Most foreign nationals working in Japan illegally...

Most foreign nationals working in Japan illegally are underpaid and live in overcrowded apartments but are considered hard workers by their employers, according to a Japanese government survey.

A Labor Ministry survey of illegal manufacturing workers, the first of its kind in Japan, cited a total of 154 people including 56 Filipinos, 36 Bangladeshis, 31 Pakistanis and 23 Burmese.

More than half of them arrived in Japan on tourist visas, and most received wages about 25% below Japanese workers or those foreigners working with proper visas, it said. Most lived in overcrowded rented rooms. More than half of their employers said they were serious, hard workers.

Citing various problems encountered by European countries, a government panel last month recommended that Japan should not open its doors to unskilled foreign workers.