Jun 8, 2022
Japan Immigration Law
Foreigners To Be Allowed To Work In Japan’s Beauty Industry
One tiny step into the 21st century?
The Tokyo metropolitan government recently announced that non-Japanese will be allowed to work at beauty salons in Tokyo starting from October 2022.
This marks the first time ever that foreigners will be allowed to work in the beauty industry in Japan.
It’s hard to know whether one should feel thrilled that Japan’s beauty industry is opening up slightly to foreign workers or disgusted that it took them until 2022 to do so.
In any event, gaijin (foreign) cosmetologists had better not get their hopes up too high.
Under the new scheme, foreigners, who are currently on student visas and have demonstrated beautician and stylist skills while attending beauty schools in Japan, will be eligible to work in the beauty field, but only for up to five years to gain experience.
What visa holders are expected to do after the five years are up (Go away? Change jobs?) was not stipulated.
According to Tokyo Governor Yuiko Koike,
Japan’s beauty industry is the best in the world. I want them to take the advanced techniques and hospitality skills they learn in Tokyo and share them with the world.
There are other “trainee visa” programs currently on the books in Japan, but quite a few trainees complain they are being exploited and abused by their Japanese employers.
