Kyodo news agency reported that the House of Representatives of this country has approved the bill to amend the existing foreign trainee program.

According to Amac News: The House of Representatives of Japan said that this bill encourages foreign workers to be attracted through a new system in the midst of a severe labor shortage in this country.
The current Technical Apprenticeship Program was introduced in 1993 as a way to transfer skills to developing countries.
The new program aims to develop foreign apprentices over three years to a level where they can transition to the Specified Skilled Worker system, launched in 2019, which allows for up to five years of residency with the potential for permanent residency.
The proposed law would enable foreign workers to move to different workplaces in the same trade zone under certain conditions, provided they have worked in the same place for more than one year.
It is expected that this bill will be approved under the support of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government during the parliamentary session of the House of Councils until June 23. If approved, the new law will be enforced within three years after its promulgation.
By the end of 2023, the number of designated skilled foreign workers increased by 59.2 percent from last year to about 208,000, while trainees under Japan's technical apprenticeship program grew by 24.5 percent to about 404,000, the Japan Migration Service Agency said.
The number of foreign nationals living in Japan reached more than 3.4 million people last year, but the population of Japan decreased by 595,000 people compared to the previous year to 124.35 million people by October 1st, which shows a decrease for the 13th consecutive year.