News Navigator: How can the increasing number of foreign workers in Japan be protected?
(Mainichi Japan)
The Mainichi Shimbun answers some common questions readers may have about the increasing number of foreign workers in Japan.
Question: Is foreign labor increasing in Japan?
Answer: Yes. As of the end of October 2019, there were a record 1.66 million foreign workers in Japan, up by around 200,000 people compared to the year before. Many foreign workers are from China, Vietnam and the Philippines. In particular, the number of technical intern trainees is increasing.
Q: Who are those people?
A: The technical intern training program began in 1993 as a way for people from developing countries to learn Japanese technology. They are not workers, but are interns. For this reason, people who enter Japan under the program can only stay in the country for up to five years.
These interns, however, are a valuable source of labor for industries facing a lack of manpower, and are now welcomed in 82 job categories including the agricultural, fishery and nursing care industries. When the novel coronavirus pandemic prevented technical interns from coming into Japan, some farms failed to harvest their crops as a result.
Q: So technical interns are supporting Japanese society, aren't they?
A: Yes, they are. But there are dishonest companies that neglect the human rights of technical interns and merely consider them as cheap labor. The Act on Proper Technical Intern Training and Protection of Technical Intern Trainees was put into force in 2017 with the aim to strengthen the protection of these interns. Despite the effort, the labor standards inspection offices found through a 2019 survey that about 70% of workplaces where technical interns are accepted violated regulations through acts such as long working hours and low wages.
Q: Will the number of foreign workers keep increasing?
A: In response to requests from industries suffering from labor shortages, the Japanese government in 2019 established a new status of residence for specified skilled workers, and began to officially accept unskilled workers from overseas. However, the number of specified skilled workers is not increasing as much as the government hoped it would. Though some have pointed out that Japan has essentially become an immigrant community, the government has not changed its position not to adopt a policy to accept immigrants. The government's reluctance to reorganize the working environment is likely the reason the increase has been sluggish. Japan must take a response that matches reality so that foreigners can work and live in this country with comfort.
(Japanese original by Naoko Furuyashiki, Business News Department)