This video reports that many interns are underpaid, saddled with insurmountable debt, and forced into a form of indentured servitude. Many are illegally placed as oyster shuckers, construction workers, and other unskilled positions. Vice News, May 2015.
From across Asia, about 190,000 migrant trainees toil in Japanese factories and farms. Allegations of labor abuses against these workers are widespread. New York Times, Jul 2010. See also this article on the same story, Japan Training Program Is Said to Exploit Workers, New York Times, 20 Jul 2010.
Foreign workers in Japan 'exploited as cheap labour’ Many firms reported to be abusing intern scheme to fill jobs shunned by Japanese The article tells the story of a Chinese trainee, Tang Xili, and explains how the internship training programme is used by Japanese companies to find cheap foreign labour to do jobs that they can't get Japanese workers for. Straits Times, 24 Feb 2016.
Japan Limited Immigration; Now It’s Short of Workers This a long article that looks at the reality of use as manual labourers, exploitation and under payment for trainees on the technical training internship programme and also at how this programme, as well students, asylum seekers and South Americans of Japanese ancestry are being used as foreign migrant labour in Japan even though Japan doesn't officially accept unskilled foreign migrants. New York Times, 10 Feb 2017.
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
Labor-starved Japan welcomes return of foreign workers This article looks at the situation of businesses that rely on foreign workers, particularly on the Technical Internship Training Programme, caused by the restrictions on foreigners coming into Japan during the pandemic. Nikkei Asia, 26 Sep 2020.
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.
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.
Training Programs or Sweatshops? From across Asia, about 190,000 migrant trainees toil in Japanese factories and farms. Allegations of labor abuses against these workers are widespread. 20 Jul 2010, New York Times. See also this article on the same story, Japan Training Program Is Said to Exploit Workers, New York Times, 20 Jul 2010.
As foreign workers disappear, Japan puts in measures to improve working conditions This article examines the exploitation and harsh working conditions of foreign workers on the technical internship training programme in Japan, and discusses whether the action being taken by the government to solve these problems will be effective or not. NHK World, 15 Jan, 2020.
No love for foreign trainees? Backstories about technical trainees in Japan, including how their personal freedom is limited. NHK World, 27 Mar 2019.
Abolish the Technical Intern Training Program, Japanese government-led slavery immediately A campaign to end the programme. Change.org, 2019.
67% of missing foreign trainees worked below minimum wage: opposition parties Looks at a claim from opposition political parties in Japan about the widespread underpayment of trainees, as well as overwork, on the training programme and that the Ministry of Justice tried to hide the real situation. Mainichi Shinbun, 4 Dec 2018.
Forced Labor Risk in Japan’s Technical Intern Training Program A longer report that looks at the situation of Chinese trainees in Gifu who brought legal cases against their companies about exploitation and poor-working conditions. It includes short 'case studies' that tell the stories and experiences of individual trainees. Verite, 2018. This link downloads as a pdf file.
Japan’s need for foreign labor to get dire as 2050 nears Focusing on care workers, this article looks at how the technical internship training programme is used as "back door" immigration to bring unskilled foreign workers into Japan and at how official immigration policy differs from the reality of immigration in Japan. Japan Times, 31 Dec 2017.
Japan’s Technical Intern Training Programme - Learning the Hard Way? An article that explains how the TITP works, the criticisms of the harsh working conditions on the programme and possible and actual measures that could be taken to prevent abuse of trainees on the programme, especially ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Institute for Human Rights and Business, 16 October 2017. See also a longer report on the same issues Learning Experience? Japan’s TITP and the Challenge of Protecting the Rights of Migrant Workers which downloads as a pdf file.
Foreign workers in Japan 'exploited as cheap labour’ Many firms reported to be abusing intern scheme to fill jobs shunned by Japanese The article tells the story of a Chinese trainee, Tang Xili, and explains how the internship training programme is used by Japanese companies to find cheap foreign labour to do jobs that they can't get Japanese workers for. Straits Times, 24 Feb 2016.
Japanese firms employing foreign trainees found violating labor laws in record numbers A survey mainly by labor standards inspection offices found that violations of labor standards, industrial safety and other laws were found at 3,695 such employers, or 70 percent of the total surveyed. Japan Times, 17 Aug 2016.
Japan Skirts Immigration Debate by Offering ‘Internships’ to Foreigners Shinzo Abe’s government looks to extend programs criticized by U.S. as fraught with rights abuses This article looks at plans to extend the Technical Internship Training Program to include care workers and possibly workers in convenience stores. Wall Street Journal, 14 Apr 2015,
Foreign nursing care workers to be invited to Japan under intern program The health ministry has approved a plan to include nursing care under the technical intern training program for foreigners to help increase the number of foreign care workers and solve a labor shortage in Japan’s aging society. Japan Times, 27 Jan 2015.
Japan's trainee program faces tighter oversight Japan will strengthen oversight of its foreign trainee program that critics say serves as a hotbed for forced labor and other human rights violations. Nikkei Asian Review, 13 Jan 2016.
Japan sanctioning mass ‘slave labor’ by duping foreign trainees, observers say “This trainee program is a system of slave labor. You cannot just quit and leave. It’s a system of human trafficking, forced labor,” said Ippei Torii, director of Solidarity Network With Migrants Japan, a nongovernmental group that supports foreign workers. Japan Times, 23 Nov 2014.
Japan moves to expand controversial foreign worker scheme Japan is considering expanding a controversial program that now offers workers from China and elsewhere permits to work for up to three years, as the world's fastest-aging nation scrambles to plug gaps in a rapidly shrinking workforce.Reuters, 1 Apr 2014. The article looks at the government's view as well as the criticisms of the scheme by a labour lawyer, Shoichi Ibusuki.
Foreign trainee program given OK for expansion Extra labor urgently needed for 2020 Games, Tohoku rebuilding This article looks at the government's decision to expand the internship training programme and criticism of it from the Japanese Association of Bar Associations, Japan Times, 4 Apr 2014.
Oversight of foreign trainee program a joke: internal affairs ministry The vast majority of improper practices taking place in the name of technological training for foreigners are overlooked when the companies are audited, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry revealed Friday. Japan Times, 23 Apr, 2013.
Interns abused as labor crisis grows: Foreign recruits discover dark side of Japan's 'training programs' The most recent government data show there are about 155,000 technical interns in Japan. Nearly 70 percent are from China, where some labor recruiters require payment of bonds worth thousands of dollars to work in Japan. Interns toil in apparel and food factories, on farms and in metal-working shops. In these workplaces, labor abuse is endemic: A 2012 investigation by labor inspectors found that 79 percent of the companies that employed interns were breaking labor laws. Japan Times, 12 Jun, 2014.
Special Report: Foreign interns pay the price for Japan's labor shortage This articles looks in depth at the case of three Chinese female interns working at the Kameda company in Hakusan, Western Japan, making clothes for the Burverry label. Reuters, 12 Jun 2014.
Invite foreign interns to settle in Japan, think tank says A Tokyo think tank, the Japan Centre for International Exchange (JCIE), says the nation should replace its discredited national foreigners’ trainee program with a system that invites overseas interns to settle in Japan, which would help solve an immediate labor shortage and an approaching demographic crisis. Japan Times, Oct 29, 2014.
Japan’s foreign trainee program suffering from shocking lack of oversight: Dysfunctional program has seen more than 300 deaths since 1992. Japan Times, 13 Aug 2014.
Foreign Workers in Japan: Temporary Workers Suffer Poor Conditions A video report that looks at good and bad examples of the program. "About 180,000 foreign trainees work in Japan, and most of them come from China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Training these young foreign workers is a plan endorsed by the Japanese government and is supposed to benefit both countries. But many say they are being exploited, and last year, a record number of 34 foreign workers had died." Aljazeera, 27 Oct, 2009.
Japan Training Program Is Said to Exploit Workers Critics say foreign trainees have become an exploited source of cheap labor in a country with one of the world’s most rapidly aging populations and lowest birthrates. It includes a video about this issue and the work that Japanese lawyers are doing to protect the trainees. New York Times, 20 July, 2010.
Three Years After: Businesses in disaster-hit areas relying on foreign trainees In areas recovering from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, businesses struggling to secure workers are increasingly turning to foreign trainees. Asahi Shimbun, 7 Mar 2014.
Training program for foreign construction workers needs serious overhaul This article discusses shortages of labour in Japan caused by the reconstruction work in Tohoku and preparations for the Tokyo Olympics and argues that the government's plans to make it easier to use foreign interns on the technical training program to meet this labour shortage is dangerous. Asahi Shimbun, 30 Jan, 2014.
Labor policy message to foreigners; Thanks. Now go home This editorial criticises government plans to allow foreigners, especially interns on the technical training program, to stay longer to meet Japan's labour shortage for the Olympics, but then to have to leave when Japan now longer needs them. Asahi Shimbun, 19 Apr 2014
Flawed foreign labor plan This editorial argues that the Abe Government's plans to use foreign labour to make up for labour shortages, including for Olympic construction work, has not been discussed enough and will cause problems. The idea to expand use of the technical internship program, which should be used to train people from Asian countries nit use them as cheap labour, is particular problematic. Japan Times, 15 Apr, 2014.
Foreign trainee system said still plagued by rights abuses "Allegations of abuses, including exploitation of cheap labor, confinement, poor or no wages and other rights violations, have been laid against the program from early on, and human rights lawyers are now calling for the system to be terminated." Japan Times, 9 Apr, 2013.
U.N. rights rapporteur says end foreign trainee program ‘slavery’ Jorge Bustamante, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights of migrants urged the government Wednesday to terminate its industrial trainee and technical intern program for workers from overseas, saying it may amount to “slavery” in some cases, fueling demand for exploitative cheap labor in possible violation of human rights....“Racism and discrimination based on nationality are still too common in Japan, including in the workplace, in schools, in health care establishments and housing,” he said. Japan Times, April 1, 2010.
Foreign trainees facing chronic abuses: Firms refuse to stop exploiting interns as cheap labor, leading many to quit Japan's industrial training and technical internship programs, mainly for young people from China and Southeast Asia, are being used by some companies as a source of cheap labour. Some foreign interns have been underpaid or forced to take unproductive jobs unconnected to training.Japan Times, Jan 3, 2007.
Labor office recognizes overwork death of foreign intern for 1st time A labor office in Ibaraki Prefecture has found that a Chinese trainee at a local firm died in 2008 due to overwork, marking the first recognized death from overwork of a foreign intern under a government-authorized training program. Tozen (originally in Mainichi Daily News), 12 Jan, 2011.
Rights activists demand end to exploitative trainee program An article about claims by labour rights activists, including Torii Ippei of the Solidarity Network with Migrants, Japan that the internship program involved human trafficking. It refers to a United Sattes Government State Department Report on human trafficking which says the internship program in Japan involves fored labour. Japan Times, 3 Jul, 2013.
Japanese Agriculture and Migration: Big Farms deeply depending on the Technical Intern Training Program by Mitsuyoshi Ando (Tokyo University) & Kenji Horiguchi (Waseda University), Migration Papers, University of California Davis, no date (but after 2011 so quite recent). The authors see the Technical Intern Training Program as "a legal loophole to hire low wage farm worker from abroad" and discuss the situation of trainees in agricultural work in Japan.
Technical Interns Information from the Migrant Labour Research Group
Overtime work, wage, forced return, etc….Q&A for foreign trainees and technical interns (explaining the rights of trainees and technical interns). Advocacy Network for Foreign Trainees.
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.
Japan’s need for foreign labor to get dire as 2050 nears Focusing on care workers, this article looks at how the technical internship training programme is used as "back door" immigration to bring unskilled foreign workers into Japan and at how official immigration policy differs from the reality of immigration in Japan. Japan Times, 31 Dec 2017.
“Place making” in Kawakami: aspirations and migrant realities of Chinese “technical interns” by Meng Liang. This academic article examines Chinese agricultural labor migrants’ experiences in rural Japan, mainly in Kawakami, a village located in central Japan. It goes beyond the labeling of Chinese migrants as passive victims of difficult work conditions and exploitation, and argues that Chinese peasant workers possess an agency to negotiate, navigate, and survive in the village, making their own 'places' there and creating social networks to support themselves. Contemporary Japan, 2014.
Transformation of the Foreign Trainee Program by Sonoko Kawakami, WOMEN’S ASIA 21 Voices from Japan No. 20 Winter 2008
Japan's Internship Training Program for Foreign Workers: Education or Exploitation? by Kamata Satoshi, The Asia-Pacific Journal, Japan Focus, Jul 2008
Concerning Revisions in the Foreign Trainee and Technical Intern System by Hiroaki Watanabe, The Japanese Institute for Labour Policy and Training, Japan Labour Review, Summer 2010
The Dynamics of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Japan Under the Industrial and Technical Internship Program by Nawawi, Proceedings of the 16th Tri-University International Joint Seminar and Symposium 2009
Legal Protection for Migrant Trainees in Japan: Using International Standards to Evaluate Shifts in Japanese Immigration Policy by Shikha Silliman Bhattacharjee, University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, 2014.
外国人技能実習生権利ネットワーク/ Advocacy Network for Foreign Trainees This is an organisation that provides legal advice and other support for interns and trainees and campaigns for improvements in the program. Mostly in Japanese and Chinese but has Q&A for foreign trainees and technical interns in English.
Foreign trainees network Fukui （外国人研修生ネットワーク福井）
Lawyers Network for Foreign Trainees / 外国人研修生問題弁護士連絡会
Rights of Immigrants Network in Kansai An organisation that provides help to foreign workers including interns and trainees.
Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union/全国一般東京ゼネラルウニオン (Tozen, 東ゼン) Shoichi Ibusuki, a lawyer who works for this union has supported many trainees in legal cases about working conditions.
Zentoitsu Workers Union - Torii Ippei represents foreign trainees at this union
Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan -SMJ / 移住者と連帯する全国ネットワーク An organisation that supports foreign workers in Japan. President Torii Ippei has supported many trainees in legal cases.
The Migrant Worker Study Group / マイグラント研究会 A professional group consisting of lawyers, leading members in the labor union and researchers who are familiar with the problems of foreign workers. We study various problems of foreign workers and provide them with legal support.