Japan eyes accepting more caregivers with good language skills from Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam

Japan is planning to accept a greater number of caregivers from three Southeast Asian countries having bilateral free trade agreements with Tokyo as part of efforts to address a labor shortage in the country, sources familiar with the matter said Sunday. By easing some restrictions on the number of caregivers from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, the government will allow more caregivers with high Japanese language skills to work in Japan from next April, the sources said. Under the current terms with the three countries, Japan will accept up to 300 caregivers from each country a year. The government aims to treat such foreign workers with high language proficiency separately from the current quota of 300. The number of people in the three countries who want to work as caregivers in Japan has recently been increasing.