This will be done by strengthening management and supervision of the system, widening the job categories covered by the system, extending the training period from the current period of three years to a maximum of five years and expanding the admission quota.
Second, Japan will ease the acceptance criteria for trainees in the construction and shipbuilding industries for a five-year period.
Third, the Abe government will consider allowing the employees of Japanese firms’ foreign subsidiaries to work in Japan, permitting home support personnel to work in National Strategic Special Zones and enabling international students who have secured Japanese national license to work in the elderly care sector.
The above policies will considerably increase the need for foreign workers to be proficient in Japanese language. The allowable period of stay in Japan for technical intern trainees — who currently receive the least amount of Japanese language training — will be increased by almost 70 per cent, reinforcing their need for Japanese language skills. In addition, the policy intends to enlarge the number of technical intern trainees.
But is Japan prepared for the increased demand for Japanese language training?
Currently, Japanese language education for foreign workers varies depending on occupation. Japan accepts candidates for nurses and aged care workers from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. In 2014, 508 people arrived in Japan to work in these sectors. For such candidates, Japanese language training is given before and after arriving in Japan. Most candidates from Indonesia and the Philippines who received this training achieve an N3 level (‘to understand Japanese used in everyday situations to a certain degree’) in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.
With regard to the Technical Intern Training System, however, trainees only receive Japanese language training after arriving in Japan. The extent of the language training that they receive also may differ depending upon the process by which they were invited. In some cases, Japanese companies individually invite trainees, but often small- and medium-sized companies do so collectively through the Japan International Training Cooperation Organization (JITCO). Two organisations are involved in technical intern trainees’ Japanese language education — the Overseas Human Resources and Industry Development Association (HIDA) and JITCO. HIDA provides trainees with 6 to 13 weeks of Japanese lessons. The 13 week course aims to enable trainees to achieve the N4 level (‘to understand basic Japanese’). JITCO assists its member companies by supplying them with lessons on how to instruct in Japanese as well as teaching materials. But JITCO does not provide Japanese language lessons directly.
The number of trainees invited by individual companies is approximately 5000. Meanwhile, in 2013, approximately 145,000 trainees were invited collectively through JITCO. Whether or not the Japanese language training given to these trainees is effective remains a key question.
In addition to the above two programs, language training is also available for foreign residents in local Japanese communities. This program is run by the Cultural Affairs Agency, a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education.
A Liberal Democratic Party report published in March 2014 called for the provision of Japanese language education for technical intern trainees before they leave their home country. But there seems to be no reference to this issue in the report published in the same year by the Cabinet Office, nor in the ‘Revision of Japan Revitalization Strategy’.
The ‘Revision of Japan Revitalization Strategy’ states that, as part of the re-evaluation of the Technical Intern Training System, the Japanese government intends to conclude agreements with the governments of foreign workers’ home countries. But it is unclear if the Japanese government ask its counterparts governments to provide Japanese language training at home before departure and whether it will maintain the current policy of requiring Japanese language training after entering Japan. This issue demands serious attention as appropriate language training is essential to breaking down the ‘language barrier’ and successfully accepting and integrating more foreign workers into Japanese society.
Tomonori Taki is Associate Professor at Nagasaki International University, Japan.
What. Japan really needs to become globally competitive again is to internationalize by bringing in foreign workers who are highly skilled experienced professionals in their fields, such as business and STEM. However, after living and working in Japan as a foreign professional for over a decade, I see no signs of this ever happening. It is as if Japan is stuck in a North Korea-like time-warp when it comes to modern business practices and opening up to todays global world.
As much as Japan needs experienced and skilled foreign professionals, I do not see why any of them should choose Japan, since there are many other countries which are much more attractive. The total inability of the Japanese to communicate in English and the inability of most foreign profesionals to speak Japanese is just one of many hurdles for Japan to attract global talent. Some of the other ones are as follows:
1) Japan needs to deal with an insular society which is highly xenophobic, racist and suspicious of foreigners. It is unique among developed countries in the way it discriminates against its non-Japanese residents in almost every area.
2) Japanese companies need to improve their treatment of foreign workers. As it stands now, foreign workers in Japan are discriminated against, treated like second-class disposable workers and their legal rights are routinely violated by Japanese companies with impunity. Japanese companies clearly do not feel that workers’ rights and protections under Japanese labor laws apply to foreign workers, even when these workers happen to be regular full-time permanent staff (sheishain).
3) the Japanese judicial system is extremely corrupt and racist in dealing with foreign residents of Japan. As such, foreign workers find that they have no recourse against injustices inflicted upon them by their Japanese employers. Japanese judges, lawyers and corporations all collude to deny fair treatment and due process to foreign litigants who try to stand up for their rights. Detailed case studies of such human rights abuses and denial of foreign residents’ basic civil rights by Japanese courts are documented in an upcoming book on this subject, which will shock many people.
Unless Japan addresses these issues, it will find itself more and more isolated and disconnected from the rest of the world.
Steve Jackman,I do agree with you that racial discrimination, treatment of foreign workers and issues relating to the judicial system are all important to improve the situations of foreign workers in Japan.
However, in this article I concentrated on the language barrier issue. If we can lower the barrier to any degree, there will be a larger space where both foreign workers and the Japanese can address the above issues better.
It takes time to assist non-native speakers to learn Japanese (just as any other languages). I am not optimistic to assume that an increase in the number of foreign residents with better command of the language would reduce discrimination. Yet, assistance in Japanese language learning (which did not take place until now) would not totally be meaningless.