Activists on Wednesday called for the creation of a permanent resident visa for blue-collar foreign workers and equal pay as their Japanese co-workers as the country aims to bring in more laborers from overseas.
In a statement released at a gathering held at the Diet, the participants also called for the cancellation of the controversial government-sponsored job training program, under which many foreign trainees are believed to have been exploited.
The Tokyo event was organized by the nonprofit organization Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan at a time when the government and ruling parties are pushing ahead to pass a bill that would greatly expand the number of foreign workers in the country.