Fukuoka, Japan | The number of young Japanese applying to work and live in Australia has suddenly jumped to a new high this year after falling since 2016, and the number is expected to soar again next year, adding to Australia’s record immigration levels.
Itsuro Fujita, who works as an agent for the Japan Working Holiday Association, says Japanese workers are seeking to escape low wages, a rigid work culture and a plummeting yen that has made holidays abroad unaffordable for many.
“When I went to Australia, the wages weren’t that attractive. Now they are the main reason people want to go. The yen is so weak,” says Mr Fujita, who also runs three cafes and is passionate about all things Australian.
He describes his two years in Australia from 2009 as life-changing. But he wasn’t doing it for the money back then.
The value of the Japanese yen against the Australian dollar was more than 50 per cent higher than it is today. Mr Fujita, then 22, was lured by a sense of adventure and a love of surfing on Sydney’s Manly and Bondi beaches.
“Those two years in Australia changed my life. It changed my whole perspective,” he said over a flat white coffee in his Australian-themed cafe on the Japanese island of Kyushu, where he now lives.
Data from the Australian Department of Home Affairs shows that the number of working holiday visas granted to Japanese applicants peaked at 12,304 in the 2015-16 financial year, before dropping significantly.
Applicants hit a low of 1558 in 2020, when COVID-19 closed international borders, before rising to 5170 in 2022. This was followed by a spike in applicants to 14,398 this year, surpassing previous highs.
Overall, temporary migration to Australia reached historic highs of nearly 500,000 in the past 12 months, as international students and backpackers returned en masse after two years of closed borders. But the record migration, which has driven a sharp rise in rents, may have peaked, migration experts say.
Mr Fujita expects the number of visitors from Japan, at least, to continue to grow based on the enquiries he receives.
Now 45, he is so enamoured of his time Down Under that he is trying to share his experience with an Aussie-themed cafe in the city of Fukuoka in southwestern Japan. Named after Manly Beach, where he used to surf regularly, Mr Fujita serves kangaroo carpaccio, deep-fried crocodile feet and other Aussie staples such as Bill Granger-inspired pancakes, along with flat whites and VB.
“I wanted to create a community where people interested in working holidays could come together.”
Many of his staff have worked in Australia, while this year he has had a stream of Australian customers, including Australia’s top swimmers who were in town for the World Swimming Championships in July.
Mr Fujita has worked on a goat farm in Tasmania and in restaurants in Manly and Bondi Beach. A surfboard sits on the deck of his cafe, even though the nearest surfing beach is a three-hour drive away.
Most Japanese on working holiday visas in Australia work on farms or in restaurants because of the six-month limit on working for a single employer. He says they face challenges in finding work, competing with British and Canadian travellers who have better English.
“I tell them that the Japanese need to demonstrate their other strengths, such as punctuality and precision,” he says, referring to Japan’s rigid work ethic.
The Japanese are Australia’s fourth-largest working holiday visa group, behind Britons, Taiwanese and Canadians.
He says 70 per cent of Japanese applicants are women between the ages of 26 and 28. This suggests a trend for female graduates to work in one job for a number of years before deciding to do something different, rather than marrying and having children – the traditional path in Japan.
Japan has working holiday visa agreements with 31 countries, with Australia being the most popular. However, only 1,000 Australians enter Japan on working holiday visas each year.
“We would like more Australians to come and work in Japan, but they will earn less money,” he said. The Australian dollar is currently trading at around 98 Japanese yen, up from 65 in 2009.
