TOKYO, JAPAN – Foreign laborers prop up Japan’s factories, fisheries, and workshops, but surging wages in neighboring nations threaten to pull them away, leaving business owners scrambling to adapt.
In Choshi, Chiba prefecture’s bustling fishing hub east of Tokyo, Tawara Canning illustrates the crunch. Vietnamese technical intern trainee Ho Thi Thuy Nhung, 38, clocks in at 8 a.m. on the assembly line, rotating through precision tasks: decapitating fish via machine, hand-picking debris, and retrieving grilled catches. Of the cannery’s 80 staff, 16 hail from Vietnam.
“I was overwhelmed by the steps at first, but I picked it up fast,” Nhung shares. “The variety keeps it engaging now.” She left her husband and 8-year-old son last summer, drawn by better pay after Vietnam’s grueling 14-hour days yielded just 80,000 yen (S$656) monthly, scarcely covering basics.
Japan’s 1993 Technical Intern Training Program, slammed for exploiting cheap labor amid poor conditions and abuses, faces replacement by a 2027 overhaul.”Choshi’s core industries, from catching and unloading to processing, hinge on foreign hands,” says president Yoshihisa Tawara. Nationwide, rural firms echo this reliance, urging better integration to compete.
Nhung borrowed 600,000 yen from family for her Japan move, targeting the cannery for its age flexibility. “Leaving my child was heartbreaking,” she admits, “but I’ll grind now for his future and education.” Post-expenses, her 130,000-yen take-home lets her remit 80,000-90,000 yen home, surviving frugally in a trainee dorm.