We at Sukesan Co., Ltd. operate Sukesan Udon, which originated in Kitakyushu City in Fukuoka Prefecture. We currently have restaurants in all seven prefectures of Kyushu as well as in Yamaguchi, Okayama, Osaka, Hyogo, Hiroshima, Chiba and Tokyo for a grand total of 75 locations in 13 prefectures and the Metropolis. Our varied menu and warm customer service have earned us the patronage of many customers. We currently employ a staff of more than 3,500 workers, but with an aging population and a desire to secure young staff and train and support foreign part-time workers, we began hiring specified skilled foreign workers four years ago. At the present, we are focusing on human resource development with the expectation that our employees will work in Japan long-term, but with an eye to the possibility of our company's overseas expansion, we also hope to nurture workers who will be responsible for the operation of future Sukesan Udon restaurants abroad.

Our specified skilled workers are mainly in charge of basic business in the kitchen and hall, including cleaning, preparation and delivery. Depending on their experience, skills and Japanese language ability, we also have them work on management tasks such as shift-scheduling, procurement and inventory, with an initial goal of becoming an assistant manager. As their business skills improve, we hold regular study sessions and promote business education in order deepen their perspective and help them obtain skills that will allow them to see beyond the work directly in front of them and begin considering achieving sales targets and brand-positioning in the local market.

So that our specified skilled foreign workers can feel secure at work and develop their skills, we provide approximately one week of training after they enter the company, then after they are assigned to a restaurant, the manager, assistant manager and shift supervisor also provide detailed education and training. Furthermore, we proactively provide comprehensive support to enable them to communicate smoothly, and even offer consultation for personal issues in daily life.

Moreover, as a part of career development, we have a system of pay raises and skills tests. The tests are carried out in Japanese, but we distribute textbooks translated into their native languages. Previously the textbooks were also in Japanese, but because the pass rate for the tests was low, we changed to translated textbooks, thereby increasing the workers’ comprehension of the material as well as the pass rate. Building on that experience, we encourage them to understand the materials by studying in their native language, while also aiding the improvement of their Japanese language ability by holding the tests in Japanese.

We also provide textbooks translated in-house for those taking the Specified Skilled Worker (ii) test. In addition, we support their efforts to pass the tests from multiple angles by inviting interpreters from registered support organizations to participate in social media groups for workers taking the Specified Skilled Worker (ii) Skills Assessment Test. We look forward to seeing some of those who have obtained the Specified Skills (ii) certification become store managers in the near future.

Specified skilled foreign workers spend their lives working with us here in Japan in order to give themselves and their families a better future. We believe it is important for a company like ours which operates a chain of restaurants to treat those specified skilled foreign workers with respect in all our interactions, both at headquarters and on the ground at our restaurants. To that end, we have established an “Employment Promotion Division” to support our foreign workers, and we are proactive about listening to their feedback and have a system in place to support them through cooperation between our restaurants and headquarters. Viet and Thao, the two workers who agreed to participate in this interview, originally entered our company as part-time student workers, but are now working as specified skilled workers and are valued members of our staff. One day they announced that they were dating with the intention of marriage, and because of their excellent work ethic and the trust that we have in their characters, we assigned them to work at the same restaurant. Soon after they were married and we are very happy to see how well they are doing in both their work and private lives.

In the future, it is expected that there will be more specified skilled workers (ii) and more foreign workers employed in Japan long-term. In terms of language skills, we are aware of the importance of developing personnel who are able to work in Japanese, so we offer translation support while also making sure to encourage workers to improve their Japanese ability. In addition, we believe that providing a clear path for career advancement leading to salary increases is one way to respond to the passion of those who have chosen to spend their lives working in Japan.