A Comparative Study of Filipino and Indonesian Candidates for Registered Nurse and Certified Care Worker Coming to Japan under Economic Partnership Agreements An Analysis of the Results of Questionnaire Surveys on the Socioeconomic Attribution of the Respondents and Their Motivation to Work in Japan

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Southeast Asian Studies Vol. 49; no. 4; pp. 594 - 610
• Main Authors: Ogawa, Reiko, Ohno, Shun, Hirano, O. Yuko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University 2012
• Subjects: certified care worker; EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement); Indonesia; Japan; migration; nurse; Philippines
• ISSN: 0563-8682; 2424-1377
• DOI: 10.20495/tak.49.4_594

The widely disputed issue over foreign nurse and certified care-worker candidates under the Economic Partnership Agreements in Japan seems endless. To establish more sustainable Economic Partnership Agreements, we should discuss the issue from a holistic perspective through cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches.  This article addresses the socioeconomic characteristics and motivations of nurse and certified care-worker candidates who enter Japan under the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) and the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). The correlation between the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents and their motivations to work in Japan were examined based on a cross-sectional analysis. In addition, the transition of nurse and certified care-worker candidates is discussed using a longitudinal approach, by comparing the data of previous groups obtained by our research team.  The results of this study indicate that the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents differedby country, as well as by occupation. Filipino candidates are more likely to cite economic condition as the reason they chose to go to Japan than the Indonesian candidates. While Filipino nurse and certified care-worker candidates and Indonesian nurse candidates are still predominantly females, a “masculinization of migration” is being observed among Indonesian certified care-worker candidates.