What the Specified Skilled Worker System Really Means for Employers and Foreign Residents in Japan
A commentary by an immigration specialist (gyoseishoshi)
- Introduction — The Remark Wasn’t “Dismissive”—It Was the System Speaking.
- 1. The SSW Status in Five Minutes
- 2. The Real Story: The Industry Cap Was Hit
- 3. The “Subsidy Myth”
- 4. “Equal or Better” — A Legal Obligation, Not a Corporate Gesture
- 5. Four Realistic Moves for Employers Facing the Cap
- 6. What Executives Should Learn About Communication
- 7. A Message to Foreign Residents: Your Status Is Yours to Protect
- 8. Closing Thoughts — From Emotion to Evidence
Introduction — The Remark Wasn’t “Dismissive”—It Was the System Speaking.
On 13 April 2026, TV Tokyo’s World Business Satellite aired an interview with Mr. Takanari Aono, President of Hiday Hidaka Co., Ltd., the operator of the popular ramen chain Hidakaya. During the segment, Mr. Aono observed that if his company could no longer recruit foreign nationals under the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) visa, it “would have no choice but to focus on hiring Japanese high-school, university, and vocational-school graduates.”
Within hours, the clip began circulating on social media as evidence that the company “looks down on Japanese workers.” By 15 April, Hiday Hidaka had issued a formal apology on its official X account, clarifying three points:
- There was no intention to devalue Japanese workers.
- The company has received no subsidies for employing foreign nationals.
- Wages, benefits, promotions, and pay raises for foreign employees are governed by exactly the same conditions as those for Japanese employees.
As an immigration lawyer who handles status-of-residence matters every day, I want to say this plainly: this incident should not be dismissed as a social media controversy. Beneath the outrage lies a structural problem in Japan’s SSW system—one that is quietly affecting thousands of employers and foreign residents right now. This article is written for both sides of that equation: the HR managers trying to keep their businesses staffed, and the foreign nationals trying to build their lives in Japan.
1. The SSW Status in Five Minutes
The SSW status of residence was introduced in April 2019 to address severe labour shortages by admitting foreign nationals who already possess demonstrated skills and Japanese-language ability.
| Category | Maximum Stay | Family Accompaniment | Path to Permanent Residency |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSW (i) | Up to 5 years total | Not permitted | Limited |
| SSW (ii) | No renewal ceiling | Permitted | Effectively open |
The designated industries have expanded over time and now include food service, food and beverage manufacturing, nursing care, construction, agriculture, fisheries, accommodation, and automobile transportation. The food-service sector—central to the Hidakaya case—has been covered from day one.
2. The Real Story: The Industry Cap Was Hit
Here is the heart of the matter.
Each designated SSW industry is governed by a “projected number of acceptances”—a cap set by Cabinet decision roughly every five years. Once that cap is reached, the issuance of new Certificates of Eligibility in that industry is, in principle, halted.
In fiscal year 2026, the food-service sector reached its cap.
When Mr. Aono said the company “has no more options this year,” he was not expressing a preference. He was describing an administrative wall. The company’s foreign-hiring quota had become, in practical terms, legally unusable, and the immediate shortfall had to be filled through domestic hiring.
Strip away the context and the remark sounds dismissive. Put the context back in and it’s simply an executive explaining a necessary shift. That gap between perception and reality is, in my view, the true story of this controversy.
3. The “Subsidy Myth”
Among the sharper criticisms online was the accusation that companies hire SSW workers because the government pays them to do so. Hiday Hidaka flatly denied it—and as a practitioner, I must agree.
There is no subsidy paid simply for employing an SSW foreign national.
Certain Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare programs—such as the Career-Up Subsidy or the Human Resources Development Subsidy—may apply to foreign employees, but they are nationality-neutral. They require specific corporate actions (conversion to regular employment, structured training, and so on) and are equally available when those actions are taken for Japanese workers.
If a business or intermediary tells you that hiring foreign nationals is a way to “profit from subsidies,” either they misunderstand the law or—more concerningly—they may be operating outside it.
4. “Equal or Better” — A Legal Obligation, Not a Corporate Gesture
The company’s statement that foreign workers receive the same wages, benefits, and promotion opportunities as Japanese employees is not merely a matter of corporate goodwill. It is required by law.
Under the Ministerial Ordinance on Criteria for SSW status—issued under the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act—remuneration paid to an SSW foreign national must be at least equal to that paid to a Japanese national performing comparable work. Bonuses, raises, allowances, and enrolment in statutory social insurance must all be provided on non-discriminatory terms.
These conditions are not aspirational. They must be expressly written into the employment contract and Conditions of Employment, which are filed with the Regional Immigration Services Bureau. A violation can lead to:
- Revocation of the company’s accreditation as a receiving organization,
- Retroactive review of previously approved applications, and
- Serious reputational harm.
To the foreign residents reading this, I want to be direct:
If you notice a clear gap between your treatment and that of your Japanese colleagues—if promotion is quietly withheld, if overtime goes unpaid—these may be violations of both labour law and immigration law. You have no obligation to stay silent, and you do not have to handle it alone.
5. Four Realistic Moves for Employers Facing the Cap
“The quota is full. Now what?” This is the key question for executives.
Move 1: Transition current SSW (i) employees to SSW (ii). The food-service industry became eligible for SSW (ii) in 2023. Identify your qualifying SSW (i) staff now and support their preparation for the SSW (ii) examination. This removes the five-year limit and secures long-term retention.
Move 2: Shift to the “Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services” status. For candidates with the requisite academic background, roles such as store-manager trainee or area-manager trainee can be filled under this white-collar visa rather than SSW. The critical—and often underestimated—task is documenting that the duties genuinely qualify (translation, marketing, product development, and so on). How the application is structured is critical.
Move 3: Prepare now for the incoming Training and Employment System (Ikusei-Shūrō). Expected to take effect around 2027 as the successor to the Technical Intern Training Program, the new system is explicitly designed to feed into SSW. Companies that build their acceptance infrastructure early will transition smoothly; those that wait may struggle.
Move 4: Convert existing Technical Intern Trainees to SSW. Foreign nationals who have completed Technical Intern Training (ii) in good standing may move to SSW (i) without sitting the skills examination. A quiet review of the trainees inside your company—or inside your supply chain—may reveal an immediate solution.
Which of these is right for you depends entirely on company size, business model, and your current foreign workforce. There is no one-size-fits-all answer here; this is work that needs to be tailored case by case.
6. What Executives Should Learn About Communication
The Hidakaya episode was, in my reading, less about what was said than how it was framed. When a company speaks publicly about its foreign workforce, three elements should always be communicated together:
- The regulatory context — why foreign nationals are hired, and why acceptance has paused.
- The equality of treatment — clear, on-the-record confirmation that pay and benefits meet or exceed those of Japanese staff.
- The contribution to customers and communities — how foreign employees strengthen service quality.
Loose justifications like “foreign staff are easier to manage” or “they cost less”—whether accurate or not—are the single greatest source of reputational risk. Careful explanation of the system, paired with evidence of equal treatment, is what ultimately protects a brand.
7. A Message to Foreign Residents: Your Status Is Yours to Protect
Industry-wide news like this may not directly touch your current visa. But it shapes the environment in which your next renewal, change of status, or permanent-residence application will be reviewed. So please, build these habits now:
- Keep your employment contract in both Japanese and your native language.
- Save every monthly pay slip—these are routinely required for permanent residence and naturalization.
- Stay current on resident tax and social-insurance payments, and keep documentary proof.
- When you change employers, file the “Notification of the Contracting Organization” within 14 days.
These are unglamorous administrative habits. But I can tell you from experience: they carry significant weight in future immigration proceedings. Do not leave everything to your employer. Your status of residence is yours to protect.
8. Closing Thoughts — From Emotion to Evidence
The Hidakaya incident revealed how easily Japan’s conversation about foreign labour can easily be driven by emotion. At the same time, the company’s sincere apology and factual clarification turned it into a genuinely useful case study—through which the legal framework can be explained clearly.
Employment of foreign nationals is no longer a limited practice adopted by a small number of companies. It has become a foundational part of Japan’s industrial structure. For that transition to mature, three things must happen together: employers must understand the law accurately, foreign workers must know their rights, and both sides must be able to communicate based on verified facts rather than assumptions.
For my own part, I believe an immigration lawyer’s work is not the filing of paperwork. It is working alongside clients to support the lives and businesses they aim to build. A visa is never the destination; it is simply the starting line.
If your hiring plan has collapsed because of the SSW cap, or if you are uncertain what your next renewal will look like, please do not hesitate to reach out. Whatever the angle of your question, I would be happy to discuss it with you—specifically for your situation, not in the abstract.
