Vietnamese people in Japan: A Wikipedia article
This webpage provides information about Vietnamese migration to Japan.
New link added 24 Apr 2021: Young Vietnamese face hardship in Japan The number of Vietnamese people living in Japan has trebled over the past five years. The figure now stands at over 300 thousand. 74 percent are students and technical intern trainees who come to the country to acquire advanced skills to take home. This article looks at the problems these foreign workers face. NHK World, 9 May 2019.
New link added 24 Apr 2021: 40,000 foreign trainees enter Japan amid virus as others fired This article looks at the situation of trainees on the Technical Internship Training Programme, especially from Vietnam, during the Covid pandemic, explains some of the criticisms of the programme and reports on a proposal to replace the programme with a different system. Asahi Shimbun, 21 Jan, 2021
New link added 24 Apr 2021: Vietnamese find lifeline at temple in Nagoya after losing jobs This article explains the stories of Vietnamese people sheltering at Tokurinji temple in Nagoya. They lost their jobs on the Technical Internship Training Programme and were unable to return home to Vietnam because of corona restrictions on travel and entry to Japan. The article refers to experts who blame the situation on problems with the Technical Internship Training Programme itself. Asahi Shimbun, 11 May 2020.
New link added 24 Apr 2021: Tokyo sex parlor heads accused of illegally hiring foreign trainees The article describes a sex parlour which used Vietnamese women to provides sexual services. The women came to Japan to work on the Technical Internship Training Programme but lost their jobs in that due to the pandemic and could not return to Vietnam so turned to sex work to survive. Asahi Shimbun, 10 Nov 2020.
Experts warn Japan’s language schools are becoming a front for importing cheap labor This article looks at the increase in language schools which allow or arrange students to work more than allowed by their visas, at the increase in Vietnamese and Nepalese students which is related to this, at the connections between Japanese and Nepalese language schools for bringing students to Japan which may be close to a system of human trafficking, and at the experiences of two Nepalese students. Japan Times, Jan 3 2017.
"Vietnam, Japan nuclear project intact despite Fukushima" is a newspaper article from October 2011 about nuclear trade between Japan and Vietnam.
"Boat People Put Japan Refugee Policy On Rough Seas" is a 1989 Chicago Tribune article that looks at how Japan responded to the arrival of Vietnamese boat people.
Foreign female interns to sue Toyota subcontractor Six Vietnamese women who came to Japan for industrial training and an internship will sue a subcontractor of Toyota Motor Corp. for more than 30 million yen in damages and unpaid wages. The women claim that JITCO, the government agency in charge of the training program, knew about their situation but did nothing to help. Japan Times, 9 Mar 2007.
Vietnamese killed himself in immigration center, community leader says A Vietnamese man held in a solitary cell at an immigration detention center in Japan committed suicide, a Vietnamese community leader said, raising fresh questions over conditions in the country’s detention facilities. Japan Times, 27 Mar 2017.
Vietnamese who died in Ibaraki detention center killed by stroke: official The death of Nguyen The Hung raised the death toll in Japan’s detention system to 13 since 2006. The deaths have provoked criticism from activists and a watchdog overseeing the centers about the quality of medical care provided to detainees and how they are monitored. Japan Times, 3 Apr 2017
Asian trainees keep Kawaguchi’s furnaces blasting An old article from 2002 that explains the situation of Vietnamese and Chinese trainees working in metal casting furnaces, which makes clear how these trainees have been used as a source of labour by Japanese companies because of the shortage of Japanese workers. Japan Times, 10 Jul 2002.
孤立する技能実習生（1）”奴隷労働”でも「相談先ない」、岐阜縫製のベトナム人女性が相談できない理由 - A story about female technical trainees from Vietnam, isolated in Japan. Yahoo, 6 Feb 2017.
夢破れる外国人労働者たち Article about the situation of foreign workers in Japan, focused on Vietnamese workers, including stories of why they came to Japan and some interviews.) NHK, 20 Sep 2019.
This is a 2008 paper about the Vietnamese diaspora in Japan and the problems that they face.