Japanese words don't come easily
for Jesse Crual.
He's a registered Filipino nurse
working as a caregiver in Tokyo.
He started studying Japanese just one year ago.
You really want to say something and
you don't know the right word to use.
Because it is really complicated.
Japanese is really complicated.
Crual is among a thousand Filipino workers who
are here under an economic free-trade agreement.
Last year, the Philippines agreed to reduce tariffs
on Japanese exports if Japan allowed caregivers
and nurses to look after its aging community.
Japan didn't necessarily need caregivers.
The Filipino government asked the Japanese to
take in their caregivers as part of the trade agreement.
Japan agreed. That's how this program began.
Under the trade agreement, caregivers must
complete a rigorous three- to four-year program.
That includes months of language training,
years of hands-on experience.
Workers must earn a Japanese license at the end
of the program to stay in the country.
The agreement is just a year old, but
Masahiro Hachiya says it's already raised many concerns.
His organization helps place foreign workers in
Japanese caregiving facilities.
He says nursing homes have called, complaining
about the lack of skilled workers.
The language barrier is a constant source of frustration.
Hachiya blames a broad-based agreement that
he says never set the ground rules.
The caregivers came here without any sense
of the purpose of this program. That was the problem.
In other words, nursing homes wanted to help
caregivers get a license.
The caregivers who came just wanted to work.
Caregivers and nurses have their own concerns.
Crual says his friends are upset over low pay.
They're earning around 100,000 yen [U.S.$1,103] a month.
Here in Japan, 100,000 yen is ....
You cannot live a decent life if you are earning
that kind of money.
John Denmark says he's seen friends move
back home, frustrated by co-workers who refused to help.
They are telling them, "Why don't you go to
Canada, Australia, United States of America
since you can speak English very well."
If you are here in Japan you need to speak
very, very good in Japanese.
Concerns over the program come at a critical
time for Japan. The country's population is
rapidly aging, while the overall population declines.
Those 65 and older make up nearly a quarter of
the population now. That number is expected to
double in 50 years.
Miyoko Miyazawa, with Eisei Hospital, says
there's no shortage of caregivers now,
but she worries about the future.
Twenty-five years, 50 years from now, we will be asking
ourselves, "Who's going to look after these people?"
I don't think it will be enough to rely solely
on the Japanese then.
Miyazawa says Japan must open its doors to
foreign workers without placing limits on their stay.
She says it's unrealistic to expect foreigners to
pass a Japanese exam in four years,
when only half of the native Japanese speakers
pass on their first try.
If we create too big of a hurdle
or try too hard to place these workers in a
Japanese mold, I fear these workers will opt to go to other countries.
The government hasn't announced plans to
change the terms of the trade agreement yet.
And Crual says he isn't expecting them to.
He's determined to master Japanese
in the next few years.
I know if I study hard I can pass the exam.
With so much competition for caregivers
back home, he says staying in Japan
is his best option.