1st exam held in Japan for foreigners seeking new work visa

The birthrate will be falling faster so I suspect in a few years it'll be a more straightforward question of whose got two thumbs and wants to live in Japan?

It is true. It is awesome country. You are living here right?

yes Japan has its good points but being awesome country is debatable.

Japan really only attract people of poorer asian countries because it helps lift them out of poverty. Other 1st world countries not so much becuase the salaries and lifestyle tend to be better than what Japan has to offer.

Ive stated many times Japan is a great place to live if you can get out the suffocating stressful large cities, fine if your single, not good if youve got kids

Cripes, it's a shame they have to go through these practical exams to get a job here!

There are plenty of Japanese who get hired at places in the "accommodation industry" here that have ZERO knowledge of the work they are going to be doing, the businesses train them for the positions, and could do the same with these people as well!

It's just another level of discrimination!

Poor workers! They will be treated badly and now they also have to take a test?! It’s funny that Japan keeps thinking that are such an awesome country where everyone wants to live.

Sorry Japan, but this new visa thingy is NOT going to help with the decline of the labour force only a tiny bandage applied here & there.

Will be interesting to see how many take the test over the course of a year

The difference is that in other countries, when you demonstrate knowledge and/or skills and are then hired for a position, you are not then told that for the next 3 months you will be paid a lower "training/trial" rate and subsequently told whether you'll be kept on or let go. And you are paid for overtime, too.

About 390 people took Sunday's exam held at the seven test sites including in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.

That's quite a small number. And considering there will be some who don't pass, the number will be even smaller.

Is this test or people applying for a new visa? How are these people gonna live for the six weeks it will take for the results to come out?

students who have the experience of working at hotels as part-time workers in Japan. Elma Sulistia Ningrum, a 24-year-old Indonesian living in Saitama Prefecture, said she can speak Japanese and English but the knowledge test was difficult 

In Japan the test format can be really different from the actual thing, most of Japanese they past English test from their Junior high school, senior high school even university. If so why they still having difficulty in practicing English?

Another thing is when they issued foreign nursing trainees program, those people who arrive in Japan they already pass exam and becoming actual nurse in their home country. Even when they arrive in Japan they work as actual nurse in Japanese hospital but they still need to pass National nursing care exam in Japanese, of course only few can pass in the beginning of that program. They have experience, they have background but to pass the test can be really different thing.

Does anyone know where we could see /read an actual test?

Interesting. Years ago at Otamachi, I used to watch Japanese immigration officers being as rude as possible to other Asian people, especially people from the Philippines.

Now that Japan needs them the attitude has changed.

Having witnessed shocking, arrogance then, I have always been lconvinced that Japan is a country which can only use others.

Lets hope that I am proved wrong.

Lets be honest. The Japanese don't want to do the dirty jobs any more. So lets get some cheap labour from abroad, make them pay ino a pension fund, and after 5 years, they can go home and Japan will keep a large proportion of the pension. (what a scam).

"We tried to accept more foreign workers, but you see, we found that only Japanese can understand unique Japanese work environments."

Well, we have all seen the unique Japanese work environments, with a certain car company, hav'nt we.

But there is one thing Japan cannot stomach. Successful foreigners.

As for this test, which I assume is Japanese language proficiency, I remember a time when if you spoke Japanese at the immigration office, the immigration officers would look terrified. If you wrote in Kanji, Hiragana, or Katakana they would throw a fit.

Probably deleted but try another comment.

watch the video of Japanese top business people criticizing how easy and irrelevant the Manila test were.

watch the video of Japanese top business people criticizing how easy and irrelevant the Manila test were.

And when the first tests for nurses came out to allow an extended stay, the pass mark was so absurdly high that only one nurse passed it.

Unfortunately I have seen this video or know who the “top business people” were. And why do they have access to the test?

Japanese top business people criticizing how easy and irrelevant the Manila test were.

Those test taker will at some point they'll work as nurse in Japan and will take care those Japanese top business people once they becoming old.

Canada and Australia are among the popular destinations for Filipino nurses as they can earn salaries several times higher than here.

But Japan is a country that highly qualified nurses would have little interest in primarily due to the low pay, according to Tetsuya Ishikawa, a Japanese who works for a job placement agency in Manila.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201904140036.html

Looks like they will have to improve wages and not only visa requirements if they really want to address the workers shortage.

Japan doesn't seem to understand that whole 'accepting more foreign workers' thing isn't a policy intended to appease Western economists and improve Japan's public image abroad, rather it's the prescription for what is actually needed to prevent their economy from spinning its way down the toilet bowl.

"We tried to accept more foreign workers, but you see, we found that only Japanese can understand unique Japanese work environments."

Way to go, Japan. That leaves you right back where you started from.

How's that workin' out for ya? Best of luck with that.

Good for them, this is how you do it.

Not just let in any Tom, Dick, and Harry that wants to seek 'asylum' in your country. 

Immigrants that actually have skills that benefit, not drain, society.

Old man. They are foreign workers. NOT immigrants. The visa allows the workers to stay for a maximum of 5 years.

It will be interesting to see how many will pass this year, I think. I also think that the Japanese approach here is prudent. It's common practice in several countries that foreign workers have to demonstrate adequate language proficiency and knowledge in order to obtain a work visa, especially when seeking employment where interaction with native-born people is required, for example in health care or education. Some countries may require foreigners to pass a test in social studies too. The same countries may however make exceptions for specialists when the work language is non-native, or when work tasks don't demand much interaction with the native population.

wtfjapan

yes Japan has its good points but being awesome country is debatable.

Japan really only attract people of poorer asian countries because it helps lift them out of poverty. Other 1st world countries not so much becuase the salaries and lifestyle tend to be better than what Japan has to offer.

Ive stated many times Japan is a great place to live if you can get out the suffocating stressful large cities, fine if your single, not good if youve got kids

Nailed it perfectly!

Over the next five years, the government expects up to 345,150 foreigners to acquire a newly created resident status called Specified Skilled Worker No. 1 to work in 14 labor-hungry sectors such as accommodation, nursing care, construction and farming.

About 390 people took Sunday's exam held at the seven test sites including in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka

They expect 345 thousands to fill their labor shortage, so far only 390 people took the test. The number that will pass the test will be lower than that for sure.

Few years back they launch HSFP visa, they missed the target too.

"...As of now, the number of professionals who have immigrated to Japan with the points-based system is 434, which is far below the initial target number of 2,000...."

https://japantoday.com/category/business/no-of-highly-skilled-foreign-professionals-in-japan-remains-low

Not just let in any Tom, Dick, and Harry that wants to seek 'asylum' in your country.

Immigrants that actually have skills that benefit, not drain, society.

Come on, foreign workers != asylum seekers.

Hi can anyone advice me how to apply for this test or is this test for the people who is livingthere

Hello,

Would it be possible to have information on where to subscribe for this exams? I would to continue working in Japan after the end of my Working Holiday Visa and I work in the food/beverage industry. But all I found is article talking about those exams but not precise informations.

Thank you.

Good for them, this is how you do it.

Not just let in any Tom, Dick, and Harry that wants to seek 'asylum' in your country.

Immigrants that actually have skills that benefit, not drain, society.

You realize old man that the applicants that pass this exam will be in the thousands. If we are lucky. Japan if it is to get out of this demographic slump needs MILLIONS of immigrants. You may give a bigoted 'so what' but maybe this will change when you find there is no one to change your diapers at the old folks home, no clerk at 7-11, no food on your table as the Japanese farmers have all died abd the young ones ain't EVER doing this work.

Japan had limited the issuance of working visas to people with professional knowledge and high skills, such as doctors, lawyers and teachers.

Serious question, what exactly do they (media/govt) mean by 'teachers'? Qualified Professors, scholars, researchers etc?

Surely they don't mean eikawa/foreign language teachers right?

Nothing against FLT per se (been there done that) but the vast majority aren't high-skilled/qualified workers (esp re teaching); mostly young (or not-so) westerners who don't know what to do with their lives, have no prospect of a 'real'/decent career, and/or want to travel, have fun etc. Again, nothing wrong with that (they're just no better/more qualified than the -mostly- Asian migrants who come here & work in healthcare, services etc).

Canada and Australia are among the popular destinations for Filipino nurses as they can earn salaries several times higher than here.

So what's the cost of medical expenses in those countries in comparison to Japan?

The birthrate will be falling faster

The Japanese birthrate is not falling. It bottomed in 2005 and has been rising since then.

Lets be honest. The Japanese don't want to do the dirty jobs any more.

Nothing unusual about that. Same in the US, the UK, and most western European countries. British farmers, for example, are always complaining that it is impossible to get native Brits for basic farm work and if they do take a job, they quit in a matter of weeks.

The shrinkage of the Japanese labour force is actually quite small in percentage terms. It is more rapid in some eastern European countries than in Japan. There is still a great deal of slack in the Japanese workforce and great latitude for efficiency gains.

I think that is perfectly reasonable. To be honest, I've met plenty of English "teachers" in Japan who are useless and they are still paid to sit around and pretend to teach. So asking for immigrant workers to prove they can work up to a standard through a test isn't so strange. Especially if the company hiring is acting as their sponsor to come over.

So the foreigners who want to come to Japan for work have to first travel here and do a test? Or is this test only for foreign students already here, working illegally?

"Japan keeps thinking that are such an awesome country where everyone wants to live."

It is true. It is awesome country. You are living here right?

Good for them, this is how you do it.

Not just let in any Tom, Dick, and Harry that wants to seek 'asylum' in your country.

Immigrants that actually have skills that benefit, not drain, society.