International Student Support Organizations in Japan and Australia (IVANOVA)International Student Support Organizations in Japan andAustralia: Response to the COVID-19 Crisis
Polina IVANOVA*

Abstract:
While most publications on COVID-19’s impact on higher education have focused on
problems faced by the stakeholders, this paper emphasizes emerging solutions by civilsociety groups. As universities and in some cases, the governments are generally considered
to be responsible for providing for international students’ wellbeing, there has been
insufficient attention to alternative support providers, such as nonprofits, charities, andvolunteer groups, collectively called international student support organizations (ISSOs).
This study uses semi-structured interviews with international students enrolled atuniversities in Japan and Australia, volunteers and staff at ISSOs, and participant
observation of online and in-person events for international students in both countries to
examine the civil society response to international students’ challenges during the COVID19 pandemic. The study found that perceiving a lack of university support and unfair
treatment, being unable to travel to the study destination, encountering xenophobia andracism, and experiencing loneliness and mental health issues were common difficulties
among international students. The ISSOs in both countries responded to those challenges bymodifying their service provision and raising public awareness. However, despite theunprecedented crisis, ISSOs did not advocate for solving fundamental problems faced byinternational students. These findings suggest that macro-factors in the political andeconomic environment could play a more significant role in shaping organizational behavior
in the nonprofit sector than the pressing issue.
Keywords: international student support organizations, COVID-19 pandemic,international student security, volunteer groups

1. Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has become a major disruptor of social fabric globally, and the higher
education sector has also been significantly impacted. Both institutions and students had to quickly*

Visiting researcher, Institute of International Relations and Area Studies, Ritsumeikan University
Email: 21v00202@gst.ritsumei.ac.jp
Received on 2021/2/2, accepted after peer reviews on 2021/7/26.

©Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University:
Journal of the Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University, 2021.
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Journal of the Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University Volume 3 • October 2021

adapt to the “new normal”. International students in particular have experienced massive uncertainty,
worsening financial support, and growing isolation that in turn triggered a number of logistical andhealth-related issues (CISA, 2020; QS, 2020; BridgeU, n.d.; IAU, 2020).
Before the pandemic, millions of international students left their home countries every year toembark on a study abroad adventure; in 2017 alone, their number exceeded 5.3 million (UNESCO,2019). Even before the global pandemic, international students already faced many issues that could
be considered human security threats. Some examples include racism and discrimination, financial
struggles, substandard housing, exploitation at work, sexual harassment, uncertainty related to theirvisa status, and mental and physical health problems. These issues often interplay with each other: for
instance, health issues may be affecting their immigration status as students with a positive HIV/AIDS
status may be at risk of losing their visas. However, unlike forced migrants such as refugees or even
low-income economic migrants, international students may not be perceived as a population in need orat risk and this perception can make their plight more invisible.
This paper focuses on international student support organizations (ISSOs) which are civil society
organizations including nonprofits, charities, and volunteer groups that are acting as complementary or
alternative support providers for international students. This study examines how ISSOs in Australia
and Japan are dealing with human security issues faced by international students during the global
pandemic of 2020. It is guided by the question: why are ISSOs in both countries responding differently
to security threats? To help answer this question, it also explores the following background questions.
What human security issues have been prominent for international students during the COVID-19
pandemic? Which among those issues are new, and which already existed before the crisis? How did
the pandemic modify or amplify those pre-existing conditions? What solutions have ISSOs beenoffering at different stages of the crisis?
Both Japan and Australia are developed democratic OECD nations located in Asia and thePacific. Another feature that both countries share is being geographically isolated which means among
other things that international students are not able to travel as easily as their counterparts studying inEurope. This factor has implications for international students’ adaptation experience, with a potentialof aggravating their culture shock (Jackson, 2014). Both countries officially declared theircommitment to multiculturalism, although their interpretation of it and related practices differ
considerably. Japan’s multiculturalism has been criticized for the absence of centralized immigrationand integration policies (Iwabuchi, 2016) and labeled by some authors as “multiculturalism in its
infancy” (Nakamatsu, 2014). Despite its longer-standing traditions, the Australian version ofmulticulturalism does not seem to cope effectively with racism, particularly anti-Asian sentiment (Ho,2019; Robertson, 2011; He, 2019) nor to break free from the assimilationist past (Allan & Hill, 1995;
Reid, 2019). Finally, both Australia and Japan have been actively recruiting international students,
with 720,150 international students being enrolled in Australian educational institutions as of
September 2019 (ICEF Monitor, 2019) and 312,214 in Japan as of May 2019 (JASSO, 2020).
At the same time, fundamental differences between the two countries lie in their demographics
and approaches to international education. First, Australia is an immigrant society characterized by
ethnic superdiversity while Japan is predominantly populated by its native ethnic group of Yamato
Japanese. Even though both countries are using English in their internationalization strategy, theJapanese language remains the official language and the main means of communication in Japan,
while English is still the only official language in Australia and the unifying element of Australiansociety (Australian Government Department of Home Affairs, 2020). Finally, their approach to64

International Student Support Organizations in Japan and Australia (IVANOVA)

internationalization also differs: Japan is pursuing an “aid-based” approach providing government
subsidies to international education programs, while Australia has moved to commercializing its
education, “from aid to trade” (Ishikawa, 2011). Comparing both countries could allow us to see theimpact of the above-mentioned differences on international students’ incorporation into the hostsociety.
In terms of managing the COVID-19 crisis, the first cases in both countries were confirmed in
January 2020 and the governments responded by adopting relatively strict containment policies at the
beginning including an international travel ban. Australia reopened to only travelers from New
Zealand in October 2020, and Japan reopened to “Student” visa holders around the same timerequiring a mandatory 14-day quarantine period guaranteed by their university (IMF, n.d.). The
Australian response has been one of the fastest and strictest and has been praised for its effectivenessin containing the spread of the virus (Bremer, 2020) while Japan has been less consistent due tobalancing between public health concerns and supporting its pandemic-stricken economy (TheMinistry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2020; “Japan Governors”, 2020). As COVID-related
restrictions and particularly the travel ban negatively affected international students enrolled inAustralian and Japanese universities, those practices were criticized by student organizations andcertain political parties.

2. International Student Security in the COVID-19 Era2.1. International Student Security within the Framework of Human Security
The need for a concept emphasizing the security of individuals emerged in the 1980s as a
response to insufficiencies in the dominant view on security at the national level (Christie, 2018, p.9).
It gained prominence in the 1990s after the publication of the 1994 Human Development Report by theUnited Nations Development Program, the Millennium Report of 2000, and the establishment of theCommission on Human Security in 2001 (Adachi, 2020). Since then, the concept has evolved into
“second-generation human security” (Kaldor et al., 2018) and has been discussed in the context ofdifferent humanitarian crises, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic during the recent Ogata
Sadako Memorial Symposium (JIB TV, December 2020).
Originally applied mostly to refugees and other groups of concern to the UNHCR, the concept ofhuman security has been expanded to various fields of migrant security (Christie, 2018). Among thefirst works on international student security is the eponymous book by Marginson and colleagues(2010) discussing the human security of international students in the public domain, including theareas of finances, work, housing, health, personal safety, relations with the government, and theprivate sphere, encompassing international students’ relations with university staff, family and friends,
language issues, discrimination, and racism. The 2010 book framing international student security as ahuman rights issue was followed by a plethora of studies. This section provides a short overview of theexisting literature on international student security.
One of the most important names in the field is Forbes-Mewett whose work examines a wide
range of human security issues affecting international students: mental health (Forbes-Mewett, 2019,2020), unstable finances (Forbes-Mewett, 2006, 2009), vulnerability at work (Forbes-Mewett, 2009),
crime (Forbes-Mewett, 2013; Forbes-Mewett, McCulloch & Nyland, 2015; Forbes-Mewett & Wickes,
2018), gender-based violence against international students (Forbes-Mewett & McCulloch, 2016),
student visa cancellations (Segrave, Forbes-Mewett & Keel, 2017), and the role of preparations in65

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furthering security (Forbes-Mewett, 2011).
Another range of studies examined the role of university policies in supporting or undermining
international student security. For instance, Tannock (2018) contrasts universalist principles of equality
and human rights in university missions and the reality of nationalist states and commercialized
universities treating international students as “cash cows”. He discusses inequality in tuition fees, theattainment gap between international and domestic students, and the growing immigration restrictions
making it difficult for some to come to their university studies. The COVID-19 crisis exacerbated this
aspect as thousands of international students were forced to study online from their home countries
while paying the same tuition fee as for in-person learning in their study destination. Similarly, Hayes(2017) uncovers the ways in which the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) in the UK is
marginalizing and “othering” international students. Currently, their presence is ambiguous as they are
considered a threat, a benefit of some sort, and the unimportant “other” group at the same time. This“othering” is problematic in terms of human security because it is a part of discrimination that isincluded in the list of problem areas of international student security (Marginson et al., 2010;
Marginson, 2013).
A promising area within international student security relates to students’ social engagement withdifferent non-state actors. Some examples include international students’ interactions with theiremployers discussed in the work by Forbes-Mewett (2009) and by Marmo (2020) in the context of
migrants’ exploitation or ‘modern-day slavery’. However, there is a shortage of studies examining therole of civil society groups in the area of international student security.
2.2. COVID-19 Impact on International Students
A growing number of studies examine COVID-19’s impact on international students viewing this
rapidly evolving situation on a global, regional, national, and institutional level. Many of thosepublications target policymakers at universities or governments and tend to refer to international
students’ situation in impersonal terms as “international higher education”, “international enrolment”
or “overseas student industry” (Birrell & Betts, 2020; IAU, 2020; QS, December 2020). This reflects apattern of viewing international students primarily as a source of revenues for their educational
institutions and local economies and calls for a more humane approach in research as represented by
the human security paradigm. Some reports, however, successfully combine big numbers and carefulattention to the human dimension and individual hardship (Salmi, 2020).
Other studies attempt to provide a comprehensive assessment of the ongoing situation at a single
institution from the educator’s (Pappa, Yada & Perala-Littunen, 2020). or student’s perspective(Orendain & Djalante, 2020). Pappa, Yada and Perala-Littunen’s (2020) study find challenges ininternational student wellbeing in social (desire for human connection, coping strategies and healthconcerns) and academic areas (affected concentration and motivation, degree-related complications,
online learning and supervision). Orendain and Djalante (2020) also discuss six challenges affecting
international students in Japan, such as disruption of routines and changing environments, limitedaccess to technology, growing financial concerns, declining mental and emotional health, and impeded
productivity, and provide suggestions on how to cope with each of them.
Many publications examining international student experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic
focus on its impact on their mental health (Lai et al., 2020; Chen et al., 2020; Sahu, 2020; Creaton,2021). They report higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia, and some of them foundthat stayers (international students who stayed in their study destination) had significantly higher stress66

International Student Support Organizations in Japan and Australia (IVANOVA)

compared to returnees, i.e., those who returned to their country of origin (Lai et al., 2020) due to thelack of social support and microaggressions in the host society, particularly against Asian students(Chen et al., 2020).
Besides academic works and higher education practitioners, international students’ situation has
become a subject of numerous media articles reporting financial struggles faced by many international
students due to the loss of part-time jobs (Imahashi, 2020; Ross, 2020) and calling national
governments to extend financial support to international students during the crisis (Aristovnik et al.,2020; “Extend Support”, 2020; “Japan’s Government”, 2020). Other publications reported budget cutsat universities affected by the loss of international student revenue (Quinn, 2020).

3. ISSO Solutions to COVID-Related Problems
3.1. Methodological ApproachThis study employs a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviewing, participant
observation and discourse analysis as methods of data collection. This research has been approved by
the Ethics Subcommittee of the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University, reference No.
52019566710165 of September 5, 2019. While the initial objective of the study was to examine thesocial engagement of international students and their daily interactions with civil society groups, theunprecedented situation of the COVID-19 pandemic pressured this author to shift her focus tointernational student support during the crisis.
The interviewees were recruited by purposeful sampling, targeting those international students
who were actively involved with student support groups and included those enrolled in undergraduate
and graduate programs. As a result, twenty-one in-depth semi-structured interviews were collected inboth countries averaging twenty-nine minutes in length. Interviews were conducted face-to-facewhenever possible, or online due to the COVID-related restrictions. Participant observation of
in-person events was conducted in February 2020 on campuses of four major universities in Sydney
and throughout 2020 in Kyoto City at times when COVID-19 restrictions were eased. During thein-person events, event participants also provided seventeen shorter comments, each about four
minutes on average. However, most events in 2020 took place online, on Zoom or social media
platforms, freely or upon prior registration on the organizational websites. The total number ofinternational student support organizations in the study is thirty in Japan, mainly in the Kansai area,
and thirty-two in Australia, predominantly in New South Wales. Japanese higher educational
institutions where study participants were enrolled included Kyoto University, Osaka University,
Ritsumeikan University, and Kyushu University, while Australian universities in the study comprised
the University of Sydney, Macquarie University, the University of New South Wales, and the
University of Technology Sydney. All the above universities have a high number of international
enrollments.
3.2. Structural Characteristics of ISSOs in Japan and Australia
This section presents an overview of ISSOs in both countries and discusses their similarities anddifferences. Based on their location, international student support organizations can be divided into
on-campus and off-campus groups. The on-campus organizations in Japan are represented by fourtypes: peer support groups for international students, university circles and clubs, alumni networks forboth current students and graduates, and ethnic associations on campus. Australian campuses include
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the same four types of student support organizations, with some modifications: for instance, circles
and clubs are usually called “student societies”, and alumni networks usually include graduates only,
not current students. In addition, Australian universities also have so-called “student collectives”
focused on advocacy and political activity such as protest marches, and branches of most politicalparties and religious groups represented on campus. In contrast to Australia, political parties andreligious organizations are not present on most university campuses in Japan, with the notable
exception of Christian and Buddhist universities. Although the current definition of the ISSOs does notinclude political parties themselves, their affiliated organizations represented on campus and working
directly with students are counted as international student support groups.
Diversity is even greater among off-campus groups involved with international students. Suchoff-campus organizations in Japan include groups affiliated to local governments, those sponsored by
the central government, ethnic associations at the city level, nonprofit organizations or NPOs,
grassroots, and informal hobby groups. Meanwhile, Australia does not have international student
support groups initiated by local or national governments; however, they have self-organized agencies
at the national level such as the Council of International Students Australia (CISA) defining
themselves as “the national peak student representative organization for international students” (CISA,n.d.) and the National Union of Students (NUS) where one international student officer is elected
every year. In addition, there are also ethnic-based associations on the city level and national level,
nonprofits and charities dealing with a range of issues: legal, job-hunting, sexual health, addictions,and mental health.
3.3. COVID-Related Problems
3.3.1. Perceived Lack of University Support and Unfairness
This paper refers to the perceived lack of support because opinions on university support during
the crisis may vary considerably depending on stakeholders. While administrative and academic staff
may be working hard to deploy emergency online learning, their efforts may not always be seen,
understood and appreciated by students. Most interviewees in Australia and Japan, both studying in the
country and online abroad felt that their universities did not support them enough during thischallenging time and were critical of educational and government institutions to various degrees.
“[It was] frustrating, a lot, because also, you know, from a European perspective, I felt like thecampus did not do anything to help, to support students. And you know, they did like a review (survey,
author) of what you think of your entry in the campus. So, I wrote this all down, but it's not changing
anything. And I emailed them also, you know, and they don't care at all. I don't even think they've
answered (IS from France, Kyoto, November 10, 2020).
“Well, I didn’t get any support from my uni, so I would say no, they didn’t support those whostayed in the country” (IS from Nigeria, Sydney, December 22, 2020).
In addition, students in Australia also emphasized the discrepancy between the lack of university
support they experienced and their tuition fees that can be four times higher than those of domestic
students: “When you come here, you come with an assumption that you will have support in place,because if you’re paying so much, you will have people who care for you and look out for you and act
in your best interest. You know, they put on the paper like: oh, we support international students butnow, we’re being told things like: ‘You’re going to see a fee hike’, which is ridiculous becauseinternational students have no other support. International students are affected financially back home
as well. So, it’s very unfair to put all those financial burdens on them now.” (IS from India, Sydney,
68International Student Support Organizations in Japan and Australia (IVANOVA)

June 19, 2020).
Perceived unfairness to international students in Australia was also brought up in earlierinterviews, not related to the pandemic. One of the issues was the lack of adequate health insurance forinternational students. This is a fundamental difference between Australia and Japan: Medicare, thepublicly funded universal health care insurance scheme covers only nationals of Australia and New
Zealand and Australian permanent residents while in Japan, Kokumin Kenkō Hoken, the national
health insurance scheme extends to all foreign residents, including international students.
“It’s generally about equal rights. I mean, we’re already paying four times the fee at uni, and we
don’t have student loans, we pay taxes, and taxes we pay go to fund Medicare but Medicare is only forAustralians. What kind of fairness is this?” (IS from China, Sydney, February 22, 2020). Anothertheme that came up in the same interview is the absence of student concessions, or transport discounts
for international students in New South Wales. The interviewee asserted that other Australian states
provided such discounts and was planning to organize campaigns in his university to claim them;
however, the pandemic came in the way of the activist’s plans.
3.3.2. International Students Left Outside Their Study Destination
Due to the international travel restrictions during the pandemic, many international students
found themselves unable to cross the border and return to or enter for the first time their study
destination. The number of international students remaining overseas in 2020 reached 500,000 in
Australia alone (Salmi, 2020, p. 29) while the exact number of their counterparts in Japaneseinstitutions is unknown. Although there were instances in the past when international students wereunable to arrive at their study destination on time due to visa restrictions, technical or logistical issues,
it is the first time that this situation has occurred in such significant numbers. These unprecedented
circumstances created a number of new challenges for university staff, students and their families.
International students participating in the CISA online event on December 18th mentioned several
academic challenges such as time difference, poor internet connections or firewalls preventing themfrom accessing their virtual classes or study materials, difficulties in staying motivated and keeping up
with their studies (CISA, December 23, 2020). Other challenges lie in the social realm such as notknowing their classmates (IS from India, enrolled at a Japanese university, December 12, 2020), ordifficulties in communicating with classmates online as they mute themselves or turn their camera off(IS from China enrolled at an Australian university, December 18, 2020). Some returnees reported still
having to pay for their apartments or the storage unit fee in the host country (CISA, December 23,2020) which creates an additional financial burden.
Other challenges included unfulfilled expectations: “I wanted to study in Australia but now, I
study in my hometown and cannot go and experience the local culture. I am not using university
resources; in the meantime, the tuition fee is not reduced” (IS from China enrolled at an Australian
university, December 18, 2020). Due to this mismatch of expectations and reality some international
students chose to defer their studies for several semesters thinking that it is not worth paying hightuition for online courses or being unable to study virtually because of the time difference or technicaldifficulties. However, this temporary solution is also not perfect because of underlying uncertainty: it
is not clear when the borders will open again and when the mass return of international students will
be possible which delays their graduation and jeopardizes future plans: “I’m waiting and waiting andhoping. The clearer communication would have been better; otherwise, we get the impression that the
government simply does not care” (IS from Germany enrolled at an Australian university, December
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18, 2020).
Even those students who have adapted quite well to the online study format are still facing
difficulties. “Although it’s safe and comfortable to study online from home, the time difference mademe stressed a lot actually. I had to keep two clocks at all times and woke up panicked on so manymornings to not miss a class at 5 am my time, it kinda messes with your head” (IS from India, enrolled
at a Japanese university, December 12, 2020).
3.3.3. Xenophobia and Racism during the COVID
Previous studies reported instances of xenophobia and racism toward international students
during the COVID-19 crisis ranging from stigmatization and microaggressions to open insults andphysical attacks (Salmi, 2020; Lai et al., 2020).
“What’s been difficult, was the response from the community as well. Whether it’s be shaming
certain countries for this virus, or other very, very hurtful comments from domestic students, telling us
not to complain, telling us that we’d be taking jobs away from Australians, and all this sort of quite
wild accusations” (IS from Germany enrolled at an Australian university, December 18, 2020).
Even mild forms of unfriendly attitudes may be perceived as the lack of hospitality and trigger
emotional response of fear and insecurity, as the following statement by an international student
demonstrates:“I think as someone of Indian background, something that’s prominent in our culture, is how wetreat our guests. We always make sure that our guests are well taken care of, and to me, based on that
ideology, it really makes me question how Australians treat their guests. Is this what I should expect,or should have expected? Did I raise my expectations too high? It’s definitely scary in that sense
because it makes you question your entire connection with the country and with the place. Because it
feels like harm, it doesn’t feel safe”. (IS from India, Sydney, June 19, 2020).
International students remaining in Japan during the pandemic also reported increased staring andunfriendly gazes from local residents, which particularly affected those who looked non-Asian.
3.3.4. Loneliness and Mental Health Issues
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness was common among international students and due
to its detrimental effects on mental and physical health, academic performance and increased risk ofsuicidal behavior was considered by certain authors as a human security issue (Marginson et al.,2010). Being aware of this problem, ISSOs attempted to counteract it: “We have seen a shift from
more alcohol-related issues towards other challenges like isolation and loneliness. The culturaldifferences do present a barrier for international students fitting into student residence life, so in many
residences our teams are focusing more heavily on student engagement and coming up with morecreative event ideas to entice international students to interact with peers” (Nonprofit staff, Sydney,
February 7, 2020).
However, once the pandemic hit, many usual forms of social interactions became impossible. The
student interviewees have remarked on COVID-19’s negative impact on their friendships due toreduced contacts with people and social activities: “I think it's also because of the Coronavirus andwhat it has led to, because we are now being more like shut-ins and not going out that much; at least in
my case, I want to stay at home. So, I've been avoiding contact with people. So, it has made things
very difficult, from the friendship standpoint” (IS from Chile, Kyoto, November 19, 2020). While
technology allowed them to stay in touch with their social circle, many found it challenging to make70

International Student Support Organizations in Japan and Australia (IVANOVA)

new friends during the pandemic: “Because of Corona, I can't like go to the learning center where I
made friends earlier. I can't go there and just meet new people, for example” (IS from Malaysia,
Fukuoka, November 24, 2020).
New students in particular felt extremely isolated during the lockdown and the semester of online
studies which also happened to be their first months in the new country: “I was on my own anyway.
So, from March to June, I did not meet any people for three months. So, I had to contact online…yeah,
the first months were tough” (IS from France, Kyoto, November 10, 2020).
Some felt frustration because their personal mobility was restricted: “Of course, now you cannot
go anywhere, you cannot do anything, everything is closed” (IS from Afghanistan, Shiga, December
24, 2020).
Others, however, reported not feeling particularly lonely during the lockdown compared to othertimes in their lives when the feeling of loneliness was more acute, usually due to their personal
circumstances. For instance, a married international student shared that her loneliest moments were thefirst two months when she was waiting for her husband to join her in Japan, and compared to thattime, Corona was much easier to handle (IS from Chile, Kyoto, November 19, 2020). Anotherinternational student said that he was feeling a lot lonelier before the COVID during his second
semester in Japan when two of his close friends graduated and left the country, and he felt a sharp
contrast between their fun time together and his lonely sightseeing after their departure: “At the
beginning, this was difficult for me. When I saw some people, they usually come with a kind of groupbut when I would get to that garden, to that place, to that museum, I was alone. Yeah, that gave mesome kind of stress” (IS from Afghanistan, Shiga, December 24, 2020). Yet another shared that the
pandemic coincided with other important changes in her life, such as moving from her dorm to a
private apartment and the departure of several close friends who graduated and got jobs in other cities:“I do feel lonely, but, you know, because so many things changed just around the time Corona started.
I moved here just before everything escalated, so that was a big change in itself. And also, many of myfriends left, over the past year, they graduated, or they took on new jobs and moved to a new place. So,
it's just like, things naturally changed even without Corona being a factor” (IS from Malaysia,
Fukuoka, November 24, 2020).
A small number of interviewees even found it comfortable having much time at home on theirown: “I'm a home type, I like to stay at home longer times, you know, doing my own projects, myhobbies, I like designing sometimes and it takes time to do that, so I feel like I need more time athome. I feel like I need more time with myself rather than being open to everybody. So, for me during
this COVID time, I don't think that I felt lonely” (IS from Egypt, Kyoto, December 16, 2020).
However, even those who self-identified as introverts and did not report any particular discomfort
about staying home for extended periods of time found it difficult to adjust to the new mode of study:“Of course at home, you cannot concentrate 100% ...when I am home, I waste a lot of time, you know,
watching TV, playing games and stuff like that” (IS from Egypt, Kyoto, December 16, 2020).
Those who suffered from isolation and loneliness during the pandemic found several helpful
coping strategies. Some reported increasing the frequency of their online interactions with family andfriends back home: “And so, after Corona, though, that caused me to open communication with myfamily more. And so, now I speak with my family regularly, almost every other day or so. And it was
not like that before. I speak to my best friend in California, just the same, almost every day” (IS fromthe US, Kyoto, November 10, 2020). Others started scheduling online chats with their friends in thehost country. Yet others found it helpful to focus more on their research or hobbies that they enjoyed or
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found relief in their religion or meditation practice.
The increasing loneliness and changing attitudes from the local community during the pandemic
also made some international students question their belonging to the host society and doubt whether
their contribution is truly seen and appreciated: “International students have been a strong part of thecommunity through communication, through work, as active members as volunteers and things likethat. All of a sudden, they’re just not being supported when this situation hits. I think it puts a lot ofpressure on people who have become a part of this society and are self-dependent and don’t rely on
anyone. It’s just really hard when you come to a phase when all of a sudden, they make you feel likeyou’re an alien here. I think it really makes you question how multicultural this place really is” (ISfrom India, Sydney, June 19, 2020).
3.4. ISSO Solutions
3.4.1. Modified Service Provision
The COVID-19 restrictions have profoundly impacted both on-campus and off-campus student
groups. As campuses started to close soon after the semester started, university societies and clubs had
to follow and put on hold all their activities which affected both existing members and new students:“In fact, since when I arrived in March, I really wanted to subscribe to the sports club of thisuniversity. But one week after I arrived, the campus was closed, so I couldn’t” (IS from France, Kyoto,
November 10, 2020).
Social distancing and other sanitary measures related to the COVID-19 prevented ethnic-based
groups from gathering in person like in the past: “Before corona, we would meet every couple ofmonths for a party like a potluck party. So, everyone would bring a dish and we'll just come to hangout and enjoy Malaysian food, home-cooked Malaysian food. So, we haven’t been able to do that thisyear” (IS from Malaysia, Fukuoka, November 24, 2020).
Other off-campus groups had to scale down their activities: “it’s also because of COVID-19.
Because they were doing some actions inside high schools to sensitize and to help children to have avision, not to stop their purpose of life to what can be imposed by the society and so on. So, there weresome projects before, but I never saw something like this since I got inside” (IS from France, Kyoto,
November 10, 2020).
Many ISSOs responded by shifting to online event formats; however, it also has limitations, bothon the provider and recipient’s sides. First, some organizations could not adapt to the “new normal”.
This concerns primarily international friendship associations in Japan, volunteer groups in each cityand town established by local governments in 1980-1990s as a part of the internationalization
initiative. They used to be very active in organizing sightseeing tours and cultural exchange events
before the pandemic. However, they are often dependent on community facilities that were closed toprevent the spread of infection. They also found it difficult to shift to new technology, and as mostmembers are retired or elderly, they are more vulnerable to the virus, and their health concern becomesthe priority.
Secondly, the online format of social events did not work for all international students either.
Although online events seem the only solution to socialize in bigger groups safely under thecircumstances, they appear not as popular as face-to-face events. Some international students reject
them, not believing that they can achieve the purpose of getting to know others and making new
friends: “I don’t want to participate in Zoom events because I don’t get the point. If it’s just on Zoom,
there is no share for me, there is no real interaction. Because the online wall is too thick” (IS from72

International Student Support Organizations in Japan and Australia (IVANOVA)France, Kyoto, November 10, 2020). Some informal hobby groups shared this skepticism. The
member of a Kyoto-based drawing group shared that they attempted to use different software tofacilitate interactions between members; Facebook, Line and Discord but nothing seemed toadequately replace in-person gatherings in a café that they used to have in the past, and very few
people showed up. However, their infrequent outdoor gatherings with social distancing weremoderately successful (Volunteer from Singapore, Kyoto, November 7, 2020).
Other students tried online events but were unsatisfied comparing their feeling to being in classand feeling that the format was not conducive to having natural conversations and establishingfriendships: “Sure, Zoom is there, it’s very accessible from wherever you are. However, I think it takes
away the impact that you would have otherwise in person. …there’s this natural hesitance to talk or
speak up or interact rather than when you’re in person, you can, you know, just conversation flows a
bit naturally. So, it feels a bit stiffer, obviously more distant, of course. Even when you can see people,
it’s a bit kind of: how do I establish communication with somebody? It’s a bit different when we’re inperson versus on a screen. At least in my experience, you know, whenever it almost has the feeling of
being in a class setting” (IS from the US, Kyoto, November 10, 2020).
Other students pointed out the shortage of online events organized by their department or
graduate school where new students could get to know their classmates: “There are some online
events, I believe. But nothing for master’s students in particular. I wish the uni had organized somezoom event at the start of the semester to introduce people to each other but they didn’t do that” (ISfrom India enrolled at a Japanese university, December 12, 2020).
However, many ISSOs have been offering online events almost since the onset of the pandemic.
Examples in Australia include an online conference on sexual health organized by CISA incooperation with other actors in June 2020 and a webinar “COVID-19 and Your Visa” held by Redfern
Legal Centre on October 15, 2020. Once the spread of infection in Australia was contained, some rules
have been eased and other events were offered in a blended or hybrid mode: partly online, and partly
on campus with social distancing. An example of such an event is SEXtember offered by Student
Representative Council (SRC) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) from September 14 to25, 2020. The understanding of sex education in Australia extends far beyond the prevention of
unwanted consequences; therefore, SEXtember event encompassed a wide range of topics such asconsent, pleasure, queer relationships, online dating, pornography, alternative lifestyles, theintersection of faith and sexual ethics. Some events specifically targeted international students such as“Love Abroad: Unlocking the Australian dating scene” held on September 21, 2020 or were adapted
for the COVID times; for instance, “Staying Prepared: Sex and HIV prevention in the era of COVID”
on September 25, 2020. Sex education is particularly important for international students coming froma variety of cultural backgrounds because a common understanding cannot be implied.
Similarly, some off-campus groups in Japan switched to online meetings. For instance,
KyoTomorrow Academy (KTA) supported by Kyoto municipal government and sponsored by the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) started offering their freeJapanese conversation sessions on Zoom twice a month. They also posted regularly on their Facebook
group about job-hunting resources that can be accessed online, such as web tests for job applications,or an online training program in business Japanese allowing international students not only to enhancetheir Japanese language ability but also practice business etiquette and communication skills in
corporate settings. The online sessions spread between January 23, 2021, and March 6, 2021 will
cover the basics of honorifics frequently used in business communication, practice writing entry73

Journal of the Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University Volume 3 • October 2021

sheets, practice job interviews, and hold an online meeting with former international students currently
working in Japanese companies (KyoTomorrow Academy, January 5, 2021).
Besides online events, some organizations came up with other innovative solutions to support
international students during the crisis which can be illustrated by the example of Redfern Legal
Centre, a nonprofit organization providing legal services to international students. When they wereforced to cancel drop-in consultation sessions due to COVID-19 restrictions, they launched a new app
called My Legal Mate providing instant legal information and advice on issues affecting international
students including employment, housing, sexual assault, and disputes with education providers. It isavailable in seven languages (English, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Portuguese, Thai and Vietnamese) and
it is downloadable and its use is free for all international students in New South Wales.
3.4.2. Enhanced Advocacy and Political Activism
Although the first cases of the COVID infection were confirmed in January 2020, it was not quite
clear yet at the beginning of 2020 that the spread COVID-19 infection would become a global
pandemic. Australia was among the first countries to introduce a travel ban against all visitors frommainland China from February 1, 2020, except for Australian nationals and permanent residents who
were requested to self-quarantine for two weeks. The travel ban affected all new Chinese students andthose who went home on holiday. In February 2020, the absence of Chinese students was already felt
on Australian university campuses during the orientation or welcome week. Stands of some student
societies at the University of Sydney were empty with a note: “The executive of this group is stuck in
China. Shame on Scott Morrison’s travel ban” (Fieldnotes, Sydney, February 18, 2020). The enrolment
to other student organizations fell below the expected level: “We recruited about 300 people but that isalready under my expectations. I was expecting like a thousand people. But Chinese students couldn’t
come back, so I reduced the expected number to 400. I thought, there should be people from othercultures and maybe, some Chinese students would make it back but…We made 400 bags and we got
300 people” (IS from China, Sydney, February 22, 2020).
Besides student organizations, international students’ plight during the COVID crisis also
attracted the attention of several political parties. First, the Socialist Alliance and a related on-campus
socialist group called Resistance University Sydney framed the travel ban against China as a racist
response and circulated a petition on campus to oppose the ban which gathered 5,900 signaturesduring the welcome week (Fieldnotes, Sydney, February 2020). The following week, Resistance
University Sydney held an in-person event at the campus of the University of Sydney where theycalled on participants to oppose the government decision and criticized the lack of support forinternational students. At the same time, the organizers admitted that socialist activists were reluctant
to bring up the international student issue at first: “They dismiss Chinese students because they say
they come from bourgeois backgrounds” (Fieldnotes, February 26, 2020).
Despite their profound dislike of the Socialist Alliance (Tenenbaum, 2001), another leftist party,
the Social Equality Party (SEP), and its student chapter called the International Youth Students forSocial Equality (IYSSE) also selected the international student issue as a topic for their online event
on May 17, 2020 (World Socialist Website, May 19, 2020). While the speakers discussed challenges
faced by international students, the party representatives attempted to divert the conversation to theneed to create an alternative organization to existing trade unions (Fieldnotes, May 17, 2020).
Opposing trade unions as “no longer worker organizations” has been known as their party stance(Socialist Equality Party Australia, 2019). Although many important issues were raised during the74International Student Support Organizations in Japan and Australia (IVANOVA)

discussion, the event gave an overall impression that SEP was not committed to long-term student
support or advocacy for their rights. Rather, they were making use of the international students’ plightduring the pandemic to promote their own political agenda.
In turn, political parties in Japan also discussed the international students’ issue in the context offinancial compensations during the pandemic. An opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic
Party of Japan, proposed financial compensations and tuition waivers for all international students
whereas the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito proposed to limit
compensations to those in need, and the latter proposal was approved (“Japan’s Government
Approves”, 2020). Some Japanese ISSOs posted brief updates of the political debate and main
decisions on their website (“Support Planned”, April 21, 2020; “Foreigners Are Eligible”, April 21,2020).
In addition, some informal hobby groups also demonstrated their potential for political activism
during the pandemic. While the groups temporarily suspended their activities due to the COVID-19
restrictions, their members stayed in touch on social media. One of the members of Kyoto-based group
Drink and Draw called on others to meet in person and support the local Black Lives Matter (BLM)
march. Originated in the United States in 2013, the BLM movement gained international attention
during global protests following the killing of George Floyd in 2020 (Encyclopaedia Britannica,2020). Japan also held several BLM protests in its major cities. The group had previously been
completely apolitical focusing uniquely on leisure activities; in addition, the member who mobilized
others to join the protest was not one of the group organizers. Despite those facts, the mobilization was
successful, and about ten group members joined the protest march in Kyoto on June 21, 2020. Besides
anti-racism, the BLM march in Kyoto showed solidarity with other causes such as LGBT rights,
de-nuclearization, peace, poverty and the need for more stimulus money (“Black Lives Matter”, 2020).
This example reaffirms the potential of informal groups to be reappropriated for political activism
through “consciousness-raising” (Putnam, 2000, p. 149) and illustrates the possibilities of theprevalence of an informal leadership over a formal one during times of crisis and social change.
To counteract xenophobic and racist behavior toward international students during the pandemic,
the student organizations started raising awareness of international students’ rights and by showing
their contribution to the local community. The CISA launched an anti-racism project in collaboration
with the key stakeholders in the area, including the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).
They encourage international students who experience racist treatment or incidents of discrimination
to report them to AHRC and seek professional help if needed. As CISA’s President Belle Lim pointed
out: “These types of comments are clearly misguided. This is a small but very loud proportion ofAustralians who [are] disconnected from the tremendous contribution – economically, socially,
culturally and diplomatically – that international students bring to this country” (Devi, 2020).
Therefore, CISA is also working with different actors to emphasize the contribution that international
students are making to Australian society and to build a social license to operate for international
education.
Some events have a twofold purpose, both in service provision by offering practical advice tostudents and in advocacy by spreading the message to decision-makers and the broader community.
For instance, the purpose of the online forum hosted by CISA on December 18, 2020 was described asfollows: “To raise the voice of and for offshore international students who are currently stranded
outside of Australia” (CISA, December 23, 2020).

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4. Discussion
This paper identified a perceived lack of university support, being forced to stay outside theirstudy destination, incidents of xenophobia and racism, increased loneliness and mental health issues as
the most prominent challenges faced by international students during the pandemic. While students inboth Australia and Japan shared their perception of the lack of university support and loneliness, thenegative experiences related to studying outside the country of their institution and awareness of
xenophobia, racism and unfairness were much more intense in the case of Australia. In line with theexisting literature, many international students referred to their COVID-19 experience as “frustrating”,“tough” and “hard”, with the only exception being those who self-identified as introverts and enjoyedhaving much time alone.
In contrast with the prior studies, for the majority of respondents, their private life events such as
breaking up with their partner, being away from their partner or close friends, moving houses ormoving to a new city seemed to have a more significant impact on their subjective perception ofloneliness than the global pandemic. Also, unlike previous studies reporting significantly higher stresslevels among stayers compared to returnees (Lai et al., 2020), this study found that those international
students who returned to their home countries during the pandemic still experienced numerous
challenges in the areas of academics, social life, and finance, and felt uncertain about the future.
Most of the issues faced by international students are not new; however, the pandemic intensified
them, some of them to an unprecedented scale. Although some international students have experienced
problems with their student visas in the past or were unable to enter their study destination for otherreasons, their number has never reached 500,000 as in 2020 for Australia alone. Similarly, lonelinessamong international students is far from being a new issue but was aggravated by the lockdown andsocial distancing policies during the pandemic and associated fears and uncertainty.
The study found that student support groups responded to COVID-related challenges in two main
ways: by modifying their service provision and by enhancing their political advocacy for international
students. While some ISSOs stopped providing their services to international students due to their own
limitations, many responded to COVID-19 restrictions by changing their event formats to fully online
or in a hybrid/blended mode, moving from indoor to outdoor events with social distancing, or creating
an app instead of providing in-person consultations. The response of some ISSOs demonstrated theirkeen awareness of international students’ security threats as they were offering timely and appropriate
events to meet growing or newly arising needs, such as special events for those stranded offshore or
explaining the impact of COVID restrictions on students’ visas. As most challenges were not new but
exacerbated by the pandemic and ISSOs had already been working on issues of loneliness, mental
health, sexual health, and racism before, they did not need to shift their focus from their originalactivities but only to modify the format of their service provision to suit the changing circumstances ofthe pandemic.
This study has sought to answer the question of why ISSOs in both countries are responding
differently to security threats. It would be logical to expect that ISSOs in Japan and Australia would
respond differently because the issues in both countries are different. For instance, international
students in Australia pay much higher tuition and do not receive a universal health cover plan, while
their counterparts in Japan pay the same tuition fee as domestic students and are covered by the same
health insurance that applies to Japanese nationals. However, student support organizations inAustralia did not use the COVID crisis to advocate for lowering tuition fees for international students
76International Student Support Organizations in Japan and Australia (IVANOVA)

or improving their access to healthcare. Instead, they chose to enhance raising awareness ofinternational students’ contribution to the local society and cooperate with other actors in the field ofinternational education to build a social license to operate and create a more welcoming environment
for international students in the future.
Another finding is that ISSOs in Japan who are normally active in service provision and passivein political advocacy displayed some political activism during the COVID-19 restrictions. Only time
will show whether the change will fade away after the pandemic and Japanese civil society groups will
go dormant again in terms of political activism or whether the pandemic has acted as a catalyst to
encourage these organizations to become more politically engaged.

5. Conclusion
This paper has examined how international student support organizations (ISSOs) in Australia
and Japan responded to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. It relied on semi-structured
interviews with ISSO volunteers and staff in New South Wales and Kansai, international students
enrolled at Japanese and Australian universities, and participant observation of online and in-person
events in both countries at different stages of the pandemic. Based on these data, the study found that
their perceived lack of university support and unfairness, the frustration of staying outside their study
destination, their experiences of xenophobia and racism, increased loneliness and related stress andanxiety were the most prominent issues among international students. To respond to these challenges,
ISSOs have provided a number of innovative solutions in the areas of service provision and advocacy.
However, they chose not to bring up unpopular and controversial issues but to cooperate with theactors in the position of power instead. This paper concludes that although some ISSOs displayed
significant changes compared to their typical organizational behavior, such as the rise of politicalactivism, it might be too early to affirm whether the change will affect their strategies post-pandemic.
The methodological limitations of this study included the small size of the study population, thus
reducing the generalizability of the findings, and also the lack of access to event participants duringsome online events that prevented an evaluation of the events’ effectiveness and international students’satisfaction.
Acknowledgments
Research reported in this publication was supported by Asia Japan Research Fund: AY2018
Program for Asia-Japan Research Development, Ritsumeikan University and 2019 Kokusaiteki
Research Fund, Ritsumeikan University. The author would like to thank Professor Kenki Adachi for
his valuable comments and guidance.
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