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The 9^th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) last month featured a new narrative: Africa’s future is being directly tied to Japan’s own economic trajectory, with labor mobility as a bridge. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) convened a symposium on how human mobility can connect African talent with Japanese companies amid pressing demographic shifts. The Kenyan government also held a panel discussion at TICAD 9 on how labor mobility between Kenya and Japan can be a mutually beneficial solution for both countries. Kenya’s President Ruto announced that his government is willing to sign a bilateral agreement, and the Kenyan Embassy in Japan is prepared to lend its support.

The conference coincided with the arrival of the first two Kenyan workers in Japan through an ongoing effort by Labor Mobility Partnerships to open migration pathways between the two countries. Another 10-15 workers are set to follow, marking the start of a promising new chapter on cross-border livelihoods between Kenya and Japan.

“Closed” is a dated stereotype

Despite a historic reputation as being closed off, Japan is an early adopter of labor mobility, which has a lot to do with demographics. Japan has the world’s second-highest proportion of people aged 65+, at around 28%, and is facing a growing labor shortage — 3.4M by the end of the decade and 11M by 2040.

In just the first half of 2024, 182 Japanese companies shut down due to worker shortages — a 66% increase year-on-year. Though still a minority of total bankruptcies, the ripple effect on suppliers and clients could lead to a chain of closures and consolidations.

As one solution to this problem, Japan has introduced three flagship migration pathways – the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP), the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW), and the High-Skilled Professional Visa (Gijinkoku). These pathways allow foreign workers to fill roles in key shortage sectors such as auto repair, construction, agriculture, care work, hospitality, IT, and more. Workers fill a needed job for a specific period of time (up to 5 years), after which they can return home having built skills and set their families on a new financial trajectory. Or they can receive an employer offer and demonstrate their skills for a leveled-up work permit, e.g. SSW Level 2.

In 2027, Japan will replace the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) with the “Training & Employment Program,” offering clearer career paths, stronger worker rights, and more visa flexibility; along with stricter language requirements. The shift addresses concerns over worker treatment and limited mobility under TITP and reflects Japan’s growing willingness to adapt its migration policies, with an expectation of longer stays.

The reforms come at a time when migration to Japan has been rapidly increasing: the number of foreign workers surged by 250K last year — the largest increase since records began in 2008 — reaching 2.3M total. While most still come from Vietnam and China, newer countries like Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar are gaining traction. This evolution reflects both global trends—countries like China and Vietnam no longer rely on migration the way they once did—and Japan’s own recognition that robust migration systems can address its own demographic challenges, while serving as a powerful stepping stone for emerging economies. As Japan faces headwinds from a weaker yen and competition for talent from destinations like Singapore and South Korea, these reforms signal a commitment to keeping Japan an attractive, upwardly mobile destination.

Japan has scaled up labor mobility faster than many other OECD countries, and its ambitions continue to grow: by 2029, the Specified Skilled Worker program alone is targeting an additional 820,000 foreign workers. A key driver of this success is Japan’s B2B recruitment model, which harnesses private-sector networks to achieve scale, avoiding the bottlenecks that often come with government-led recruitment systems.

This is not to pretend that foreign-born workers are universally welcomed in Japan. As elsewhere in the OECD, there is now a vocal anti-immigration contingent in Japan. But companies facing bankruptcy and rural residents facing imminent loss of critical services can still rely on majority support for labor mobility. And training workers in Japanese language and culture can go a long way to address public concerns.

A Case Study in Building a New Corridor: Kenya-Japan

To introduce Kenya as a new source country, Labor Mobility Partnerships (LaMP) is directly facilitating the migration of the first Kenyan workers through Japan’s pathways, while diagnosing the necessary investments, policies, and partnerships to unlock sustainable growth through the corridor. Support from a foundation focused on African livelihoods has enabled LaMP to cover training costs for the pilot cohort and invest in systems design.

Kenya is an attractive source country: it has a median age of 20 and a well-educated, multi-lingual youth population with high unemployment and a growing interest in global employment. In Japan, meanwhile, savvy employers see the changes and demographics in neighboring countries and want to diversify their sources of labor.

What began as a concept, with no formal pathway or demand, has grown into a nascent corridor. Demand now exceeds the pilot cohort size, and we have seen breakthroughs from ecosystem support in the form of government commitments and the entrance of new market actors. Key highlights include:

Demonstration

• Received an initial round of 16 job orders for Kenyan workers across all migration pathways
• Sourced employer demand in agriculture, construction, care work, business development, and IT
• Developed 8 partnerships with leading Japanese recruiters and employers
• Deploying workers from August 2025, with workers earning an income multiples of 6-8X

Systems building

• Facilitating the entrance of Japanese workforce mobility firms to the Kenyan market helped launch a new startup
• Activated Kenyans in Japan Association (KIJA) and its members to provide pre-departure and post-arrival support
• Working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kenya, multilateral actors, and relevant Japanese ministries to advocate for formal cooperation on labor migration
• Filming of pilot workers and ecosystem partners in Kenya by a Japanese TV crew (Kagoshima Broadcasting) for an upcoming documentary, “Is Africa a new frontier labour source for Japan?”

Lessons Learned

Progress hasn’t been linear. Building a cross-border mobility pathway demands persistence, partnership, and constant learning. Key lessons include:

Demand and market building

• Demand activation takes time: Employers are desperate for workers, but it takes effort and a local presence to find those willing to source workers through a new corridor. Often this means unfamiliar administrative processes and longer waiting times (e.g., 6-12 months for language learning).
• Anchor champions open doors: Shipping conglomerate Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) was a pivotal early partner, using its network both to identify employer demand and to engage governments from both countries.
• Responsible businesses are key partners: Labor mobility reaches scale through recruiting and employment services firms. Responsible businesses establish norms for transparency and worker protection. LaMP works with an IOM IRIS-certified recruiter in Kenya and trusted intermediaries in Japan with a reputation to protect.

Costs and financial sustainability

• Discovery and setup costs are considerable: Mobility is complex and manually intensive, especially in initial stages of learning, building partnerships, etc. Flexible donor funding and encouragement have been essential to getting things off the ground.
• Sustainability requires innovative financing, efficiency gains, and scale: Per-worker costs of training and movement usually exceed employer fees in a new corridor. Financing (e.g., for language training) can fill the gap. Efficiency investments (e.g., relocating testing centers from Japan to Kenya) and achieving scale can reduce the size of the gap to fill. LaMP projects a 45% drop in per-worker costs in the next phase with ecosystem efficiencies.

Skilling and integration

• Language and skill recognition are the key hurdles: Japanese is a challenging requirement for nearly all pathways; growth in the corridor will depend on improving language training capacity, speed, cost, and quality assurance. Skill recognition by employers requires better coordination between industry in Japan and training centers in Kenya.
• Diaspora organizations are key integration partners: They can often provide better integration support than employers, and are uniquely positioned to protect migrants and bridge between cultures.

Looking Ahead: Scaling the Corridor

There is much work to move from early demonstration and systems analysis to building an ecosystem for scale and sustainability. Success will require committed actors across the private and public sectors in Kenya and Japan. Below are some of the key steps LaMP has identified for the next phase:

Emergence and engagement of private actors

Scaling Kenya-Japan mobility will require stronger private-sector infrastructure and engagement. This includes:

• Expansion of language training, skilling, and responsible recruitment capacity in Kenya to ensure a reliable pipeline of workers
• Building a “work-ready” pool of language-certified candidates that will make it easier for employers to hire quickly and with confidence
• Targeted engagement with Japanese employers and recruiters to build demand, including supporting Kenya-Japan-focused startups
• Promotional campaigns—such as trade fair participation and employer visits—to raise awareness and build trust in the corridor

Funding and financial mechanisms for scalability and sustainability

Long-term success depends on diverse funding sources, with investment capital eventually replacing grants. In particular:

• Diversified philanthropic support: More grant funding is needed while still standing up the corridor; and Asian, Japanese, and African-based philanthropies could play an important role.
• Innovative financing models to cover training costs: For example, income-share agreements cover up-front costs and remove downside risk for students. And a Kenyan bank has indicated interest in piloting a lending solution for this corridor.
• Directing existing aid to mobility: For example, JICA’s TVET support could target mobility-related training (language and technical skills), strengthening the pipeline of trained workers

Government collaboration and public goods

Kenya-Japan government collaboration is needed to address potential blockers to the channel, and public knowledge goods can accelerate growth. Key priorities are:

• Agreement to set up test center(s) in Kenya for the SSW pathway: This addresses the unsustainable cost of flying to Asia and back to take skill tests.
• Bilateral labor mobility agreement between the two countries, which is required for access to the TEP pathway 2027
• Public knowledge-sharing on how employers and recruiters can enter the pathway responsibly
• Data collection on worker experience and impact to inform cooperation and regulation in the future

Are you interested in learning more about this work or other mobility opportunities in Japan? Whether you are a potential partner, funder, employer, or replicator, please contact Prerna Choudhury at pchoudhury@lampforum.org.

This post was first published in the The Migration Opportunity blog series by Jason Wendle. The blog series envisions a world where people in need can safely and legally access better lives and livelihoods across borders if they want to. The blog’s purpose is to stand up and resource the emerging field of labor mobility because enabling people to move for opportunity is the most powerful yet neglected tool to address global income inequality. All are invited to subscribe to the blog here.