Japanese Are Loath To Rebuild Workforce Through Immigration
Politicians Avoid Issue They See as Toxic (The Washington Post)

...Japan faces a much more fundamental threat to its future -- demographic decline that experts say will delete 70 percent of its workforce by 2050...

...among highly developed countries, Japan has always ranked near the bottom in the percentage of foreign-born residents...

...Based on a round of interviews with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and several other senior government officials and politicians, the issue is too politically toxic for extensive public discussion...

..."We really need to let the people know that the economy simply cannot be managed without the help of foreigners," said Seiji Maehara, a member of parliament and a vice president in the opposition Democratic Party of Japan...

The article continues with a reference to another possible way for Japan to pull itself out of this hole---that of actually making of easier for women to join the workforce and have and raise children.

I wouldn't expect much action on either until disaster is imminent.