1. Introduction
In Japan, unlike many other countries, refugees applying for asylum cannot work. After six months, they can apply for a work permit—some get it, others do not. Without a work permit, it is a violation of their immigration status to take any paying work. The money that comes from the state is very limited—never enough to survive. Just surviving is the single biggest source of concern for refugees.
But even if you are fortunate to get a work permit, it is only for 6 months at a time. There are not many regular jobs, even at the lowest entry level—such as working at a convenience store or delivery company—that will hire you thinking that you might only be able to work for such as short time. As a result, most refugees end up in more irregular jobs, KKK jobs. Kiken, kitsui, kitanai—dangerous, difficult, and dirty. These jobs often have no contract, fail to live up to minimal labor standards of safety, and often lack health insurance. So, if you are injured when doing these dangerous jobs without any insurance, the boss usually fires you. Maybe if the boss is nice, and if you are seriously injured, he will take you to a special clinic, unofficially, to have you treated. But usually, he will fire you anyway.
As a refugee in Japan, Christopher went through countless difficulties working in Japan. When he got out of the detention center, he had nowhere to go and knew nothing about Japan in general. The reality was hard. For the first job he had in Japan, he was deceived by other foreign workers and had to work without receiving any salary for a couple of months. After that, he worked at several Japanese companies. He had a hard time adjusting himself to Japanese working conditions because it was completely different from how he used to work back in Cameroon.
2. Working in Japan
Needing to Work
When Christopher came to Japan, he did not know anything about living in Japan. He went to JAR for support. From their support, Christopher received accommodation, food, and little money to have a minimum life in Japan. After that, he started living in the RHQ’s house until he found his first job.
2.1. Process of Finding Work in Japan
Personal Connections
Fon Fon Christopher explained that the ‘personal connection’ is crucial for refugees to get jobs in Japan. When he wanted to start working, he had no idea where he could start job hunting. He asked around his friends to see if there were any available. With the limited amount of money and resources, using personal refugee connections to access correct information about recruitment is a common way for refugees to start their job-hunting.
Many Japanese companies will not hire refugees directly so they instead use recruitment agencies to be employed. Since various recruitment agencies exist, it is important to find which recruitment agencies have a better understanding of foreigners’ situations in order to prevent any problems that may arise.
Platforms
Organizations such as Hellowork and Baitoru require Japanese language skills as the basic requirement. However, in many cases, refugees need to work right away because they don’t even have money to buy food for everyday life. Christopher was shocked because he thought he would get a job right away and did not know “Japanese” counts as such a huge requirement for getting jobs. So, because of the language barrier, it is difficult for refugees to get a job referral. Refugees have to make their own connections for getting jobs because most of the refugees cannot speak Japanese.
Since Christopher had no time and money to learn Japanese, finding recruitment agencies by connections is much more common. When Christopher’s working visa expired, he could not continue his job. Christopher has received money from them since he lost his job until now. He applied for designated activities to have the legal right to work in Japan and now he is waiting for approval.
Japanese Language Skills
Christopher speaks English, French, and two other local languages—which is quite similar to most Africans here in Japan. Nevertheless, he had a hard time learning Japanese from the beginning when he started job hunting. The demand for being able to speak Japanese was only going to increase because most of the Japanese people he worked with did not speak English. His lack of ability to speak Japanese significantly affected the way he does job-hunting and the level of work he could participate in.
Because Christopher was not good at learning the language, it was difficult for him to express himself in Japanese at work. It caused miscommunication among people at work and recruitment agencies. Even when Christopher got into an accident at work and had to go to the hospital, he did not know about the procedure of payment. There was no explanation from the company and recruitment agency about who paid for it and how much.
2.2. Illegal Work
Using an illegal working visa or not having a working visa to work at companies is dangerous for both workers and companies. If immigration found out the person was working illegally, the person will be sent back to the detention center. Immigration will forcefully ask a person to choose deportation and receive criminal punishment. In that case, the person who committed illegal work will have a hard time receiving a legal working visa in the future, and will also risk deportation.
But the companies, mostly Japanese companies, are somewhat different. That is, even if they know the risks, they will often hire refugees illegally anyway. Refugees working illegally are an easily exploited labor resource, easily hired, and easily fired. There is sometimes a penalty for Japanese companies that violate labor laws to hire refugees illegally, yet there are always companies willing to risk the penalty for violating the law so illegal work is always available.
When the term “illegal work” is used, it does not mean the type of work that in itself is illegal, such as selling drugs or stealing cars. The vast majority of work is just everyday work—the only thing that makes it “illegal” is that the refugee who is given the job does not have permission to do the work or any sort of work. In truth, sometimes the line is not completely clear, at least to the desperate refugee. Some unscrupulous labor brokers or employers will tell a refugee that it is ok to work if they take lower wages, if they do not sign a contract or if they only work a few days a week, or if they are paid in cash. While it is clearly the refugee’s responsibility to definitively figure out if the work is legal or not, sometimes, and especially so if you cannot speak Japanese yet, it is hard to know.
Christopher has never done any illegal work in Japan but he shared his friend’s experience of illegal work in Japan. His friend didn’t know about the system of working in Japan. His friend ended up working with some other foreigners without having a working visa and got caught by immigration. Other foreigners, as well as Japanese, will sometimes lure gullible refugees into illegal work, assuring them that it is ok, not really illegal, or else not clearly illegal.
3. His Three Careers
3.1. Working with Foreigners
His first job was of assembling bicycles and shipping them to African countries.
The first job Christopher had in Japan was dismantling bicycles into pieces and shipping them to African countries. He was asked to start working by someone who was also from Cameroon. To his shock, Christopher realized that he got into a situation where foreigners exploited other foreigners. Because Christopher didn’t want to cause any trouble, he just left the place to go find another job, without getting paid for more than two months of hard work.
Christopher explained that the circumstance where such foreigners target new foreign residents who don’t know anything about Japan is commonly seen in Japan. Since new foreign residents have limited knowledge and information, they are likely to be deceived by arbitrarily manipulated information. For example, Christopher was drawn into the group by being told what Japan is and is not, and by growing distrust of Japan. Also, the exploiter takes advantage of the vulnerable position of the exploited. They would never listen to exploited ones’ complaints and would rather threaten them into working in poor conditions.
3.2. The Bread Factory
For the second job, he worked at a bakery factory. He worked for minimum wage, around 800 yen per hour, with a legal work permit. He worked there to take the bread out of ovens and he had to expose himself to high heat and temperatures all the time. This caused serious health issues.
All the workers who participated in that job were foreigners. Christopher could not complain to the employment agency or the bread factory because he knew they would replace him with other foreigners and they would merely replace him for his position. He had to endure his working conditions for the sake of his life even though it was negatively affecting his health. As Christopher mentioned there were only foreigners in charge of such dangerous situations, which reveals that working situations for foreigners are not protected and their existence as human beings is underestimated.
3.3. The Construction Factory
After he left the bread factory, he worked at a construction factory that produces air conditioners, refrigerators, and other home appliances. It was line work in which he had his own section to construct products. It was a type of manual labor but the salary was around ¥1,050 which was the highest salary he has received in Japan. When he worked overtime, he could receive ¥3,000 yen per hour. There were 4,000 workers including both Japanese and foreign workers working at the factory. Christopher especially liked this job because the working conditions were the best. He had Shakai Hoken which is health insurance provided by the company.
Christopher explained that Japanese workers who work with him wanted to learn English so he talked to them often in both English and Japanese. The workplace had a more inclusive atmosphere in which even a couple of Japanese women and foreign men who worked with Christopher got married. He had fewer miscommunication problems with the employment agency and company so he worked with less stress compared to previous work. Because Christopher liked this job very much, until the work visa expired, he ended up working for 4 years at this company.
Yet, even at his best job in Japan, he could feel that the foreign workers were being exploited. By talking to other Japanese workers, Christopher found out his salary was different from theirs even though he was committed to the same job.
Foreigners were not directly employed by companies; they used employment agencies to be employed. So, usually, the salary was subtracted by the employment agency then they received the remaining money. Christopher thought this was unfair treatment because all of them worked the same job, but because they were foreigners, they couldn’t have any bonuses or even promotions.
In addition, Christopher doesn’t think the way foreigners get jobs in Japan is fair. It is true that in most cases, foreigners have to use employment agencies to be employed by Japanese companies. Consequently, the possibility to be deceived by those employment agencies regarding financial re-compensation are evident. It is a frustration Christopher has faced since he contributed more than 5 years to the Japanese labor force, yet the Japanese government hasn’t provided refugee recognition.
4. Perspectives of Working in Japan
4.1. Who is Exploiting Whom?
The bigger pattern of exploitation is less about the salary and more about the failure to grant refugee status to asylum applicants. His perspective here is quite different from most Japanese.
On the one hand, there are many articles and even statements by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) about the abuse of Japanese immigration law by what they call “fake refugees.” They claim that many foreigners come to Japan to work, to earn money, and even though they are not actually refugees — that is, they have not suffered persecution in their home country, they apply anyway for refugee status.
It should be noted that the current practice of allowing refugees to work at all while they await the years for their case to be handled and a decision to be given is a relatively recent one. Advocacy groups such as JAR actively petitioned the government to allow asylum seekers to apply for a work permit in part because the money from the government was so small that it was not possible for any refugees to live off of it. In fact, the scant government funds were actually forcing refugees into illegal work just in order to survive.
Christopher sees the situation from the other perspective—from the point of view of the refugees themselves. He points out it is not the refugees who are cheating Japan but it is the Japanese government who is cheating the refugees.
Christopher thinks the way Japan treats foreigners is exploitative. He criticizes the system that the Japanese government lets foreigners work by giving them a 6 months visa and after the visa expiration, they force the foreigners to go back. Christopher feels that the Japanese government temporarily uses foreigners as a convenient labor force without ever intending to give them refugee recognition. Certainly, 99% of the rejections of all refugee status would provide support for this view of things.
4.2. Working Conditions and Cultural Differences
Like almost all foreigners, Christopher reported having to adjust to the Japanese way of working.
The Japanese working style was opposite from how he used to work in Cameroon. Christopher does not think the way Japanese workers work is the best way to do it. He thinks the rest is an important part of working. Workers should be given a chance to rest, not only to avoid exhausting themselves by overwork, sometimes to death, to make them better workers but also to make the company and society better. He thinks that if workers are working too much, companies should force workers to rest.
The Japanese style of working was hard to believe from Christopher’s point of view because he didn’t see that the people were working happily. Christopher pointed out that Japanese people work intensively and even sacrifice their own lives for work which is undoubtedly an unhealthy lifestyle. Christopher thinks working and one’s leisure time have to be maintained with a good balance. Christopher disagreed with the idea that workers cannot choose where to be transferred. Japanese people have to sacrifice their family over work which degrades family relationships. Christopher has seen such miserable family situations which made him think that Japanese workers need to be protected and respected by their companies.
4.3. Trade Unions
Christopher thinks the biggest difference he found between Japan and Cameroon was the absence of a Trade Union. While Japan has a rich history of trade unions, today it is true that the power of trade unions has deteriorated in Japan. In Cameroon, each company has trade laws that were made by workers, employers, and the government. The Trade Union works to set up a situation where the government, employer, and labor ministry present workers’ opinions to discuss to make a collective agreement. Such trade laws include the basic rules of salary, insurance, and working situations, so the workers’ rights are more likely to be protected.
For Christopher, a trade union is not only something that protects workers’ rights. It is also a reflection of a larger life orientation that expresses the value of others.
Christopher is extremely passionate about trade unions because of his belief. He believes the system of trade unions would support and protect workers from unfair treatment by companies. Christopher is a person unable to stand with others being treated discriminatorily. Overall his experience of working in Japan, he feels the urgent need of implementing a system like a trade union into Japanese society.
