Another key issue was the type of work, which also related deeply with language
skills. At the center, there was a process of job placement. Though refugees
had no knowledge about Japanese society and limited Japanese language,
they still had to work for living. Though each of the first generation had their
own profession in Vietnam, their lack of Japanese, and the non-recognition of
their previous training and knowledge prevented them from gaining employment
close to their previous professional background and experience. Their
choice of jobs was thus very limited and naturally enough, the jobs they were
introduced to were low-skilled manufacturing jobs, that required less linguistic
communication, mainly in the form of factory assembly-line work. 43 Such
types of work were easier to find, and they could earn money even though they
could not speak Japanese. Compared to other types of work, however, the salary
was not high, and once provided with a job by the job placement agency,
the Vietnamese people had no other choice.
Since Vietnamese refugees were introduced to work before acquiring Japanese,
they can be seen as fitting in with a notion of “cheap labor”(Yoshitomi 2007) ,
and they did support Japan’s growing economy rather than being viewed by
government and other Japanese as simply equal “residents” of Japan. At the
time of their settlement in Japan, the economic condition was favourable in
Japan since it was the high economic growth period generating the demand for
labor. Around this time, a number of Japanese-origin migrants, the Nikkei jin, 44
moved to Japan from South America migrated in order to work. 45 It was decided
by the government that Japan should ease immigration regulations to
allow their entrance and residence. Nikkei jin had come to Japan for economical
reason, but shared similar problems with Vietnamese refugees, including a
lack of language skills and difficulties with children’s education. In spite of their different backgrounds, once they came into Japan, they too were treated
simply as a good supplementary labor force.