Japan Wants to Improve its Foreign Worker Policy, But Xenophobia Prevails

Japan has decided to scrap its controversial technical intern program after increasing incidents of unpaid wages, abuse, and exploitation of vulnerable foreign workers from neighboring Asian countries. The government has proposed an alternative training program, which seeks to loosen the previous program’s rigid working rules. It’s an indicator that Japan’s attitude to immigration is shifting as the country struggles to address its severe labor shortage.

But, on an individual level, Japan’s hospitality toward foreigners has reached a breaking point as it grapples with a post-pandemic surge in tourism, challenging Japan’s own idea of being able to coexist with foreigners.

Japan’s economic prospects depend on finding workers and lifting the national birth rate, which continues to fall. It needs 6.74 million foreign workers by 2040, which is almost four times more than its current foreign labor force, according to the government’s 2022 economic growth report. Japan is in desperate need of skilled foreign labor to bridge the immediate labor shortfall in the agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors.

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has traditionally adopted a cautious stance around long-term immigration. The technical intern program was seen as a way to allow unskilled workers to train in specific sectors without a path to long-term employment or residency.

Originally, the technical trainee program was intended to make international contributions to developing countries, but the reality is that it has become a valuable source of labor. Since 1993, each year the program has seen as many as 400,000 people from countries like China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia try their hand at a new skill and a new language in sectors facing a critical worker shortage.

The government’s plan to scrap the technical intern program comes as Japan’s treatment of migrant workers garners international criticism. Under the outgoing program, foreign nationals from developing countries were accepted for up to five years to learn skills through on-the-job training. But the program prohibited trainees from changing companies, regardless of unpaid wages, illegal overtime, sexual harassment, abuse of power, and dangerous work conditions. This led to some 68,000 trainees running away from their workplaces between 2012 and 2022, according to Japan’s Immigration Services Agency.

Pregnancy was also prohibited under the technical trainee program. There have been thousands of cases of workers hiding pregnancies and abandoning newborns over the risk of losing their jobs. A survey in 2022 found that one in four female technical interns faced harassment and pressure to quit their job over a pregnancy, according to the Immigration Services Agency. The program was criticized for being a breeding ground for exploitation and human trafficking by human rights groups assisting technical trainees.

The U.S Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report has called out the technical trainee program for shortcomings in countermeasures against forced labor and human trafficking. The report recognized at least four technical trainees as being victims of human trafficking while under the program. It found that some employers had confiscated workers' passports and controlled their movements to prevent trainees from escaping.

Starting in 2027, a “training employment” program will replace the technical trainee program. The newly launched program has been commended as an improvement for foreign workers’ rights. It allows workers to stay in Japan for training and employment for three years. If their skills and Japanese language ability reach a certain level, they can move on to a “specified technical skill” visa, which can be renewed continuously at five year intervals. It also allows job transfers within the same field and has expanded the categories of work to include retail, hospitality, and hotel work. The new program fosters a path for long-term work afterward.

In March the government approved plans to increase the number of “specific technical skill” visas to 820,000 over five years. But the Japan-Vietnam Tomoiki Support Organization says the new migrant worker policy does not address the debt that migrants arrive with as a result of exorbitant broker fees. The government says it is considering introducing an upper limit for broker fees.

Legal experts have also criticized Japanese companies for having “almost zero” awareness of human rights for foreign workers at a time when companies in Europe face increased pressure to tackle human rights violations and human trafficking risks associated with migrant labor.

Japan is now in competition with South Korea and Taiwan for skilled migrant workers as Asia becomes the fastest aging continent. There is also the setback of Japan’s currency plummeting to a 34-year low and its reputation suffering from the scandal-ridden technical trainee program, giving rise to a situation where Japan needs foreign workers more than foreign workers need Japan.

As Japan looks to improve work conditions and work opportunities for foreign workers, Japan’s image as a tourist friendly destination has taken a hit. In May the number of foreign tourists in Japan topped a record 3 million, and many Japanese are tired of the influx.

One small town made international headlines by erecting a barrier to block the view of Mount Fuji due to complaints of bad-mannered tourists flocking to the town to take photos for social media. Some restaurants have introduced higher menu prices for foreign tourists, with foreign residents expected to show their Japanese government-issued identification to get local prices. Geisha in Kyoto have made complaints about frequent harassment for selfies and parts of Kyoto have banned photography on the streets.

Japan is eager to revamp the country as a foreign-friendly labor market. It’s getting ready to increase the number of foreign workers with improved working conditions with an eye for long term residency. Yet at the same time, strands of xenophobia continue to make life difficult for foreigners in Japan.