Mie Prefecture considers ending foreign national hiring

TSU, Mie — Mie Prefecture is considering reinstating a rule requiring its employees to hold Japanese nationality to prevent leakage of sensitive information, prefectural officials said Wednesday.

The prefectural government will make a final decision based on the results of a survey to be conducted on some 10,000 residents about the issue, among other factors.

It cited China's national intelligence law as an example of a potential risk to sensitive information, noting that the law established in 2017 obligates Chinese citizens and organizations to assist the country's intelligence authorities.

Information that could be at risk includes residents' private data as well as trade secrets in the agricultural sector and disaster management information, they said.

To become national public servants in Japan, candidates are required to possess Japanese nationality in principle, according to the National Personnel Authority.

In fiscal 1999, Mie Prefecture terminated the nationality requirement for its officials to promote foreign residents' social integration, with a few posts excepted such as those involved in collecting taxes.

A total of nine foreign nationals have been hired since fiscal 2005, when such data became available, mainly in specialized professions. One of them is still on the payroll as a health care official.

Currently, 44 of the prefectural government's 49 occupation types do not have nationality requirements, and even if the Japanese citizenship rule is reinstated, the health care worker will be retained, Mie officials said.

Of the country's 47 prefectures, Mie and 11 others, including Kanagawa and Osaka, currently have no nationality requirements for hiring in departments and bureaus under the prefectural governor's direct supervision, according to the prefecture.

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