Immigration Exceeds One Million – Fukuoka

An increasing number of Japanese language school students from South and Southeast Asia are working part-time in the suburbs of Fukuoka at factory-like locations which operate all day long. Various types of part-time work are done at these bases, including sorting out items for door to door deliveries, as well as preparing convenience store bento lunch boxes.

These students who are mainly from Vietnam and Nepal work around their studies. They are picked up in the city during the evening and driven in minibuses to the outskirts of Fukuoka, working through the night in jobs that do not require a high level of Japanese ability.

In some factories, up to 80% of staff are known to be from abroad. Reports reveal that there are international students working above the legally-allowed 28 hours per week limit. Some Japanese language schools have had to turn down requests from bento factories looking for extra help out of fear that they might attract the attention of the immigration office.

The government has announced a plan to welcome 300,000 international students to the country. Currently, Kyushu has 64 Japanese language schools across its seven prefectures (out of the 547 schools that were registered nationwide as of September last year), which is twice as many as 10 years ago.

Last January, the Fukuoka Prefectural Police reprimanded a Japanese language school in Nogata City after it was discovered that they had been in breach of immigration laws by promoting illegal working hours. The institution was closed in March and around 100 of their students had to move. A major shortage in the workforce had meant that 30 to 40 international students were employed during busy working seasons in the five years leading up to this episode. Following the incident, the gap that was left could not be plugged.

The majority of international students have several part-time jobs. About 50 companies, mainly concentrated in Chikuho area’s manufacturing industry, have taken students on as employees. A convenience store manager in Nogata City who employs five foreign students said, “International students work hard even late at night, at hours when even our own Japanese recruits do not work.”

Mother And Two Children Found Apparently Strangled In Their Fukuoka Home – Fukuoka

A mother and her two elementary school children were found dead Tuesday in their home in Ogori, Fukuoka Prefecture, and the Fukuoka Prefectural Police said Wednesday they have started a murder investigation.

According to the police, 38-year-old Yukiko Nakata was found lying on the kitchen floor on the first floor of her house and her 9-year-old son, Ryosuke, and 6-year-old daughter, Miyu, were discovered in the bedroom upstairs. All three had apparently been strangled, they said.

On Wednesday, the police found a burned charcoal briquette near the mother’s body, leading them to believe that someone might have tried to make the scene look like a murder-suicide. Yukiko’s husband, who is a police officer with the prefectural police, told investigators that the three were asleep when he left for work at around 6:45 a.m. Tuesday. Later in the morning, when he was informed that his children had not come to school, he asked Yukiko’s sister, who lives nearby, to check on the house.

Yukiko’s sister called the police at around 9:20 a.m. after finding the bodies, the police said. Since there were no traces of someone ransacking the house or anything being stolen, the police at first believed the mother had committed suicide after killing the children. The sister reported the case as a suicide and both the sister and the husband told investigators that Yukiko had worries about raising children.

But an autopsy found subcutaneous bleeding in her neck that the police say was apparently not caused by suicide. The police are still investigating to determine how the three died.

Agreement Signed To Attract International Students To Itoshima – Fukuoka

Nishi-Nippon Financial Holdings will work with Itoshima City and Kyushu University to attract international students to areas surrounding Kyushu University’s Ito Campus. Real estate agency Settle also signed an agreement with Itoshima City and Kyudai for providing housing, short-term accommodation, and living support for international students.

The city is launching an initiative to revitalize the region and make it more international while Settle will develop guesthouses and residential complexes by August 2020 to attract schools, nurseries, supermarkets and bookstores. Nishi-Nippon Financial Holdings and Nishi-Nippon City Bank aims to establish ATMs and money exchanges, develop apps providing regional updates, and offer loans to help with the construction of student housing.