For many young Indonesians, the decision to leave the comforts of their home and work overseas is driven less by curiosity than by the pressure to meet family expectations amid limited opportunities in the country.
An estimated number of 5 million Indonesians are employed in over 100 countries all over the world, including Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.
Tri Agung Purnomo, the founder of LPK Aoisara Sinar Indonesia – a training centre that prepares aspiring migrant workers for jobs in Japan – knows the journey intimately. Today, he guides young Indonesians through applications, language training, and the final stages before they board a plane abroad.
But more than a decade ago, Tri had been one of them who decided that Japan was his next destination for financial stability, even as uncertainty followed him.
His journey began in 2011, when he arrived in Japan under the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP), selected as one of just three successful candidates from about 20 applicants.
He was stationed in a manufacturing company in Nagano Prefecture, where his days were spent operating machines and producing robot components, repeating the same movements for hours at a time.
“My parents originally hoped I would become a civil servant, but in Indonesia, becoming a civil servant requires a lot of money,” he said.
Without the means to continue his studies, Tri chose Japan as a way to earn, learn, and support his family.
Inside Japan’s Training System
The process, however, was not as simple as boarding the next plane and starting work.
Before leaving Indonesia, he spent six months in Semarang studying Japanese — a prerequisite that would determine whether he could secure a job.
After arriving in Japan, he underwent another month of training focused not just on language, but on discipline, manners, and the rules governing everyday life.
For him, the transition proved abrupt and exhausting.
Inside the factory, discipline was not taught in words, but rather, enforced through routine. “Indonesia and Japan are very different culturally,” Tri recalled.
Tri remembers long hours where machines dictated the rhythm of the day, leaving little room for conversation or distraction.
Every movement had a place, every delay was noticed, and time was treated as a resource not to be wasted.
In this environment, Tri learned more than technical skills, absorbing a work culture built on precision, silence, and consistency.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Justice, 66.2% of former trainees said workplace discipline, rather than technical ability, helped them in their careers after returning home in 2021.
Despite the pressure, he stayed for three years. He saved most of his income and sent money home regularly, determined to make the sacrifice worthwhile.
The Unintended Skill Loop
When Tri returned to Indonesia, the contrast was immediate.
The machines were different, the systems unfamiliar, and the technologies he had mastered were often unavailable.
“People work very seriously and value time a lot. The machines used in Japan and those in Indonesia are very different in terms of technology, but it would be difficult to apply those technical skills directly back home,” Tri expressed.
What remained useful were habits rather than hardware.
This gap is reflected in broader trends, with 55% of Indonesian former trainees who are working reporting jobs unrelated to their training experience.
It was a gap he realised many returnees shared. Japan had trained him for its labour market, but returning meant those skills were of limited use in Indonesia’s current environment.
Every year, thousands of Indonesians leave for Japan under the TITP and the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) programme, carrying expectations shaped by years of preparation and sacrifice.
For many, the return home is quieter than the departure, with only about 5 percent of returning trainees able to find jobs in Japanese-affiliated companies in Indonesia.
“Unfortunately, many trainees return without clear information on how to use their skills in Indonesia,” Tri said.
The problem rarely appears all at once. Instead, it unfolds slowly, repeating itself across the country.
Instead of entering local industries, many former trainees begin teaching Japanese, offering guidance to new applicants through paperwork, interviews, and cultural training as a way to use the skills they acquired.
“Many students who return from Japan develop new ambitions, which are very different from what they learned while working there,” Tri said.
For Tri, these moments often unfold in small conversations, when former students return not in uniforms, but with questions about starting schools or training centres. Some go on to open small businesses or learning centres of their own, turning experience into opportunity.
Tri’s path, once unusual and uncertain, is now increasingly common among Indonesia’s returning trainees.
Building an LPK: A Returnee’s Answer to a Broken Pathway
Tri founded LPK Aoisora Sinar Indonesia in 2019, after years of seeing the same problems repeat themselves among young Indonesians who wanted to work in Japan.
The decision came from his own experience of high costs, weak preparation, and the sense of being unready when he first arrived abroad.
Across Indonesia, tens of thousands of young people continue to enter Japanese work programmes such as the TITP and the SSW programme, drawn by opportunity but often facing the same obstacles.
As government and private efforts expand overseas placements to support Japan’s ageing workforce, the need for proper preparation has become more urgent.
For Tri, the solution was not another agency, but a school that focused on readiness rather than speed.
Aoisora was built to lower costs, strengthen preparation, and guide students clearly before departure.
“That made me think about creating a Japanese language school and sending an organisation that would be more affordable,” Tri said.
The programmes reflect a wider national shift that increasingly sees Japanese language ability as the foundation of overseas work success.
Inside Aoisora’s classrooms, students are trained not only in language, but also in cultural rules, workplace behaviour, and the pressures they will face abroad.
Since 2019, about 1,800 students have travelled to Japan through Aoisora, a figure that reflects growing demand for structured preparation. The centre is able to take in 150 students at a time, guided by a team of eight teachers.
Keeping tuition fees low remains central to the school’s mission, ensuring students from less privileged backgrounds are not excluded.
In 2021, the Ministry of Manpower recognised Aoisora as a Top Five finalist in its vocational training award for sending organisations. The organisation also works closely with Japanese partners to resolve workplace issues and reduce misunderstandings after arrival.
Quietly, returnees like Tri are becoming key builders of Indonesia’s labour mobility system.
Looking Forward: What Indonesia’s Next Generation Needs
Tri believes preparation before departure is not a checklist, but a form of protection.
He believes that lessons should go beyond textbooks, touching on small daily rules that can decide whether a trainee feels safe or isolated abroad. Students are trained not only in Japanese, but also in public behaviour, workplace expectations, and how to respond when pressure builds.
“Before going to Japan, students must learn not only the Japanese language but also daily rules,” he said.
Tri believes Japan can offer young Indonesians more than short-term income. He hopes it gives them stability, savings, and the ability to plan a future beyond the factory floor.
“What makes me happiest is when students return home after three or five years, with savings, a stable future, and the ability to support their parents,” he added.
For Tri, success is not measured by how many leave, but by how many return with dignity and direction.
As he prepares another group of students for Japan, his own journey continues to bridge past experience with the future of Indonesia–Japan labour mobility.
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