We run an izakaya in Takaoka City in Toyama Prefecture where we employ two specified skilled foreign workers, Rakib and Dong. Our shop has employed foreign students in part-time positions for over 15 years, but we hired a specified skilled worker for the first time two years ago, and that first worker was Rakib. Rakib came to Japan seven years ago as a technical intern trainee and later worked at a ryokan as a specified skilled worker. While Rakib was looking for a job, a friend of our director suggested that he try working with us at Takamasa, and we hired him. Dong, on the other hand, had previously worked with us part-time as a student, but temporarily returned to Vietnam during the Covid-19 pandemic. He returned to Japan again this year and began working for us again, this time as a specified skilled worker.
Rakib, who has passed the Specified Skilled Worker (ii) skills proficiency test and now works in Japan on a Specified Skilled Worker (ii) visa, is in charge of customer service for foreign tourists and cooking fried foods, while Dong, who is working on a Specified Skilled Worker (i) visa, is mainly in charge of assisting with cutting and preparing fish and plating. Their proactive attitudes toward gaining an accurate understanding of their work environment, combined with their initiative to independently achieve their goals makes them exemplary workers. Adding the two of them to our team has lightened everyone’s workloads and is helping to solve our long-standing staff shortage.

Recently we have experienced an influx of inbound customers, and a few times each week we have customers who cannot communicate in Japanese. At times like those, we can rely on Rakib as our specialist in charge of customer service for foreign guests. Being fluent in English, Rakib is able to not only explain the menu, but also provide careful, personalized service, such as introducing Toyama’s local delicacies or suggesting appropriate dishes for vegetarian or Muslim customers. His cheerful and friendly service has earned rave reviews from foreign tourists, with comments such as “They have wonderful English-speaking customer service staff,” appearing on online review sites. Of course, Rakib also speaks fluent Japanese and can be relied on to provide excellent service to Japanese customers as well. In addition, in our kitchen he is in charge of fried foods and constantly strives to polish his cooking skills.
Currently our kitchen is staffed by veteran Japanese workers with over 20 years of experience. One of our goals is to pass on their finely-honed skills to the next generation of chefs and cultivate the workers who will become the future pillars of our shop, and we look to Rakib and Dong to be those pillars. The job of cooking in particular requires many operations which are difficult to standardize, so we hope that they will take the time to acquire those skills and become our main chefs in the future.