Onodera User Run (OUR), a Japanese recruitment agency, has recently opened the doors of its training center in Marikina to provide specialized training for Filipino youth aiming for employment in Japan.

Japan is currently faced with a shortage on labor.

The training center in Marikina, which was set up within the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina (PLMAR), is OUR’s second in the country.

The company has already established the OUR Philippines-Davao Center at the former Holy Cross Elementary Campus in Bajada, Davao City.

Skills needed for Japan employment

The training centers offer tuition-free Japanese language class and prometric review over a period of six months to qualified Filipino youth who are taught new skills in the fields of caregiving, hotel, and food and beverage management, among others, necessary for employment i Japan.

The OUR training center in Marikina is a partnership between OUR, the Marikina local government unit, and the town of Sakai in Japan.

During the recent launching ceremony of OUR training center’s six-month Nihonggo training program in Marikina, City Mayor Marjorie Ann “Maan” Teodoro invited the youth, especially fresh graduates to apply and take advantage of the free language training offered by the training center which, she said, “can open better and bigger opportunities for our young people.”

She said the in-person classes are tailored not just for general communication, but for real-world industries like caregiving, hotel accommodation, and food service, which are fields where language skills are crucial for overseas employment.

Success abroad

“OUR’s program,” said Teodoro, “is designed not just to help job seekers meet Japan’s basic language requirements, but to prepare them for long-term integration and success abroad.

“Most importantly,” she said, “safe recruitment is ensured by our partnering with a trusted and reputable organization like Onodera User Run Ltd., which provides end-to-end support, from training to job placement and even daily life assistance in Japan.”

Teodoro said she “truly believes” that the OUR training center in Marikina will help increase the number of skilled and job-ready individuals in her city pursuing work opportunities in Japan.

More importantly, the Marikina City mayor added, “This will serve as a working model for other local governments across the Philippines.”

Sakai

Teodoro also thanked Sakai, Marikina’s sister city in Japan, whose mayor, Masahiro Hashimoto, was present at the event, for playing a key role in making the initiative possible.

The Sakai City mayor reaffirmed the Japanese city’s commitment to deepen its friendship with Marikina through education and cooperation and vowed to expend more effort in “developing and promoting Japanese education in Marikina and the rest of the Philippines.”

The tuition-free program has admitted about 50 students out of more than 800 applicants. Plans are afoot to expand the center to a size able to take in as many as 1,000 students annually.

People trained in the Philippines are expected to work in the caregiving sector in Japan as well as at Onodera User Run’s affiliates.

OUR’s parent company, food business operator Onodera Group, runs a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant and a frozen sushi production facility in Sakai.

Sakai will also help some program graduates find jobs and housing, tapping vacant houses.

Other than OUR’s Philippine training centers in Marikina and Davao, the Japanese company also has facilities in Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia and India.