Rural Japan is seeing more foreign workers, with Miyazaki Prefecture recording 8,515 foreigners as of October 2024, a record high. In two years the current Technical Intern Training program will be abolished and replaced by a new development-employment system that enables workers to obtain the long-term 'Specified Skilled Worker' visa after about three years, allowing them to stay in Japan. Critics warn this could trigger outflows from rural areas and test regional reception systems. At Tatekui Farm in Ebino City, 16 Indonesian workers are employed, 12 of them trainees, performing harvest work; one says the company is good and supportive and wants to learn more about farming and machinery. Farm owner Yoshifumi Tatekui calls them an enormous force and says their resolve to work in Japan is strong. Across Miyazaki, about 1,506 workplaces accept foreign workers.