http:\/\/search.japantimes.co.jp\/mail\/nn20070103f4.html<\/a><\/p>\nJapan’s industrial training and technical internship programs, mainly
\nfor young people from China and Southeast Asia, have been shaken by
\nrevelations that some firms are exploiting the programs to save costs.<\/p>\n
Some foreign interns have been underpaid or forced to take
\nunproductive jobs unconnected to training. A considerable number
\nrefused to tolerate such treatment and have disappeared from workplaces.<\/p>\n
The labor and trade ministries are trying to improve the programs,
\nbut companies that accept foreign interns remain largely resistant to
\nchange because many of them depend on the programs for cheap labor.<\/p>\n
“I came to Japan to learn about farming but have been sent to a
\nconstruction site,” said a Chinese woman in her 30s at a meeting
\nsponsored by the Advocacy Network for Foreign Trainees.<\/p>\n
“I have been forced to overwork with little time left for learning.”<\/p>\n
Launched by the government in 1993, the training and internship
\nprograms allow young foreigners to undergo language and other
\ntraining for one year and to serve as interns at companies in Japan
\nfor up to two years.<\/p>\n
Company associations in 62 industrial categories usually arrange the
\ninternship programs at specific firms.<\/p>\n
The programs have expanded year by year.<\/p>\n
In 2005 alone, as many as 80,000 young people came to Japan on the
\nprograms.<\/b><\/p>\n
However, those in the programs are left unprotected by labor law.<\/p>\n
During the first year of training, monthly pay is limited to 60,000
\nyen — below the legally set minimum wage.<\/p>\n
Although monthly pay rises to around 120,000 yen over the internship
\nperiod, employers often deduct management and other fees to cut net
\npay by tens of thousands of yen.<\/p>\n
Some employers reportedly direct foreign interns to work late at
\nnight at an hourly rate of only 300 yen.<\/p>\n
In such circumstances, more than 1,000 interns disappear from
\nworkplaces each year, apparently to find better paying — but
\nunauthorized — employment.<\/p>\n
In the face of such serious problems, the Health, Labor and Welfare
\nMinistry has been reviewing the programs along with the Ministry of
\nEconomy, Trade and Industry.<\/p>\n
A labor ministry panel plans to correct wage levels and toughen
\npenalties for illegal practices while at the same time rewarding
\ncompanies that treat foreign interns well, ministry officials said.<\/p>\n
Some companies for their part have requested longer internship
\nperiods because of labor shortages, the officials said.<\/p>\n
A METI study group is also calling for extended internship periods
\nand an expansion in the range of industries eligible to accept
\nforeign interns, they said.<\/p>\n
Many of the companies that accept foreign interns are engaged in
\nsewing, metal-processing and other industries that depend on the
\ncheap labor of foreign interns to maintain international
\ncompetitiveness.<\/p>\n
“The interns presumably understand their treatment,” said an official
\nat a sewing company in Gifu Prefecture, implying that foreign
\ntrainees have given their consent before taking jobs under the programs.<\/p>\n
An official at a metal-processing company said that while foreigners
\nare prohibited by law from entering Japan for menial jobs — to
\nprotect employment opportunities for domestic workers — the
\ninternship programs have allowed companies to employ foreign interns
\nfor such jobs.<\/p>\n
An expert on foreign labor in Japan characterized the programs as
\n“fraudulent.”<\/p>\n
“It is unjustifiable to expand a fraudulent system that preys on
\nyoung foreigners,” said Hiroshi Komai, a professor at Chukyo Women’s
\nUniversity in Aichi Prefecture.<\/p>\n
The Japan Times
\nENDS\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Launched by the government in 1993, the training and internship programs allow young foreigners to undergo language and other training for one year and to serve as interns at companies in Japan
\nfor up to two years… In 2005 alone, as many as 80,000 young people came to Japan on the
\nprograms. However, those in the programs are left unprotected by labor law. During the first year of training, monthly pay is limited to 60,000 yen — below the legally set minimum wage. Although monthly pay rises to around 120,000 yen over the internship period, employers often deduct management and other fees to cut net pay by tens of thousands of yen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4,16,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","category-japanese-government","category-labor-issues","category-problematic-foreign-treatment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153","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=153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}