Articles:Japan Immigration Topics

[Blog]What is the residence status of foreign stable staff?

2024-10-20

According to an article in the Yomiuri Shimbun 2024/10/18, "The number of foreign stable staff who take care of racehorses at local horse races is rapidly increasing. Recruitment began six years ago, and currently there are over 340. The reason behind this is a serious shortage of staff".

When I saw the title of the article, I wondered what the status of residence was, and when I read the contents, I found it said "Foreign stable staff work under the 「Skilled Worker」 status of residence. According to statistics from the Immigration Services Agency, the number of foreigners working as Skilled Worker reached 42,499 by the end of 2023, an increase of about 9,000 over the past 10 years. 「Skilled Worker」 is a status of residence that allows you to engage in work that requires advanced skills in a special field, and stable attendants are required to have at least 10 years of practical experience in 「Animal training」".

What is the residence status “Skilled Worker”?

The "Skilled Worker" status of residence refers to activities that require advanced skills in a special industrial field based on a contract with a Japanese company. A typical example is a chef of foreign cuisine, but the criteria for landing permission including this is limited to the following, and it is not possible to acquire "Skilled Worker" with the purpose of engaging in activities in other occupations.

• -Foreign cuisine chef
• -A carpenter with architectural and civil engineering skills unique to foreign countries
• -Engineers engaged in manufacturing or repairing products unique to foreign countries
• -Craftsmen who process jewelry, precious metals, fur, etc.
• -Animal trainer
• -Engineers for seabed mineral exploration and seabed excavation
• -Aircraft pilot
• -Sports instructor
• -Sommelier

The article says the stable staff falls under "animal trainer", which is understandable in a sense, but questionable in other senses.

Questions regarding eligibility for residence status

As mentioned above, the "Skilled Worker" status of residence refers to activities that require advanced skills in a special industrial field.

What are special industrial fields?

According to the Tokyo District Court's decision on February 18, 2011, "special industrial fields" are considered as industrial fields unique to foreign countries, industrial fields in which the foreign country's skill level is higher than Japan's, and industrial fields in which there are only a small number of skilled workers in Japan.

What are activities that involve engaging in work that requires advanced skills?

Furthermore, according to the above judgment, "activities involving work that require advanced skills" refers to activities that involve engaging in work that requires proficient skills acquired through years of training and practical experience.

The supposed "animal trainer"

In the first place, the animal trainers listed under "skilled worker" referred to trainers at zoos and circuses. Businesses such as zoos and circuses are of foreign origin, and many of the animals being trained are from foreign countries, so there is no objection to interpreting them as a "special industrial field," and "Training" can be said to be a job that requires advanced skills backed by many years of training.

About the difference between stable staff and trainers

So, is the stable worker in the opening article really the same as the trainer?

According to the revised edition of the World Encyclopedia, "Training" refers to "the process of training animals to perform certain actions in accordance with the commands of a specific person by emotionally influencing them".

Furthermore, according to the JRA's Horse Racing Terminology Dictionary, a "stable staff" is defined as "a person who, with the approval of the training center manager, signs an employment contract with a trainer and takes care of racehorses at the stable".

Summary

In the Immigration Agency's examination guidelines (of which the content is publicly available), there are no specific examination criteria for "animal trainers". It is possible that his activities as a stable staff, which are not clear from the article, include activities that are more characteristic of his original "skilled worker". However, from the above definition alone, it seems that "stable staff" and "trainer" are not synonymous, and it seems unreasonable to say that "stable staff" is applicable to the "skilled worker" status of residence as an animal trainer.

The actual nature of the activities is similar to simple labor, and the status of residence is probably highly compatible with "Specified Skilled Worker." However, the employment market is not big enough to add it to the specified industrial field, and although the job type is similar to the specified industrial field of agriculture (of which livestock farming), it does not fall under livestock farming because it is not used for food.

It's really difficult to adapt immigration policy to the ever-changing job market in timely manner.