The government in all its brilliance has unveiled measures Tuesday aimed at foreigners, including tighter residency controls, in what it said is an effort to provide foreign residents with better access to education and social welfare.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki presented the proposals at a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, a key decision-making panel headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.     

The government said the measures are aimed mainly at improving the living conditions of non-Japanese workers and their families.

It pointed out in a document presented to the panel that the central and local governments are not always able to determine the residency and employment status of foreigners because some people do not register changes in their address and workplaces.

The paper calls for new legislation that would make it mandatory for foreign nationals to report their employment status to authorities. It also says systems should be set up to gather and share information on foreigners among municipalities.

“Based on correct information regarding foreign residents’ addresses and working places, the central and local governments can encourage non-Japanese to send their children to school, improve their working conditions and provide social insurance services,” the policy paper says.

Such measures may include more Japanese-language education, multilingual information services, a disaster-response network for foreigners and efforts to improve rental housing conditions. To encourage foreigners to take advantage of social security services and Japanese-language classes, and to enroll their children in school, the government will consider assessing foreigners’ Japanese language skills and other criteria when renewing visas.

There were about 2 million foreign residents in Japan at the end of 2005