Japan preparing to accept more caregivers from Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam

Japan plans to accept more caregivers from three Southeast Asian countries that have free trade agreements with Tokyo to help address the national labor shortage, sources familiar with the matter said. By easing some restrictions on caregivers from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, the government will allow more of those with strong proficiency in Japanese to work in Japan starting next April, the sources said Sunday. Under current terms, Japan accepts up to 300 caregivers from each country per year. The government aims to treat those with high language proficiency separately from those groups. The number who want to be caregivers in Japan has been increasing.