EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT TO MIGRANT CHILDREN IN JAPAN
Sachi Takahata, Ph.D. (University of Shizuoka) Itaru Nagasaka, Ph.D. (Hiroshima University)
JAPAN PROFILE OF PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR THE THE ENABLE KIDS PROJECT
Educational Support to Migrant Children in Japan
Sachi TAKAHATA, Ph.D. (University of Shizuoka)
Itaru NAGASAKA, Ph.D. (Hiroshima University)
International Forum “Enabling Children in Multicultural Societies:
Initiatives in the Philippines, Japan and South Korea”
25 September 2016, Create Hamamatsu, Hamamatsu City, Japan
1910 1980 1990 2000 2010
1910 1980 1990 2000 2010
Post/colonial, refugee, Nikkei and marriage migrants
Circular migrant workers: entertainers and technical interns
Skilled / professional workers for long-term settlement 2
Source: Statistics Japan, Ministry of Justice Note: From 2012, only foreign residents (在留外国人） are counted
1,075,317
2,217,426
0.00
500,000.00
1,000,000.00
1,500,000.00
2,000,000.00
2,500,000.00
194
7
195
2
195
7
196
2
196
7
197
2
197
7
198
2
198
7
199
2
199
7
200
2
200
7
201
2
1990 Amendment of Immigration Control Act
2008 “Lehman Shock”
Number of Registered Foreigners in Japan (1947-2014)
654777
501230
217585
175410
99865
0
100000
200000
300000
400000
500000
600000
700000
800000
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Number of Foreign Residents by
Nationality （2004-2014）
Chinese Koreans Filipinos Brazilians Vietnamese
Koreans ＜ Chinese
Brazilians ＜Filipinos
Source: Ministry of Justice, provided by Takahata
Source: Tsuzaki 2014, (=津崎克彦2014「在留外国人統計に見る外国人労働力の性質と変容」『四天王寺大学紀要』58)
Status of Residence of Filipinos in Japan (1990-2013)
Permanent
Long-Term
Spouse or Child of Japanese
Entertainer
2005- Introduction of stricter standard for Issuance of Entertainer Visa
Number of Japanese-Filipino Marriage, Divorce, Births (1993-2014)
Source: Statistics of Foreign Residents, Ministry of Justice, Provided by Takahata http://www.e-stat.go.jp/SG1/estat/List.do?lid=000001118467
3118 3351
2066
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
婚姻
離婚
出生
Marriage
Divorce
Births
2005- Stricter standard of Issuance of Entertainer Visa
6
Status of Resident of Filipinos in Japan（2014）
Total: 217,585 Permanent & Long-
Term Resident, Spouse or Child Resident of
Japanese or Permanent Resident
92.4%
Source: Statistics of Foreign Resident, provided by Takahata
111952
48
42156
30561
3889
367
10077
2273
Permanent Resident
Special Permanent Resident
Long-Term Resident
Spouse or Child of JapaneseNationalSpouse or Child ofPermanent ResidentEntertainer
Engineer
Technical Intern Training
Specialist in Humanities/International ServicesIntra-company Transferee
Student
Designated Activities
Dependent
Others
Entertainer
7
Dependent
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000
020,00040,00060,00080,000
0-45-910-1415-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-6465-6970-7475-7980-
China 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000
020,00040,00060,00080,000
0-45-910-1415-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-6465-6970-7475-7980-
Korea
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000
020,00040,00060,00080,000
0-45-910-1415-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-6465-6970-7475-7980-
Philippines 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000
020,00040,00060,00080,000
0-45-910-1415-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-6465-6970-7475-7980-
Brazil
Populations of 4 Major Foreign Groups by Age Group and Sex (2014）
Source: 在留外国人統計 Statistics of Foreign Residents, Ministry of Justice
Filipinos 14 years old or younger ＝21,136
Number of Foreign Students Needing Japanese-Language Supports 2014
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010 2012 2014
Elem. J.H.S. S.H.S Sec.S. Spe.Needs
Source: MEXT, Survey of Students with a Need for Instruction of Japanese 2014
5,811
3,325 3,162 2,576 848
2,148
2,160
2,204 1,377
792
280
720
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
Mother Tongue of Foreign Students Needing Japanese-Language Supports (2014)
Elem. J.H.S. S.H.S Sec.S. Spe.Needs
Source: MEXT, Survey of Students with a Need for Instruction of Japanese 2014
5,153
Filipino is the third demanded language in schools
Number of Japanese Students Needing Japanese-Language Supports 2014
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010 2012 2014
Elem. J.H.S. S.H.S Sec.S. Spe.Needs
Source: MEXT, Survey of Students with a Need for Instruction of Japanese 2014
1,695 1,437
1,035
504 295 238
515
432
255
374
152
89 70
147
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
Mother Tongue of Japanese Students Needing Japanese-Language Supports (2014)
Elem. J.H.S. S.H.S Sec.S. Spe.Needs
2,253 Filipino is most frequently used by Japanese nationals in school??
How they migrated to Japan?
• Filipino children needing Japanese-language supports include:
– Children of marriage migrant mothers who are fathered by their mothers’ former partners in the Philippines (they join to their mother’s reconstituted families in Japan)
– Children of Nikkei Filipinos
– Children of Skilled professional Filipinos
How they migrated to Japan?
• Japanese children needing Japanese-language supports and whose mother tongue is Filipino include: – Children of married Filipino-Japanese couples who
grew up in the Philippines
– Children of unmarried Japanese fathers and Filipino mothers who grew up in the Philippines, and who was granted by birth, or later acquired Japanese nationality
– Children of Nikkei Filipinos who acquired Japanese nationality
Policies and Programs for children with migrant background
• Response to increase of immigration after the 1990s – No comprehensive reforms on immigration issues during the
1990s (e.g. Italy, Spain) (Milly 2014:66) – “immigration control only, actually no nationally coordinated
integration policy”
• Local initiatives in policy formulation – Significant roles of local governments and NGOs in the areas
where foreign residents are concentrated in developing policies, promoting their diffusion, and shaping choices and changes at the national level (Milly 2014:13)
– Eventual reforms in Ministry of Education e.g. establishment of “international class” and additional deployment of teachers, multi-lingual distribution of information, and recent measures to include Japanese language subjects to the Special Curriculum of compulsory education (2014)
Policies and Programs for children with migrant background
• Differences in availability and contents of support:
– More and various supports are available in prefectures or municipalities where foreign residents are concentrated before or after the 1990s.
e.g. Availability of special quotas for foreign (Japanese) students in public senior high schools
• Supports from co-national communities
– For children with Filipino background, non-existence of ethnic school (ex. Brazilians, Koreans, Chinese)
Examples of recent initiatives for the education of migrant children
• Niji no Kakehashi project to give 6-month intensive course to migrant children to prepare for entrance to Japanese school, 2009-2014.
• Special curriculum for migrant children who needs Japanese language learning at compulsory education since 2014.
• Special pedagogy for migrant children taught at universities (Yamanashi University, Yokohama National University etc.)
• much remains in the hands of local governments and civil society; initiatives of Hamamatsu City to be shared after lunch.
