news desk
\nTOKYO
\nRows of wooden mortuary tablets inscribed with names line an altar at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, silent testimony to Vietnamese people who died after coming to Japan to work or study. \u201cWhenever I am contacted about a death, I can speak only two words: \u2018Why?\u2019 and \u2018Again?\u2019\u201d said Thich Tam Tri, a Vietnamese Buddhist nun who has been counselling migrants from her home country after arriving almost two decades ago. \u201cThese young people \u2026 were living in great poverty in remote rural areas and their parents were suffering hardship,\u201d she told Reuters after offering incense and prayers at the altar. \u201cThey wanted to work hard in Japan,\u201d Tri said. \u201cThey had dreams. And then they suddenly died.\u201d Lured by higher wages but often burdened by debts to recruiters, Vietnamese are the fastest-growing group of foreigners in Japan, which on April 1 will implement a new system to allow more workers into the country to cope with a historic labor shortage.
\nMany of the 140 Vietnamese whose names are on the tablets came to Japan on a \u201ctechnical trainee\u201d program that acts as a back door to blue-collar jobs in a country where immigration is a touchy subject. Others came as students and worked part time.
\nNext to the adults\u2019 memorials are rows of smaller tablets for unborn infants, many aborted.
\nDebate over the new visa program highlighted problems with the trainee system such as overwork, unpaid wages and harassment.
\nTri said many of those for whom she prays died of stress-related illnesses, others in accidents. Some committed suicide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
news desk TOKYO Rows of wooden mortuary tablets inscribed with names line an altar at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, silent testimony to Vietnamese people who died after coming to Japan to work or study. \u201cWhenever I am contacted about a death, I can speak only two words: \u2018Why?\u2019 and \u2018Again?\u2019\u201d said Thich Tam Tri, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n