An artist’s rendition of the Yolo Base complex, which will be opened by Nankai Electric Railway Co. to provide employment support to non-Japanese citizens (Provided by Yolo Japan Corp.)

OSAKA--Nankai Electric Railway Co. will open a facility in Osaka’s Shin-Imamiya district in September to provide employment support and opportunities to non-Japanese residents.

The goal of the three-story Yolo Base center is to help foreign nationals earn the status of “specified skilled worker” under a visa program that started in April, company officials said.

The center will provide free Japanese-language classes and house a restaurant and a hotel, where foreign nationals and students can actually work.

Yolo Japan Corp., an Osaka-based company that helps foreign nationals, will operate the building set up by the railway company.

Shin-Imamiya is a favorite haunt of non-Japanese visitors because of its tourist attractions, including Tsutenkaku Tower, and its convenient access to Kansai International Airport. The district is also known as a meeting place for day laborers.

The complex will be located on the former site of Mabuchi Seikatsukan, a municipal facility that used to accommodate impoverished people.

Nankai had entered an open competition organized by the city government to seek ways to use the former Seikatsukan site.

Nankai has defined Shin-Imamiya Station on its Nankai main line as one of its “key bases.” The station has the second most passengers along the route.