( Observer Network ) "The money sent back in the past could support the life of the family, but now it is not enough... For my family, I want to go to other countries outside Japan."
On October 23, Japan Asahi TV station broadcast an interview with foreign workers. One of the man from Bangladesh told the station about the impact of the depreciation of the yen, saying that his salary is converted to the country's currency, which makes the family's life unsustainable, so he wants to leave Japan. In this regard, Asahi TV station bluntly stated that the depreciation of the yen has led to a trend of "staying away from Japan".
Screenshot of Japan's Asahi TV's report
This interview by Asahi TV started at the overseas remittance office of Shin-Okubo in Tokyo, where people can send money to more than 200 countries and regions.
The first respondent was a man from Indonesia . He told Asahi TV that he had just sent money to his parents, but this time he didn't send much money to his parents because he "can't send a lot of money."
Asahi TV then answered the reason: "The money they saved through hard work is to send it to important people in their motherland, but the more serious the depreciation of the yen, the more the amount received in the local area will be reduced. Some people even cancel the remittance after seeing the exchange rate ." Many foreign workers convert the wages received in the yen to the domestic currency when remitting money, but because the continuous depreciation of the yen is difficult to stop, their income will shrink significantly when they exchange for the domestic currency.
The same is true for the second Bangladeshi man interviewed. He told Asahi TV that he could only send very little money to go home because compared to the past, the exchange rate plummeted, and he wanted to wait until the yen appreciated before remitting money.
But on the other hand, even if the yen depreciates, some foreign workers have to remit money. The third respondent was Huda from Bangladesh, 35 years old. He has a wife and two children in his motherland. Their lives are all based on Huda's income in Japan.
Huda told the staff of the overseas remittance office that he remitted money to his family in Bangladesh every month. However, "the money sent back in the past could support his family's life, but now it is not enough."
In order to save living expenses, Huda and three friends from Bangladesh also squeezed into an apartment in Tokyo. From the subsequent door-to-door interview of Asahi TV, it can be seen that the apartment where Huda lived was very small. When two single beds were placed side by side, there was no space in the middle of aisle.
"Although it's a bit of a problem, living 4 people can keep the cost of living low. The remaining money can be sent to the family." Hu Da told Asahi TV.
According to Hu Da, after coming to Japan, he worked in hotels, restaurants, convenience stores and other places, and sent the money he earned back to his country. With part-time jobs, his monthly income is about 180,000 yen (about 8,773 yuan). "I transferred about 100,000 yen (about 4,874 yuan) to my family, but that also decreased because of the depreciation of the yen. And the salary has not increased at all. So it is a bit difficult." Hu Da continued, "Ten years ago, the hourly wage of in Japan was 1,000 yen, but now it is still 1,000 yen."
salary did not rise, but the yen continued to depreciate, which made Hu Da anxious. When the reporter asked him if he would consider working outside Japan because of this, Hu Da said, "Yes, I will consider it. For the sake of my family, I want to go to other countries outside Japan. For my family and children."
Regarding this situation of foreign workers such as Hu Da, Asahi TV said in a report that under the influence of the continued depreciation of the yen, foreign workers began to "want to work outside Japan" and the trend of "staying away from Japan" has emerged.
In fact, with the sharp depreciation of the yen in recent days, domestic Japanese media have mentioned the term "stay away from Japan" many times. The website of " Nihon Keizai Shimbun " reported on October 9 that in Japan, the depreciation of the yen is casting a shadow on the struggle for foreign workers. Japanese wages in USD fell by 40% over the past 10 years, and the gap with Asian emerging market countries is rapidly narrowing.In industries such as construction and nursing, the trend of "staying away from Japan" has begun to emerge, and foreign workers who remit money to their families living abroad feel the "pain" brought about by the depreciation of the yen more deeply than the Japanese.
report also pointed out that in 2021, foreign workers in Japan are equivalent to 2.5% of the total working-age population, about 1.72 million, an increase of about 2.5 times in the past 10 years. However, as wage levels in various countries increase, the number of foreign workers who hope to work in Japan will continue to decrease. In this case, the depreciation of the yen has exacerbated the risk of labor shortage. Taking the construction industry where 20% of the steel bar workers are foreigners as an example, Masago Iwada, president of the National Steel Bar Workers Association of Japan, has warned that "if the salary is not raised, the front line of construction may come to a halt."
This article is an exclusive article by Observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.
