Working conditions for 3rd world immigrants in Japan

[Sitron]

I was reading an article in Japantoday about the living and working conditions for immigrants from 3rd world countries in Japan. And as an Arab with Norwegian citizenship I found what I read disturbing.


Is it really true that finding work for immigrants with roots from 3rd world countries is harder than it is for whites in Japan? Some people in the comment section even said that darker skinned immigrants get lower wages than whites. Is this true?

Here's the link to the article - I found the comment section to be the most interesting though.

No. of schools for foreign children decreasing amid serious recession

[Sashimister]

30 posts in total and 15 of them are thread-starting ones.

Is that a healthy ratio? You seem to quickly lose your own interest in the topics that you have invited others to discuss.

[spicytuna]

Originally Posted by Sashimister

30 posts in total and 15 of them are thread-starting ones.

Is that a healthy ratio? You seem to quickly lose your own interest in the topics that you have invited others to discuss.

Perhaps Sitron is actually a new web bot from Google. One designed as part of a pilot project to compete against Yahoo Answers.

[kunitokotachi]

What greatly confuses me is that quite a few people appear very adamant about fixing or discussing what they see are problems with Japan. However, don't discuss with that same attitude about problems within their own country. It would be best to exert the energy on discussing issues within in one's native country since one is more likely to understand the socio-economic system, politics, etc. better than those of a foreign country.

The two most countries I hear the most complaints about are Japan and America, and these people who complain still want to go there. I find it very interesting.

Also, I find it interesting how some of the comments in the article you linked are off topic. The article was discussing closure of schools for foreign children and not work conditions and living conditions.

No. of schools for foreign children decreasing amid serious recession

Here is the first few lines of that article you linked:

TOKYO —
With the recession taking a particularly heavy toll on migrant communities, many schools for children of Japanese-Brazilian and other backgrounds have closed their doors after struggling through falling enrollments and nonpayment of fees.

[Sitron]

Originally Posted by Sashimister

30 posts in total and 15 of them are thread-starting ones.

Is that a healthy ratio? You seem to quickly lose your own interest in the topics that you have invited others to discuss.

I'm not interested in debating, I only like to voice my opinion, help somebody out with a question, or ask questions myself.

[sarasi]

People from third world countries who have similar qualifications and skills to "white" people will have a similar chance of getting jobs and will be paid the same. My husband works in IT in Tokyo and a lot of his co-workers are from India and Bangladesh. He (Japanese) is paid the same as they are. There was a huge influx of Indian IT workers in the last decade, so coming from a less developed country doesn't seem to be an issue for people with skills.

The main source of jobs for people without specific skills is English teaching, and it is obvious that most of the foreigners teaching English here are going to be white, because the majority of the population in most English-speaking countries is white.

Black, Asian, Hispanic and other ethnicities have about the same chance as anyone of getting a job teaching English these days if they were born in an English speaking country or speak English at a native level. I have a Pakistani friend who was teaching English here- now he works in international law for a Japanese company and is very highly paid.

So, as I said above, if you have the job skills, being from an undeveloped country is not really an obstacle. Native English speakers have it fairly easy for getting jobs here, but that's just how it is- English is the international language.

To comment on your second post here, while you might like asking questions, if you don't then come back and comment on the answers people give, they may think they are wasting their time and not bother to answer your questions in the future.

[Tsuwabuki]

Originally Posted by sarasi

The main source of jobs for people without specific skills is English teaching, and it is obvious that most of the foreigners teaching English here are going to be white, because the majority of the population in most English-speaking countries is white.

While this is accurate, it's an attitude that drives me up the wall. A bit of a threadjack, but this perception is the reason why:

1) Most Assistant Language Teachers suck
2) Many Japanese people do not take us with teaching backgrounds seriously
3) Boards of Education refuse to do direct hire and consider ALTs to be temporary, or transient individuals
4) Culturally unaware individuals fail to grasp the importance both of their profession and their need for a certain degree of sensitivity (or as I call it, "White Boy Entitlement Syndrome" though it may not necessarily involve a white male).

Teaching is a skill. Those that arrive without the ability to teach are often bad at it. At least initially. Japan really needs to do more to set teaching requirements and standards for native English teachers. I have a job; I don't need to be doing a second trying to make up for/help fix unqualified individuals.

Sorry. Threadjack over.

[RickOShay]

Originally Posted by Tsuwabuki

While this is accurate, it's an attitude that drives me up the wall. A bit of a threadjack, but this perception is the reason why:

1) Most Assistant Language Teachers suck
2) Many Japanese people do not take us with teaching backgrounds seriously
3) Boards of Education refuse to do direct hire and consider ALTs to be temporary, or transient individuals
4) Culturally unaware individuals fail to grasp the importance both of their profession and their need for a certain degree of sensitivity (or as I call it, "White Boy Entitlement Syndrome" though it may not necessarily involve a white male).

Teaching is a skill. Those that arrive without the ability to teach are often bad at it. At least initially. Japan really needs to do more to set teaching requirements and standards for native English teachers. I have a job; I don't need to be doing a second trying to make up for/help fix unqualified individuals.

Sorry. Threadjack over.

This is partly the industry's fault too. By asking nothing more from people than a bachelors and native ability.. what do you expect..

I agree the standards should be raised. I even think ALTs should be allowed to take the Japanese test and become real teachers. A quality ALT with certificates, language and cultural understanding is certainly worth more than 5 jokers hanging around Japan for a year or two of kicks. I am not quite sure why more BOEs have not caught on to this. Give people a career to pursue, and the real talent will start to show its face.

[Tsuwabuki]

Originally Posted by RickOShay

This is partly the industry's fault too. By asking nothing more from people than a bachelors and native ability.. what do you expect..

Oh, I know. Believe me I know.

I agree the standards should be raised. I even think ALTs should be allowed to take the Japanese test and become real teachers.

In Kyoto Prefecture, we have a program like this. I haven't applied yet, because I don't feel confident with my Japanese yet. But I will probably take one of the JLPTs this December, and then if my score is good enough, apply. Of course, I already am a real teacher, but it'd be nice to have another group of documents saying so in Japanese.

A quality ALT with certificates, language and cultural understanding is certainly worth more than 5 jokers hanging around Japan for a year or two of kicks. I am not quite sure why more BOEs have not caught on to this. Give people a career to pursue, and the real talent will start to show its face.

I concur. I just think they worry we're going to be expensive. Which isn't true; I make more here than I would have made in rural Texas where I had been offered positions. It's sad I can make more as an ALT in Japan than an English teacher in America (which is what I went to school for). And we wonder why Japan kicks our ass year after in test scores.

[sarasi]

Originally Posted by Tsuwabuki

While this is accurate, it's an attitude that drives me up the wall. A bit of a threadjack, but this perception is the reason why:

1) Most Assistant Language Teachers suck
2) Many Japanese people do not take us with teaching backgrounds seriously
3) Boards of Education refuse to do direct hire and consider ALTs to be temporary, or transient individuals
4) Culturally unaware individuals fail to grasp the importance both of their profession and their need for a certain degree of sensitivity (or as I call it, "White Boy Entitlement Syndrome" though it may not necessarily involve a white male).

Teaching is a skill. Those that arrive without the ability to teach are often bad at it. At least initially. Japan really needs to do more to set teaching requirements and standards for native English teachers. I have a job; I don't need to be doing a second trying to make up for/help fix unqualified individuals.

Sorry. Threadjack over.

I agree totally. I wish that BOEs would stop seeing foreign English teachers as so disposable and give those who want it the opportunity to turn it into an actual career instead of assuming that all ALTs will leave after a year or two. The quality of the teaching would certainly benefit.