- Introduction: The Growing Shift of Foreign Workers to Tokyo
- 1. Why Are Foreign Workers Concentrating in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area?
- 2. Regional Areas Where Foreign Workers Have Become Indispensable
- 3. Yamanashi Prefecture’s Pioneering Initiative: Medical Insurance Subsidy System
- 4. Cross-Cultural Understanding: Essential for Retaining Foreign Workers
- 5. Status of Residence Determines Retention Rates
- 6. Urban Concentration of Foreign Workers: A Global Challenge
- 7. Strategies for Regional Companies: Creating Reasons to Be Chosen Beyond Wages
- 8. For Foreign Residents Considering Career Options in Japan
- 9. For HR Personnel and Business Managers
- 10. Conclusion: Toward a Future of Coexistence with Foreign Workers
Introduction: The Growing Shift of Foreign Workers to Tokyo
In 2024, net migration of foreign nationals into the Tokyo Metropolitan Area (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba) exceeded 16,000—the highest figure on record. This record-high figure highlights the accelerating shift of foreign workers from regional areas to major urban centers.
The primary driver behind this trend is the widening wage gap between Tokyo and regional prefectures. Younger foreign workers, in particular, actively share information through social media and increasingly relocate to metropolitan areas in search of higher wages and improved living conditions.
In 2027, Japan will abolish the current Technical Intern Training Program, which largely restricts job changes, and introduce the new Development and Employment System. The new framework will allow greater job mobility based on individual preference, further accelerating workforce movement.
For regional areas already facing severe labor shortages, foreign workers have become indispensable. The central challenge is no longer recruitment alone, but retention.
This article analyzes recent migration trends reported by Yahoo! News and examines retention strategies adopted by regional companies, from the perspective of an administrative scrivener specializing in visa and residency procedures.
1. Why Are Foreign Workers Concentrating in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area?
1-1. Record-High Net Inflow Revealed by Statistics
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ “Report on Internal Migration,” the net inflow of foreign nationals to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area in 2024 was more than 13 times that of 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
By prefecture, Tokyo had the highest net inflow at 8,722 people, followed by Saitama with 7,720 and Kanagawa with 7,494. The Tokyo Metropolitan Area dominated the top positions.
Meanwhile, some regional areas such as Gunma (1,816), Tochigi (943), and Yamanashi (576) also experienced net inflows, though most are prefectures adjacent to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.
1-2. Impact of the Specified Skilled Worker System
Yusekawa Yu, Director of the International Relations Department at the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, points out that “young people of working age are moving from regional areas to urban centers due to wage differentials. A major factor is the increase in acceptance through the Specified Skilled Worker system, which allows job changes for immediately effective personnel amid labor shortages.”
The Specified Skilled Worker system was established in 2019 and targets 16 industrial sectors including agriculture and construction. Type 1 allows work for up to five years, while Type 2 requires skilled expertise and effectively permits permanent residence.
Type 1, in particular, does not allow family accompaniment, meaning workers remain single and can relocate more easily. Once horizontal connections form through social media, many workers move to urban areas relying on relatives, friends, or romantic partners.
1-3. What Will Change with the 2027 “Development and Employment System”?
In 2027, the Development and Employment System will replace the existing Technical Intern Training Program.
Under the Technical Intern Training Program, job changes were not permitted in principle, requiring foreign workers to remain at the same workplace. However, under the new Development and Employment System, workers will have much greater flexibility to change jobs based on their own intentions.
Under the new system, foreign workers will be able to choose employers more freely, considering their career goals and living environments. Consequently, migration to urban areas offering better wages and working conditions is likely to accelerate further.
2. Regional Areas Where Foreign Workers Have Become Indispensable
2-1. Hiroshima Care Facility: Foreign Staff as Core Personnel
At the geriatric health services facility “Panakeia” in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture, featured in Yahoo! News, foreign staff serve as core personnel.
Wu Ling (40), a Chinese national, came to Japan as a technical intern in 2019, returned home temporarily, and then re-entered Japan under the Specified Skilled Worker system. In 2025, she passed the national examination for certified care workers. With her change in status of residence, she gained permission for family accompaniment.
Wu brought her two children—a high school student and an elementary school student—who had remained in China, and they began living together again in Hiroshima.
“I wish the salary were a bit higher, but what matters most here is that everyone is kind. The education and culture differ from China, but my children can learn about a wider world.”
She appreciates regional living, where living costs are lower than in urban areas and she can raise her children more freely.
Additionally, Tran Thi Hoang Anh (29) from Vietnam initially came to Japan as an international student in 2018. In addition to becoming a certified care worker, she also passed the assistant nurse qualification in 2025, expanding her scope of work to include medical procedures alongside assistance with eating, excretion, and bathing.
She skillfully uses the Hiroshima dialect, and her workplace supervisors commend her, saying she “makes great efforts and has earned everyone’s respect.” At night, she works as a senior staff member paired with Japanese colleagues.
2-2. Facility Initiatives: Competing Through Work Environment Rather Than Salary
The medical corporation “Wakokai,” which operates this facility, employed 25 foreign workers out of approximately 410 staff members as of October 2025.
Recognizing that competing with the Tokyo Metropolitan Area on salary alone is difficult, Wakokai focuses on retaining foreign workers through the following initiatives:
- Offering qualification-based salary incentives: Supporting acquisition of specialized qualifications such as certified care workers and assistant nurses, with salary increases upon qualification.
- Providing company housing: Ensuring secure living environments and a stable foundation for daily life.
- Promoting work-life balance: Implementing flexible work systems that make it easier to take leave.
- Fostering cross-cultural understanding: Demonstrating respect and consideration for differences in religion, food, and lifestyle habits.
Hidetoshi Ishikawa, Director of Foreign Care Personnel at Wakokai, expresses confidence that “foreign workers who dedicate themselves to their jobs will eventually become leaders.”
2-3. Embracing Mobility While Developing Highly Adaptable Professionals
In the past, several foreign staff members transferred to workplaces in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Director Ishikawa understands that workers may naturally seek higher-paying jobs in the short term to send more money home, or desire to experience life in the capital region.
Nevertheless, he emphasizes respecting individual circumstances, stating, “We want to develop professionals who can thrive in any workplace, so they won’t be told at their next employer, ‘Weren’t you even taught this?'”
Such an approach fosters long-term trust and ultimately improves retention rates.
3. Yamanashi Prefecture’s Pioneering Initiative: Medical Insurance Subsidy System
3-1. Supporting Foreign Workers’ Families: A Novel Approach
Yamanashi Prefecture, which borders Tokyo and Kanagawa and faces concerns about foreign worker outflows, launched a pioneering initiative in 2024.
The system subsidizes insurance premiums for Vietnamese workers’ families to receive medical care in their home country, with subsidies provided through employers.
Tran Mai (29), a technical intern working at Kofu Building Service, welcomes the system: “I couldn’t care for my mother directly since I was worried about her health, so I enrolled in insurance. The coverage is excellent, and she was very pleased.”
Chairman Tetsushi Sakamoto of the company relies heavily on foreign employees, stating, “They are diligent and proactive in their work. If they leave, operations would be severely impacted.” He decided to utilize the system, judging it would contribute positively to personnel retention.
3-2. Challenges: System Adoption and Fairness
However, of the 3,624 Vietnamese workers in the prefecture, only four used the system in fiscal year 2024.
Chairman Sakamoto points out, “The reason the system isn’t spreading is that some companies prefer simply using cheap labor without investing in additional support. We need activities to help local business owners understand the system’s value.”
Additionally, Yamanashi Prefecture is considering expanding eligibility to other nationalities, as companies have expressed concerns about fairness regarding foreign nationals other than Vietnamese.
Nevertheless, officials emphasize the initiative’s significance: “The message that the local government supports companies employing foreign nationals has been successfully conveyed.”
4. Cross-Cultural Understanding: Essential for Retaining Foreign Workers
4-1. Respecting Differences in Religion, Food, and Dress
In workplaces employing foreign workers, issues can occasionally arise due to differences in culture and religion that would not occur with Japanese workers alone.
Handling ingredients considered taboo, such as pork in Islam, represents a typical example. Consideration is also required for religious observances such as Ramadan (fasting month) and dress codes such as the hijab (headscarf) worn by some women.
Daisuke Nakamura, Representative Director of “Jinzai Base,” which recruits foreign workers, explains: “Individual Muslims vary in how they handle pork and alcohol, which are forbidden. If religious confirmation is insufficient before hiring, it can lead to resignations with complaints that ‘This is different from what I was told.’ The receiving organization must deepen its understanding of different cultures and mutually confirm potential risk factors.”
4-2. Thorough Pre-Hiring Coordination Prevents Turnover
Naoki Sakamoto, Chairman of the Hiroshima Prefecture Council for Foreign Care Workers, which supports acceptance of foreign workers in the nursing care field, emphasizes that clarifying not only the desired number of foreign workers but also the personnel profile—including nationality, gender, and religion—prevents turnover.
“You must make efforts different from hiring Japanese staff, such as visiting overseas at least once.”
Such careful efforts build long-term trust relationships and improve retention rates.
5. Status of Residence Determines Retention Rates
5-1. Technical Intern Training, Specified Skilled Worker, Specialized Qualifications—Understanding the Differences
Foreign workers’ status of residence falls into several categories, each with different permitted periods of stay and whether family accompaniment is allowed.
- Technical Intern Training: Job changes not permitted in principle. Family accompaniment not permitted. Maximum five years.
- Specified Skilled Worker Type 1: Job changes permitted (within the same field). Family accompaniment not permitted. Maximum five years.
- Specified Skilled Worker Type 2: Job changes permitted. Family accompaniment permitted. No limit on renewals (effectively enabling permanent residence).
- Nursing Care (status of residence): For holders of certified care worker qualifications. Family accompaniment permitted. No limit on renewals.
5-2. The Impact of Family Accompaniment on Long-Term Retention
As in Wu Ling’s case, acquiring the certified care worker qualification and changing status of residence can enable family accompaniment.
When workers can live with their families, their commitment to “building a life foundation in this community” strengthens significantly, substantially improving retention rates.
Conversely, when family accompaniment is not permitted—as with Technical Intern Training or Specified Skilled Worker Type 1—the psychological burden of continuing to work alone is considerable, and workers tend more strongly to choose workplaces with better conditions or to return to their home countries where they can live with family.
5-3. The Role of Administrative Scriveners: Designing Optimal Visa Strategies
Administrative scriveners play a critical role in designing optimal visa strategies that benefit both companies and foreign workers, and in supporting visa applications and status of residence changes.
For example:
- Transitioning from Technical Intern Training to Specified Skilled Worker
- Changing to “Nursing Care” status of residence after obtaining certified care worker qualification
- Processing dependent visas for family members
- Supporting transition to Specified Skilled Worker Type 2
The selection and procedural aspects of status of residence represent crucial elements in foreign worker retention strategies.
6. Urban Concentration of Foreign Workers: A Global Challenge
6-1. A Phenomenon Beyond Japan
Professor Keizo Yamawaki of Meiji University (Multicultural Coexistence Theory) notes that foreign nationals are also concentrated in urban areas in Canada, Australia, and South Korea, describing it as “a global phenomenon troubling many countries.”
Some countries implement policy incentives, such as extending periods of stay for those working in rural areas.
6-2. The Need for Corrective Measures in Japan
Professor Yamawaki observes: “The concentration of foreign nationals in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area stems primarily from employment and educational opportunities, and the concentration is progressing more rapidly than among Japanese citizens. Given the concentration of companies, universities, and Japanese language schools in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, the trend will likely continue without national corrective measures.”
He further proposes that “improving living environments and supporting foreign communities will prove effective in promoting retention.”
7. Strategies for Regional Companies: Creating Reasons to Be Chosen Beyond Wages
7-1. The Reality: Salary Alone Cannot Compete
Regional companies realistically cannot compete with Tokyo Metropolitan Area companies solely on salary.
However, foreign workers’ criteria for choosing workplaces extend far beyond salary.
7-2. Differentiation Through Work Environment, Growth Opportunities, and Community Connections
As the Hiroshima example demonstrates, the following elements are key to improving retention rates:
- Supporting professional qualification acquisition: Encouraging specialized qualification attainment and providing financial incentives to support career advancement.
- Enhancing living environments: Providing dormitories and other foundations for secure daily living.
- Implementing flexible work systems: Emphasizing work-life balance by facilitating leave-taking.
- Deepening cross-cultural understanding: Demonstrating respect by considering differences in religion, food, and lifestyle habits.
- Fostering foreign worker communities: Reducing feelings of isolation by connecting workers with colleagues of the same nationality.
- Community-wide acceptance: Creating an atmosphere where not only the workplace but the entire local community warmly welcomes foreign residents.
7-3. Status of Residence Design as Strategic Element
By clearly outlining a career path—Technical Intern Training → Specified Skilled Worker → Specialized qualification (such as certified care worker) → Status of residence change → Family accompaniment—foreign workers can develop long-term career prospects.
Collaborating with administrative scriveners to design optimal status of residence represents an important component of retention strategy.
8. For Foreign Residents Considering Career Options in Japan
8-1. Look Beyond Salary When Choosing a Workplace
The Tokyo Metropolitan Area undoubtedly offers high wage levels and may appear attractive.
However, living costs are equally high, commute times are long, and interpersonal relationships tend to be more superficial.
8-2. Advantages of Working in Regional Areas
Regional areas offer:
- Lower living costs
- Shorter commute times
- Freedom to live in nature-rich environments
- Warmer community connections
- Well-established child-rearing environments
8-3. Status of Residence Choices Shape Your Future
Your status of residence significantly affects how you work and live with family in Japan.
- Technical Intern Training restricts job changes and prohibits family accompaniment
- Specified Skilled Worker Type 1 permits job changes but prohibits family accompaniment
- Status of residence based on specialized qualifications such as certified care worker permits family accompaniment
If you are considering your options, consulting a qualified administrative scrivener can help clarify the most suitable path forward regarding which status of residence suits your situation and how to change your status.
9. For HR Personnel and Business Managers
9-1. Foreign Workers Are Not Temporary Labor
The era of treating foreign workers merely as “cheap labor to fill labor shortages” has ended.
Moving forward, organizations must adopt a perspective of cultivating and retaining foreign workers long-term as “colleagues who support the region together.”
9-2. Thorough Pre-Hiring Coordination Is Essential
Carefully confirming matters such as religion, food, lifestyle habits, and family circumstances before hiring, and fostering mutual understanding, represents the first step in preventing turnover.
9-3. Strategic Status of Residence Design
By clearly articulating career paths for foreign workers and providing support for qualification acquisition and status of residence changes, organizations can achieve long-term retention.
Administrative scriveners serve as specialists supporting the design and procedural aspects of status of residence. Organizations are encouraged to seek consultation.
10. Conclusion: Toward a Future of Coexistence with Foreign Workers
With the launch of the Development and Employment System in 2027, foreign worker mobility will increase further.
While this presents challenges for regional companies, it also represents an opportunity to become “a workplace of choice.”
Comprehensive strategies are required encompassing not only wages but also work environment quality, growth opportunities, community connections, and status of residence design.
Creating environments where foreign workers can work, live, and spend time with their families with peace of mind in Japanese society represents a responsibility not only of companies but of entire local communities.
In practice, administrative scriveners advise companies on visa applications and status of residence changes, serving as bridges connecting foreign workers, companies, and communities.
Organizations and individuals facing challenges in these areas are encouraged to seek professional consultation to explore optimal solutions.
Reference Article: Foreign Workers’ Migration to Tokyo Metropolitan Area May Accelerate with System Facilitating Job Changes (Yahoo! News) https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/7490477de4d74a67d40359411cbcd8df1aa22b7d
Related Keywords: Foreign employment, status of residence, visa application, technical intern training, specified skilled worker, development and employment, certified care worker, administrative scrivener, foreign worker retention, regional revitalization, multicultural coexistence, HR strategy, recruitment strategy, family accompaniment, cross-cultural understanding
