The Japanese government is reportedly moving towards expanding the Technical Internship Trainee Progrsmme (TITP) to allow trainees to work in convenience stores, on the basis of a request from the relevant industry association.

The TITP is ostensibly an international aid programme, aimed at providing labourers from developing countries with advanced skills to contribute to their countries’ development. However, it has always been widely used as a method for companies to obtain cheap labour, and reported rights violations are widespread. The TITP has been subject to criticism from domestic and international human rights NGOs, UN human rights mechanisms, and even the US State Department. 

In recent years, the government has expanded the sectors allowed to accept foreign labour under the TITP. The are certain to be questions raised as to what sort of advanced skills trainees can be expected to obtain through working in small retail outlets.