On July 10th, the Japanese Immigration Services Agency imposed a sanction on the Sendai language school, “Mirai no Mori Gakuen”, preventing them from taking in foreign students for the next five years. This is due to accusations of ill treatment of international students. The school had allegedly made some students sign contracts that would oblige them to pay a fine of up to ¥3 million (USD 21,363) if they disobeyed certain conditions, such as not getting the permission to switch their student visas to work visas. However, they never collected the money and the school argued that they had already abandoned the agreements, affirming that the penalty was unfair.
Investigations revealed that during the years between 2017 and 2021, the school had made five Vietnamese students sign contracts that stated that they had to pay hefty fees if they did not adhere to certain conditions, such as not changing their student visas to work visas without permission. Moreover, the school allegedly discouraged the students from taking up job opportunities by saying that they would not be able to provide the required documents for changing their residency status. The Immigration Services Agency concluded that the act of obliging students to sign contracts with fines in them was a violation of human rights.
A certain Japanese language school was recently added to the list of those allowed to accept foreign students as of July 10th. When asked about the new regulations, the school stated that it was meant to keep students from dropping out after getting a student visa and trying to find employment. They admit, however, that this could lead to misinterpretations of their policies, and they have since gotten rid of them. The school has taken legal action to block the penalty, and they are also in the process of suing to have the penalty completely revoked.
This is the second time a penalty of this kind has been given to a Japanese language school since the current criteria for penalties was established in 2016. The language school in Fukuoka City, which was penalized in September of last year, has also taken legal action and is currently under litigation at the Fukuoka District Court.