{"id":10340,"date":"2012-06-22T09:58:47","date_gmt":"2012-06-22T00:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=10340"},"modified":"2012-06-22T11:30:33","modified_gmt":"2012-06-22T02:30:33","slug":"kyodo-foreign-caregiver-exits-put-program-in-doubt-complete-with-editorial-slant-blaming-nj-for-being-fickle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=10340","title":{"rendered":"Kyodo: Foreign caregiver exits put program in doubt, complete with editorial slant blaming NJ for being fickle"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. \u00a0The Kyodo article below, on how Indonesian and Filipina nurses and caregivers (even those who have passed the arduous qualifying exam) are leaving Japan anyway, has been featured within the comments section of another Debito.org blog entry (here<\/a>). \u00a0It seems to be gathering steam there, so let me post the article here as a stand-alone, and repost below it the subsequent replies from Debito.org Readers (the really good ones start doing the math, revealing there’s something fishy going on at the administrative level, beyond just blaming the NJ caregivers for not doing what they’re told after all the GOJ bullshit they’ve put up with<\/a>).<\/p>\n

My take on this Kyodo article is about the nasty little editorial slants and needles within. \u00a0Particularly nasty is how all otherwise qualified NJ caregivers are suddenly unworthy of emptying Japanese bedpans just because some decide they have a life outside Japan:<\/p>\n

Quoth one professor with a PhD in nastiness at Todai (Kiyoshi Kitamura, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s International Research Center for Medical Education): “To what extent would it be considered appropriate for the foreign caregivers’ lives to be bound by the program? We must contemplate this, along with the question of whether the Japanese people are really up for nursing care provided by foreigners<\/em><\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Moreover, Kyodo, is this news, or editorializing? \u00a0“Yet as of June, five of them had quit and returned to Indonesia ‘for personal reasons,’ bringing great disappointment to the facilities that spent tens of millions of yen training them<\/em><\/strong>.” \u00a0Awww, diddums!<\/p>\n

Submitter DeBourca further comments: Honestly, this article is jaw dropping. Care companies are actually upset that foreigners won\u2019t accept indentured servitude on subsistence level wages? And where\u2019s the balance and context? When you\u2019re up against this kind of mindset, how do you go about dealing with it? Where do you even start?<\/em><\/p>\n

Okay then without further ado, the Kyodo article, then the subsequent comments. \u00a0Thanks for making Debito.org a valuable resource for public critique, everyone. \u00a0Arudou Debito<\/p>\n

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The Japan Times Wednesday, June 20, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

Foreign caregiver exits put program in doubt<\/strong>
\n So far five Indonesians who qualified have returned home<\/strong>
\n Kyodo<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/text\/nn20120620f1.html<\/a><\/p>\n

When 35 Indonesian caregivers undergoing on-the-job training passed Japan’s qualification examination this year, it was good news for their hosting facilities, which held high hopes they would continue providing much-needed manpower.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet as of June, five of them had quit and returned to Indonesia “for personal reasons,” bringing great disappointment to the facilities that spent tens of millions of yen training them.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Many blame the government for failing to provide a clear and adequate explanation of the program when recruiting candidates under the free-trade agreement with Indonesia.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tatsumi Nakayama, who runs a nursing home in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, recalled being astonished when a female Indonesian caregiver who had been training there and passed the exam suddenly said she wanted to go back to Indonesia because she was getting married.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The nursing home began hosting the Indonesian in 2008 as a prospective caregiver, providing on-the-job training as well as paying for her Japanese-language and test-preparation tutorials with the expectation that she would eventually contribute as a core member of its staff.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The total cost, including her \u00a5180,000 monthly salary, on par with that of Japanese college graduates, came to \u00a530 million over four years, according to Nakayama.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

While Nakayama said he had been told the foreign caregiver would be working for the facility once she passed the exam, the woman insisted this had not been explained to her and she took off for Indonesia last month.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

An official involved in the program, speaking on condition of anonymity, admitted the government “did not do enough” to ensure thorough understanding of the program’s requirements and the obligations it entails.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Applicants are required to attend briefings held by the Indonesian government prior to coming to Japan, but back in 2008 they were not given any clear explanation regarding what they would be required to do after passing the exam.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even basic rules, including that they could only continue to work in Japan beyond the four-year training period if they passed the test, had not been mentioned, according to the government official.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In view of the problem, the central government began in November to stipulate in briefing information kits for applicants that candidates are expected, in principle, to work in Japan for a prolonged period after passing the qualification exam.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

To improve the low pass rate of foreign applicants taking the exams, the government also decided to grant them more time when taking the tests, starting this fiscal year, and to attach hiragana or katakana for all kanji used in questions.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Of the 104 Indonesian caregivers who came to Japan in 2008, 94 took the qualification exams for the first time in January. Among the 35 who passed, five have left Japan and three others have expressed their intention to do so.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

While many cited personal reasons, such as returning home to care for ill family members, there was also one who planned all along to return home regardless of the exam result.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has indicated it plans to conduct a followup investigation but has been slow to act. It has been negative from the beginning about accepting foreign caregivers because they could affect the employment of Japanese workers.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The ministry’s attitude has led to distrust and discontent among many in the nursing business, which is suffering from a shortage of skilled and talented caregivers.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“With all the confusion over the latest issue, I’m worried that the countries that have concluded free-trade agreements (with Japan) will lose their eagerness to send prospective caregivers here,” one industry insider said.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Perhaps we need to establish a new framework to resolve the issue of securing manpower.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Commenting on the situation, Kiyoshi Kitamura, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s International Research Center for Medical Education, said: “To what extent would it be considered appropriate for the foreign caregivers’ lives to be bound by the program? We must contemplate this, along with the question of whether the Japanese people are really up for nursing care provided by foreigners.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Under the agreements concluded by Japan with Indonesia and the Philippines, nurses and caregivers from the two countries can undergo on-the-job training in Japan for several years and continue working in the country if they pass the national qualification exams within a designated period.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But the kanji and technical terms employed are believed to pose a considerable hurdle for foreign applicants, whose pass rates remain significantly lower than Japanese applicants.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n

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COMMENTS\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jim Di Griz<\/cite>\u00a0Says:
\nJune 21st, 2012 at 12:27 pm<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0edit<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

@ DeBourca #21<\/p>\n

Very interesting article.<\/em>
\nIt\u2019s the \u2018this is Japan\u2019 as veil for culture of abuse syndrome in action again.<\/em>
\nThey spent all that money training Indonesian nurses, then gave them a (wait for it) 180,000 yen a month salary (wow!), and then complain that the Indonesians \u2018didn\u2019t understand their obligation to Japan\u2019 by going home, instead of staying for \u2018a prolonged period\u2019.<\/em>
\nIf they want workers to stay, the have to offer a salary and conditions that are attractive enough. Talking about \u2018obligation\u2019 is just empty words to reinforce (as the article comments) that these are non-Japanese nurses and therefore unsuitable in some way. Just excuses for lack of policy.<\/em><\/p>\n

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DeBourca<\/cite>\u00a0Says:
\nJune 21st, 2012 at 4:19 pm<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0edit<\/a><\/small><\/div>\n
<\/small>@Jim<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Thanks for the comments.<\/em>What fascinates me is the mindset. Employers all over the world exploit their workers, but in Japan there still seems to be the view that the Victorian industrialists held; By providing employment, employers are providing vital services to society and individuals by keeping them \u201coccupied\u201d; Hell, we should be paying them!<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
There is a very good article by Philip Brasor (who occasionally posts here?) on the JT about an incidence of suicide-induced \u201ckaroshi\u201d (that term is fascinating in itself) at the Watami company. It lifts the lid on policy regarding forcing employees to work inhuman amounts of overtime. The company president basically shrugged his shoulders and blamed the employee. He didn\u2019t even see the need to publicly address the issue; What had he done wrong?<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The questions in my previous post were not rhetorical BTW. I\u2019m interested in trying to understand this mentality (pathology?) and why it is so accepted in Japan.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
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\n

Ds<\/cite>\u00a0Says:
\nJune 21st, 2012 at 8:20 pm<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0edit<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

Jim;<\/p>\n

I think you read the article wrong. The 180,000 salary was paid during their training\/studying for 4 years, not the wage offered upon graduation. Plus, as the article said, this was on par with what Japanese were paid for the same job. It seems a reasonable stipend to be paid while studying. Not far under what some eikaiwa teachers\/ALTs make actually.<\/em><\/p>\n

As for the \u2018obligation\u2019 to stay, this was poor management on the part of the Japanese trainers. The expectations needed to be written explicitly rather than implied. It\u2019s only natural that a certain number of the caregivers (particularly women) would want to go home regardless of the result of their training and exams.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Jim Di Griz<\/cite>\u00a0Says:
\nJune 21st, 2012 at 10:49 pm<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0edit<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

@ DeBourca #23<\/p>\n

Yes, you are right.<\/em>
\nMy opinion (very short version) is this;<\/em><\/p>\n

Meiji-era Japan re-invented itself as a modern industrialized state, and the idea of working yourself to death for the company (and by extension, the country) was a duty to prevent Japan being colonized by the West, and to help Japan catch-up with the West. Patriotic duty. This mentality has left too large a mark on modern Japan. The collapse of Imperialist ideology saw the replacement of \u2018catch-up\u2019 with the West recast in terms such as \u2018duty to rebuild the nation\u2019 after the war. Why can\u2019t they stop? Because \u2018this is Japan!\u2019 The headless chicken marches on\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Western nations (on the other hand) went through the industrialization process hand-in-hand with the democratization process that the oppressed workers demanded and fought for (see; Luddites and The Tollpuddle Matyrs). Any attempt by Meiji-era Japanese workers to protest for rights at work were crushed as being \u2018unpatriotic\u2019 and \u2018due to traitorous external influences\u2019, and therefore \u2018not Japanese qualities\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

Someone wrote a good book about this that I read as an undergrad, if I remember the name, I will post it.<\/em><\/p>\n

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TJJ<\/cite>\u00a0Says:
\nJune 21st, 2012 at 11:45 pm<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0edit<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

\u201cThe total cost, including her \u00a5180,000 monthly salary, on par with that of Japanese college graduates, came to \u00a530 million over four years, according to Nakayama.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, the article fails to mention that that nursing candidate probably (almost certainly) had an Indonesian nursing qualification and experience already. So to compare them to Japanese college graduates in terms of salary is \u2026 unfair.<\/em><\/p>\n

But the numbers are interesting. The total before tax income for the nurse would be 8,640,000 Yen over 4 years (2,160,000 per year). That leaves 21,360,000 of the total expenses, being 30,000,000 according to the article, unaccounted for. So over two thirds of the total cost goes to Japanese companies that \u2018train\u2019 etc. Business as usual in Japan.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Scipio<\/cite>\u00a0Says:
\nJune 22nd, 2012 at 9:29 am<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0edit<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

TJJ Says:
\nBut the numbers are interesting. The total before tax income for the nurse would be 8,640,000 Yen over 4 years (2,160,000 per year). That leaves 21,360,000 of the total expenses, being 30,000,000 according to the article, unaccounted for. So over two thirds of the total cost goes to Japanese companies that \u2018train\u2019 etc.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks TJJ, I was doing the math and was thinking that it must be me and my bad math because the figures looked absolutely crazy.<\/em><\/p>\n

As others have said this mindset of the article was totally jaw dropping. \u2018Those third world workers, how ungrateful they are after all we\u2019ve done for them\u2019.<\/em>
\nCrazy, totally crazy\u2026The slant in the article borders on the childishly subjective. \u2018We Japanese were not the cause of the misunderstanding and we have bent over backwards to accomodate these trainees\u2019 (Note. Most of these trainees were qualified caregivers in their home country before they came here).<\/em><\/p>\n

I would like someone to interview these non-Japanese caregivers who passed the exam and have chosen to return to home home countries, and ask then for their reasons for returning. Rather than having an article of reported speech journalism in the third person, where others speak for them. Maybe the reason this hasn\u2019t been done is that the Japanese might not like the answers.<\/em><\/p>\n

As a final point, let\u2019s not forget this is the foreign caregivers, not the foreign nurses, whose exam has a much lower pass rate.<\/em><\/p>\n

ends<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Kyodo article below, on how Indonesian and Filipina nurses and caregivers (even those who have passed the arduous qualifying exam) are leaving Japan anyway, has been featured within the comments section of another Debito.org blog entry (here). It seems to be gathering steam there, so let me post the article here as a stand-alone, and repost below it the subsequent replies from Debito.org Readers (the really good ones start doing the math, revealing there’s something fishy going on at the administrative level, beyond just blaming the NJ caregivers for not doing what they’re told after all the GOJ bullshit they’ve put up with).<\/p>\n

My take on this Kyodo article is about the nasty little editorial slants and needles within. Particularly nasty is how all otherwise qualified NJ caregivers are suddenly unworthy of emptying Japanese bedpans just because some decide they have a life outside Japan. Quoth one professor with a PhD in nastiness at Todai (Kiyoshi Kitamura, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s International Research Center for Medical Education): “To what extent would it be considered appropriate for the foreign caregivers’ lives to be bound by the program? We must contemplate this, along with the question of whether the Japanese people are really up for nursing care provided by foreigners.”<\/p>\n

Moreover, Kyodo, is this news, or editorializing? “Yet as of June, five of them had quit and returned to Indonesia ‘for personal reasons,’ bringing great disappointment to the facilities that spent tens of millions of yen training them.” Awww, diddums!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,5,26,4,16,13,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bad-business-practices","category-human-rights","category-ironies-hypocrisies","category-japanese-government","category-labor-issues","category-media","category-problematic-foreign-treatment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10340\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}