Writing Practice: Moocs Academic and Business Writing Week 5 My Final Project and Self-assessment

Reasons for worrying about coming to work in Japan

On December the 25th, 2018, what those interested in working in Japan would take as a big Christmas present was made. A legal reform made that day allows foreign blue-color workers up to a 5-year stay plus permanent residency under certain conditions. However, there are reasons to be skeptical. Japan has depended on foreigners for low-paying labor without giving them decent life and status, much less citizenship, for decades. The plight of foreign workers does not seem to disappear despite the reform because the problem is not so much in the law as in the attitude.

The Japanese government has rejected immigrants and foreign workers except for political refugees and elite white-collar workers until now. Meanwhile, the working population has shrunk because of low birth rates and aging. To avoid going bankrupt due to labor shortage, companies have exploited the technical intern training program, a part of development aid, according to Tomohiko Nakamura, Professor of Economics, Kobe International University. Foreign technical interns are used for manual labor.

Now, about 1,280,000 foreigners work in Japan (the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, 2017), accounting for 1.9% of the workforce. Most of them are technical interns, who owe 10,000 to 15,000 dollars to work-abroad brokers for expenses to come to Japan. There are plenty of reports that they are forced to work overtime under poor conditions for low wages. More foreigners die at work than Japanese do. Almost 26,000 trainees have disappeared over the last 5 years and there are even suicides. Some call this situation slavery, Dr. Nakamura states. In this context, this law change was made. It was long overdue and was made probably to prevent foreign labor from flowing to other countries, so you cannot be too careful in taking advantage of it.

First of all, there is little preparation. The government does not have a full-fledged immigration plan even though it has veered towards multi-ethnicity by this revision and the reality precedes the awareness of the public. For example, families are not allowed to accompany foreign workers, which is in itself inhumane, but regulations cannot stop people from having families anyway. Children of foreign descent have multiplied over the past decade and now there are approximately 70,000 foreign-registered children, speaking various languages (the Education Ministry, 2016). According to Iki Tanaka, Commissioner of an NPO for foreign children, one out of four public school children that need language support cannot receive it. To make matters worse, this small island country is xenophobic and nationalistic. There is a long history of discrimination against Chinese and Korean residents. Prejudice against black people is strong. It is questionable whether indigenous Japanese will welcome the increasing number of foreigners from the bottom of their heart.

In addition, bullying is part of the structure of this country. Japan may be known as a civil country. It is partly true. The crime rate is low. The public is polite. However, the peaceful surface hides the undercurrent of stress, which is directed to the vulnerable. Foreign workers from developing countries who are on debt easily become scapegoats. Even though there are stipulations on fundamental rights for foreign workers, many employers abuse foreign employees. There are reports on violence and sexual harassment to foreigners. Even under the new law, possibility of extrajudicial mistreatment of foreign workers will remain.

Another bad news is mechanization. Blue-color workers are being replaced by robots and AI. An enterprise survey conducted by Reuters in 2018 shows that more than 60% of the respondents are negative about hiring unskilled foreign labor. Occupations that are most available for foreigners without skills are ones in the service industry such as waiters or convenience store clerks. Learning the Japanese language and culture may facilitate career change, but few would be able to find a good position because Japanese is a minor language. Thus, spending a few years in Japan as an unskilled worker is no more than a migration for money.

Although foreign workers in Japan will be treated more fairly than before thanks to the law revision, both the government and the public are yet to guarantee foreigners’ rights to pursue happiness. Therefore, those who are still interested in working in Japan may as well wait and see if this country will understand that it is immigrants that gift a country a lot by rejuvenating the society and evolving the culture.

Self-assessment
I think my essay is at least not irritating to assess. The title of my essay "Reasons for worrying about coming to work in Japan" is descriptive of my content and interesting. It is self-explanatory and humorous, in that the writer uses a negative tone about her own country. My opening sentence is interesting enough to attract the reader's attention. It refers to a big Christmas present and job opportunities. Neither of them is easy to ignore. My readers will learn from my essay the harsh reality immigrants in Japan face. I organized my essay logically and supported my main idea with specific reasons and examples. I provided sources of data and views I used. Transitions are smooth enough to keep my readers interested. The conclusion is satisfying. It summarizes the content well and gives an insight for an ideal immigration policy. In addition, my last line includes the word "gift", which corresponds with “Christmas present” in the first line. I have used a variety of sentence structures and length to make my writing readable while it is free from wordiness and unnecessary information. The tone is as rightly pessimistic as the content. The diction is not bad. Also, there are few or no errors in my punctuation, grammar, and spelling. All in all, I am happy with my essay. I think my readers will enjoy reading it as the content relates to every-day topics in today’s world such as immigration and mechanization.