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Foreign workers have much more visibility in Japan. But policies designed only for short-term stays can hurt the country in the global festival of work.
By Motoko Rich and Kiuko Notoya
The journalists visited a nursing home in Maebashi and a Japanese shelter in Oigami Onsen, and also reported from Tokyo.
Ngu Thazin sought to leave his war-torn country in search of a better future. It has put its attractions in Japan.
In Myanmar, he studied Japanese and graduated in chemistry from one of the most prestigious universities in his country. Still, he gladly accepted an assignment in Japan turning diapers and bathing the citizens of a nursing home in a medium-sized city.
“To be honest, I need to live in Japan because it’s safe,” said Thazin, who hopes to pass an exam that will allow him to work as a licensed physical assistant. “And I need to send cash to my family. “
Japan desperately wants other people like Thazin to fill the positions left vacant by a declining and aging population. The number of foreign workers has quadrupled since 2007, to more than two million, in a country of 125 million people. Many of these workers have escaped low wages, political repression or armed confrontations in their home countries.
But even when foreign workers are much more visual in Japan, working as cashiers in convenience stores, hotel clerks and restaurant waiters, they are treated with ambivalence. Politicians remain reluctant to create opportunities for foreign workers, i. e. those in low-skilled jobs, to stay indefinitely. Over time, this could cost Japan dearly, as it competes with neighbors like South Korea and Taiwan, or even more remote countries like Australia and Europe, which are also struggling to locate workers.
Political resistance to immigration in a long-island Japan, as well as a population rarely reluctant to integrate newcomers, have given rise to a nebulous legal and aid formula that makes it difficult for foreigners to put down roots. about 30% less than their Japanese counterparts, according to government data. Fearful of squandering their right to stay in Japan, staff have precarious relationships with their employers, and career advancement can be difficult to achieve.
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