Foreign interns supporting small factories in Japan no longer just 'cheap labor' November 4, 2025 (Mainichi Japan) Japanese version A Vietnamese national at Kusakabe Plastic works at the factory in Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture, on Sept. 9, 2025. (Mainichi/Akihiro Kawakami) OIZUMI, Gunma -- At a small factory in east Japan, a 24-year-old Vietnamese worker was busy cutting parts on an early September day the high temperature topped 35 degrees Celsius. While the workplace wasn't equipped with air conditioning and hot, humid air drifted in through the open windows, he kept working diligently, a calm expression on his face. "I like this job. I want to keep doing my best here for a long time," he said. Of the 15 employees at Kusakabe Plastic in the Gunma Prefecture town of Oizumi, five are foreign nationals. "Japanese workers rarely come to small companies like ours. We are really grateful (for our foreign workers)," said 74-year-old company president Toshio Kusakabe as he wiped away sweat. The factory began hiring foreign workers about 20 years ago. Even when there was a language barrier, Kusakabe was impressed by the foreign staffers' strong work ethic and determination as he worked alongside them. Many trainees who start at the company under Japan's Technical Intern Training Program apparently stay to work there using the "Specified Skilled Worker" visa. "A certain political party was promoting 'Japanese First' ideas, but I don't really understand what they mean by that. What I do know is that our operation would not exist without foreign workers. That is true for big companies, too. There is no going back now." Oizumi is home to major factories operated by companies including Subaru Corp. and Panasonic Corp., surrounded by the many subcontractors that make up their supply chain. Foreign workers provide part of the vast labor force needed to keep those factories running. According to statistics, Oizumi's population was 41
ブランドコピー靴 653 at the end of 2024. Of these, 8,871 were foreign nationals, making up 21.3% of the town's total population. Toshio Kusakabe, the president of Kusakabe Plastic, talks about foreign workers in Japan, in Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture, on Sept. 9, 2025. (Mainichi/Akihiro Kawakami) A representative of the Oizumi Society of Commerce and Industry emphasized, "Foreign workers are valuable not only for subcontractors but also for major companies. If we didn't have them, business operations would be at risk." On the other hand, the environment surrounding foreign workers has seen changes. Companies often explain that they hire foreigners because their wages are lower, but the overall situation no longer bears out this structural "low cost" reasoning. In particular, the expenses required to secure foreign technical interns and specified skilled workers have been rising
スーパーコピー財布 placing a growing burden on small and medium-sized companies. "Please take a look at this
スーパーコピー服 " said an Oizumi business owner
コピーブランド時計 showing a sheet of paper listing the costs involved in hiring one technical intern. In addition to the intern's wages, there were items such as the pre-entry training cost for the trainee at 100,000 yen (about $650), travel expenses to Japan at 50,000 yen (around $330) and a monthly union management fee for the intermediary organization at 25,000 yen (roughly $160). These expenses have always existed, but the amounts have reportedly continued to increase. The company pays its trainees around the minimum wage, yet when all related costs are included, the total labor cost apparently comes to the equivalent of 1,500 to 1,800 yen (approx. $10 to $12) per hour. Another firm in Oizumi has introduced measures such as building dormitories for its technical interns and specified skilled workers. A representative of the firm told the Mainichi Shimbun, "When you convert it all to an hourly rate, it easily exceeds 1,800 yen." Foreign workers have become an indispensable labor pool to keep Japanese businesses running, but as a result, the total cost of hiring them is now often equivalent to or even higher than that for Japanese employees. (Japanese original by Akihiro Kawakami
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