This page has information about the following people and their stories:
Born "Illegal" in Japan Hundreds of children in Japan, like Samwei and Miracle, are living in a kind of limbo, unable to acquire any status of residence in the only country they've ever known. Born to undocumented foreign nationals, they face the fear of deportation and often the pain of long-term separation from a parent detained at an immigration facility. NHK World, 20 Jan 2021.
Nigerian activist held in solitary in Japan, prompting calls for her release An article about Elizabeth when she was being held in solitary confinement in the Shinagawa Detention Centre in Tokyo, a case that attracted international attention. It explains her work to support other asylum seekers in detention and on provisional release. Reuters, 2016.
「Elizabeth love for the world/エリザベス この世界に愛を」A long NHK documentary (in Japanese) about Elizabeth.
Special Permission to Stay for Elizabeth! / エリザベスさんにビザを！A campaign by With Elizabeth, a support group for Elizabeth, to get permission for Elizabeth to stay in japan that explains in English and Japanese her reasons for coming to Japan as an asylum seeker and her experiences living in Japan since 1991. Change.com
Japan's pariah descendants fight present-day discrimination Looks at the case of Kazuo Ishikawa, a Buraku man who was convicted of murder in the Sayama Case who is campaigning to prove the conviction was false and made because he was Buraku, as well as the experiences and activism of other Buraku people. Includes an interview with Ian Neary, a professor at Oxford University. France 24.com, 2 Feb 2017.
Status Denied: Kurdish Asylum Seeker Speaks from His Holding Cell This article explains the situation of Mehmet Colak, a 38 year old Kurdish asylum seeker who has been in Japan 14 years after coming to join his brother in Kawaguchi City. His wife and oldest child also joined him in Japan and he now has two children born in Japan but is being held in immigration detention in Tokyo. The article also has information about Welgee, a group supporting refugees and asylum seekers, and the views about asylum seekers on provisional release of former Minister of Justice Kamikawa Yōko. Nippon.com. 17 Aug 2018.
Japan’s immigration policy under scrutiny This article also has information about Mehmet in the 2nd half, as well about Deniz, another Kurdish asylum seeker who has been in Japan many years, NHK World, 2020.
Japan welcomes Muslims to schools to turn the tide of ignorance This film looks at the experiences of Miwa Essaadi, a Japanese Muslim woman, including threats against Muslims in Japan and her visits to schools to explain about Islam. NHK World, 2017.
Foreign victims of domestic violence band together This article includes the story of Mardonia Nishimoto, a Filipino woman who came to work in Japan and had two abusive Japanese husbands and who formed Kalakasan Migrant Women's Empowerment Centre to help other migrant women suffering domestic violence. Japan Today, 8 Jun 2008.
Foreign workers in Japan 'exploited as cheap labour’ Many firms reported to be abusing intern scheme to fill jobs shunned by Japanese The article tells the story of a Chinese trainee, Tang Xili, and explains how the internship training programme is used by Japanese companies to find cheap foreign labour to do jobs that they can't get Japanese workers for. Straits Times, 24 Feb 2016.
Vietnamese find lifeline at temple in Nagoya after losing jobs This article explains the stories of Vietnamese people sheltering at Tokurinji temple in Nagoya. They lost their jobs on the Technical Internship Training Programme and were unable to return home to Vietnam because of corona restrictions on travel and entry to Japan. The article refers to experts who blame the situation on problems with the Technical Internship Training Programme itself. Asahi Shimbun, 11 May 2020.
‘I wanted to escape this life by hiding who I was’ Tells the story of Risa Kumamoto and other Buruka people, Straits Times, 2021
Girl chooses Japan over parents "A teenager in Japan whose parents are being deported to the Philippines has decided to stay in Tokyo with her aunt. After the family lost a three-year battle to remain in Japan, Noriko Calderon, 13, had to choose whether to stay in Japan or go with her parents." BBC News, 14 April 2009.
Schoolgirl told to choose: Country or parents Watch an interview with Noriko and her parents as they pack in preparation for the parents' deportation back to the Philippines. CNN, 13 April, 2009.
Calderon resumes classes as parents prep for deportation " Filipino girl whose parents face deportation Monday started her second year at a local junior high school Wednesday prior to her parents’ departure for the Philippines." Japan Times, 9 Apr, 2009.
The sad story of Noriko Calderon: Some painful lessons in illegal migration WASHINGTON D.C., United States?There are many reasons why Filipinos and citizens of other economically struggling countries migrate to the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Australia, just to name a few. These immigrants, whether legal or illegal, believe that greener pastures await them in those countries. Global Nation, 15, Apr, 2009.
Japan is young Kurd's only home, despite challenges of 'illegal resident' status This article tells the story of Ramazan, a young Kurdish man who came to Japan with his family of asylum seekers when he was 9. He talks about the difficulties he faced as a child growing up in this situation and now as an adult who is on provisional release, and doesn't have legal residence status and so cannot work. Mainichi Shimbun, 6 Jul 2021.
Oki is an Ainu Japanese musician. Wikipedia.
Oki Official Website Website for Oki, a musician with a Japanese mother and Ainu father and his Oki Dub Ainu Band that plays music that fuses Reggae, African music and Electronica with Ainu folk melodies.
Japan-born Koreans live in limbo This article tells the story of Chong Hyang Gyun, the discrimination she has faced in both Japan and Korea, and her family. New York Times, 2005.
Foreign children slipping through the cracks of Japan's education system This article looks at the situation of Maria and other children who are attending a nursery school in Hamamatsu City even though they are 6 years old or over. An NHK survey found that out of 120,000 foreign children between the ages of 6 and 14 living in Japan about 8,400 are believed to have not attended school. NHK World. 17 Apr 2019.
Foreign students in Japan in dire straits amid pandemic This article explains the situation of a Vietnamese university student in Japan who works to support herself but who may have to drop out of university because she cannot get enough in the pandemic. NHK World, 28 Aug 2020.
Evacuees from Ukraine embark on new lives in Japan Maria has come to Japan to join her daughter who lives here but she hopes she can return to Ukraine sometime. NHK World, 13 Apr 2022.
Being Ainu for Mina Sakai, leader of the “Ainu Rebels”. This article explains a little about Sakai's life, her attitudes to being Ainu and Ainu culture, and the band she formed, the Ainu rebels, which mixed traditional Ainu music and dance with pop music hip hop. Hawehe - Ainu Voices.
Watch this short video report about the Ainu Rebels which includes an interview with Mina Sakai. TITV, 27 Aug, 2008.
Going Native: Tokyo’s thriving Ainu community keeps traditional culture alive Part 1 explains the history of Ainu people as well as the story of Mina Sakai, a young Ainu woman from Hokkaido who at first felt shame about her Ainu identity but came to have pride in being Ainu and set up the group Ainu Rebels to promote Ainu culture. Metropolis, 26 Feb, 2009.
Masayoshi Son A Wikipedia article that explains a little about Son's Korean background and why his family adopted a Japanese name.
How Sprint’s new boss lost $70 billion of his own cash (and still stayed rich): The strange tale of Masayoshi Son the "Bill Gates of Japan." The story of Son's rise to success, with some information about his Zainichi Korean family background. ars technic, 16 Oct, 2012.
Japan's Masayoshi Son Picks a Fight With U.S. Phone Giants A biography of Son that discusses his background a a poor Zainichi Korean and suggests he went to the US at 16 to escape discrimination in Japan. Wall Street Journal, 23 Nov, 2012.
Japan's trial run for migrant workers This article looks at Japanese-Brazilian Nikkeijin in Hamamatsu and tells the story of Flavia who went to a top university in Tokyo even though she was told by her teacher when she was 10 that she had no future in Japan. BBC News, 2007.
Ainu activist near Tokyo uses traditional cloth art to show her people are 'right here' This article tells the story of Shizue Ukaji, 88, who is skilled and highly respected maker of traditional Ainu embroidery. It explains how her family left Hokkaido like many other Ainu people to find work and to escape discrimination and how she became "a pioneer of the movement to reclaim the rights of Ainu people in eastern Japan's Kanto region". Mainichi Shimbun, 22 Apr, 2021.
The beauty contest winner making Japan look at itself About the issues raised by Arianna Miyamoto's victory as the first multiracial Miss Universe Japan. BBC News, 4 Jun 2015.
Multiracial Miss Universe Japan hopes to change homeland’s thinking on identity Ariana Miyamoto hadn’t planned to enter a Japanese beauty contest because she figured her multiracial origins meant she couldn’t win. Then a close multiracial friend committed suicide. Japan Times, 3 Apr 2015.
Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan’s Self-Image This article looks at discrimination against black people and people of black and Japanese mixed background, following the victory of Ariana Miyamoto, a women of African-American and Japanese mixed descent, in the Miss Japan contest in 2015. New York Times, 29 May 2015.
TOKYO応援宣言「開会式に登場!?先住民族・アイヌの歴史と文化を世界へ」The video tells the story of a young Ainu woman, Maya Sekine, about how she didn't reveal her Ainu identity to others when she was young but came to identify publicly as Ainu and now works to promote understanding of Ainu culture and language including on YouTube. TV Asahi, 8 Jul 2019.
American-Okinawan working to keep Ryukyu language alive Byron Fija, who knows nothing about his American father and little about his Okinawan mother, now works to preserve Uchinaguchi, a native language in Okinawa, after having overcome an identity crisis. Japan Times, 13 Jun 2015.
“Wanne Uchinanchu – I am Okinawan.” Japan, the US and Okinawa’s Endangered Languages "In this article Okinawan language and cultural activist Fija Bairon speaks on the discovery of his Okinawan identity and on his attempts to maintain and revitalize Uchinaguchi, one of five Ryukyuan languages. An introduction addresses issues of Ryukyuan language endangerment and the local attempts of language revitalisation." The Asia-Pacific Journal Japan Focus, 22 Nov, 2007.
沖縄語のいま ➁ A short video about Uchinaaguchi teacher, Fija Byron, who has mixed Okinawan and foreign roots, and about the Okinawan language/Uchinaaguchi. 19 Feb 2016.
Illegal means A Tokyo court has ruled that government officers used illegal means to restrain an African man who died of suffocation at Narita Airport after working in Japan for 22 years without a visa. DW, 2014.
Campaign by the Asian People's Friendship Society in support of compensation from the state in the case of the death of Suraj.
Indian works to serve expat enclave: From provider to guarantor to provisioner to educator, tea merchant turns Nishi Kasai into hub 33 years ago, Jagmohan Chandrani was one of the first Indians to arrive in Nishi Kasai, now the main Indian community in Japan. He runs Japan Business Services, specializing in import and sales of Indian black tea, as well as two Indian restaurants, and is also involved with local Indian international schools and plans to build an Indian temple. Japan Times, 8 Feb, 2011.
Japan's indigenous Ainu people still hunting for acceptance of their ancestral traditions This video looks at Atsushi Monbestsu, an Ainu man who is trying to live and support his family as an Ainu hunter. He talks about the importance of traditional Ainu hunting to his identity and also the discrimination he has experienced as Ainu. Reuters/South China Morning Post, 1 Nov 2019.
Future is Mine: Ainu My Voice TTOKYO応援宣言「開会式に登場!?先住民族・アイヌの歴史と文化を世界へ」his video tells the story of Kayano Rie san, her relation to her Ainu identity and culture, and especially her visit to the Seminole people, the indigenous people of Southern Florida. Future is Mine, 28 Jun 2020.
Yogendra Puranik became Japan’s first Indian-origin politician. Here’s how, Global Indian, 2021.
Yogendra Puranik, Wikipedia
A Sri Lankan's tragic death in Japan casts a harsh spotlight on controversial refugee system A Sri Lankan woman fled to the authorities in Japan in August last year hoping to escape from domestic violence, only to end up dying in detention in Nagoya last month. Straits Times, 2021.
Her dream to teach English in Japan ended with a lesson for the country CNN, 2021
Security footage shows shocking treatment of Sri Lankan who died in Nagoya detention cell, The Mainichi, 27 Feb 2023
Video showing beating of Turkish national by immigration submitted in trial, Explains Deniz's story in Japan as well as his experience of beating treated violently in detention. Tokyo Reporter, 2020.
Japan’s immigration policy under scrutiny Explains Deniz's situation and also the story of Mehmet, another Kurdish asylum seeker who has been in Japan many years, NHK World, 2020.
Korean resident of Japan sues man over hate speech, defamation amid legal constraints, Mainichi, 2021.
Korean residents in Kawasaki seek relief, prevention after hate speech incidents, Mainichi, 2016.
Zainichi: Being Korean in Japan Al Jazeera, 2018.