TOKYO, Sept. 16 — Japan will open the agricultural sector’s jobs to foreigners in the deregulation-friendly strategic special zones, aimed at providing a solution to the sector’s widespread labor shortage.
The Cabinet approved Sept. 15 the revised strategic special zone law.
It stipulates what foreign workers can do now in the farming industry in Japan; producing organic fertilizers and feeds, transporting and selling agricultural and processed products.
This provides more flexibility, compared with the current three-year training program.
To be eligible to work for a total of three years, foreign workers must be aged over 18 and have experience working for a farm business more than a year.
It also requires practical skills and knowledge needed for farming as well as Japanese language skills.