Japan's trainee programme, which allows foreigners to obtain a trainee visa on the promise that they will learn new technologies, is allegedly just a front for cheap labour, according to activists.

Just recently, three Chinese women who fled from a garments factory reportedly complained of inadequate salary, ill treatment, and being made to work 13 hours a day.

Many workers who were granted the trainee visa are complaining of long hours of work coupled with insufficient pay. Foreign workers are said to be paid around US$15,000 annually, only half the minimum US$28,000 annual cost of living in Japan. The workers are also not entitled to injury compensation and their passports are often taken away by their employers. If they protest, Japanese employers threaten to send them back home. 

Currently, the trainee programme has become popular among Chinese, Indonesians, and Filipinos. Given the high value of the Japanese yen, the country is considered as an attractive market for Asian overseas workers.

The government of Japan has already acknowledged the problems and is reported to be developing stricter regulations including a new monitoring process of Japanese employers to stop exploitation.

Activists are advocating the immediate abolition of Japan's trainee visa system, which started back in 1993. As long as the programme continues, exploitation of foreign workers will go on.

Source:
“Japan: Exploiting 'Trainee' Migrant Workers” from Inter Press Service News Agency, posted on November 16, 2006, <http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35496>.

FYI: Migrant Workers Helpline in Japan

The following are Kansai-based NGOs that respond to the suffering of foreign workers in their own areas. Their programs generally fall under three main categories: counseling services, case handling, and policy/law reform advocacy.

1) Asian People Together (APT)—a voluntary organisation that extends help to people from other Asian countries residing in the Kyoto area
Address: Kyoto-fu Kyoto-shi Kamigyo-ku, Muro-machi Demizu-agaru, Kyoto, Japan
Telephone Number: 075-451-6522 (counseling); 075-431-0351 (office)
Fax Number: 075-431-0352
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

2) General Union—an NGO that aims to protect the rights of workers, whether Japanese or foreigners, against employers who violate labour laws
Address: 530-0043, Osaka, Kita-ku Temma 1-6-8 Rokko Temma Building 201
Telephone Number: 06-6352-9619
Fax Number: 06-6352-9630
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: http://www.generalunion.org/

3) Rights of Immigrants Network in Kansai (RINK)—a network organisation which aims to make the government, and society in general, recognise that Japanese and foreign workers should be given equal rights
Address: Osaka-fu Osaka-shi Chuo-ku Uchihonmachi 1-2-13 c/o Banrai Bldg. 6 602 Citizens' Office
Telephone Number: 06-6910-7103
Fax Number: 06-6942-0278
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Source:
“Breaking the Barrier: Japanese NGOs Take Up the Challenge” from Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center (HURIGHTS OSAKA), <http://www.hurights.or.jp/asia-pacific/no_05/10breaking.htm>.