Japan's Technical Intern Training Program (also known as Slavery)

 Do you know 'Technical Intern Training Program' in Japan?

This government official program is inviting people in foreign countries to Japan, and they are working in various places as 'interns' and getting technical knowledge and experience.

It may sound good.  But it is just on the surface.

The reality is that 'interns' are forced to work more for less pay than Japanese workers.  Trainers are using 'interns' just as cheap labor like slaves.  Also, many jobs are not highly technical ones; just simple labors.

Most Japanese people avoid hard works for low salary, so the employers who can't retain expensive Japanese workers hire cheap ones from foreign countries.  Yes, the employers do depend on 'interns', not train them.

Many Japanese people recognize this program as slavery, and think it should be repealed.  Also, U.S. Department of State sees it as a serious problem, and requests Japan an improvement on the program to protect human rights.

The government of Japan is always slow or doesn't move unless the politicians or the bureaucrats can expect some benefit for themselves.

I am not sure if the situation will be improved.

This is Japan.

Honest Hermit

Tokyo 2020 Olympic in this situation

Current COVID-19 situation in Japan, especially in Tokyo is far worse than that of 1 year ago.

It is a matter of course because the government of Japan has not dealt with it properly.  Rather, they did contribute to the worse situation.

More than half of Japanese people are against Tokyo 2020 Olympic in this situation, however, the government ignores that voices and pushes Olympic forward.

So some Japanese people have strong negative emotions not only on the government and Olympic Committee, but also on the athletes.

Olympic may be not for peace, at least in Tokyo.

This is Japan.

Honest Hermit

 

Current situation of COVID-19 in Japan (as of 28 Jul)

I wrote a blog one month ago as follows.

Previous Post

At the time, the numbers of new PCR-positive cases (daily) were around 100 in Japan and 50 in Tokyo.  And now, those are 1,000, and 300, respectively.  The situation apparently became worse.

However, in this situation, the government has launched a promotion to encourage domestic travels, saying travel itself does not spread corona virus.

They had requested 'stay at home' not to spread the disease, but they now promote travels in the worse situation.  It is a serious contradiction.

As I said in the previous post, this is typical action of the government.  Many of Japanese people have objections against the government, but the government does not hear the voices.  The government do what they want, not what they should.

This is Japan.

Honest Hermit

Current situation of COVID-19 in Japan

COVID-19 poses huge negative impacts in many countries around the globe, and Japan is not an exception.

Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare reported the figures about the COVID-19 cases in Japan as follows (as of June 30).

Total number of death: 972
Total number of PCR-positive: 18,593
Total number of PCR tested: 461,446

These numbers are significantly small compared to those in U.S., Russia, Brazil, India, and some European countries, though the reason is a mystery.

The government of Japan (and other local governments including Tokyo) has not locked down the city so far, and just requested voluntary "stay at home" and business suspension to some industries.  The request was cancelled on June 19, so many restaurants reopened as usual, and Tokyo Disney Resort also reopened with limited admission and availability.

It seems fine.  But a lot of Japanese people are anxious about the spread of infection because the number of PCR-positive cases are apparently increasing these days; 100+ positive cases are confirmed daily in Japan (50+ in Tokyo), these numbers are at the same level in March, when the infection spread started.

The government of Tokyo had set the criteria to request business suspension again, and the numbers hit the criteria, but on June 30, the criteria were changed to be vague ones and business suspension request was not declared.  It is clear the government preferred economy to infection prevention.

Criteria or indicators should be stable to monitor the changing situation objectively, and react with it properly.  But the government changed the criteria in a short period.


It is a typical action of the government of Japan.  They set the 'result' first, and collect and arrange information that leads to the result.  Against unfavorable information, they often conceal important facts and fabricate data.

Even if Japan appeals the safety for Olympic and inbound tourism, you should not trust it easily.

This is Japan.

Honest Hermit

Greetings

Hello, I'm Honest Hermit, a Japanese man living in Japan.

In this blog, I will make small talks about Japan which may be unfamiliar to the non-Japanese.

Some people love Japan, some hate it, and some may not even know of it.

I will try to talk from a neutral perspective as honestly and precisely as possible.

HH