The Technical Intern Training Programme and Japanese Society of the Future

The Technical Intern Training Programme and Japanese Society of the Future project examines how demographic change in Japan since the 1990s has influenced the growth of the Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP). Reports of abuse and mistreatment of trainees by recruiters in their countries of origin and employers once in Japan have given the programme a poor reputation among scholars of labour migration and Japanese civil society organizations concerned with work and migration issues. However, despite a largely negative portrayal, the TITP continues to expand both in terms of participating countries and the number of trainees, showing that there is still interest from both the labour supply and demand side. This proposed examination of the TITP will assess why this programme continues to grow and what function it serves in the Japanese labour market. The first question will be answered through questionnaires and key informant interviews with current and former trainees from as many participating countries as possible. The second question will be addressed through similar data gathering activities conducted with the employers of trainees. Answering these questions will in turn illustrate what efforts the Japanese government and private sector are making to combat the issues of workforce shortages and demographic decline that pose important challenges to Japan’s future economic prosperity.