Trained to Discriminate: Marginalization and Abuse in the Japanese Foreign Immigrant Laborer System
Document Type
Panel Presentation
Start Date
20-4-2018 9:15 AM
End Date
20-4-2018 10:30 AM
Keywords
foreign immigration, multiculturalism, Japan
Biography
Sarah Nix is a senior international affairs and Japanese language double-major from Huntington, West Virginia. Her research focuses on the refugees and immigration, primarily in East and Southeast Asia. She hopes to go to graduate school for a degree in public policy, with the goal of eventually serving overseas in the Foreign Service. In her free time, Sarah enjoys making friends with new international students on campus, drinking coffee, and listening to as much music as she can get her hands on.
Major
International Affairs & Japanese Langauge
Advisor for this project
Natsuki Anderson
Abstract
This paper examines the unequal treatment of foreign workers in Japan, especially of those from minority immigrant backgrounds (usually Asian or South American). It explores how Japan creates bias against unskilled immigrants from developing nations and perpetuates this through its national foreign intern training program, or the “Technical Intern Training Program (TITP).” The paper also considers the negative impacts of this bias on immigrants and suggests that Japan could adjust their policies on foreign labor to lessen human rights abuses. It specifically suggests that Japan could amend local policies, by translating resources into additional foreign languages or providing handbooks of workers’ rights. In doing so, Japan’s government would bolster support systems for foreigners living in Japanese communities and improve their quality of life.
Trained to Discriminate: Marginalization and Abuse in the Japanese Foreign Immigrant Laborer System
This paper examines the unequal treatment of foreign workers in Japan, especially of those from minority immigrant backgrounds (usually Asian or South American). It explores how Japan creates bias against unskilled immigrants from developing nations and perpetuates this through its national foreign intern training program, or the “Technical Intern Training Program (TITP).” The paper also considers the negative impacts of this bias on immigrants and suggests that Japan could adjust their policies on foreign labor to lessen human rights abuses. It specifically suggests that Japan could amend local policies, by translating resources into additional foreign languages or providing handbooks of workers’ rights. In doing so, Japan’s government would bolster support systems for foreigners living in Japanese communities and improve their quality of life.
