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Japan Keeps a High Wall for Foreign Labor
Maria Fransiska, a young, hard-working nurse from Indonesia, is just the kind of worker Japan would seem to need to replenish its aging work force. But Ms. Fransiska, 26, is having to fight to stay. To extend her three-year stint at a hospital outside Tokyo, she must pass a standardized nursing exam administered in Japanese,…
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Trade pacts one thing, immigrant labor another
Japan, despite a decade of government, business, academic and media warnings that the aging population and lower birthrate mean millions of foreign workers are needed to maintain current GDP levels, has dithered, opting instead to emphasize the goal of wooing highly skilled migrant workers. In July, Jusuf Anwar, Indonesian ambassador to Japan, told a public…
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Immigrants are equal citizens, not guests
There is no quick or easy way out, but Europe — and Japan — should start by making economic migration legitimate Baruch Spinoza, the 17th-century Dutch philosopher, Benjamin Disraeli, the 19th-century British prime minister, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the 21st-century French president, have one thing in common: all are sons of immigrants. People have migrated to…
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Concern over use of Japanese language in English conversation classes at high schools
Less than 20 percent of public high schools have been enforcing an English-only rule in their English conversation classes during the 2010 school year according to a survey, causing alarm at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Oral communication (OC) classes were introduced for English studies at high schools in 1994…
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Japan modifies nursing licensure exam for foreigners
The nursing licensure exam in Japan for foreigners will be modified in February in the hope that more foreign nurses will be able to pass it and eventually work with Japanese patients, a Philippine official said Tuesday. Philippine Overseas Employment Agency chief Jennifer Manalili said Japan has agreed to put English translations beside some Japanese…
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Abuse rife within trainee system, say NGOs
Foreigners report harsh job conditions, poverty-line pay, mistreatment under notorious program Started in 1993, the aim of the Technical Intern Training Program is to “provide training in technical skills, technology (and) knowledge” to workers from developing countries, according to the Japan International Training Cooperation Organization (JITCO), which oversees the program. But in practice, say advocacy…
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Diplomatic issues close door on families seeking status
Around 300 Kurds live in and around Kawaguchi and neighboring Warabi. Most came to Japan in the 1990s, and many have applied for refugee status due to persecution by the Turkish government. But support organizations say not a single one of them has been recognized. According to the Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau, there were 1,599…
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Will there ever be a rainbow Japan?
Government statistics suggest multiculturalism is on the rise, but social organizations for mixed-race Japanese say ‘hafus’ still face challenges Japan, which closed its borders from 1639 to 1854 and later colonized its neighbors, has an uneasy history with foreigners, national identity, and multiculturalism. Yet government statistics and grassroots organizations say multiculturalism in the famously insular…
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Nova chief’s sentence shortened
The Osaka High Court on Thursday shaved 18 months off the 3 1/2-year prison term of the founder and former president of Nova Corp., who was convicted of embezzling ¥320 million from the defunct English school chain’s employee benefit fund. The counsel for Nozomu Sahashi, 59, plans to appeal. Sahashi pleaded not guilty at his…
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High Court Gives Ex-Nova President 2-Yr Jail Term For Embezzlement
The Osaka High Court on Thursday sentenced the founder and former president of English conversation school operator Nova Corp. to two years in prison for embezzling 320 million yen of employees’ benefit funds, reducing a lower court sentence of three years and six months. The defense counsel for Nozomu Sahashi, 59, plans to appeal the…