ever, and b) neither could
*any of their children currently in Japan*. An extremely silly policy,
especially since within the next 24-30 months, local corporations will
be complaining of a labour shortage.

>To quote a different article I think makes a great deal more sense than government >committees generally make - “Naturally, we don’t want those same people back in Japan
>after a couple of months,” Mr. Kawasaki said. “Japanese taxpayers would
>ask, ‘What kind of ridiculous policy is this?’ "

In exactly what sense were these Brazilians *not Japanese taxpayers* ?
In central Japan their tax (and other) contributions far outweighed any
public sector expenditures undertaken on their behalf.

Regards ,Declan
Okazaki, Aichi
yamasa.org