Japan failing to support young Brazilians Stories of young Brazilians in Izumo City, Shimano. NHK World, 29 Feb 2020.
Tokyo court upholds deportation order for Thai teenager born and raised in Japan "A Thai teenager born and raised in Japan lost an appeal on Tuesday against a lower court ruling that upheld his deportation order, highlighting the country’s deep reluctance to accept non-Japanese people, even as its population ages and shrinks. The Tokyo High Court ruled that Utinan Won, a 16-year-old high school student living without a visa, should leave Japan. Won’s mother had already left Japan after lower court judges said her son could win residency if she returned to Thailand." Japan Times, Dec 6, 2016. See also the link below.
Japan-born son, Thai mom split by heartbreak legal deal This article looks at the case of a Thai woman who had been in japan more than 20 years, and was living on provisional release, who agreed to return to Thailand in order for her 16 year old son, who was born and grew up in japan, to stay in Japan. The article also looks at the situation of other similar families with members living on provisional release. Japan Times, Nov 24, 2016. See also the story above for later news on this case.
Seeking a Better Society for Children of Multicultural Backgrounds An issue of of Takarabako, that looks "at the ways in which efforts are being made by schools, citizens, and government to resolve the problems facing children of multicultural backgrounds", in Okubo (Shinjuku, Tokyo), Nagata Ward, Osaka, and Ota City, Gunma.
Lonely Swallows This is the website for a documentary movie (in Japanese) that follows the struggles of Japanese-Brazilian children living in Hamamatsu....There are hundreds of thousands of young Japanese-Brazilians who came to Japan when they were very young with their immigrant parents. Many of them drop out after junior high school, and start working at factories. Due to economic recession, many of their families lose their jobs, forcing to return to Brazil. Watch a trailer for this film below:
Helping Brazilian kids master local life An article about Japanese-Brazilian Tetsuyoshi Kodama helps young Japanese-Brazilian dropouts in Hamamatsu by helping them to learn karate. Japn Times, 23 Aug, 2011.
Education woes beset Brazilian children Of 33,000 Brazilian children here between the ages 5 and 14, 10,200 are enrolled in public schools and another 10,000 are studying in Brazilian schools in Japan. This means more than 10,000 are not receiving an education. Japan Times, 14 Nov, 2008.
TOMO2 Hamamatsu Foreign Children's Educational Support Organisation is an NPO which sends teachers of Japanese to schools in Hamamatsu to help foreign children.
LDP panel mulls easing law on dual citizenship: Mixed couples' kids could have two nationalities Liberal Democratic Party member Taro Kono said Thursday he has submitted a proposal to an LDP panel he heads calling for the Nationality Law to be revised to allow offspring of mixed couples, one of whom being Japanese, to have more than one nationality....Under the current system, Japan, in principle, requires Japanese nationals who also hold citizenship in another country to choose one or the other before they turn 22. Japan Times, Nov. 14, 2008.
'Japanese' kids speak out over identity battle Looks at the situation of children born out of marraige to a Japanese father and a Filipino mother who can't get Japanese nationality and at a law suit they are bringing to have the law changed to allow them to become Japanese. Daily Yomiuri, October 2, 2005.
Japanese-Filipino kids await fate: Top court to rule on nationality law tied to paternal recognition An article on the background to a court case about children born in Japan to unmarried Filipino women and Japanese men cannot get Japanese nationality. It loooks at the situation of one of thees children, Masami Tapiru, as well as at the history and situation of Filipino women coming to work in Japan. Japan Times, June 4, 2008. For the result of this case, see the story below:
Bar to kids' citizenship ruled illegal: Supreme Court opens door to unwed foreign moms' children In a ruling sure to affect thousands of others born out of wedlock to non-Japanese mothers, the Supreme Court on Wednesday granted 10 children of Filipino women the right to Japanese nationality. Saying it led to unreasonable discrimination, 12 of the 15 justices on the top court's grand bench ruled unconstitutional a provision in the Nationality Law that states that such children can only become citizens of the mother's home country. Japan Times, June 5, 2008.
Citizenship for kids still tall order Many observers of the Nationality Law have welcomed the government's proposed revision approved Tuesday by the Cabinet that will soon allow hundreds of children born out of wedlock to Japanese men and foreign women to obtain Japanese nationality if the father recognizes paternity even after birth. Despite what seems to be a positive move, however, some also predict many challenges ahead before the children entitled to Japanese nationality can actually acquire it. Japan Times, Nov. 5, 2008.
A glimmer of hope for castoffs: NGO finding jobs for young, desperate Japanese-Filipinos In the Philippines, Japanese-Filipinos, known as "Japinos," are often looked down on as children of "Japayukis," or Filipino women who work as bar girls, waitresses or entertainers in Japan. This article looks at their situation and at the work of an NGO in the Philippines, Shin-Nikkeijin Network Association, Cebu Inc., or SNN, that helps these children locate their Japanese fathers and seek financial support. It also gives some background about the immigration in recent years of Filipino workers, esepcially women, to Japan. Japan Times, Oct. 11, 2006.
Citizen’s Network for Japanese Filipino Children We are a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Tokyo. We support Japanese-Filipino Children (JFC) who are born to Filipino mothers and Japanese fathers.
OM conducts project for Japanese Filipino children The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has announced that it is undertaking a two-year project to improve multi-agency cooperation and raise awareness on issues faced by an estimated 200,000 Japanese Filipino children (JFC) in Japan and in the Philippines. abs-cbn NEWS, 03/26/2009.
Japanese-Filipino children from the Philippines-based NGO “DAWN” visit the Center An article about the visit of Seven Japanese-Filipino children (JFC) and three female staff members of the Filipino NGO “DAWN (Development Action for Women Network)” to the National Women's Education Center in Japan. It also descibes the work of DAWN to help Filipino women with children fathered by Japanese men and their children, mainly by supporting women’s independence and providing legal and financial assistance to both mother and her children.
The Development Action for Women Network (DAWN) is a non-government development organization created on February 6, 1996 to assist Filipino women migrants in Japan and their Japanese-Filipino children (JFC) in the promotion and protection of their human rights and welfare.
Most Jap-Fils prefer dad's 'love' over citizenship Most Japanese-Filipino children (JFC) would rather meet their fathers in person and be recognized as their children than be granted Japanese citizenship. This article also gives some background on Filipino women who went to work in Japan, mainly in the 'entertainment industry' and on the identity crisis faced by Japanese-Filipino children. GMANews.TV, 08/21/2008.
Japanese-Filipino children begin new lives in fathers’ homeland Thirteen Japanese-Filipino children and 14 Filipino mothers left for Japan on Monday, realizing a long-held dream to live in their Japanese fathers’ or husbands’ homeland. Japan Times, Oct 14, 2008
>>> More on 'hafu'/'dabaru'/bicultural children >>>
A video from Metropolis about teenage women who live according to 'B-style' or the 'black lifestyle' and African-American popular culture.
Nonprofit brings together foreign, Japanese residents in Hamamatsu Hamamatsu's foreign population of about 30,000 people largely like in separate areas from the Japanese population, making it hard for foreign children to integrate into society and contributing to the fact that half of foreign children don't go to high school. This article looks at this situation and at the work of Hamamatsu NPO Network Center to change the situation. Japan Times, Mar. 13, 2010.
Feminized Migration, Community Activism and Grassroots Transnationalization in Japan by Keiko Yamanaka In the absence of governmental policy to incorporate immigrants into the nation’s political and legal structure, Brazilian children growing up in Japan have encountered great difficulty in acquiring an adequate education. In response, a group of Brazilian mothers founded an organization, ALA Brasil, to help their children cope with study in a public school in Hamamatsu, Japan. 2003.
Support Information for Foreign Children by Hamamatsu NPO Network Center (N-Pocket) "We made this website for foreign children be able to receive appropriate education and live in harmony in Japan. On these pages, we provide information about the difference of education system between Japan and foreign countries, senior high schools and organization which works to support the immigrants." Includes information on Japanese language classes.
Multicultural Center Tokyo (in English) / 多文化共生センター東京（日本語) runs a 'Multicultural Free School' to "support children from other countries who wish to go to Japanese high school with Japanese language study".
Multicultural studio' offers hope: Yokohama volunteers help kids with studies, social problems An article about volunteers working to help school students with non-Japanese, mostly Vietnamese, cultural backgrounds at the Icho Danchi public housing complex in Yokohama. Kanagawa Prefecture is home to about one-third of the Indochinese who have settled in Japan since the late 1970s. Japan Times, Nov. 28, 2002.
City strives to school foreign youth: Toyota, Brazilians offer their own types of user-friendly education Toyota, home of the nation's top automaker, Toyota Motor Corp., had one of the largest concentrations of Brazilians, totaling 4,972 as of the end of 1998. Many came to the city in the early 1990s to work for the carmaker, the firm's affiliates and its parts suppliers. Japan Times, May 9, 2000.
The Education of Foreign Children in Japan by Yukari Himeno. The aim of this paper is to describe how Japan’s education system treats children from other countries, especially in regard to junior high schools and the high school entrance examinations. I use statistical data from documents of the Japanese government, published material explaining the state of “newcomer children,” and interviews with teachers of junior high schools and high schools in Kanagawa prefecture. David Ewick's homepage, Chuo University Faculty of Policy Studies, 2004.
Language help lets foreign students fit in There are lots of foreign children in Japanese schools, and their numbers are growing. Unfortunately, most schools aren't equipped to teach newcomers the Japanese they need in order to learn and become part of the school community. Japan Times, May 17, 2002.
Immigrant teaches peers: Brazilian helps other newcomers to Japan Brazilian-born Elisa Kemmisaki, 22, is a newly assigned English language teacher at Ushioda Junior High School in Yokohama. She also helps pupils in the "kokusai kyoshitsu" (international classroom) pursue their study of Japanese and other subjects. Japan Times, June 18, 2003.
Over 22,000 foreign kids need Japanese-language guidance at school The number of foreign children attending public elementary and secondary schools in Japan who are in need of Japanese-language guidance as of last September increased 8% from a year earlier to a record high of 22,413, the education ministry said Tuesday. Japan Today/Kyodo, August 1, 2007.
Country kids need language support: Growing educational diversity not limited to urban areas This article focuses on Yamagata Prefecture which was the first prefecture to encourage international marriages and where 1 in 17 of all marriages are international. It looks at the need for better Japanese language support for 'newcomer' children - children born outside of Japan whose parents bring them to Japan - especially in the Japanese countryside. Japan Times, March 14, 2006.
Forgotten In Japão: Education in the Brazilian Dekasegi Community A film about the Brazilian-Japanese community in Toyota City by Sam Holden
World Kids Community 多文化なこどもたちと育ち、在日外国人コミュニティと協働するワールドキッズコミュニティのサイトです
Little Angels International School Indian International School.
The Multilingual Education Institute (Ijime Zero) This organization is a national multilingual network to help multicultural and multilingual children and their families who area suffering from burying in schools in Japan.
Ushioda Junior High School A Japanese public school in Yokohama in which many students with multicultural background study.
AmerAsian school in Okinawa A school for children of mixed Japanese-US parentage in Okinawa.
Kobe Korean Elementary & Junior High School
International Schools in Japan
India International School in Japan
Yokohama Overseas Chinese School
West Kobe Korean Elementary School
Kobe Korean Senior High School
Seibang Korea Elementary & Junior High School School in Himeji Shi, Hyogo Ken.
Shimofukuda Junior High School A school that has students who are Indo-Chinese, Nikkeijin and returnees from China, which has set up a special International Elective (kokusai sentaku) course for these students.
Hiro Gakuen School in Ogaki, Gifu Ken for Nikkeijin(website in Japanese and Portuguese).