How Japan’s Bankrupt Colleges Became Visa Factories
Right now, nearly 40% of private universities in Japan are facing bankruptcy due to a massive youth demographic collapse. But instead of closing their doors, hundreds of regional “F-Rank” colleges have found a dark loophole to survive: secretly transforming into visa factories.
When the government discovered one university had mysteriously “lost” over 1,600 of its international students, it exposed a massive shadow economy keeping rural Japan afloat. From the 28-hour dispatch loophole, to fake asylum claims, to the new Tokutei Gino (Specified Skilled Worker) visa driven by the Keidanren corporate lobby, this is the story of how Japan is quietly importing the cheap factory labor it needs while politicians insist “this is not immigration.”
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#Japan #JapaneseEconomy #DemographicCollapse #TokuteiGino #ShinzoAbe #JapanNews #Immigration
00:00 – The 40% Bankruptcy Crisis
00:57 – The “2026 Problem” Explained
01:31 – Japan’s Empty “F-Rank” Universities
03:11 – The 1,600 Missing Students Scandal
04:21 – The Secret Asylum Loophole
05:59 – The 260% Boom in “Vocational” Schools
06:47 – Keidanren & The Government Compromise
07:39 – Shinzo Abe’s “Not Immigration” Loophole
08:58 – The Type 2 Visa (What Happens Next?)
45 Comments
Canada has the same issue where the Wealthy are abusing the student visa's to work minimum wage jobs and even in some cases these workers will work for less then minimum wage illegally. Some also like you mentioned who try to claim asylum do so, even though they have no actual existential threat back in their home country.
I think if the respective companies are complaining to the government about lack of labour than the government should tell them to increase their wages.
I find education not as great as expected unless you’re going for medical, engineering or law. I never went to Uni. Most of my inspirations never got a degree. Many niche business owners, bands and even kpop idols. To me Uni seems more like a status symbol and not surprising they became visa factories. Even the art department (in the West) was a laugh. I used to clean a university in Oregon and the art department looked like a woke, liberal gender fluid mess. I regret even going to a community college. I still owe 40k from that fiasco.
Friendly reminder that a lack of Japanese/Japanese births helped to cause this.
That always comes first. The destruction of kids' spaces. Then comes societal collapse.
Then comes replacement.
I applied for asylum as a lunatic. It´s called lunatic asylum.
I've often wondered over the years what will become of the Showa-created F-rank universities. Absolutely not needed and a complete waste of money but here we are.
Canada has the exact same issue, but still has not closing the loop holes, only minutely tightened them.
Question for you all: With the quiet rollout of the Type 2 visa, do you think Japan is actually ready to embrace permanent immigration, or is this just another temporary band-aid to survive the 2026 demographic collapse? Let me know your thoughts down below. 👇
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Japan is the new Canada
well not only that, not much young people could afford colleges and instead have to immediately get a job
The robots are coming. Workers will no longer be needed
It has been a rough 6+ months for the gaijin community in Japan, but overall, I am encouraged that – however slowly and clumsily – Japan overall seems to have finally accepted the new reality. Yes, I know things are becoming more stringent, but this seems to me to be in response to the acknowledgement that mass (legal) immigration is inevitable.
Great topic. I, too, live in Japan and have never heard of this. It's tricky discussing such topics; politicians the world over often want the room to overlook systemic abuse. We faced a similar issue with English schools in Los Angeles, mainly serving East Asian foreigners, with many students absent daily, yet retaining visas until federal crackdowns about 10 years ago. I knew students and friends who attended these schools, but most rarely or never went to class. My wife attended a few and was among the few Japanese students to attend daily. Everyone was aware, including local officials, but it was more convenient to let it go on. One school's president had photos in their office of him shaking hands with politicians, including Barack Obama, though they likely didn't know the school's background. Politicians prefer to keep their donors at arm's length, avoiding unnecessary scrutiny when those donors are caught engaging in wrongdoing.
The same thing Happens in Australia, “students” in huge groups work minimum wage jobs cash in hand while “studying” (their study is paying someone else back home to do their work) everything is a means for a visa to make money and hope for a road to permanent residency so they can bring their families over.
Everyone started to figure out that colleges are overrated and not a guarantee at a job. It is best to work under someone, learn what you can about business and work your way up the right way.
That is for jobs that aren't going to go the way of AI.
It's the same in the USA.
Japanese parents paying for teacher salaries for a substandard education. It's why I didn't send my three children I raised in Japan to a university here. Japan is such a stratified country all based on money is dysfunctional. Tough shit if Toyota goes bankrupt.
> let’s accept the visa abusers as they are needed for essential work
> they become full time uber jeets drivers and only help to keep the minimum wage and pay low
I really dislike the idea of bringing low skill labour to japan. Japan really doesn’t need more competition at the low end, push innovation and high level manufacturing via simplifying the visa process even further for already wealthy highly educated western citizens. The amount of people that would move here in a heartbeat and add to the economy is unreal.
Japan is cooked, bro.
Similar thing happened in Canada back around 2021 at the height of the pandemic to around early-mid 2025. I hope – at least for the sake of Japan – that they realize that importing cheap labor is not without its downsides and it's important to take care of its citizens first and foremost (especially the younger generations).
Here in Canada, one of the big problems with this influx of foreign students was that many of them were scammed back in their home country (many from India), spending exorbitant amounts of money to pay for visas through "visa farms" that were posing as companies that required foreign workers through the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) system.
The LMIA system – in short – is specifically set in place to require companies to obtain documentation from a specific government agency that proves that the role that the company wants to fill cannot be filled due to lack of Canadian citizens/permanent residents available to fulfill the role. As you can imagine, this system largely depended on a good-faith assessment of the company/companies in question. On top of that, at the height of physical labor shortages during the pandemic, it's easy to see how this spiraled out of control…
The abusers of this LMIA system made millions importing lots of foreign workers who had no money and no leverage upon coming to Canada, and could not return home due to now being in debt to these companies. It became a vicious cycle to the point that not a small amount of these students were sent back to their countries (in this case, all back to India)… in body bags (either because of self-deletion or as a result of crime [I'm trying be as vague for the YT censors as possible here]).
The other big problem of course being that native/naturalized Canadians were being pushed out of housing and job markets due to this influx of cheap/low-skilled labor that is willing to stoop to the lowest low just to make ends meet. In addition to that, subsidies going to this population of new foreigners who have not paid into the Canadian tax system and could potentially leave at a moment's notice if the political winds blow in a different direction; it is a complete mess that Canada is still struggling to rectify now and likely into the next few years, and the effects of this chicanery will be felt for at least a generation (or potentially two, with the direction the economy is going here..).
The LMIA abuse certainly made a lot of money for the government who took a blind eye to the scams and loopholes used until it surfaced through some independent journalistic investigations which forced then-PM Justin Trudeau to get some of his MPs to cover those loopholes up.
Of course, a lot of the students now who have expired/expiring visas are also seeking asylum here, which further exacerbates the issue.
SAME IN CANADA WITH THE INDIANS
Very interesting. I did not know about the background and details of these visa. Is this something you've kept up with over the last few years, or did you do the research just for this video? If you are doing research, it would be great to see sources. Thank you for your hard work!
Thank you for explaining this. I was actually wondering about this and had a feeling this was happening…
Why will provide employment for those who are dependent on those universities? they have to take care of their families, what are the solutions? you only provided onside
Excellent reporting Dave. I did a video about a "business school" visa factory in Tokyo. 90% Nepalese students go to Nakano "business school" then they are turned into combini staff. It's the immigrant pipeline and a money grab for fake schools fronting as higher ed. They get gov. subsidies and also higher tuition from non-Japanese. Here's the racist kicker: after school finishes, staff from the school stand at shopping mall entrances to BLOCK their own students from entering a public shopping mall (Atre). Discrimination and racism practiced openly on Japan's streets. Nakano School to their students: "Thanks for working our worst jobs! Also, don't think about entering Japan shopping centers after school!: They literally instruct their students to 'go directly home' after school, one of their teachers told me. I spoke to students who said they get no scholarships or financial support from this school. video here: https://youtu.be/k6ZpcHIQpn0?si=R3GaTX5mPlPWRjuR
Very few are aware of the consequences of Japan's participation in the UN originated ASYLIUM policies (a global disaster and especially destructive to Japanese culture and society.) Takaichi is appreciated for her sincere attention to this matter.
Man seems somebodys is paying you to promote massinmigration to Japan.. When you start to talk about students and how rural universities are promoting new students that was interesting.. then as usual you change into how necesary are inmigrants for the economy… Well they are not.. most of the inmigration cost most to the state than produces… and Japan is being practical.. and we all should do the same.. A Danish University made an Study about groups of inmigrants and tax they pay during their life and what they receive.. well the conclusion was just Danish are the one that put more money on the table. the rest African, Asians, Latinamerican, Easter Europeans.. all they cost more money and resourses than they bring to the table.. So having someone for 3 or 5 years and then he or she return to his places is a win win for everyone..
UK been doing this for many years!
The student visa program saved Japan. There might be fake students but each student contributed $20.000 per year and created jobs and supported local businesses. The students ended up doing the low cost jobs that Japanese wouldn't do. Many are now settled in Japan and filling the labor shortage.
Meanwhile, if you've been working in Japan legally a few years with no problems but you're not quite at PR timing or you're not married and you want to go off and start your own thing, they've made your life incredibly difficult.
This is just kicking the can down the road. No amount of immigration can fix a ponzi scheme of welfare state.
sounds like globalists have been whispering into takaichis ear "how to ruin a country in 10 years"
for the record, this issue is global and coordinated by groups like the WEF, UN, WHO, EU, and… a certain country iykyk
Same in South Korea
The same thing happen to my college . the population was not growing, it was constant and steady, but not growing, then the boss started focusing on importing indians etc etc, and trippled the student count. my "college" is basically a visa vactory now. every 9 months they pump 100 new foreign people who may or may not want to assimilate, or act like the japanese. thank god at least they are required to speak japanese. thats the only saving grace. but i can only remember the trains and rivers of india. running at 200% capacity, shoulder to shuolder mosh pits, survival of the fittest ride the train, on the roofs, out the windows, hoping not to die in the hot sun, and god forbid you google search images of indian rivers. google does an amzing job at putting th eones filled with waste far down the list and showing the beautiful shots first.
ive come to really dislike my college school. its a migration factory. the owner is getting rich by selling out his motherland to foreigners by the boatload. and hes just 1 of many.
getting literally fat at rich.
It would be helpful for both parties if there were more visa types in general this would help with labourforce, and give a good avenue into societal integration
I don't really know what the fuss is all about. Japanese colleges are now doing what UK Universities have been doing for decades.
Student visas for alterior motives is not unique to Japan, nor is the dishonesty in politics about this phenomenon
The same thing happened with Universities in Australia and New Zealand. It ruined the universities and a lot of other things.
It would be better if the Universities and the faculty were simply expelled from the country and forced to go setup shop at the source of their students.
UK does the same.
We have a lot of fake colleges and Indian & Chinese students in Canada too.
Most work at restaurants and "Happy ending Spas".
My Indian roommate has a fake MBA too.
I would note the benefits to Japan of this particular system. By using universities as the filter, the immigrants are learning the language, being schooled in the basics of Japanese life and the four years they spend at the university can act as a dress rehearsal for full participation. Japan is thus filling a labour shortage with foreigners who are vetted and up to speed with the language and culture. It's vastly preferable to the free-for-all in Europe.
一つは教授として働く場所の利権。
大学はFランクだけど教授達はもちろん高学歴で、高学歴だけど民間企業で働くようなスキルは無い。
つまり勉強だけは出来て、生徒に教えることは出来る。
そういう多くの人たちを支えるために大学を増やし続けてきた。
自分の頃、25年前の受験世代人口と比べて、今の人口は半分なのに、大学の数は当時より１５０も増えてる。
そりゃ、大学職を維持するために留学制度を悪用したりする必要が出てくるよね。
日本全国津々浦々、利権と無駄の塊、それが毎年国債を何百兆も発行する理由。
（自国建てでリスクは少ないとはいえ、決して良いものではない）
時折、街中の狭い区間にコンビニが４か所もある。kusso無駄。
誰が必要としている？それは利益を出したい大企業だけ。
？？？「コンビニとかの日本人がやらない仕事をやってくれてるんだ！外国人労働者に感謝すべきだ！」
いやいや、狭い区間にはコンビニは１店舗でいいから。
むしろ人手不足で潰してくれ。
廃棄品も比例して増えるし、エアコン・冷蔵庫で電気も大量に使うし環境に悪い。
物凄い無駄と環境破壊維持のためにわざわざ来てくれてありがとう。
という感想。
this is happening in korea as well
I did notice a couple of uni foreign students failed due to absence and retook the class. Could this be a technique to keep renewing a student visa for another year?