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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