ENGLISH

1^St February 2019

We expect to finalise our campaign from 31^st of January

Thanks to you, at noon 1^st of February we now have 14,139 signatories (breakdown as follows) supporting our cause.

• Change.org 12,318 signatories
• Google form 1,024 signatories
• Written signatures on Paper 797 signatories

(We are expecting more signatories through written signatures in the coming days)

We will submit this to the Diet Members Caucus Board of Japanese Education Promotion Alliance on the 5^th of February.

It is still possible to become a signatory now. However, we appreciate your understanding that it would take some time to finalise the process, therefore, if you sign at a later date, we might not be able to include you as a signatory.

We started our campaign on 20^th of December, and we fought through the busy holiday season, experienced lack of strategies, struggled to increase signatories in the middle of the campaign. In the end, we managed to gather more than 10,000 signatures. We are utmost grateful for your support.

This website “#JapaneseForAll” would continue to serve as a means of communication, we would be glad if you could visit our website occasionally.

Proposer Uichi KAMIYOSHI

<Background>

There are 2.5 million foreigners who live in Japan, and the number is on the rise. Furthermore, to accept more foreign labourers, the “2018 Immigration Act” is due to be implemented on 1st April 2019. Therefore, we expect more foreigners to come to work in Japan. When it comes to accepting foreigners, we have reached the point of no return.

Many foreigners are currently unable to speak Japanese well enough, and this is likely to get worse in the future. Currently, we do not have the regulations to support these foreigners.

<Goal>

We expect the “Promotion of Japanese Education Act” to be discussed during the ordinary diet session in 2019. However, it is unclear whether this will be enacted. When we consider the future of Japanese society, we should aim to have this indispensable piece of regulation enacted at the earliest possible date. Therefore, we are asking you to support our signature rally.

<Benefits of legislation>

To ensure the “right to learn Japanese”, bridging the gap between foreigners and Japanese society and Japanese society.

Define the role and duty of the government, local authorities and businesses hiring foreigners regarding Japanese education.

Protect long-term foreign residents’ rights through their “right to learn Japanese”.

There are a considerable number of children unable to speak Japanese, even after going to primary and secondary school. They do not have a sufficient level of Japanese education, and as a result they are unable to communicate in Japanese and are being isolated. Progressing into further education and finding a job would also be difficult for them.

Provide Japanese education to foreigners who want to learn Japanese.

More foreigners gaining proficiency in Japanese would not only benefit foreigners but also benefit Japanese citizens. Foreigners being able to communicate in Japanese would prevent unnecessary frictions, creating a society in harmony with both Japanese citizens and foreigners, which is vital for a stable Japanese society.

<Support our cause>

Although some argue that Japanese education is one’s own responsibility, this is certainly not something that should be left to foreigners to deal with by themselves.

The increasing number of long-term residents not having a chance to learn Japanese is certainly not something we look forward to. Foreigners who are unable to assimilate into society and concentrating in certain areas is not something unheard of. Japanese education is not only an issue for foreign residents. Japan has now changed its policy to accept more foreign talents; we ought to consider how to promote Japanese education at government level. We hope that you will support our cause.

Proposers(in Japanese syllabary order)

Isao IORI, Takahiro IKEDA, Eriko ISHII, Shogo ISHIKAWA, Susumu ISHIHARA, Sukero ITO, Shingo IMAI, Takahide EZOE, Tomofumi OGUCHI, Asahi OTAKA, Wachio OHINATA, Hideo OKANO, Noriko OKAMOTO, Yoshiro OGAWARA, Junko OKUDA, Akito OZAKI, Katsutoshi KAJIMURA, Sanae KATO, Masami KADOKURA, Tomoko KANEDA, Uichi KAMIYOSHI, Toshiko CALDER, Toshikazu KISHIMOTO, Etsuo KOBAYASHI, Mina KOBAYASHI, Nobuko SAITO, Mika SAKAI, Kumiko SAKODA, Michiko SASAKI, Gunei SATO, Jiro SATO, Shinji SATO, Kazuko SHIMADA, Akiko SEKIGUCHI, Ryo TAKAGAI, Eizo TAJIRI, Iki TANAKA, Hisamitsu TANAKA, Taku TAMURA, Akihiko TUKURA, Kazuko TSUJI, Hiroshi DEGUCHI, Yoshihiko DOI, Kazuko NAKAJIMA, Kayoko NAKANO, Yoshinao NAJIMA, Koichi NISHIGUCHI, Mari NISHITANI, Junko NISHIHARA, Suzuko NISHIHARA, Hiroshi NOYAMA, Asako HAYASHI, Satoko HAYASHI, Kenichiro HARUHARA, Go FUKINO, Sachiyo FUJITA-ROUND, Mineko BUNNO, Hisano HORI, Manabu HORIE, Giichi MAKINO, Shin MATSUO, Hiroshi MATSUZAKI, Nari MATSUSHIMA, Isao MATSUMOTO, Eriko MIZOBE, Kazumichi MIYAKE, Rie YAZAKI, Yoshiaki YANAGISAWA, Izumi YAMADA, Tadayuki YAMAMOTO, Hiroko YAMAMOTO, Masahiro YOKOTA, Haruko YONESE