for Jesse Crual.

He's a registered Filipino nurse

working as a caregiver in Tokyo.

He started studying Japanese just one year ago.

You really want to say something and

you don't know the right word to use.

Because it is really complicated.

Japanese is really complicated.

Crual is among a thousand Filipino workers who

are here under an economic free-trade agreement.

Last year, the Philippines agreed to reduce tariffs

on Japanese exports if Japan allowed caregivers

and nurses to look after its aging community.

Japan didn't necessarily need caregivers.

The Filipino government asked the Japanese to

take in their caregivers as part of the trade agreement.

Japan agreed. That's how this program began.

Under the trade agreement, caregivers must

complete a rigorous three- to four-year program.

That includes months of language training,

years of hands-on experience.

Workers must earn a Japanese license at the end

of the program to stay in the country.

The agreement is just a year old, but

Masahiro Hachiya says it's already raised many concerns.

His organization helps place foreign workers in

Japanese caregiving facilities.

He says nursing homes have called, complaining

about the lack of skilled workers.

The language barrier is a constant source of frustration.

Hachiya blames a broad-based agreement that

he says never set the ground rules.

The caregivers came here without any sense

of the purpose of this program. That was the problem.

In other words, nursing homes wanted to help

caregivers get a license.

The caregivers who came just wanted to work.

Caregivers and nurses have their own concerns.

Crual says his friends are upset over low pay.

They're earning around 100,000 yen [U.S.$1,103] a month.

Here in Japan, 100,000 yen is ....

You cannot live a decent life if you are earning

that kind of money.

John Denmark says he's seen friends move

back home, frustrated by co-workers who refused to help.

They are telling them, "Why don't you go to

Canada, Australia, United States of America

since you can speak English very well."

If you are here in Japan you need to speak

very, very good in Japanese.

Concerns over the program come at a critical

time for Japan. The country's population is

rapidly aging, while the overall population declines.

Those 65 and older make up nearly a quarter of

the population now. That number is expected to

double in 50 years.

Miyoko Miyazawa, with Eisei Hospital, says

there's no shortage of caregivers now,

but she worries about the future.

Twenty-five years, 50 years from now, we will be asking

ourselves, "Who's going to look after these people?"

I don't think it will be enough to rely solely

on the Japanese then.

Miyazawa says Japan must open its doors to

foreign workers without placing limits on their stay.

She says it's unrealistic to expect foreigners to

pass a Japanese exam in four years,

when only half of the native Japanese speakers

pass on their first try.

If we create too big of a hurdle

or try too hard to place these workers in a

Japanese mold, I fear these workers will opt to go to other countries.

The government hasn't announced plans to

change the terms of the trade agreement yet.

And Crual says he isn't expecting them to.

He's determined to master Japanese

in the next few years.

I know if I study hard I can pass the exam.

With so much competition for caregivers

back home, he says staying in Japan

is his best option.