Category Archives: Nursing

Japan must ease migrant rules or lose carers – minister

February 17, 2011 in Eikaiwa, Immigration, News, Nursing, Trainees

Japan must completely revise its immigration rules to deal with a shortage of labour in an ageing society or risk losing workers to China, whose population is also greying, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said on Wednesday.

Japanese gov’t to make nursing exams easier

February 9, 2011 in News, Nursing

Following the dismal passing percentage of those who are taking the national licensure in Japan for “kangoshi” (nurses) [看護師] and “kaigofukushishi” (caregiver) [介護福祉士], the Japanese government has begun to introduce several improvements to make the examination easier for foreign applicants by replacing difficult words with easier ones.

Ageing, insular Japan slowly discovers the benefits of immigration

January 26, 2011 in Immigration, News, Nursing

It says much about Japan’s fortress-like approach to immigration that it made news when the country accepted 27 refugees from Burma late last year. They were first of a group of 90 Burmese that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ office persuaded Japan to accept as arguably a first baby step towards creating an humanitarian [...]

Indonesian nurses to stay in Japan for extra shot at qualifying exam

January 25, 2011 in News, Nursing

The Japanese government plans to extend by a year the stays of Indonesian nurses and caregivers who came to Japan in 2008 under a bilateral accord, to give them an extra chance to take the yearly Japanese nursing qualification exam, sources close to the matter said Wednesday. The move comes on the back of low [...]

Japan modifies nursing licensure exam for foreigners

December 15, 2010 in Immigration, News, Nursing, Trainees

The nursing licensure exam in Japan for foreigners will be modified in February in the hope that more foreign nurses will be able to pass it and eventually work with Japanese patients, a Philippine official said Tuesday. Philippine Overseas Employment Agency chief Jennifer Manalili said Japan has agreed to put English translations beside some Japanese [...]

Group Appeals for Overhaul of Japanese Immigration

November 25, 2010 in Immigration, News, Nursing, Trainees

A powerful group of politicians, academics and business leaders is set to launch an unusual campaign to urge Japan to pry open its doors to foreigners, saying the country’s survival hinges on revamping its immigration policy. Japan has one of the most restrictive immigration policies in the world, and the debate over whether to allow [...]

Woes of foreign nurses, caregivers in Japan

November 2, 2010 in Immigration, News, Nursing, Trainees

Jusuf Anwar, Indonesian ambassador to Japan, has bewailed the overly stringent Japanese national examinations for foreign caregivers and nurses. Out of the 500 Indonesians who took the examinations in 2008 and 2009, only two have passed and have become certified nurses. Anwar revealed this concern at the “First Public Forum on Indonesia” held on July [...]

Japanese premier vows to help RP nurses, road users

November 2, 2010 in Immigration, News, Nursing, Trainees

Communications Strategy Secretary Ricky Carandang said that during the [17th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] talks Friday night, [Japanese Prime Minister Naoto] Kan promised to help make it easier for Filipino nurses to pass Japanese exams so that they could work in Japan under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement. Carandang told reporters [...]

Japan befuddled by elderly care debate

October 14, 2010 in Immigration, News, Nursing, Trainees

Wahyudin dreams of becoming a full-fledged caregiver, if not a certified nurse, in Japan. But the Indonesian worker must first pass the required Japanese-language national certification examination, which is far from easy. Until then the 29-year-old Wahyudin, a registered nurse in his home country, will remain a caregiver trainee in an elderly-care facility in Yamada [...]

Caregivers sent to Japan under EPA get hand to overcome language hurdle

September 25, 2010 in Immigration, News, Nursing, Trainees

The Philippine government has begun language classes to help nurses wanting to go and work in Japan overcome the high language barrier, and even pays them to enroll. The project is aimed at boosting the rate of Philippine applicants who pass Japan’s national nursing examination and increasing the number of nurses seeking a career in [...]