Murumuru spends his weekends toiling on building sites in Japan in the sticky heat of summer to supplement the income from his other job at a bakery. A certified IT specialist, he arrived in Tokyo from Sri Lanka a year ago, hoping to take advantage of job opportunities that have opened up as part of Japan’s efforts to tackle its population crisis and encourage more immigration.
But Murumuru, a nickname given to him by his Japanese colleagues, has found it hard. Despite staff shortages, both he and his wife, a qualified physiotherapist, have found the language barrier an obstacle.
“All of the hospitals ask for N1, as do many IT jobs,” he explains, referring to the highest-level Japanese test for foreigners, requiring the ability to read around 2,000 kanji characters.
