ストーリー

01

I poured milk into a cup that had been used for tea...

At first, so many things were a mystery to me…even leaving my home was scary. For example,
my daughter, who was born in my home country, had had her ears pierced at a beauty salon
when she was little before we came here. This led to unwanted attention. One day, while I was
waiting in line at the supermarket cashier, a customer behind us looked at my daughter’s ear,touched it, looked at it again, which I found confusing. I thought, really?... How was a pierced
ear such a strange sight?
Some time later, when my daughter had found friends, there was moment that, even today,
I still can’t forget. In Japan, for example when children get together (for playtime), everyone
has their own drinking cup. Everyone had just been drinking tea, and one of the children had
wanted to drink milk. The mother had brought out a milk pack, and it was placed there. Thinking
I would pour milk for the child, I poured it into the same cup, the one used for drinking tea.
Well, based on the child’s wide-eyed and puzzled reaction, I realized I had done something
strange. The child’s mother also noticed and poured the milk into a new cup. As the cup had
been empty, pouring a drink into it would be a fine thing to do in my country. No one would
care about such a thing over there. Oh... I thought, things are different here. I remember that tothis day.

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I poured milk into a cup that had been used for tea...

001

ストーリー

02

I wanted to express my feelings at the hospital,
but I couldn’t speak Japanese

One day, my daughter suddenly had her first ever asthma attack. It was a very cold, rainy
day when it happened, and as I didn’t know what was wrong, I rushed her to the hospital. The
doctors and nurses at the hospital told me many things in Japanese, but I couldn’t understandanything they said. There was this nurse who was trying to insert an intravenous drip. It didn’t
work the first time, and she couldn’t do it properly the second time either. It took her three attempts to put a drip into my daughter’s arm! There I was, holding my crying daughter, thinking,what are you doing! I really wanted to say something to the nurse. Why are you so bad? Why
did you make my little child suffer? I found being in that situation to be so unbearable. Then I
felt this heavy thought inside my head, You must learn Japanese! After such an episode, I knew
I had to learn Japanese. I thought that if I didn’t want my daughter to suffer in this way again, I
had no choice but to learn Japanese. At the time, I didn’t care that it was a hospital, and started
crying. My husband and I cried too much. And the nurse who was together with us said to me,
who was sitting on the bed with my child, o-kaasan, detete (Please get out of the way!). That
was the beginning; it was the start of me learning Japanese.

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I wanted to express my feelings at the hospital, but I couldn’t speak Japanese002ストーリー

03

I walked for many hours before I finally arrived home

When I came to Japan, my child was still small, so we rarely went anywhere. Not knowing or
understanding anything, and lacking confidence with the trains, I didn’t ride trains much. I easily
got motion sickness on the bus, which made it no good as well. Instead, I travelled around by
bicycle, and it became my means of transport. I learned one part of town like the back of myhand. People would say, “Wow! You go all those places on a bike?” But I had a child and sparetime. After we would go to my husband’s company, I would ride the bike all around the placelooking around.
But let me tell you about the time I got myself into trouble. It happened when I went to myfriend’s place one day. You see, to get to my friend’s place, I had no choice but to take public
transport. So, first I got on a bus from my home to station A. Then, I took a train to station B,
where I changed trains again to go to station C, where my friend’s place was. That bit was fine,
but when going home, I returned to station A and caught a bus from there. Okay so far, but asI could not read the Japanese on the busses, I got on the wrong bus! The bus started taking
me back toward station B, so, I pressed the button somewhere along the way. I said, “I madea mistake! I’m getting off.” I held my three-year-old child in my arms and got off the bus. After
I walked some, I realized that I couldn’t walk any more like this, so I put my child on my back.
I was also carrying lots of things, so it was awful! As I had no idea when a bus would come, I
started walking. I would sometimes look behind me to see if a bus was coming, but no bus
came. In the end, we did make it home, but not until many, many hours later.

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I walked for many hours before I finally arrived home003

ストーリー04

I want to learn kanji

I study kanji on my own. I used to try reading the passing signboards when going somewhereby car. By doing this, I gradually learned them. Little by little, I remember that this shape means
this, and that shape means that. Also, I learn with karaoke. On the karaoke monitor, I look at the
lyrics written in Japanese, and learn them as I sing the same song over, and over. If I don’t know
how to read a kanji character, I ask someone.
Some time ago, I decided to learn Japanese, and I thought I should also learn kanji, because
I wanted to be able to write. I enrolled in a Japanese class, but when it started, I realized thatthe other students were all beginners. We were only covering basic material, and I was bored.
I also had to travel a long distance to get to the class, which meant it took up a lot of mytime. I decided to quit the class. But although I had quit, I still really wanted to learn kanji, so I
started studying by myself by writing down the kanji from my mobile phone. I sometimes didn’tknow the correct stroke order, so I just wrote them as best I could. Also, for example, I didn’t
understand the kanji on forms sent from the city office that needed to be filled in, so I would
wait for my husband to come home so that he could help me. Later, with the childcare center
documentation, there were lots of kanji I didn’t understand. The words that had hiragana written
for them were okay, but they were full of kanji and so I asked my husband how to pronounce thewords, and if I didn’t understand, I would get him to read it slowly for me.

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I want to learn kanji004

ストーリー05

He wanted to talk more with his cousins

My son can’t speak my country’s language now. But he understands a little as I speak it athome. In the summer holidays, the whole family went back home to my country. While we were
there, my mother spoke to my son in our language, “You want to eat dinner?” And my son
answered in our language, “Yes, I want to eat.” I think my mother was very pleased when hesaid that. My husband can’t really speak much, but he understands a little. I said to him, “Daddy
understands Mummy’s language too!” To that, my son replied, “Okay, then I’ll try too.” Now, it
seems my son wants to learn more of my country’s language so that he can talk with his cousins
living over there.

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He wanted to talk more with his cousins005ストーリー

06

I held onto the city newsletter for three years

I volunteer as an interpreter. This all started because I had seen an advertisement calling forinterpreter volunteers in a city newsletter while I was at the city office registering for things likemy pension when I first came to Japan. I kept hold of this newsletter for three years. In my thirdyear in Japan, I went to the local International Exchange Association and registered to volunteer
as an interpreter.
Nine months later, I got a phone call and work started. I volunteered at elementary schools
interpreting for mothers from the same country as me at gatherings and parent-teacher
interviews. After I interpreted, I would go home and look up things in my textbooks and think, it
would have been better to say this, and oh, that’s what it meant, but I also thought the work wasfun. I was asked, “Why not be a volunteer for language classes teaching your native language?”and I started volunteering for that as well. I am busy and don’t have much time, but I think it isimportant to teach the children our country’s language.

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I held onto the city newsletter for three years

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ストーリー07

I turned into someone who loves cooking

When my daughter was about two years old, I thought it was time she would want to havea friend. I started to worry about it, and after thinking about what kind of activities Japanesechildren like, I decided on cooking. Everyone likes homemade food. I found some very cheapbananas, and I thought a money-saving idea would be to make juice with a juicer. When thechildren came to our home to play, I made juices for them, and they really enjoyed it.
My husband doesn’t eat the food of my country, so I spent a lot of effort watching cooking
shows on television. At times when neighbors gave me food, it was Japanese curry and stew.
Thinking Japanese people must like to eat this type of food, I figured I should learn how to cookit. My eyes always lit up when I had a chance to observe what Japanese eat. My husband madethe dinner on Sundays. He would make things like meat sauce, spaghetti, and meat patties. This
led me to make meat patties when children came to our house to play, and they all really enjoyed them. So, I originally just wanted to save money, but before I knew it, I had turned into aperson who loves cooking, and people would praise me on how delicious it was. When my childstarted going to elementary school, I started working in a family restaurant where I worked in the
kitchen. Around that time, I met a lady who was a former high school teacher, and she ended
up introducing me to my current job. When I said that I was working in a family restaurant, theshe asked me what I did before I came to Japan. I told her how I used to look after children at achurch before I came to Japan. She suggested that I should continue with my cooking work fora few years and get my cook’s license. When I said that I can’t write, but I can read a little, shesaid, “You certainly should go for it!” and told me how to study for Japanese proficiency exams.
I quit the family restaurant and worked in the kitchen of a new workplace that the lady had
introduced me to. Then after working there for five years, I became a licensed cook.

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I turned into someone who loves cooking

007ストーリー08

I wanted our home to be a place where children could
come and go

When I was raising my son, I sometimes felt sorry for him. He didn’t have friends, and friends
are most important when you’re a child. Feeling I must do something, I suggested to moms that
their children could play with mine while they went shopping. I remember the Japanese that
I used at that time. I had written, “Come and play here. Come and play together,” and “Whynot leave your children with us?” I told everyone as best I could. The first people I contacted
thought I was a bit strange in the head and brushed me off. I wondered what to do. One ideathat came to me: when it comes to cleaning, Japanese only cleaned their own homes, and not
the shared space of the apartment or street. So, I thought what I could do, and decided to put
all my effort into cleaning. Below our home was a tiny park, and I started keeping that park looking neat and tidy. After six months or so, people, even neighbors, started spreading the word
about what I was doing, and I completely opened up my home, so the children could do as
they please, a little like after-school childcare. However, I didn’t do it because I wanted to run achildcare center. I did it because I felt so sorry that my son didn’t have anyone to talk with. Afterall, it’s such an important part of childhood to have friends to talk with. If a child is confined, theystop thinking and become scared of everything. I think children must be given the opportunity
to quarrel and play with others.

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I wanted our home to be a place where children could come and go008

ストーリー09

I’m not used to Japanese tastes

The number-one thing that I’ve found most difficult to get used to in Japan is the meals. I justcouldn’t eat them. I grew up with dinners having a savory, salt-and-pepper taste, so I find thatJapanese cooking tastes too sweet.
Unable to eat Japanese cooking, I made my own meals for breakfast and such, doing
everything myself.
Sometimes, I would make dumplings, and other times tempura. The whole family ate together, and we worked out a system for who would wash the dishes. I washed them in the morning;
my mother-in-law, at night. When I went shopping, someone would take me as I couldn’t drive.
After my son was born, I went for my one-month checkup, and the nurse was really worried
about me. I was thin, and my blood pressure was low. “Are you managing okay? You’re a motherwith a baby boy now. In your current condition, you might collapse!” she told me. Since myson had been born, I was having to get up in the middle of the night. I truly hadn’t had enoughsleep, and every day, I was so sleepy. But sleepy or not, there were many things that had to bedone, and I had to do them. The nurse had told me to eat everything because I was so thin. She
had a point, so that’s what I decided to do. I had a baby now, so it was important for me to bewilling to eat everything and build up some strength. Since that time, I have tried to eat various
food. Well…up until then, I thought that I didn’t like sweet things. I had found pumpkin to beparticularly sweet. But, for the sake of my child, I ate it again and again. And as I ate pumpkin
more and more, it surprisingly started tasting delicious.
Having grown used to Japanese tastes, I don’t mind them now. When I go home to mycountry, I really want to eat my country’s cooking. When I do eat it, I feel nostalgic. These days, I
don’t find that kind of food delicious anymore, but it is still a reminder of long ago.

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I’m not used to Japanese tastes

009

ストーリー10

It’s rude if you don’t use respectful language!

Being a language of honorifics and expressions of respect, Japanese requires the speaker tobe careful about using honorifics. When putting all this into practice, it can be quite a challenge
to decide what times to use honorifics, and with whom they should be used. I think native
Japanese are able to decide easily, as if they just need to flick a switch, but foreigners need a bitof time to sort it all out. Foreigners often tend to speak rudely, such as speaking in one’s peer
language to people who should be looked up to. However, Japanese listeners are very niceabout this, and say, it’s okay, it’s okay to such faux pas.
I have been wanting to get on better with the Japanese people I have got to know throughthe class and the teacher has even said to me, “Maybe you can teach me some Chinese later.”
You see, I am also working as an assistant in the Chinese class at the same place. I am starting
to feel my Japanese is developing. I can communicate with the people around me, and I feelthat I had discovered something I like. However, out of the blue, the school staff cautioned meon how I was communicating with the senior-aged adults. Apparently, because there were many
students in the class in the prime of their life, it is rude not to use respectful language. This wasin the Chinese class, where I had just assumed it was okay to speak in plain Japanese. Afterall, the class isn’t a proper formal class. It was more like a club gathering. This was when I firstlearned that we had to use respectful language when there were older people present. But stilleven now, I can’t use it properly. Speaking polite Japanese is difficult.

ストーリー 10It’s rude if you don’t use respectful language!

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I like to tell people how things are with me

I got my driving license when my daughter was one year old. We had moved to a new house,
and I had decided to go to driving school. My mother-in-law recommended that I get a license
as it would be inconvenient without one, and she even offered to look after my daughter while I
was at driving school. But I thought it was no good for her just to be with the family all the time,
so I took her to the child-minding service at the driving school.
After getting my driver’s license, my freedom of movement was so much greater.
I took my daughter to public play centers, and other various childcare center playground open
days. I met other moms and made more friends. While visiting a playground open day, I used tomention to the childcare teachers, “I’m from China, so I don’t understand Japanese that well.”
Immediately the teachers would start teaching me various things. There are all types of people;
there are some Chinese who don’t like telling the people around them they are Chinese. But I
always wanted to let people know how things are with me. I was equally open with my life whenat the maternity club that my obstetrician clinic had held. I always tell people straight away
about my own circumstances. I think it’s good to do this as it leaves a deeper impression on
people, and they can end up responding more positively. I put my daughter into kindergarten
before she turned four. I put her in early because, coming from China, I didn’t have many family
or friends, and my daughter didn’t have any playmates around her age. There were two children
who lived close by, and we walked together nearly every day. I spoke with their mothers, andthey taught me how to say various things in Japanese.

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I like to tell people how things are with me011

ストーリー12

My son was the reason I decided to get naturalized

The reason I decided I should get naturalized was my son. It’s a long time ago now, but I
remember seeing on television every now and then something about foreign children having
problems with bullying. Being a foreigner myself, when I went and got my driver’s license once,
for example, they told me I must bring my Certificate of Alien Registration, and I would often
forget to bring it. When I forgot it, I was told I have to come back again to get it. When I went
to the embassy of my country, I forgot my Residence Card and I ended up having to make asecond trip to Tokyo. All this is really difficult, and when my child grows up and applies for a job,
the company might say that your mother is a foreigner, so we need a copy of the family register,and the certificate of residence, when normally just one sheet of paper is okay. To prevent suchan ordeal for my son, I thought getting naturalized would make things better in the future, sothat’s why I decided to get naturalized.
When I was getting naturalized, my parents were not opposed to it at all. They were like,“That’s a good idea, you go ahead and do that.” I guess that was because there are so manythings to worry about when living in a foreign country. If you are a foreigner, you will be treatedlike a foreigner. Though, I don’t know whether that is the case in Japan. If anything, I think it
might be the foreigners receiving the more favorable treatment. Yes, really. When all the familyneeded documents at a city office, I would receive them faster than Japanese people. From myparents’ perspective, however, I can understand how they were worried. As a foreigner living
in a foreign country, if something happened, I would be dealt with as a foreigner. So, when I
told them I had decided to get naturalized, they were overjoyed and said, “Yes, go ahead anddo it. After all, your child is Japanese, and your husband is Japanese too. It would be betterfor the family to be all one nationality. We support you.” At first, I was worried about getting
naturalized. But when neither my father nor my mother was worried, and told me, “We would
both feel much more at ease if you did. You are all a family now. You’re a proper family, so you
should all be the same nationality.”
If you ask me whether I was sad getting naturalized, I’d say I couldn’t bear the thought ofmy child being at a disadvantage. I wasn't exactly sad, but I still didn’t want to tell my Chinese

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My son was the reason I decided to get naturalized012

friends and relatives getting naturalized. I told my parents and siblings the truth, but among mysiblings, my elder sister was against the idea. She said things like, “If you get naturalized, you
won’t be able to come home anymore!” However, what she was really wanting to say was, weare of the same blood, so one day you should come back. My parents supported my decision,
but if I told my friends and other relatives, they would look at me disapprovingly as if to say, shemust have changed in some way. I didn’t want people to ask me if I didn’t like my own country,
so I decided not to tell my friends. So I never say, “I’m naturalized now, so I’m Japanese.” I
never say that.

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My son was the reason I decided to get naturalized013

ストーリー13

To have pride of place of origin

I married a Japanese man whom I met while travelling and that brought me to Japan. The
biggest worry at the time was the Japanese language. Of course, I also had trouble in daily life
and in my relationships with people...
A year after we married, my son was born. As I thought it important, I spoke to him in mymother tongue. My son has been speaking both Japanese and a foreign language since he wasan infant. As a result, he has been quick to learn other foreign languages. Outside the home,
however, we sometimes were met with disapproving eyes.
Speaking a foreign language — or being a foreigner for that matter — is nothing to beashamed of. As we were not doing anything wrong, we continued until gradually, it became
natural to us. I still recommend to newly arrived foreign mothers that they should pass on theirmother tongue to their children, and, of course, that they should have pride in where they comefrom.
Through my son, I was able to make many Japanese friends.
However, it was difficult for me when visiting a park for the first time or on other suchoccasions. As soon as I started speaking, it became clear I was a foreigner, and sometimes I
was immediately excluded. When that happened, it was very disappointing. But not giving up,
I tried my hardest to connect with Japanese people. I knew that in order to live in Japan fromnow on, it was important that I made Japanese friends. After living here for a long time, I havediscovered there are many wonderful Japanese people. Therefore, rather than always waiting forfriends, I go looking for them.
Walking to elementary school in the group of children he walks with, my son was told by anolder child: “Your mom’s a foreigner!” Coming to my support, my son replied: “Yeah, she’sa foreigner... But she’s a nice person.” That was heartwarming to hear. Until my son enteredelementary school, I was a full-time housewife and full-time mother. After he started school,
I found I had a few spare hours in my day, and deciding to study Japanese, I took advantageof the various Japanese classes being held throughout the region. At my busiest, I went toeight separate places each week. I really learned a lot. While doing this, I also participated in

ストーリー 13To have pride of place of origin014international exchange activities.
No matter how much I studied, I found Japanese was difficult. I endeavor to read, understandand remember the lyrics of Japanese songs, and I listen to the radio as much as possible.
After studying Japanese for a while, I decided to sit the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I
realized then that although the community Japanese language classes taught basic Japanese fordaily conversation, the lessons did not prepare you for an exam. I think that is how it should be.
I therefore undertook further study at a university open college. Thanks to the teachers and thestudents who helped me, I was able to pass the Level 1 Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I
was overjoyed, and I am full of gratitude toward many people, even today.
Later, I participated in as many as four Japanese language speech contests for foreigners
held at various places. The first time was a good experience. I received a special prize from thejudging committee the second time, the committee chairperson’s prize on the third occasion,and the first prize on the fourth occasion at a city-wide speech contest. I feel deep gratitude
toward my family and many people who helped me achieve this.
Currently, I am performing eight different activities and jobs in Japan, including being an
origami instructor.

ストーリー 13To have pride of place of origin

015

ストーリー

14

Is learning Japanese about being able to speak eloquentand correct Japanese?

What I want to say to foreigners living in Japan is don’t try to just “fit in.” Just because youcome to Japan, it doesn’t mean you have to fit in to Japanese society to bring out your best.
Rather, I think that if there were more foreigners approaching Japanese study in a different
direction, society might be an easier place to live. Everyone’s got their own strengths. So, surely,
bringing out such strengths must be the better way.
As I see it, because you’re not Japanese, you’re probably studying Japanese today in order
to become Japanese. But that’s not how it should be. What I’m trying to say is that it is fine tospeak Japanese as someone not Japanese. It’s only natural that doing so is going to cause somediscomfort and odd looks from Japanese society, but hey, you’re a foreigner after all. Be who
you are, and be proud of it. And if you have to struggle a bit more in Japanese society, well,what’s wrong with that? If you are happy with what you say, then I think that is all that matters.
When it comes to one’s values, people tend not to stray far from their core beliefs. If one
is firm about one’s beliefs, then no matter what people say, I think they will find it difficult tochange your values because you believe what you are thinking is correct. In my case, when I firstcame to Japan and threw myself into learning Japanese, there was a strong feeling inside thatmade me want to become Japanese and speak the language like a Japanese person. So, when
I was speaking Japanese, I would try to work on my intonation and the like in order to speak
as if I were a native speaker. I think I put too much thought into trying to do that. In contrast,
when I instead totally accept that I’m not Japanese, speaking the language becomes much
more enjoyable. I think this is because for a long time, I had been putting too much pressure on
myself by trying to say everything perfectly.
In conversations, I ask whether there is anything wrong with saying it my way...after all, they
got the gist of what I was saying. Sometimes I even think my way of saying it was even better.
Then, there are always times when the Japanese listeners accept what you say…what could bebetter an opportunity for further, mutual exchange of language than that?
When I keep this in mind during conversations, I remember I’m a foreigner and I chose tolearn Japanese to use it in my life. Then, it no longer seems as important to learn Japanese

ストーリー 14Is learning Japanese about being able to speak eloquent and correct Japanese?

016

that perfectly. I think that if both the Japanese teachers and learners both realized that, thenlanguage learning would be a lot more fun.

ストーリー 14Is learning Japanese about being able to speak eloquent and correct Japanese?

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ストーリー

15

More than the language, the Japanese procedures,
systems and institutions themselves are not understood

My Experience with Helping the War-Displaced Japanese who were Left in China
Since 2008, it has been my job to support and counsel war-displaced Japanese who wereleft in China in the aftermath of World War II. This work targets only the first generation of the
war-displaced Japanese left in China. My role is to help make their daily lives and interactions
with society a comfortable experience. Currently I support four households in City A two daysa week, ten households in City B two days a week and 22 households in City C once a week. I
would like to explain the current nature of this support.
With regard to the first generation of war-displaced Japanese left in China, even the returnees
who can speak a little Japanese are illiterate as they did not go to school in China. The reason
they didn’t go to school was because after the defeat, many of them had to be left behind inrural villages in China and they didn’t go to school for economic reasons. On one occasion, aclient had gone to the hospital. The client’s name was called, and they were asked to go to thisand that window for various different medical tests. Despite actually hearing their name being
called, the client had not gone. When I asked: “Why didn’t you go?” the client replied: “I cannot
read the signs on the windows. I don’t know which window to go to.” That day, I accompanied
two returnees at the hospital, and interpreting for both was an immense task.
When forms had to be submitted, they could not read them. However, half of the first
generation cannot speak Japanese either. We had to take all the forms to the city office and fillthem in together, asking questions throughout. It is not only language either. My clients do notunderstand the processes and systems and are simply unable to comprehend the administrative
procedures in Japan. They have to submit many forms each year: income statements, statements of residence, water utility bills, NHK broadcast receiving fee bills, etc. Dealing with suchthings is an immense task for the first generation. As for counseling regarding daily life worries, I
use the waiting time at hospitals to ask about such issues. As many of my clients live an isolated
existence in their homes, many actually brood over problems by themselves and they have someserious dilemmas.
I would also like to discuss the second generation of war-displaced Japanese who are not

ストーリー 15More than the language, the Japanese procedures, systems and institutions themselves are not understood018

targeted by any measures. I have counseled on labor problems, and there are difficult issues
they have had to deal with. In one case, a person lost three fingers on their right hand as it had
been caught in a machine. The company took the person to the hospital in a private car insteadof calling an ambulance. After treatment, the person’s employment was terminated with a
700,000 yen payment. After seeking help from the labor union of a Japanese acquaintance, thematter went to court, and the person finally received a compensation payment of 250 million
yen. The second generation cannot read contracts, or more to the point, they do not read them.
For many of these people, it is their first time to see the contract when they are suddenly dismissed. Although I think the situation in China today has changed, it is normal to work without
any contract. From my personal experience, I studied for three years to be a pharmacist. After
graduating, I worked in a hospital for five years as a pharmacist but never during that time can I
recall seeing a contract.
On the topic of pensions and old age, the period of pension contribution is much shorter
than for the ordinary Japanese. Many work in part-time employment. In particular, those of thesecond generation in their forties and fifties who came to Japan face the difficulty of having
to supplement their own living costs even when receiving the national pension. As for the first
generation’s future needs for old-age nursing care, the average age of the war orphans is 70. As
they do not understand Japanese, there would be hardly any aged care facilities that they could
enter. If second generation family members do not obtain carer certification and perform therole of carer, this problem facing the first generation cannot be resolved, and time is running out
for a solution.
As for the third and fourth generations, the returnees who have entered the Tokyo publicschool system are receiving 120 hours of Japanese language instruction. They can enter schoolclassrooms with interpreters to study. However, many returnees do not know about this system.
The year before last, there were 12 returnees studying at City A’s international association’s
Japanese language class. In order to counsel three of those who were third generation returnees
regarding the high-school academic path, I went with their parents and an interpreter to thejunior high school many times to seek advice on the matter. Without understanding Japanese,parents are unable to understand even small matters sent by the school in notices. However,thanks to the system, one boy, who still attends the Japanese language class today, has been
admitted into high school A, which was his first choice.
I came to Japan at my own expense, summoned here as a returnee family member. On theseventh day after arriving, I started work at a cleaning company on 650 yen/hour wages. At first
I had no time to study Japanese, but afterwards, I went to volunteer-run Japanese language

ストーリー 15More than the language, the Japanese procedures, systems and institutions themselves are not understood019

classes in four different places each week while still continuing my work. Now, in addition toassisting war-displaced Japanese who were left in China I help organize cultural exchange
activities for returnees through food and song at community centers and the like.
As mentioned above, there are many hardships, but when a problem is resolved and I see thesmiling faces of returnees, it is both a happy and an encouraging moment. I therefore find thiswork rewarding, despite its difficulties.
In conclusion, what I have mentioned above is but a small part of the whole. I continue tosearch here and there for opportunities where I can be involved in activities to help returnees
become more assimilated in Japanese society by meeting their needs. I think the challenge is
to create communities that facilitate the wishes of people. I would be so happy to see people
living in the community helping with support activities in the future.

ストーリー 15More than the language, the Japanese procedures, systems and institutions themselves are not understood020