National May 23, 2023
Under the plan, the government will increase the number of sectors able to grant foreign workers a special status that effectively grants them permanent residency.
National Apr 28, 2023
Ministry panel outlines proposals for scrapping Japan's foreign intern program
by Anika Osaki Exum
The interim report says program participants should be allowed to switch jobs and eventually be able to move to a visa allowing an indefinite stay in Japan.
National / Crime & Legal Apr 21, 2023
Vietnamese trainee arrested after dead baby found in Hiroshima Prefecture
According to investigative sources, the woman told police that she thought she would be sent back to her home country if it was known that she had been pregnant.
National Apr 10, 2023
Justice Ministry panel backs abolishing Japan's foreign trainee program
by Tomoko Otake and Anika Osaki Exum
The panel said a new system should be established that recognizes the interns as workers helping Japan overcome its labor shortage.
National Apr 4, 2023
As Japan grays, young Indonesians train to fill caregiver vacancies
by Zahra Matarani
According to estimates, only about 130,000 of the 340,000 vacancies on a Japanese government program to employ foreigners with special skills, in sectors like caregiving, have been filled.
National / Crime & Legal Mar 24, 2023
Top court acquits Vietnamese trainee of abandoning stillborn twins
Le Thi Thuy Linh placed the bodies in a cardboard box and left them on a shelf in her room for around 33 hours, along with a letter of apology.
National Feb 3, 2023
U.N. urges Japan to improve treatment of migrants after death of Sri Lankan detainee
Recommendations by a working group under the world body's Human Rights Council also included improving working conditions for those in the country's Technical Intern Training Program.
Business Jan 17, 2023
More Indonesians in Japan's foreign trainee program amid weak yen
by Takaki Tominaga
The demographic shift in the foreign technical trainee program has also come about as the result of the differing costs for trainees to come to Japan.
National Dec 14, 2022
Panel reviewing Japan's foreign trainee program holds first meeting
The program has come under scrutiny due to accounts of physical abuse and the withholding of pay.
National Nov 22, 2022
Government sets up panel to review technical intern program for foreign trainees
Cases of harassment and abuse of foreign trainees on the Technical Intern Training Program has resulted in mounting criticism at home and abroad for the decades-old program.
National Nov 16, 2022
Vietnamese trainees call out unpaid illegal overtime at Japan firm
According to work records from the technical trainees, it was common for them to work in excess of 100 hours in overtime each month.
National / Crime & Legal Oct 12, 2022
Filipino trainee in Japan to seek damages for 'maternity harassment'
The law on equal opportunity employment for men and women prohibits unfair treatment on the basis of an individual giving birth or becoming pregnant.