TOKYO - Japan will provide English translations in a professional nursing exam to remove a language hurdle for foreign applicants after almost all of them failed the test this year, officials said Wednesday.

Hundreds of nurses and care-givers from Indonesia and the Philippines have been allowed to work temporarily in rapidly ageing Japan, but they have to pass the Japanese-language test if they hope to stay longer than a few years.

To respond to rising complaints that the tests are discriminatory, the health ministry has also decided to simplify the wording of some of the exam questions ahead of the next test in February, ministry officials said.

"We have decided to review the exams because they place an extra burden on foreign applicants," said Yoko Shimada of the ministry's nursing section.

"English translations will help foreign nurse applicants read and understand the national examinations well, and we consider it's appropriate."

Historically, Japan has imposed tight limits on immigration but has allowed several hundred certified nurses and caregivers from Indonesia and the Philippines into the country to help make up a shortage of health care workers.

Those who hope to stay longer than three years in the case of nurses, and four years in the case of caregivers, need to pass the exams, forcing them to quickly learn thousands of Japanese characters and medical terms.

This year only three people -- two Indonesian nurses and one from the Philippines -- passed the test, while the other 251 applicants failed.