Tokyo sex parlor heads accused of illegally hiring foreign trainees The article describes a sex parlour which used Vietnamese women to provides sexual services. The women came to Japan to work on the Technical Internship Training Programme but lost their jobs in that due to the pandemic and could not return to Vietnam so turned to sex work to survive. Asahi Shimbun, 10 Nov 2020.
Report on the Current Situation of Migrant Women and the Discrimination They Face in Japan Prepared for the 63rd Session of CEDAW (UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) by Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan (SMJ),February 2016
Japan foreign marriage This article focuses on the marriage of Asian women to Japanese men in rural areas of Japan, looking at the reasons for the growth of this, the system that supports it including the role of local governments and brokers, problems including the trafficking of women and the effects of divorce on the foreign women and children of these marriages, and positive outcomes. Wikipedia.
Kawasaki’s Filipinos form support base This an article about the Kawayan Group Information Center for Filipino Women’s Community and Sari Sari Store in Kasasaki which provides language lessons, advice about public services and access computers fro Filipino women, and also sells Filipino foodstuffs. Japan Times, 20 Aug 2008.
Kalakasan Migrant Women Empowerment Centre in Kawasaki: "We support women struggling to resolve various difficulties they face such as being caught in abusive relationships, starting life again with their children after fleeing from such relationships, legalizing visa status, and addressing problems related to child recognition, rearing and education while in Japan." This organisation was set up by Mardonia Nishimoto - see above for her story. See also: Help for abused migrant women in Japan Leny Tolentino, lay missionary at the Kalakasan Migrant Women Empowerment Centre near Tokyo, talks about how the centre helps Filipino women who are suffering physical abuse or having legal problems. Caritas, 17 July 2012. And Living in Japan as an Immigrant Woman Coming to Japan as a Filipino-immigrant woman 23 years ago, Ms. Mardonia Nishimoto now works to support other immigrant women living in Japan. Through her own experiences, she came to tell Japanese people and Society what it is like to live in Japan as an immigrant woman.
Japan to seek more foreign maids A government panel chaired by the Prime Minister, the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, has recommend making it easier for families to hire foreign housekeepers and home helps in future in order to allow more Japanese women ro enter the workforce. Japan Times, 5 June, 2014.
Center offers help to abused Filipinos The Filipino Migrants Center in Nagoya has helped resolve more than 1,000 domestic violence and other cases since it was established in 2000. Many Filipino women go to the Center claiming abuse by their husbands and many other Filipinos also seek help, for example, for their children taken into police custody. Japan Times, Oct 9, 2013. More information on the Filipino Migrants Center here.
Volunteer offers consultation to women trafficked to Japan A volunteer probation officer and court interpreter in Kobe has begun a telephone consultation service for foreign women trafficked to Japan and forced into prostitution. Yukiko Oishi will lend both a sympathetic ear and practical advice to such women, mainly Asian women in western Japan, up to and including assisting them with finding legal representation. Japan Times, April 8, 2004.
Running the sex trade gauntlet: Voracious sex market and lax laws encourage abuse Despite the recession, Japan still has Asia's largest and most voracious sex market, one that has sucked in as many as 150,000 non-Japanese women, mainly from the Philippines and Thailand, according to the International Organization for Migration. Japan Times, Nov. 11, 2003.
Foreign women who leave husbands have few options In the early 1990s, most foreign women who came to abuse shelters for help complained that they were forced into prostitution by job brokers, said Rutsuko Shoji, director of HELP Asian Women's Shelter, a Tokyo-based organization that supports Japanese and foreign women....In recent years, more and more women are seeking the group's support over domestic violence, divorce, pregnancy and child-rearing. Japan Times, June 4, 1999.
The trafficking scourge: Japan has tackled sex trafficking, but challenges remain Thailand is one of the primary source countries of women trafficked as sex workers in Japan, along with the Philippines, Columbia, and increasingly China, South Korea and Indonesia. For years, there was resistance by the Japanese government in taking significant steps to reduce human trafficking. Japan Times, Aug. 15, 2006.
New round of entertainer visa changes — help or hindrance? "The government introduced stricter rules Thursday for businesses that employ foreign workers on "entertainer" visas, a large segment of whom are hostesses working in bars, saying it will curb human-trafficking, but employers and labor advocates are skeptical." Japan Times, June 2, 2006.
AWEP Asian Womens Empowerment Project アジア女性自立プロジェクト
Problems Faced by Foreign Women Living in Japan Indicated in the Telephone Counseling - Tokyo English Lifeline and Asian Women’s Fund, 2003. Parts IV and V consider health problems faced by foreign women. The report is in English and Japanese.
Female Thai Migrants in Japan by Pataya Ruenkaew. "Based on narrative biographical interviews with 22 Thai female migrants at conducted in Japan during July and August 2001 and information provided by Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) helping Thai women, this study discusses the process of migration which includes migration motivation, networks in migration, socio-economic factors associated with migration and women’s experiences as migrants in Japan. 2002.
Filipino bar hostess visa scam snags top official This is an article about an alleged scheme in which Filipino women were bought to Japan on visas to perform at charity concerts but ended working as bar hostesses. If true, the scheme "will likely prompt further international criticism of Japan for its lack of efforts to eradicate trafficking of Asian women in the sex and adult entertainment industries". Japan Times, Oct 18, 2008.
Fixed international marriages often disappoint This article looks at arranged marriages between Japanese men and brides from China, the Philippines, South Korea and other Asian countries in depopulated rural areas of Japan. It explores the experiences of the women in these marriages and focuses on the situation in Yamagata Prefecture, where these marriages have continued to increase. Japan Times, Jan 8, 2002.
Black Women in Japan group gears up for its first big bash This article looks at the recent formation and activities of the Black Women in Japan group and also profiles several black women of different backgrounds living in Japan. Japan Times, 19 Mar 2017.