16 Indonesian, Filipino nurses pass Japan's qualification exam

TOKYO, March 25 Kyodo - A total of 16 Indonesian and Filipino nurses passed Japan's qualification examination held in February, paving the way for them to work as nurses in Japan, the health ministry said Friday.
The successful applicants account for 4 percent of all foreigners who took the exam, up about 1 percentage point from last year when three candidates qualified, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
Under bilateral free trade agreements concluded by Japan with Indonesia and the Philippines, nurses from the two countries are allowed to work at hospitals in Japan for three years and continue working here as nurses if they pass the exam during that period.
Kanji characters and technical Japanese terms used in the annual state exam are said to have posed a considerable hurdle for foreign applicants. The three who passed the exam in February 2010 were the first under the program to succeed.
Starting with the exam held last month, the ministry rephrased difficult expressions into easily understandable ones and added English translations to medical terms such as the names of diseases.