COMPLETION REPORT

Dr. Benjamin Arcena San JoseAssistant Professor
Japanese Studies Program, School of Social Sciences
Ateneo de Manila University
Research Activities
I was able to visit research institutions and Japanese universities, discuss policy changes with government officials,
and interview labor brokers. Furthermore, I was also able to share my findings in various conferences and engage
with scholars from Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam. I have prepared research manuscripts, which I am submitting toacademic and policy-orientated journals.
Research Results
Japan began to receive foreign careworkers through its economic partnership agreements (EPA). While much has
been written on the EPA, a new policy has emerged to meet the labor demands of Japanese healthcare. The
Technical Internship Training Program (TITP) aims to bring various workers from Asia to train as technicalinterns, and then take the skills they learned to bring development to their countries. While it seems promising, it
has been criticized as exploiting cheap migrant labor. To address these criticisms, Japan introduced policy
amendments that provide for stronger supervision and labor protection. Due to the apparent success of the revised
trainee program, the TITP has expanded its scope into construction and healthcare jobs.
Meanwhile, studies have also noted the dominance of migration management as a policy framework. Using thisperspective, state policies are focused on maximizing the benefits of out-migration by directing movements
through official channels, thus, allowing for greater transparency in labor transfers, employment conditions,earnings and remittances. Using the case study of healthcare migration, this study shows how states continuallyrevise its migration policies and apply migration management models to its migrant healthcare workers.
This study asks: What is the role of the migration industry in migration management? How does the migrationindustry understand and promote discourses of migration management? Does the migration industry view
healthcare migration under the EPA and TITP as policy successes?

With the inclusion of foreign careworkers in the TITP, this paper shows that the migration industry view thesepolicies as moving in the right direction to manage Philippine-Japan migration. It is through policy frameworks ofproperly “managing” the migration corridor that leads Philippine institutions to present a veneer of protection by
managing the flow of workers through humane laws that combat trafficking, even as it aggressively recruits
workers. On the other hand, the Japanese migration institutions present a positive image of protection through the2009 and 2016 amendment of the Immigration Act. It is through highlighting the importance of technology
transfer under the TITP that Japan’s migration institutions present an image of a properly managed migration
policy that maintains the policy idea that Japan still does not accept foreign unskilled workers.
Further Studies
Previous studies have focused either on government agencies or the conditions of migrants, while studies focusing
on the role of the migration industry have been scant. This study was able to show how migration industry,
entrepreneurs that facilitate human mobility across borders, plays a larger role in the promotion and revising oflabor migration policies. This research recommends that studies focusing on the migration industry would be anexcellent research direction for the next wave of migration policy scholarship. (499 words)
Publication of the Results of Research Project:
Verbal Presentation (Date, Venue, Name of Conference, Title of Presentation, Presenter, etc.)
May 10-13, 2018. Benjamin A. San Jose. “A Win for Whom? The Salience of Migration Management andHuman Security among Healthcare workers along the Philippine-Japan Migration Corridor”. InternationalConference on Multicultural Democracy. Kyushu University, Fukuoka, JapanFebruary 15, 2018. Benjamin A. San Jose. “Conceptualizing Care as a Policy Success: Sending Care Workers
through the Technical Internship Training Program (TITP)”. Moving Care Between Japan And The Philippines:
Policy, Theory And Experience. Forum & Roundtable. Asian Center, University of the Philippines, Diliman,Philippines.
October 5, 2017. Benjamin A. San Jose. “Rethinking the Southeast Asia - Japan MigrationCorridor:Analyzing the role of the Migration Industry in the EPA and TITP”. Asosiasi Studi Jepang diIndonesia (ASJI) INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM 2017. Universitas Andalas Padang, Indonesia.
Thesis (Name of Journal and its Date, Title and Author of Thesis, etc.)
December 2018. Benjamin A. San Jose. “Conceptualizing Care as a Policy Success: Sending Care Workers
through the Technical Internship Training Program (TITP)” – Forthcoming - in consideration for an international
peer reviewed academic journalBook (Publisher and Date of the Book, Title and Author of the Book, etc.)
Not Applicable