OFIX NEWS
Osaka Foundation of International Exchange News

Notice100

vol.

May 15, 2022

TopicsStarting from Vol.101, OFIX NEWSwill be distributed online and by email!
Use this QR code to registerfor the online distribution◆ Establishment of a one-stop consultation
service for the refugees from Ukraine◆ Information Corner for Foreign Residents
2021 Report◆ Global Voices

The Human Resources Bank of Interpreters
to Assist Displaced Ukrainians Program andOne-stop Consultation Service.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine
starting on February 24 had asignificant impact on our work atOFIX.
On March 9, the Governor ofOsaka Prefecture announced
a plan to establish a one-stop
consultation service to support
refugees from Ukraine, and about
recruiting volunteers to work withthis service that involves sending
volunteers to administrative
offices and schools to provide
interpretation and translation.
OFIX took immediate action
following this announcement.
During the course of supporting
the refugees from Ukraine, I haveonce again realized something.
In order for anyone from abroad to

Spring 2022

be accepted and live successfully
as a "resident" in Japan for any
amount of time, the following fourthings must be available:(1) Securement of housing(2) Japanese language education(3) Lifestyle support including
support finding employment
and (4) Provision of information
with language support. Without
these four elements as apackage, smooth acceptance andsettlement are not possible. Thisis true not only for so-called highlevel human resources, but also
for technical intern trainees andother foreign workers who cometo Japan with the intention offinding employment.
From this perspective, OFIX is

Fumihiko Nakatani,
Executive Director of OFIX
responsible for (4)'s provisionof information with language
support, but we must also pay
sufficient attention to areas (1)through (3) to ensure we are able
to provide high quality support.
This fiscal year marks the year
in which the next medium-term
management plan (FY2023FY2027) will be decided. The nextplan must take into account theelements above when deciding
the future direction of OFIX. We
look forward to your continued
support as always.

Online meeting for the HR Bank of Interpreters.

Taking a call from a refugee from Ukraine.

Consultations During 2021 @ the Osaka Information Servicefor Foreign Residents
Consultation Content
In 2021, a total of 2,100 consultations on unique cases(2,312 if counting mulitple consutations on the samecase) were received at the Osaka Information Service for
Foreign Residents.

◆ Consultations on COVID-19
Continuing from last year consultations regarding
COVID-19 were the most common, reaching 982 cases.
In conjunction with the fifth and sixth waves caused by
the Omicron strain, consultations have been mostly about
medical inquiries. There were many requests from publichealth departments for interpreters to support patientsfrom abroad.
For residents who were unable to make vaccination reservations in Japanese, we set up a dedicated vaccination
reservation service from mid-September to the end of October. With the outbreak of the Omicron strain, werecieved 821 requests for medical consultations from those who tested positive and from those recovering at
home. These included requests for interpreter support from the Stay At Home SOS call-center.

◆ Consultations about daily life
We received 208 immigration consultation cases concerning status of residence, including visas for specifiedactivities. There were 179 consultations about dismissal or compensation for absences from work during at-homemedical treatment of COVID-19. Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic the number of consultations under
the umbrella "other" was 513, exceeding last year's number. This included consultations concerning economic
difficulties such as 87 cases of social insurance and pension counseling.
Languages Used For Consultation
Language JapaneseEnglishSpanish Chinese Vietnamese Portuguese

NepaliThai

IndonesianFilipino

KoreanRatio

33.10%

20.60%

14.20%

11.30%

9.40%

4.90%

2.40%

2.20%

0.80%

0.50％

0.50%

Yr/Yr

89.30%

73.60%

127.90% 98.30%

126.30%113.20%175.90％ 109.50%

130.80％44.00％

55.60%

Regarding languages used during consultations, Japanese accounted for about one-third of the total ofconsultations at 695 cases(33.1%). This includes many non-native speakers as well as native speakers calling on
the behalf of non-speakers. The next most used languages were English (432 cases) and Spanish (298 cases).
There were 238 cases of consultations in Chinese, which was a decrease from last year. Alternatively, there wereincreases in Nepali (51 cases, 175.9% increase), and the Southeast Asian languages, Vietnamese (46 cases,109.5% increase), Thai (46 cases, 109.5% increase) and Indonesian (17 cases, 130% increase).
INOFIX

Osaka Information Service for Foreign Residents
Free consultation service for foreign residents

Tel.

06ｰ6941ｰ2297【Consultation Hours】【Languages available】
Monday and Friday: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (excluding holidays)
English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese,
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Filipino, Thai, Indonesian, Nepali, Japanese(excluding holidays)【E-mail】jouhou-c@ofix.or.jp Second and fourth Sundays of each month: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
(only in Japanese and English)【Professional Consultation】【FAX】06-6966-2401 
Professional consultations and labor consultations with a(only in Japanese and English)
public notary or lawyer【URL】https://www.ofix.or.jp/life/japanese/*Appointment required

Global Voices

We have been introducing "foreign cuisine that can be madein Japan," but starting from this month's issue, we have also
created a section where we ask contributors from abroad what
they think about living in Osaka.
This time we interviewed Gundelina from the Philippines! Sheis an active OFIX Cross-Cultural Education Supporter who has
lived in Japan for 18 years and is good at Rakugo (Japanesecomic storytelling).

Why did you decide to come to Japan?
I married a Japanese man in the Philippines. We have five children. We
decided to move to Japan because our 6 year old son wanted to speak
Japanese.

Was there anything that surprised you when you came to Osaka?
I was surprised at the Japanese climate because it is always hot in thePhilippines. Also, I was very shocked at the onsen (hot springs) because
we don't have a naked public bathing culture in the Philippines.

Where there any problems you faced when you came to Osaka?
In the Philippines, it is not unusual to have a nanny come to the house,
and it was easy for me because I did not have to look after the children
or do housework all alone. However, after coming to Japan, it wasvery difficult to do housework and look after all my children (5 of them!)
all by myself. Japanese mothers are superwomen! (laugh) I wondered how they could do everything bythemselves.

How do you feel about being a supporter?
I really enjoy being a supporter because every time I go to a school I learn something new. It is also great
because I can try many different things. I couldn't speak Japanese at all, but I have been able to practice myJapanese and have simple conversations since I became a supporter.

Gundelina's recommendation from the Philippines『Turron』

Turron, a Filipino banana snack, is a
popular street food. It is sold wrappedin banana leaves. The bananas used forturron are very sweet, and jackfruit isoften added to deepen the flavor, butdried mango can be substituted for it.

Ingredients:
・4 Bananas, Half acup of brown suger,
10 Spring roll sheets,
OilRecipe:
1) Prepare the springroll sheets and if you
wish, cut as much jackfruit or dried mango into strips as you
want to add.
2) Cut bananas lengthwise into 4 pieces and sprinkle with brownsugar.
3) Place the brown sugar-covered bananas and jackfruit/driedmangoes on the spring roll sheets, then fold both ends andwrap tightly. Sprinkle brown sugar on the outside as well.
4) Heat oil in a frying pan and deep-fry the spring rolls over low
heat for 3 to 5 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
5) Dry off the oil with kitchen paper and place on a plate to serve.

Introduce your country toJapanese students!
OFIX Cross-Cultural Education Supporters Wanted!
Why not take this chance to share your culture and country withstudents in Japan and deepen your understanding of each other'scultures through games, folk dances, or instrumental performances?

OFIX registers international students and foreign
residents as supporters and dispatches themto elementary, junior and senior high schools topresent classes about their country and culturesto promote cross-cultural awareness.

our Cross-Cultural 🧡
🧡 To
Education Supporters
We received thank you letters from students who hadtaken some of our supporters' classes.
Please continue to teach us about your home countries!

We are looking for supporting members!

AccessAnnual membership: 50,000 yen for corporate members,
3,000 yen for individual members
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