Workers dispatched from temporary employment agencies make up one of the fastest-growing sectors of Japan's workforce.

These workers numbered around 570,000 in fiscal 1993, and by fiscal 1999, this figure had nearly doubled to about 1.07 million, according to government statistics, which also show that a 20 percent jump was recorded in the last year of this period alone.

Labor experts are, however, divided on the issue of whether Japan's growing army of temporary workers is a positive development.