Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TOKYO2940
2008-10-22 02:59:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tokyo
Cable title:  

JAPAN'S IMPERFECT TRAINEE VISA PROBLEM

Tags:  AADP KCRM PHUM PGOV SMIG SOCI GTIP JP 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0909
OO RUEHCN RUEHFK RUEHGH RUEHHM RUEHKSO RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #2940/01 2960259
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 220259Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8115
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 4522
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 5956
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 1087
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA PRIORITY 4389
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA PRIORITY 1260
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU PRIORITY 0163
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA PRIORITY 0510
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU PRIORITY 1391
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH PRIORITY 0118
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA PRIORITY 2866
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE PRIORITY 4257
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO PRIORITY 1083
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI PRIORITY 0478
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG PRIORITY 0664
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TOKYO 002940 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2018
TAGS: AADP KCRM PHUM PGOV SMIG SOCI GTIP JP
SUBJECT: JAPAN'S IMPERFECT TRAINEE VISA PROBLEM

Classified By: Classified by Ambassador Schieffer for reasons 1.4b, d.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TOKYO 002940

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2018
TAGS: AADP KCRM PHUM PGOV SMIG SOCI GTIP JP
SUBJECT: JAPAN'S IMPERFECT TRAINEE VISA PROBLEM

Classified By: Classified by Ambassador Schieffer for reasons 1.4b, d.


1. (C) SUMMARY: Surveys show that most of the participants in
Japan,s Trainee Visa Program are satisfied with their
situations. However, the high debt burdens these trainees
owe to brokers, and the fact that for the first "trainee"
year they actually work full-time for room and board and a
small stipend, fundamentally flaws the program. Moreover, a
small but significant percentage of trainee visa recipients
must deal with problems related to poor living conditions,
dangerous work environments, underpayment, and sexual
harassment. Aside from seeking help from a handful of NGOs,
there is no easy recourse for trainees who run into problems.
Recognizing that there are flaws in the program, the ruling
LDP plans to introduce legislation next year to address
issues related to the trainee visa program. END SUMMARY.


HISTORY AND TRENDS
--------------


2. (SBU) Japan's Foreign Trainee Program was first put into
place in 1990 as part of the Immigration Policy Revision Law.
The legal purpose was "to develop human resources in
developing countries" and to provide the trainees with the
opportunity "to learn" in Japan. The law expressly stated
that "technologies and skills to be gained must not be of
types that are gained only by repetitive (simple)
operations." JITCO (Japan International Training
Coordination Organization) was established to manage the
program. In 1993 the trainee program was expanded with the
addition of a Technical Internship Program. This allowed for
the "transfer and mastery of more practical technologies, and
skills, and the acquisition of the knowledge acquired in that
training." Under the terms of the addition, 62 different
occupations (including 114 specific jobs) were eligible for
the use of technical interns. These occupations included the
agriculture, fishery, construction, food manufacturing,
textile, machinery, and metal industries. Furthermore, the
trainees were to be treated as "workers" under the labor
standards law. JITCO statistics show that in 2007 the

largest percentage of trainees (23%) were working in the
textile industry. Some 67% were from China, with all but 6%
of the rest from Southeast Asian countries.


3. (C) According to the Ministry of Justice, there were
298,646 unqualified migrants (overstays) in Japan in 1993.
By 2008 this had been reduced to 149,785. At the same time,
according to JITCO, the number of trainees, which stood at
36,612 in 1994, increased to 92,846 in 2006, and has
surpassed the 100,000 level at present. JITCO statistics
show that more than 51% of the trainees are employed in
companies with less than 50 employees. According to Ippei
Torii, Secretary General of both the "Zentoitsu (All United)
Workers Union" and the "Solidarity Network with Migrants
Japan", this is no coincidence: "These trainees mostly
perform jobs that Japanese consider too dirty, too dangerous,
or too low-paying. They are also often doing jobs previously
performed by illegal workers, and are often working in those
small companies that are most struggling to survive."
According to JITCO the percentage of women trainees increased
from 33% in 1997 to 55% in 2006. This is mostly accounted
for by the increasing use of trainees in the textile and
farming sectors.


4. (C) Both NGOs and government officials working with
trainee visa workers agree that, in the majority of cases the
workers are satisfied and feel they are not being mistreated.
That said, in 2007 a Ministry of Justice (MOJ) survey of
companies using trainee visas found problems with 70% of
them. Most of these problems were essentially technical in
nature, relating to fire safety and insurance issues.
However, some NGOs estimate that, based on calls to NGO
hot-lines, in some 5 to 10% of the participant companies,
more serious problems exist.

A TYPICAL CASE
--------------

TOKYO 00002940 002 OF 003




5. (C) On October 2, Embassy Tokyo political officer
interviewed two Chinese women, part of a group of six Chinese
women on trainee visas who had come to work at a small
textile factory in Akita Prefecture. Although the company
did in fact have six sewing machines to show visitors, the
women actually were subcontracted out to work as factory
cleaners. For the first year, as trainees, they were given a
monthly stipend of 20,000 Yen (approximately USD 200) a
month, and room and board. During this first year, after one
month of "Japanese language and culture lessons," they worked
six days a week, usually 12 hours a day as cleaners. The two
women stated they "endured" the first year because they had
paid a broker in China 100,000 RMB (approximately USD
14,628),half of which was to be returned upon completion of
the contract and their return. (NOTE: Interviews with
trainee workers show a wide range of broker fees ranging from
approximately 5,000 to 20,000 USD, with varying percentages
to be given back upon return. END NOTE)


6. (C) After the first trainee/probationary year, the women
extended for two more years, because after the mandatory
"trainee" year they became eligible to receive a Japanese
minimum hourly wage (for that region) of 588 Yen per hour
(approximately USD 5.80 per hour). After deductions for rent
(50,000 Yen a month for a converted metal shed),mattress
rental (7,000 Yen per month),electricity costs (5,000 Yen
per month, though neither the heater nor the air conditioner
worked) and various other itemized deductions (water, phone
calls, etc.),their monthly pay came to approximately 80,000
Yen, or roughly an hourly rate of 256 Yen (USD 2.50) per hour
(calculated on the basis of 6 day work weeks and 12 hour
days). A combination of the low pay, bad living conditions,
and sexual harassment by the owner, resulted in the six women
staging a one-day strike. The next day approximately 12 men
burst into their living space and began beating the women up.
Three of the women were forced to return immediately to
China. The other three escaped (one jumping from a second
floor window and sustaining injuries that required hospital
treatment). After hiding in a vineyard, the women went to a
convenience store, where an employee did an internet search
and found an NGO willing to help.

WHO DO YOU CALL?
--------------


7. (C) Although JITCO states that companies are investigated
for such complaints, the common theme that emerged in several
interviews with people familiar with the actual process was
that even if a trainee does want to make a complaint, and can
manage the linguistic differences or find someone to assist
them, there still is no easy recourse. A call to JITCO
results in JITCO calling the company that the trainee is
complaining about. This has resulted in new threats and/or
quick repatriation. Calls to the police result in the police
stating this is an issue (underpayment, for example) that
needs to be dealt with by a labor union. Most labor unions
in turn are not sympathetic, because they view the trainee
visa workers as a threat to Japanese workers. Even when a
trainee is lucky enough to find an NGO to help, few of them
have the resources to stay in Japan long enough to receive
just compensation. As Yoshiko Shigeno, Chairman of the
Nagoya Roushokuken (Work Disability) Association told
political officer, "The trainees can't afford to stay in
Japan long after leaving their employer. They are also
afraid of working illegally and hurting their case. Few of
them stay more than a few months. Of six clients injured
working for a sub-subcontractor of Toyota, five had to return
home, and only one was able to stay in Japan because she
married a Japanese. This makes it difficult to assist these
trainees even when we want to."

LEGAL REFORM AND THE BIG PICTURE
--------------


8. (C) To correct flaws in the trainee visa program while
addressing problems related to Japan,s aging population and
declining birthrate, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party

TOKYO 00002940 003 OF 003


(LDP) plans to introduce legislation next year in the Diet.
Party documents reveal two different approaches. One, the
"Roadmap to a Japanese Style Multi-Ethnic State," calls for
using various immigration means to gradually build to an
immigrant population that is about 10% of the total Japanese
population. (NOTE: As an indication of some of the
difficulties this approach might face, a public conference
held in the summer of 2008 to discuss the proposal was broken
up by right-ring extremist groups. END NOTE). The second
document, "A Proposal for Short-term Foreign Workers," would
limit the total amount of time that a foreign worker could
work in Japan to three years. A third possibility being
discussed is to reform the existing laws and regulations. A
MOJ spokesman said that the issue of broker fees is difficult
to address since it involves laws in the country of origin.
Similarly a JITCO spokesman states that so-called "double
contracts" involving broker fees and security deposits, are
already forbidden but acknowledged they are widespread.
SCHIEFFER