A powerful group of politicians, academics and business leaders is set to launch an unusual campaign to urge Japan to pry open its doors to foreigners, saying the country’s survival hinges on revamping its immigration policy.
Japan has one of the most restrictive immigration policies in the world, and the debate over whether to allow more foreigners to settle in the country has long been a contentious, politically charged issue for the nation. But recently, calls to allow more foreign workers to enter Japan have become louder, as the aging population continues to shrink and the country’s competitiveness and economic growth pales in comparison with its neighbor to the west: China. A minuscule 1.7% of the overall Japanese population are foreigners, compared with 6.8% in the United Kingdom and 21.4% in Switzerland, according to the OECD.
The 87-member policy council of the Japan Forum of International Relations, a powerful nonprofit research foundation, will on Thursday launch a half-page advertisement in the country’s leading newspapers, urging Japan to rethink its immigration policy. They also submitted their policy recommendations to Naoto Kan, the country’s prime minister.
“If Japan wants to survive in a globalized world economy and to advance her integration with the burgeoning East Asian economy, she essentially has no other choice but to accept foreign migrants,” the advertisement says.
The policy council has issued several recommendations, including allowing more skilled workers to enter the labor market, particularly in industries where there are shortages of domestic workers, such as construction and the auto industry. Under economic-partnership agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines, Tokyo has allowed nurses and nursing-care specialists from these countries to enter Japan, but applicants are subjected to a grueling test in Japanese that only three people have passed. The council says these tests have to be made easier.
“Foreign employment may create employment for the Japanese—it’s bridging Japan with the rest of the world,” said Yasushi Iguchi, a professor at Kwansei Gakuin University and a member of the policy council.
Despite Japan’s stance that it doesn’t accept unskilled foreign workers, these days, Chinese cashiers are a common sight at Tokyo’s ubiquitous convenience stores; South Asian clerks are becoming more plentiful at supermarkets and on construction sites. Their ability to work in these positions is often thanks to numerous loopholes in Japan’s immigration policy, which allows students studying in Japan to work a certain number of hours a week. The country also has a technical internship program that allows younger workers to come into Japan and work as a “trainee” for a year, though this has been maligned as a cheap way to exploit foreign workers and pay them menial wages.
Mr. Kan’s government has said it wants to double the number of high-skilled foreign workers as part of its strategy to revive Japan in its growth strategy report compiled in June. The government is eyeing the introduction of a points-based system, in which it gives favored immigration treatment to foreigners depending on their past careers, accomplishments and expertise. The government also aims to increase the number of foreign students to 300,000 through initiatives such as allowing them to accept credits earned in foreign colleges and accepting more foreign teachers.
But this doesn’t mean more foreigners will necessarily want to come to Japan: in 2009, the number of foreigners who live in Japan fell for the first time in nearly half a century. Only one group bucked the trend: the Chinese, one of the few minority groups to increase its presence last year. Chinese nationals now make up nearly a third of Japan’s foreign population.
“If we stop discussing this and stop reforming, our system will be inadequate to cope with the realities,” said Mr. Iguchi. “In rural areas, we can’t maintain local industries—it will increase our competitiveness.”
Cram school buys out Shane English School
Cram school operator Eikoh Inc. said Friday it has acquired Shane English School to strengthen its English-language education for elementary school children ahead of the planned compulsory teaching of the language for fifth- and sixth-graders.
Eikoh, based in the Kanto region, didn’t disclose how much it paid for the acquisition of shares in the four operating companies that run the English school chain, which mainly operates in the Tokyo metropolitan area. [Other reports claim that around the purchase was for approximately 1 billion yen, or $12 million dollars, a similar amount as Eikoh paid for Nellie’s and Shane Language Services in early October 2010, both of which were also owned by Saxoncourt.]
Representatives of both Eikoh and Shane English School said the acquisition won’t involve personnel cuts or other drastic changes in operations.
Shane English School, a British English school owned by Saxoncourt Holdings, Ltd. based in the British Virgin Islands, operates 199 branches across the Kanto region, of which 46 are franchised.
[Eikoh Inc. business management division representative Hiroyuki ] Otsubo said Eikoh has no plans to change the number of teachers working for Shane English School and its roughly 20,000 students will continue receiving the same services.
Eikoh operates 380 cram schools and has 67,000 students. A press release from Eikoh said that in the Tokyo area, Shane already holds 60 percent of its classes in the same location as classes hosted by Eikoh.
Takehiko Kikuchi, a PR representative for Shane English School, said company employees and teachers received the news calmly.
Companies going all-out in English
Enhancing employee English-language skills has become a high-priority management challenge for Japanese corporations, regardless of their size and industry.
This is especially true for companies whose survival hinges on developing new customers or clients in foreign markets. They are focusing in particular on fast-growing Asian economies, where English is becoming the common means of communication.
Out of necessity, [a a midsize general engineering contractor headquartered in Kawasaki looking to expand in Asia] in spring 2009 launched an English-language training program targeting veteran engineers in their 40s and 50s suffering from “English-phobia,” [the senior general manager of sales] said.
Once a week for two hours, about 40 employees attend one of four classes based on their level of English proficiency. Four instructors — two Americans, a Briton and a Filipino — are dispatched to the classes from an English school. They cover topics ranging from telephone conversation and discussions in conferences to writing e-mail and preparing contracts.
“To double our oversea sales, we must at least double the number of engineers and other staff who have practical English-language skills”.
Ginza hostesses sue upscale club over unpaid wages
The former hostesses, aged in their 20s and 30s, are seeking a labor ruling in the Tokyo District Court, demanding a total of 4.38 million yen in compensation.
According to case documents, one of the former hostesses aged in her 30s joined the club in December 2009, agreeing to a daily wage of 46,000 yen. However her pay was docked by 10 to 100 percent for reasons such as late arrival, leaving early, and failing to reach targets for bringing in customers.
Between January and July this year, she was completely without pay, and had to rely on advance wage payments. With ballooning debts, she left her job at the end of August. The other two former hostesses were in similar positions, and the three joined the Kyabakura Union, a union for hostess club employees. They sought payment of unpaid wages, but negotiations broke down.
Commenting on the case, lawyer Ichiro Natsume said, “The work conditions of the former hostesses were controlled with time cards and their quotas were imposed by the club. Their treatment constitutes a violation of the Labor Standards Law.”
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20101112p2a00m0na012000c.html
Building a ‘Little Yangon’ in Tokyo
For Tokyo’s community of Burmese, however, Takadanobaba is something much more important: a home away from home. In fact, so many of them have gathered there that it has come to be known as Little Yangon. Although they number only a few thousand, the mutual support and sense of community have been vital for their survival in a country that offers precious little official support to refugees and migrants.
Japanese employers are sometimes hesitant to hire foreign staff, concerned that there may be problems due to language and cultural differences.
Phone Hlaing, the vice president of a Burmese labor union, admits these concerns can sometimes be justified. “Half of the problems the union sees are because of misunderstandings, because of language problems. So foreigners should learn the Japanese language.”
Phone also wishes the hosts would be more accepting of other cultures. “Japanese also think they are superior to other Asians. This is the mindset,” he says. “There is discrimination, but we have to show that we can work together.”
For the children of Burmese immigrants, the struggle is less about language and more about their place in society. Often, they have been placed in the public school system and can speak Japanese and understand Japanese culture, but are unable to shake their status as outsiders, leaving them stuck between a native country they don’t quite remember and a host country that doesn’t quite accept them. Reports of bullying are not uncommon.
The number of Burmese community groups operating in Tokyo is truly astounding considering their relatively small numbers. There are workers’ unions, student unions, groups for many of Myanmar’s hundred-plus ethnic groups, religious organizations, political advocacy groups, government lobbyists, a Burmese library, and even Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy has a branch here. And every Burmese adult belongs to at least one of these groups.
This high rate of political participation is key to understanding the character of the Burmese community in Japan. Contrary to the popular belief that all refugees want to permanently settle in their host countries, most Burmese would not settle in Japan long-term if they were given the choice.
As Saw Ba [Saw Ba Hla Thein, vice chairman of the Karen Nation League Japan and a consultant to the Japanese government on issues affecting the ethnic Karen community] puts it, “The Japanese love Japan and they want to live in Japan. We also love our country and want to live there. We want to live in our native land.”
For the Burmese, all of the protests and attempts to influence Japanese policy are done in the hope of one day being able to go back to a free and democratic Burma. They may have created a Little Yangon in Takadanobaba, but for most of them it is at best a temporary replacement they would leave in a heartbeat for the real thing.
Winter bonuses to inch higher: survey
Private firms with five or more employees are likely to pay their workers an average bonus of 388,000 yen this winter, a 2 percent increase from last year, a survey by Mizuho Securities Co. has found.
According to the study results released on Nov. 2, the estimated average bonus payment at such companies marks the first rise in two years, reflecting a recovery in corporate earnings. The brokerage house attributes the small scale of the increase to growing uncertainty over the economy mainly due to the high yen.
The survey also predicts that the number of people who will receive a bonus will rise 1 percent from last winter to 36.9 million, while the grand total of bonuses paid will reach 14.31 trillion yen, a 3 percent jump. The modest gains point to a recovery in the manufacturing industry, where exports to developing nations have grown, and a weakening drive to cut labor costs.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20101103p2a00m0na010000c.html
Kanpai! Summer Bonuses Up
The size of traditional summer bonuses rose for the first time in four years, according to preliminary data released by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry on Monday. Granted the average rise was 1.1% from the previous year to 367,178 yen, but heck, a bigger bonus is a bigger deal.
Workers in the mining and quarrying industries enjoyed the largest percent increase, rising 28% to 427,822 yen for businesses with at least five employees, according to the data. Other industries taking part in the mini-bonanza were the financial and insurance trade, up a cool 6.9% to 616,900 yen, and the wholesale and retail industry, with a 6.8% boost to 291,096.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2010/11/02/kanpai-summer-bonuses-up/
Bonuses post 1st rise in 4 years
The average bonus for salaried workers this summer rose 1.1 percent from a year ago to 367,178 yen ($4,570), the first increase in four years, a labor ministry report said Monday.
Even though it may reflect improved performance among businesses, the slight upturn followed a sharp decline of 9.7 percent in summer 2009, meaning the wage situation remained tough.
The ministry’s monthly labor survey covered 33,000 businesses nationwide that employed five or more regular workers, including part-timers.
By industry, the largest earner was electricity, gas and water utilities, at 796,412 yen, down 3.2 percent year on year. The smallest was 72,670 yen for eating and drinking services. (No comparable figure is available for 2009 due to category changes).
The manufacturing sector, which employs a huge number of workers, posted a 3.9-percent rise to 452,212 yen. Among wholesalers and retailers, the gain came to 6.8 percent for a payout of 291,096 yen.
The largest drop was marked by the medical and welfare sector, down 5.6 percent to 280,224 yen.
Woes of foreign nurses, caregivers in Japan
Jusuf Anwar, Indonesian ambassador to Japan, has bewailed the overly stringent Japanese national examinations for foreign caregivers and nurses. Out of the 500 Indonesians who took the examinations in 2008 and 2009, only two have passed and have become certified nurses.
Anwar revealed this concern at the “First Public Forum on Indonesia” held on July 23, 2010 at the Kyoto University Center for Southeast Asian Studies.
The problem, he said, is the “kanji” character proficiency part of the examinations. An added burden is that when they fail their exams on the third try, the nurses are obliged to leave the country immediately.
The examinations are part of the criteria introduced by the Tokyo government in line with the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJ-EPA) provision on allowing foreign caregivers and nurses to practice their profession in Japan. The IJ-EPA took effect in 2008 but two years after, Ambassador Anwar said he doubted its usefulness unless the examinations can be made less rigid to enable more Indonesian nurses and caregivers to qualify.
He urged that, rather than emphasizing the “kanji” writing abilities of the nurses, the examinations should concentrate on the competence and technical abilities of the examinees. On this point, Anwar was certain that more Indonesian nurses would easily qualify, given their past experiences working in Japan, even if only in a “kenshusei” (trainee) capacity, and from the gathered testimonies of their patients. And for those who fail, they should be allowed to stay and work for at least one year rather than abruptly ending their employment, Anwar added.
Observers see Japan’s decision to allow the certification of foreign nurses and caregivers as being prompted by concerns over the country’s rapidly aging population and the lack of competent professionals to care for elderly Japanese.
The Japan Times has reported that more and more senior Japanese are left to fend for themselves and many die alone in their homes. The Times reported that in Tokyo alone, “People over 65 who died alone in their residence, including by suicide, stood at 2,211 in 2008, compared with 1,364 in 2002.”
The Japanese Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry has denied any connection between “accepting foreign caregivers” and “the manpower shortage in health care.” This is belied, however, by a health ministry survey cited by the Times that shows “about 60 percent of hospitals and about 50 percent of welfare facilities that have accepted Indonesian candidates (say) they offered them jobs hoping to improve staff levels.”
Philippine nurses, too
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) announced in early 2009 that Japan was poised to hire 1,000 foreign nurses and caregivers over the next two years subject, of course, to their passing the language proficiency examinations.
This was a concession included in the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
The woes of Indonesian health care practitioners resonate in the case of their Filipino counterparts. Since the Philippine program began last year, only one Filipino, Ever Lalin, has successfully hurdled the Japanese tests.
In May 2010, Japan Today reported that another batch of 116 Filipino nurses and caregivers left for Japan to undergo a six-month language and cultural course after a screening program that the POEA described as “more rigorous.”
During this training program, the Filipinos will receive a monthly allowance of $400 (about P18,400). Those who pass the Japanese certification and become regular nursing or caregiver staff will get a salary of $1,600 (about P73,600) or more a month.
Nursing associations in both Indonesia and the Philippines have expressed dissatisfaction with their respective EPAs with respect to the hiring of nurses and caregivers to work in Japan.
In a position paper issued as early as 2007, the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), through its president, Dr. Leah Samaco-Paquiz, said that the JPEPA “shortchanges the professional qualifications of Filipino nurses and exposes them to potential abuse and discrimination.”
Dr. Paquiz cited the Japan Nursing Association’s own call for reforms and improvements in their own country’s nursing system in terms of “improving the working conditions, salaries, and benefits of Japanese nurses before Japan allows the entry of Filipino nurses.”
Dr. Paquiz also pointed out that Indonesian nurses under the IJ-EPA “got a better deal” compared to Filipino nurses, as the former are required to have “only three years of formal nursing education and only two years of work experience,” and are not required to pass an Indonesian licensure examination before they are allowed entry into Japan. Filipino nurses, on the other hand, “are required to have had four years of formal nursing education plus three years of work experience, in addition to having passed the licensure examination in the Philippines.”
The major gripe of the PNA, however, centers on the degradation of the Filipino nurses’ position in that, despite having acquired “four years of higher education…, proof of competence via a Philippine license to practice…(and) three years of solid work experience,” the nurses will end up simply as trainees under the supervision of a Japanese nurse for up to three years until they pass the Japanese licensure examination.
Dr. Paquiz adds: They also risk having virtually zero employment rights in Japan as they are considered neither employees nor workers under Japan’s Immigration Control Act. Specific provisions committing Japan to international core labor standards and the protection of the rights of migrant health workers are also absent in the agreement.
The PNA also decried the high language skills required, noting that they “constitute an almost impregnable barrier” to the nurses’ entry. Given these “unnecessarily stringent requirements, (Filipino nurses) will most likely end up providing cheap labor and quality nursing care as nursing trainees in Japanese health care facilities.”
Dr. Paquiz ends the PNA’s position with the plea not to commoditize the nursing profession by classifying nurses as a mere economic category under the JPEPA.
Unfair labor?
The PNA’s fears appear to be confirmed by Emily Homma, a resident of Saitama prefecture who has been assisting Filipino nurses and caregivers. In a February 11, 2010 letter to the Japan Times, Homma charges that the JPEPA has “placed many Filipino nurses and caregivers working in Japan in a miserable situation where they are subjected to unfair labor practices, extreme pressure to pass licensing exams in Japanese, cramped living conditions, and poor salaries.”
On the other hand, the Indonesian National Nurses Association, through its president, Achir Yani, “has called on the Japanese government to be more flexible in the national nursing exam….”
Yani, a University of Indonesia professor, also suggested that a “kanji” pronunciation aid be allowed and that the examinees be given four chances (instead of three) to pass the tests.
Kyodo News reports that Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada had met with Indonesian and Filipino officials in January 2010 and promised “to consider addressing the language issue for foreign nurses.”
At the July 2010 forum at Kyoto University, however, Ambassador Anwar said he has repeatedly raised this issue with the Japanese government but his efforts to have the examination rules relaxed have been in vain.
And given the niggardly passing rate for Indonesian nurses and caregivers, Ambassador Anwar says that “the future of the program to alleviate the problems associated with Japan’s aging society is not so bright.”
Japanese premier vows to help RP nurses, road users
Communications Strategy Secretary Ricky Carandang said that during the [17th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] talks Friday night, [Japanese Prime Minister Naoto] Kan promised to help make it easier for Filipino nurses to pass Japanese exams so that they could work in Japan under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement.
Carandang told reporters that one of the options was to train the Filipino nurses to speak Japanese even before they leave for Japan and before they take the exam.
He noted that the language barrier was what made it hard for Philippine nurses to enter Japan.
“They recognize that. They want to use simplified characters, they want to use abbreviations that are more internationally accepted so that our nurses could be easily accepted in Japan,” he said.
The strict language requirements under the JPEPA is one of the points of contention in the controversial agreement, with the Philippine Nurses Association saying that the high language skills required was an “almost impregnable barrier” and could lead to Filipino nurses ending up providing cheap labor as nursing trainees in Japanese health care facilities.