Online Luncheon Seminar

Learning from Each Otherin the Age of COVID-19

Human Mobility and the Future of Multicultural Society

ReportApril, 2021

International Grant Program and the Special Subject“Migrants and Japanese Society”

Foreword

The Toyota Foundation held a series of online seminars, “Learning from Each Other in the Age of
COVID-19: Human Mobility and the Future of Multicultural Society” from September 2020 toMarch 2021.
Today's Japanese society, with its declining birthrate, aging population, and declining workforce, is heavily dependent on the labor force of migrants from overseas. Due to the spread of
new coronavirus, the environment of migrants and the state of our society have changed
dramatically. Grantees of the Toyota Foundation's International Grant Program and the Special
Subject Program “Migrants and Japanese Society”, discussed the impact of COVID-19 on theirprojects, as well as changes and issues related to international human mobility and shared theirknowledge and experience, in line with the keywords of “Medical Care and Nursing Care” and“Information and Institution”.
In this report, we introduce the highlights of the 4 sessions and the closing discussion by commentators. The digest movies of the seminar, dubbed in English, are available on our YouTube
channel.

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Contents

J a pa n ese E d i ti on 02 - 18

Forew ord20

Pr o g r a m & I n t r o ducti on of th e Commen tators
I n t r o du c t i on of th e S p eakers

22

24

R e po r t

N o . 1 “ M e di c al Care an d Nu rsi n g Care” (1 )26

R e po r t

N o . 2 “ M e di c al Care an d Nu rsi n g Care” (2 )28

R e po r t

N o . 3 “ I n formati on an d In sti tu ti on ” (1 )30

R e po r t

N o . 4 “ I n formati on an d In sti tu ti on ” (2 )32

R e po r t

N o . 5 “ R evi ew & Wrap u p ”

Abo u t t h e Toyota Fou n d ati on

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Program

No./Date

Theme/ Speakers

Commentator

Medical Care and Nursing Care (1)No.1 (Live)

Sep.30, 2020

Ayako Kohno

Internationalization Promotion Ofﬁce (IPO),
Kyoto University School of Public HealthYuko Takeda

Department of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine,
Juntendo University

Medical Care and Nursing Care (2)No.2 (Live)

Oct. 20, 2020

Shizuyo Yoshitomi
Professor,
School of Global
Governance andCollaboration,
Nagoya Universityof Foreign Studies

Osamu Nimonjiya
AHP Networks

Michiyo Yoneno-Reyes

Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia,
The University of Tokyo *Afﬁliation is at the time of speaking

Information and Institution (1)No.3 (Live)

Nov.18, 2020

Yoshihiko Doi

Resource Center for Multicultural Community Tokai

Toshihiro Menju

Japan Center for International Exchange

Information and Institution (2)No.4 (Live)

Dec.8, 2020

Midori Okabe

Professor,
Department ofInternational Legal Studies,
Faculty of Law,
Sophia University

Shohei Sugita

KEIGLAD (Keio Institute for Global Law and Development)

Reiko Harima

Mekong Migration Network

Review & Wrap up
No.5 (Broadcast)

Mid-March,
2021

Coordinator

Shigeto Sonoda

Professor of Sociology and Asian Studies, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia,
The University of Tokyo,
selection committee chair for the International Grant Program
Commentators

Shizuyo Yoshitomi
22

Midori Okabe

Introduction of the Commentators

Shizuyo Yoshitomi
Professor, School of Global Governance and Collaboration, Nagoya University of Foreign Studies

She is General director of the nonprofit FACIL Multilanguage Center.
She received her MA from Kobe University (International Studies) and her PhD from Kyoto University (Human andEnvironmental Studies). After serving at several South American consulates in the Kansai region, she became
involved in the establishment of the Kobe-based community radio station FM-YY in the aftermath of the 1995
Great Hanshin and Awaji Earthquake. This led to further involvement in activities supporting the foreign community in Japan, including the promotion of a multilingual environment and the development of youth programs.
She is author of “Multicultural Symbiotic Society and the Power of the Foreign Community”.

Midori Okabe
Professor, Department of International Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, Sophia University

She has received her Ph. D. (Advanced Social and International Studies) at the Graduate School of Arts andSciences, University of Tokyo. She was former visiting scholar to the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society,
University of Oxford (2014), and to the Centre of International Studies, University of Cambridge, UK (2006) and
Academic Programme Associate, Peace and Governance Programme, the United Nations University(2004-2006).
Her work focuses on the global governance of international migration, mainly with a view to European integration. Her current research interest rests on the international political (and economic) relations on migration
management and the global order with regard to international migration.
Her major works include, Midori Okabe ed. “Hito no Kokusai Idou to EU,” Houritsu Bunka sha, 2016, and others.

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Introduction of the Speakers: Medical Care and Nursing Care
While the medical and nursing care field is particularly active in accepting foreign human resources, it
is also an essential field in terms of the health and aging of foreign residents living in Japan. In the firsthalf of our seminar series, we focused on this area, discussing examples of initiatives that are closely
related to the field, as well as the challenges and prospects.

Medical Care and Nursing Care (1)Ayako Kohno

Internationalization Promotion Ofﬁce (IPO), School of Public Health,Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University

A Program-specific Assistant Professor. She obtained her Ph.D. in Medicine from the Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University in 2020.
She was the first double-degree program student to be enrolled in a program between Kyoto University and the
University of Malaya (Malaysia) during the period of 2014 to 2016, and she obtained a Master of Public Healthfrom Kyoto University and a Master of Medical Science from the University of Malay in 2016. During this period,
she was engaged in research of Japanese retirees living in Malaysia and their healthcare-seeking behavior at
the local medical institutions.

Yuko Takeda

Department of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Juntendo University

Yuko Takeda MD Ph.D. FACP MSc is a primary care physician trained in Boston and has been working in the area of medical education and global health. Besides her professorship at Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, she is aboard member of Japan Primary Care Association and Japan Society of Medical Education and is appointed Chief Editorof Medical Education (Japan), which enables her to promote teaching SDH (social determinants of health) among medical
schools in Japan.
She participates in an outreach program for people in homelessness and collaborates with an NGO helping children whoseparents are from overseas.

Medical Care and Nursing Care (2)Osamu Nimonjiya

AHP Networks

He is an executive officer of AHP Networks which is a specified nonprofit corporation (NPO) in Japan. He had
engaged in the Vietnamese nurse training support from 1993 to 2008, and 56 persons have acquired Japanesenursing license. In 2020, he made the Vietnamese version of a textbook “Gerontological Nursing and Care”, and
it is utilized in local nursing junior colleges.

Michiyo Yoneno-Reyes Professor, School of International Relations, University of Shizuoka
She has lived in the Philippines for 23 years and has conducted research on the music and society of the indigenous peoples in the northern Philippines, as well as on the transnational movements of the migrants to/from
Japan and the Philippines in terms of their strategies within given social conditions (economy, immigration
policy, cultural adaptation, language acquisition, etc.). She has co-edited and co-authored Foreign Nurses
Working in Japan: Assessments of the EPA Program (in Japanese) (University of Tokyo Press, 2021), among
others. She was an associate professor at the University of the Philippines and at the University of Tokyo before
assuming her current position. She specializes in ethnomusicology and cultural anthropology.

Commentator
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Shizuyo Yoshitomi

Professor, School of Global Governance and Collaboration, Nagoya University of Foreign Studies

Introduction of the Speakers: Information and Institution
The accurate transmission and reception of information are indispensable for the international movement of people in both sending and receiving countries, and the establishment of systems should be
its vital foundation. Still, this is a field that has been facing many challenges. In the latter half of theseminar series, participants discussed this topic from various positions and perspectives.

Information and Institution (1)Yoshihiko Doi

Director, Resource Center for Multicultural Community Tokai

He is Director of Resource Center for Multicultural Community Tokai, which he joined on its establishment in2008 and he is leading the organization since a year later. Born in 1979, he majored Japanese language education in university and had been engaged in teaching Japanese. After his graduation, he also joined Japaneseclasses at his local community as a volunteer teacher.

Toshihiro Menju

Managing director, the Japan Center for International Exchange

Joined JCIE in 1988 after working for the Hyōgo prefectural government for 10 years. Specializes in grassroots
international exchange and immigration issues. Has worked as an adjunct lecturer at Keiō University and the
Shizuoka University of Art and Culture. Currently a judging panel member for the International Exchange Commendation (Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Award) and chairman of the Shinjuku Multicultural
Community Building Committee. Works include “Genkai kokka: Jinkō genshō de Nihon ga semareru saishū sentaku (Nation of Constraints: The Choices Confronting Japan’s Shrinking Society)” (Asahi Shimbun Publications
Inc.), and others.

Information and Institution (2)Shohei Sugita

KEIGLAD (Keio Institute for Global Law and Development)

Sugita is an attorney at Century Law Office in Tokyo. Graduated from Keio University Law School in March
2011, he started his professional career in September 2011. He has more than a hundred clients and advises ona variety of issues on the international workforce such as immigration procedure, employment procedure, labor
dispute resolution, and others. Sugita has been a lecturer at Hanoi University of Law from 2015 to 2017 andteaches at several institutions including Keio Institute for Global Law and Development (KEIGLAD). He also
serves as a vice president of a nonprofit organization called Research Institute Of law Of Asia-Pacific Regions(RILAP).

Reiko Harima

Regional Coordinator, Mekong Migration Network

Reiko is a founding member of the Mekong Migration Network (MMN) and presently manages the network as its
regional coordinator. Her area of expertise is migration in the Mekong subregion. In 1999, following an internship with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) she joined the Asian Migrant Centre (AMC) as a
research coordinator. Subsequently when the MMN was formally launched in 2003, Reiko was appointed as theRegional Coordinator, and has been coordinating the MMN joint activities in the areas of research, advocacy,
capacity building and networking to date. Reiko Harima holds M. A. in Gender and Development from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.

Commentator

Midori Okabe

Professor, Department of International Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, Sophia University

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Report: No. 1“Medical Care and Nursing Care” (1)Date: 11:30-13:00, Sep. 30, 2020

The speakers introduced the issues that are being recognized in the medical field and people’s
efforts to solve them. There was also a discussion on the challenges facing Japanese society as awhole thanks to the increasing number of people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Outline of the Projects
Title: For Japanese medical care to be better for people from Islamic countries in Southeast Asia as well
: Interactive communication strategy and social implementation through mixed-methods research

Project Representative : Ayako Kohno
When foreign Muslim residents visit hospitals in Japan, they hope to receive medical care permitted by Islam (Halal). However, in
reality, there are only a few medical institutions in Japan that provide services that are considered as halal. Thus, the Muslims in Japan
often experience difficulties when visiting medical institutions in Japan. Therefore, they are “the medically disadvantaged” in Japan in
the era of globalization. Especially, how to provide medical services to the Muslims living in Japan is still understudied. Therefore, weneed to accumulate know-how about this topic. A few examples of halal medical services are; a female patient should be examinedby a female physician, drugs or vaccines that contain porcine ingredients should not be used, and should not contain meat or alcoholin the hospital meals, and the Islamic religious leader shall be permitted to stay in patients’ room for a prayer. By clarifying thechallenges for them and providing concrete guidelines on what halal medical care should be in Japanese hospitals and encouraging
such practice in implementation, it will be possible to increase hospitals that provide appropriate medical services to Muslim foreign
residents in Japan. We will enlighten and disseminate information for healthcare professionals in Japan to enhance understanding on
how to take care patients from Islamic countries.

Activities under COVID-19:● We conducted interview surveys by a method that let our interviewees choose between face-to-face or Zoom format.
● Participants spoke of the complexity and depth of the challenges facing Muslims living in Japan.

Title: Implementation and dissemination of “plain Japanese” training for health care professionals

and students through a workshop assisted by foreign residents in a community
Project Representative : Yuko Takeda
Since we face a shortage of interpreters in Japan, we have been conducting “plain Japanese” workshops to help healthcare professionals and students communicate with foreign residents. “Plain Japanese” is not widely known in the medical field. To publicize “plain
Japanese” to a wider audience in medicine, we provide workshop participants with copyright-free teaching materials and a manual toconduct a similar seminar at their own institutions. In this project, we aim to introduce, implement and disseminate “plain Japanese”
at health care institutions and schools in at least ten prefectures with the highest number of foreign population, and to clinics/hospitals throughout Japan that provide care without co-payment for the underserved. In the workshop, we ask foreign residents in acommunity to participate as simulated patients, which enables healthcare professionals to listen to the foreign patients’ experiencesin person and enhance mutual understanding. We expect informal networks such as these may lower the barriers of access to healthcare in the community.

Activities under COVID-19:● Face-to-face dissemination workshops were moved online. The fact that they could be held without geographical restric-

tions was also advantageous.
● We were able to produce videos of “plain Japanese” in clinical settings as a collaborative project between Tokyo Metro-

politan Government and universities.

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Perspectives on minorities offer suggestions to society as a whole
Currently, there are about 130,000 Muslims from around 30 countries living in Japan. We believe it isnecessary to promote understanding of the problems associated with differences in religious values
as well as language and cultural norms. For example, Muslim female patients have to be examined byfemale doctors and nurses, but the percentage of female doctors in Japan is only 22%, which is much
lower than in other countries. In the current situation, Muslim patients have difficulty looking up

Kohno

information, making requests, or identifying appropriate hospitals.

Not many people in Japanese society are interested in religion, for better or worse, so this kind ofactivity provides an opportunity to look at our society from a different perspective. It highlights someof the issues that Japan has always faced, such as our low percentage of female doctors. Regarding
medical care, it is important for society as a whole to think about how we can live together with others
who have diverse backgrounds rather than leaving it to medical professionals.

YoshitomiCommunication with diverse people is facilitated by creative ways of interacting“Plain Japanese” refers to Japanese that is readily understandable and tailored to communicate withsomeone who has difficulty communicating in regular Japanese. When speaking to a non-native
speaker of Japanese, for example, simply avoiding honorific and humble language will greatly increase
their understanding. Avoiding honorific “o” or “go” at the beginning of words can also be overlooked.
“Kusuri” (medicine) and its honorific form “o-kusuri” can sound like completely different words.
In our workshops, we practice replacing words and phrases with “plain Japanese” through role-play-

Takedaing with foreign residents. Participatory training not only helps medical professionals to learn, but also
makes foreign nationals feel more familiar with medical institutions and medical staff.

“Plain Japanese” is also easier for children and the elderly to understand, and I think it can evenfacilitate communication outside the medical field. In addition to plain Japanese, a greater understanding of multiculturalism is also important to promote among medical professionals and society
as a whole. It is vital that we remember to see things from the perspective of those involved, set an
example by taking the time to involve as many people as possible, albeit gradually, and continue to
steadily make friends rather than confronting them.

Yoshitomi

From the audience
Q

What considerations can be made if the healthcare worker is a Muslim?
Kohno: As the host, you may want to give consideration to things like food and a prayer space, but each individual may
have different ideas, so you need to understand them through dialogue. I think we are living in an age where we need tocommunicate with each other in order to work without stress.

Q

Are you working with the government or other public organizations to spread the use of “plain Japanese”?
Takeda: Our goal is to get “plain Japanese” included as a requirement in training for doctors and nurses toensure that patients receive medical care safely and comfortably. I believe that if “plain Japanese” becomeswidely used by medical professionals, it could be helpful not only for those who come from overseas but also forJapanese people, including the elderly, who may be hard-of-hearing or cognitively impaired.

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Report: No. 2“Medical Care and Nursing Care” (2)Date: 11:30-13:00, Oct. 20, 2020

The discussion focused mainly on people who come to Japan from Asian countries as caregivers,or those who came to Japan under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and have already
returned to their own countries. There is a need to develop and utilize nursing and care personnel
in Japanese society and throughout Asia, where the population is aging.

Outline of the Projects
Title: Transformation from Home Care to Elderly Care National Insurance: Stabilization and Establishment of Cross-Cultural Cooperation for Foreign Employees at Japan's Nursing Homes

Project Representative : Osamu Nimonjiya
Approximately 3,100 people from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam are living in Japan as caregivers through the Economic
Partnership Agreement. In November 2017, “caregiver” was added as a career type to the Technical Training System, and as of April
2019, “Specific Skills” became a VISA category. However, in 2018, there were only 1,823 caregivers with practical training, of whom
only a handful had not been to Japan. In the Philippines, the technical caregiving skills test had been conducted twice in the past. 631
Filipinos passed it however none came to Japan. Looking at the current situation from the perspective of Vietnam, which is the largest
sending country for both workers and foreign students, it seems that although the purpose of working as a caregiver for the elderly inJapan is simple, its complicated and difficult system makes Vietnamese young people hesitant. However, we’ve created the best
environment for this in which foreign employees are satisfied mentally and physically, and we believe it is pivotal to engage Japaneseemployees who support them. Is creating a comfortable working environment limited to just the workplace? We strive to remedy
less-considered problems facing Japanese employees, like how they can commit to making the private lives of foreign employees whoare separated from the workplace more manageable. On-site education is still important, but to not counter the finding of employment
after relocation to Japan, mutual trust and cooperation from the start is imperative.

Activities under COVID-19:● The hospitals and elderly care facilities where we had planned to hold surveys canceled due to COVID-19.
● Instead,

we interviewed people who have been on childcare leave or retired temporarily, and former EPA care workers who havereturned to Vietnam, about their experiences.

Title: Entrepreneurship, Advocacy, and Research to Combat Aging and Migration in Asia
- Interaction of Ex-EPA Nurses/ Careworkers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam

Project Representative : Michiyo Yoneno-Reyes
Since 2008, based on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA), more than 5,000 foreign nurses and careworkers from Indonesia,
Philippines and Vietnam have entered Japan, and nearly half of them have already returned home. They have learned the Japanese
language as well as Japanese geriatric nursing and caregiving skills. They have the potential to become main agents who create
solutions of the problems of aging Japan and their home countries are beginning to experience commonly. This project supports theex-EPA nurses and careworkers to innovatively develop non-profit activities, businesses and/or policy research. Returnees of thethree countries will gather to introduce each other their respective unique activities; for example, a) well-minded manpower recruitment agency as a social business; b) establishment of the “Welfare-Caregiver-Nurse” as a new profession for returnee nurses who
have learned person-centered-care in care work; c) health promotion through rehabilitation, and d) possible adaption, with adjustments, of Japanese long-term care insurance system, and so on. Government officials of these three countries will also be enjoinedfor sharing of the perspectives of the returnees. Sending countries may suffer from brain-drain of health workers, but the project
supports the creation of opportunities for the returnees as uniquely skilled professionals.
Activities under COVID-19:● Online study sessions for some returnees preparing for the National Examination for Nurses in Japan were conducted. The online

sessions enable participants from different parts of the Philippines to join, including those who have small children.
● Because most of all of the participants in this project are nurses in their home countries, they have been extremely busy in theirrespective communities. It is not realistic that we conduct our own activities for the project for the time being.

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Creating a place for foreign caregivers amid a shortage of nursing care workers
According to an announcement by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in September 2019,
approximately 34,000 foreigners are working in the nursing and care sector in Japan. With a significant
shortage of nursing care personnel expected by 2025, it is important to create a proper place within
the system for foreign nursing care workers. A Filipino caregiver who has worked here for 10 years
said, “I am able to continue because it is fun.” In places where the turnover rate of foreign workers is

Nimonjiya

low, the turnover rate of Japanese workers is also low. The key is how to manage workplaces so thatthey can continue.

I believe that the challenges faced by people with a foreign background working in the field of nursing care will reveal opportunities to improve actual problems in our society. We also need to realizethat foreigners who live in Japan for a long time will receive care too, so it would be good if we canincrease the number of sites where foreign caregivers are visible and active.

Yoshitomi

Support and networking as a valuable human resource for all of Asia
Health workers who come to Japan under the EPA take the National Examinations for Nurses/Certified
Careworkers while working at a facility so that they can be employed as a registered nurse or certifiedcare worker in Japan after passing the exam. Some say that the system has failed because of its low
passing rate and low retention rate. I disagree. After returning to their home countries, they can
become valuable human resources as Asia as a whole experiences aging. I believe it is necessary to

Yoneno-Reyes

track the lives of returnees and also to continue supporting those who passed the examination
throughout their entire careers, in terms of Japanese language education and child-rearing.

I am reminded that we can only build a truly diverse society if we ourselves aim for a society where
people can live comfortably and with human rights in mind.

Yoshitomi

From the audience
Q

What are the challenges of including foreigners in comprehensive community care?
Nimonjiya: Comprehensive community care is part of community planning. In order to live alongside foreigners as fellow residents, we need to reevaluate our relationships with other Japanese.

Q

What support can the private sector provide foreigners after EPA success?
Yoneno-Reyes: There will never be an end in rendering support for their Japanese language learning. Manylicensed health workers are pressured in balancing work and childcare in a foreign country. So, it is also important to create an educational environment where foreigners can send their children to school with peace of mind.

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Report: No. 3“Information and Institution” (1)Date: 11:30-13:00, Nov. 18, 2020

The discussion focused on how to develop appropriate policies and systems based on the actualorganizations that receive or send foreign nationals to live and work in Japan.

Outline of the Projects
Title: A Strengthening Project of a Multilingual Consultation Service System Through Public-Private Partnerships-Towards Reaching Sustainable Management of (Japan’s) Newly Formed MultiCultural General Information Consultation System “One-Stop Centers”

Project Representative : Yoshihiko Doi
For foreign residents’ to safely reside in Japan, connecting them with the necessary public services and information is of vital importance. To do this, information and consultation services have been provided in multiple languages and regions. However, in manycases they are not disseminated in a way that fits the foreign resident population residing in there due to a mismatch in available
languages, consultation method, training of those involved, or lack of collaboration between the specialized institutions and support
organizations. This can cause issues for foreign residents in need of this support. While the current dissemination issues remain,
special funding for local governments to initiate a “multi-cultural acceptance and symbiotic living situation one-stop consultation
center” began in 2019. Yet, this does not fully utilize already locally available support when considering the method of organization,
thus causing these new centers to likely be ineffective and unsustainable for reaching their objectives. This study aims to investigate
the current situation and issues by collaborating with experienced organizations, propose viable solutions to better assist foreign
residents in becoming independent while protecting their rights, and devise ways to better prepare those involved in this support
system as a model for creating a multicultural community.

Activities under COVID-19:● We have conducted and analyzed surveys to understand the current status of the consultation services for foreigners, notfocusing specifically on COVID-19.

Title: Guarantee of Adequate Information Provision in Transnational Migration-Toward a Realization of a Fair and Robust Migration

Project Representative : Toshihiro Menju
Labor migration in Asia has become large-scaled by the development of institutional framework by both the sending and receiving
country governments and the accompanying expansion of recruitment and job placement business across borders. However, migrants
can only obtain individualized and fragmented information from recruiting agencies and acquaintances. The extreme asymmetry of
information in transnational labor movement has led many migrating workers to experience a significant deviation from decent work
such as illegal recruitment and employment, violation of labor rights, skill mismatches, and exclusion from social protection. This
project aims to develop a collaborative action plan to design and implement a social infrastructure to guarantee provision of fair andadequate information concerning migration that eliminates various disparities in access to and transaction of information throughout
the process of transnational migration. The project will bring together organizations and experts involved in migration issues in Japanand Korea, including the migrant community in the receiving country and former migrant workers returned to the sending country.

Activities under COVID-19:● Although no activity was possible in the first half of 2020, online meetings have been held since fall by members from four

countries.
● Preparations

pandemic”.

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are underway for a webinar on the theme of “Information provision and access during the coronavirus

Creating a multilingual consultation service for foreigners
As part of efforts to strengthen our multilingual consultation service, we conducted a questionnaire
survey of those in charge of the consultation service, and those who actually receive consultations or
carry out interpreting. The results are still being analyzed, but it is becoming apparent that there aremany people in non-regular employment, and many people who did not have the opportunity toreceive training last year. In terms of understanding the needs of foreign residents, I think it is important to explore problems that are not brought for consultation.

Doi

I think the government needs to go one step further in establishing a policy of support, taking into
account issues such as employment conditions and training opportunities. While promoting multilingual support, I think it is also important to improve the environment for Japanese language education
for foreign residents.

Okabe

Aiming to create a system that overcomes the intentional information gap
We have focused on the information gap that foreign workers fall into before coming to Japan. Someintermediaries intentionally provide false information, and we would like to try and implement
initiatives such as information platforms and a rating system that can eliminate such malicious operators.

Menju

It’s easy to imagine the vicious circle of economic hardship faced by intermediaries, so I think one
solution would be to offer them incentives making it more profitable for them to become clean.

Okabe

From the audience
Q

What are the challenges and prospects for foreigners living in Japan during the coronavirus pandemic?
Menju: I think we need to take a very close look at ways of ensuring foreign nationals are not left behind in society evenduring the pandemic, such as incorporating Japanese language education into vocational training.
Doi: In such a situation, the top priority should be to protect the lives of all people regardless of nationality. Nevertheless, I
feel something needs to be done about the situation where, due to constraints under Japanese immigration law, humanrights are restricted and status of residence becomes an issue.
Okabe: It is a problem when people respond in a discriminatory way, but there are others who recognize and appreciate theexistence of the foreigners who are responsible for essential work. Institutionalization has been proceeding slowly inresponse to changes in Japanese society, but it needs to move forward as quickly as possible. It is also necessary to clarify
the existence of those in a vulnerable position in a way that does not instill a sense of unfairness among the public that special consideration is being given only to foreigners.

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Report: No. 4“Information and Institution” (2)Date: 11:30-13:00, Dec. 8, 2020

Discussions with a broad perspective of time and place were held on the history and prospects ofimmigration in Japan, formerly a sending country, as well as the overview of Japan from the perspective of a present sending country.

Outline of the Projects
Title: Building a comprehensive platform for systems related to the acceptance of foreign workers
Project Representative : Shohei Sugita
The number of foreign workers in Japan is increasing, with 1.46 million foreign workers working in Japan as of the end of October
2018. Many foreigners who work in Japan work with a status of residence that is not intended for employment. The number of foreigners who have chosen to work in Japan is increasing, but the process to work in Japan is very transparent. Companies that want tohire foreigners also have no means of accessing information such as what institutions are involved and what costs are incurred. In
addition, the technical internship system and the specific skill system started in April 2019 are difficult to understand because thesystem is difficult. In such an environment, even if a company that wants to employ foreigners complies with the law, it cannot fullyknow the contents of the law that must be complied with. Without knowing it, it would be against the law. Therefore, this projectcontributes to the transparency of the legal system for foreign employment by building a platform for collecting laws of foreign workers
home countries, immigration laws and labor-related laws, and disclosing information. It contributes to the transparency of the human
employment process.

Activities under COVID-19:● Instead of face-to-face study groups, e-learning materials have been developed for individuals coming to Japan to workand their host companies.
● While building a learning portal website for visitors to Japan, we have discussed ways of repairing the website together

with JICA and other organizations.

Title: Enhancing the Capacity of Countries of Origin in Facilitating Equitable Migration to Japan
Project Representative : Reiko Harima
The proposed project aims to contribute towards a more inclusive society by making migration a more equitable experience. It will
focus on migration from Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam to Japan, in light of the growing trends of migration from these countries
and given the limited experience and capacity of these countries of origin in facilitating migration. Country visits will be organised to
Myanmar, Cambodia and Japan to facilitate mutual learning on responses to migration, collectively identify good practice and lessons
learnt, and develop recommendations. The project will produce a short film on migration from these countries of origin to Japan toraise awareness, publish an advocacy paper presenting good practice and recommendations and develop a handbook for civil society
organisations (CSOs) in Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam who will provide support to migrants going to Japan. The proposal is basedon the needs collectively identified by CSOs in the region, given the limited knowledge, experiences and capacity of CSOs in responding to the rapidly growing trends of migration to Japan. The outputs are expected to have ripple effects and enhance the capacity of
the relevant countries of origin to adequately facilitate migration to Japan.

Activities under COVID-19:● Our plan was to produce a handbook after visiting the various countries, but we communicated online and made a draftof the handbook first.
● The group is due to consider film production, and will also touch on the impact of Covid-19 on prospective travelers toand residents of Japan.

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Institutional transparency and inertial forces
Some parts of the process that foreigners go through to come to Japan to work are not always visible.
The goal is to improve transparency in areas that are otherwise a black box for workers, so that a kindof self-cleansing can take place. From the Meiji period until just before World War II, Japan was asending country, and looking back at the system at that time, we can see that it shared some of thecurrent problems in accepting immigrants. In the international movement of people, just because aDoisystem has been established does not mean that it will be used immediately. There are studies that

Sugitashow that inertial forces, including historical and geographical factors, come into play, and we needto take such forces into account in our approach.

The movement of people has a great deal to do with security, and I find it very interesting that theoccurrence of a single emergency can have such an impact that it overcomes any inertia.

Okabe

Protecting workers' rights from the bottom up

I think the Mekong region is one where you can think of people moving first and borders and systems
being established later. MMN works to protect human rights that have been violated in this context.
The movement of people in the region was basically illegal, and the ability to make policy recommendations was limited, but the democratization of Myanmar in 2011 made it possible to openly discuss
the movement of people throughout the region. We aim to create a situation in which workers areunlikely to have their rights violated because they themselves have a proper understanding of their

Harimarights and other information. I think that Japan can play a role in this process. I believe that migrant
workers who have had a good experience in Japan will have a positive impact on the relationshipbetween their country of origin and Japan.

My hope is that Japanese efforts will let us overcome the challenges, and at the same time, I believe
we can use ASEAN effectively as a framework for maintaining and expanding the liberal order in Asia.
I look forward to a future agenda that considers migrant labor and the rights of workers.

Okabe

From the audience
Q

What can Japan, a former sending country, teach us?
Sugita: I believe there is much we can learn from each other's history. People who emigrated from Japan also did so in thespirit of contributing to their communities, a strong point they always emphasized. I think it is the same for today's technical trainees. I also think that the role of a safety net, such as Japanese communities that accepted immigrants in the past,
is something Japan can teach. On the other hand, I think we can also share lessons learned from flaws within the system.

Q

How can the selection of sending organizations be kept independent of personal connections
so that there is fair competition among organizations?
Harima: Information is very limited, especially for those who have not yet decided to travel. One way is to use organizations
like the Migrant Resource Center, currently being promoted by the ILO, to spread information.

33

ReportNo. 5 “Review and Wrap up”

Published March 2021

Moderator: Hideo Tone (Program Ofﬁcer, The Toyota Foundation)

In the fifth session, we reviewed and summarized the seminar series with serving commentators
Shizuyo Yoshitomi and Midori Okabe, as well as Shigeto Sonoda, chair of the selection committee
for the International Grant Program.
The panelists discussed issues related to the movement of people in the international community,
as well as the current situation and prospects for the acceptance of foreigners in Japanese society
based on past history. They were also asked about the significance of mutual learning and knowledge sharing between countries and sectors by researchers, people in the field, and people related
to both sending and receiving countries.

Looking Back at 4 Seminars: An Inseparable Relationship Between Asia and Japan Emerges
Yoshitomi: Looking back on the first and second online seminar, I feel that there is a microcosm of Japanese society,where different cultures coexist, in the field of medicine and nursing care. The wisdom and experience of both sending
and receiving countries is important, and the real “mutual learning” with which people have tried to solve their problems
with diverse perspectives and approaches has been impressive.
Okabe: The third and fourth discussions provided suggestions on how to guarantee the social, economic and politicalrights of foreigners coming to Japan, and how to accept foreigners in a way that creates a win-win relationship for Japanese communities, that is, the Japanese people living there.
In a broader sense, the acceptance of foreigners is also a challenge of “human security”.
Sonoda: After watching the four seminars, I felt that understanding and thinking about the issues between Japan andAsia should be discussed within the context of their relationship, including the gap between them, and that they cannot
be considered separately. The themes of the first and second seminars were set at the community level, whereas thethird and fourth seminars were about national institutions. It became clear, however, that in reality these are intricatelyintertwined.

Settlement in societies based on history: Who are “foreigners”?
Yoshitomi: We have a long history of immigration, with some 4th and 5th generation Koreans living in Japan, and 10,000
to 15,000 people obtaining Japanese nationality every year. There are so many people with foreign roots in various fields
that it is impossible to talk in terms of foreigners and Japanese anymore. I hope that more and more people becomeaware of the fact as human beings we all share responsibility for Japanese society, and that policies and systems basedon this awareness will be realized.
Okabe: When I met a German-Brazilian in Oxford, UK, I was surprised that the first thing he talked about was the contribution of Japanese-Brazilians to Brazilian society, and how Brazilians have a positive image of Japan and people of Japanese descent because of it. There are downsides to creating boundaries between Japanese and foreigners, but I also
felt that we should learn to be proud and respectful of our ethnicities.

The state and the individual: An opinion survey of Asian youths
Sonoda: Over the past 10 years or more, we have conducted three major opinion surveys of university students in 11
Asian countries, including Japan. What we found was that while the three Northeast Asian countries (Japan, South
Korea, and China) do not have a good national image of each other, they do have close personal ties, and only a small
percentage of people want those from another country to leave. On the other hand, while Southeast Asian countries havea very good image of Japan and other Northeast Asian countries, human ties are still weak, and when something troublesome occurs, a higher percentage of Southeast Asians may feel they want such-and-such people to leave. I believe that34

Coordinator

Shigeto Sonoda

Professor of Sociology and Asian Studies, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia,
The University of Tokyo,
selection committee chair for the International Grant Program

His special interest is in social stratification and globalization of cultures in Asia, localization process of Japanese company
in Asian countries, and Asian views of the rise of China. He has conducted a variety of researches including Four-city
Survey in China (1997-2014) and Asian Student Survey (2008-2018). His latest publications include: National Sentiments in
Asia (2020), Risk in East Asia (editor, 2013), Social Inequality in Contemporary China (2008, awarded Special Prize of 20th
Asia-Pacific Award).

Commentators

Shizuyo Yoshitomi
Professor,
School of Global Governance and Collaboration,
Nagoya University of Foreign Studies

Midori Okabe
Professor,
Department of International Legal Studies,
Faculty of Law, Sophia University

the image of a country and the connections between individuals are at different levels, and that weak connections between individuals can hamper the social acceptance of people coming from that country.

Japanese policies and institutions from an international perspective: Insufficient protection of humanrights for Japanese people
Okabe: Japan’s system for accepting foreigners used to be evaluated as poor, especially in Western studies. Recently,
however, it has been pointed out that the system is not necessarily discriminatory or exclusionary to foreigners, but that
there is no institutionalized awareness of human rights protection, including that for Japanese people. It is true that ourdomestic system is still lacking in many ways.
On the other hand, Japan's response to refugees and forced migration in the field of international cooperation is highly
praised worldwide. I heard that UNHCR’s current refugee protection program is based on JICA’s program. Apparently,international organizations have come to appreciate approaches such as reducing unnecessary movement of people bypaying attention to a wide range of social and economic factors, developing social infrastructure, and providing caresuch as livelihood support. I believe it is necessary to evaluate not only a country’s domestic systems but also its global
contribution.

The significance of mutual learning: The role of International Grant Programs
Yoshitomi: The movement of people involves every aspect of social life. It reminds me that this kind of grant program
can be used as a mechanism for both the sending country and the receiving country to learn from each other. I also believe there are many things such countries can learn from each other in domestic issues and efforts in the field of international cooperation, and I have expectations for the current trend of collaboration between international cooperation
NGOs and domestic organizations.
Okabe: This seminar has made me realize that the grant program scheme is being used effectively. The gap in information, where intentions are not conveyed correctly, is not limited to Japan and Asia, but is occurring all over the world. I
think that having this kind of framework for sharing is important, as there are limits to what governments can do. Institutionalization will go ahead from now on, but there are concerns about potential distortion caused by too much progress.
I think it may be better to have a more relaxed form of communication and coexistence between ethnicities.
Sonoda: In sports, there is a system of “home” and “away” matches. When it comes to migration in Asia, some “away”(sending countries) changed to be “home” (receiving countries), but the players (those who are moving) cannot bechanged. I think it is very important to promote mutual understanding between “home” and “away” by imagining eachother's positions and ideas in order to avoid becoming egocentric. Things may not always go smoothly as expected, but
we will continue to support various proposals for mutual learning among Asia in the future.

35

The Toyota Foundation

The Toyota Foundation is a grant-making foundation established in 1974 by the Toyota Motor
Corporation. It views events from a global perspective as it works to support activities that bringbroad, long-term benefits to society. The Toyota Foundation identifies issues in a wide range ofareas in line with current needs, including human and natural environments, social welfare, andeducation and culture, and provides grants for research and projects that address these issues.

International Grant Program

The grant program focuses on deepening mutual understanding and knowledge-sharing amongpeople on the ground in East and Southeast Asia who are finding solutions to shared issues.
Through promoting direct interaction among key players, the grant program aims to survey andanalyze situations in target countries, obtain new perspectives, and expand the potential of
future generations.
With multinational teams comprised of participants from diverse backgrounds, projects can
avoid conventional linear relationships, such as “supporter and supported” or “instructor andtrainee,” and instead form cooperative and creative alliances that consider, act on, andconstruct solutions to shared issues. The grant program anticipates that these partnerships,
which extend beyond such factors as nationality, age, and organizational affiliation, will produce
significant social change through fostering a process of mutual learning.

36Special Subject “Migrants and Japanese Society”

The grant program titled “Migrants and Japanese Society” targets five issues with which applicants struggle. During the grant period, we request applications from projects designed forbuilding mechanisms and systems to bring solutions to the issues and achieve improvements,and for deepening insights in issues related to the acceptance of foreign human resources.

(1) Creation of an environment for maximizing the skills and potential of foreign human resources(2) Minimizing gaps among foreign human resources in their access to information(3) Review of human resources leading the care and support system and of existing resources(4) Attracting skilled human resources(5) Learning and lessons from insights and experiences gained through Japanese companies’
overseas operations

37

International Grant Program
The Toyota Foundation
Shinjuku Mitsui Building 37F,
2-1-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku,
Tokyo 163-0437, Japan
https://www.toyotafound.or.jp
Published in April, 2021
Designed by Masayuki Momiyama (snug.)

セミナー動画（フルバージョン、
ダイジェスト版）はこちらからご視聴ください。
Access to the digest movies with English subtitles.
日本語

https://www.youtube.com/c/TheToyotaFoundation

Englishhttps://www.toyotafound.or.jp/english/international/2020/toyotafound/2021-0210-0944-5.html

トヨタ財団助成プログラム、セミナー等の最新情報はウェブサイトからご覧ください。
For the latest information on the Toyota Foundation, please visit the website.
日本語Englishhttps://www.toyotafound.or.jp/

https://www.toyotafound.or.jp/english/