It is often said Japan is a land of contradictions, a society where the reality on the ground is substantially different from the facade presented to the outside world. Perhaps one of the most telling situations of such discrepancies is immigration.
According to the official statement of the Japanese government, there is no such a thing as immigration in this country. General perception is that migrant workers are only needed if they have high level professional skills or unique technical expertise.
What about the cashier with an exotic name tag on his uniform at your regular convenience store? And your grandmother's favorite caregiver at her nursing home who speaks fluent Japanese, albeit with a slight accent? Most of these foreigner workers who are an undeniable part of Japan's labor supply today are categorized as students or trainees. They are not work visa holders and, therefore, not counted as such in the government statistics.