Panelists’ Profile◆Ms. Wu Xiaobei (China) ～ A hardworking foreign employee of a citizen center◇ Ms. Wu Xiaobei was born in Suzhou and raised in Chongqing. After graduating from the engineering
department of a university in Guangzhou, she came to Japan in 1993 to learn production management.
She studied, worked for a company, got married with a Chinese man, and gave birth to her first child in
Hokkaido. In 2003, she came to Kitakyushu City due to her husband's transfer, and she started working
as a court interpreter and a Chinese language teacher at a citizen center.
Since this year, when her second child entered kindergarten, she has worked regularly at theOrionishi Citizen Center. It is the first time in ten years for her to work outside the house full time. Since
she is employed under the same conditions as Japanese staff and not given special treatment as a
non-Japanese, the job is not easy in terms of Japanese language and working practices. However, sheis expected by many to overcome her difficulties and play a vital role in the future with her sense ofresponsibility and positive attitude. She is the mother of a third grader of elementary school and akindergartner.
1993: Came to Japan to study at a Japanese language school and Hokkaido University Graduate
School1997: Started working for Hokkaido Electric Power Co., Inc.
2000: Married and quit the job, moved to Ashibetsu City, gave birth to her first child2003: Moved to Kitakyushu City, gave birth to her second child2007: Registered as an interpreter at the Fukuoka District Court
2009: Became a member of the Kitakyushu Foreign Residents Opinion Exchange Meeting
2010: Started working at Orionishi Citizen Center◆Ms. Indriyani Rachman(Indonesia) ～ Preparing for study at graduate school◇Ms. Rachman is from Cilegon, about two hours from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
She came to Japan four years ago and is going to enter the Graduate School of the University ofKitakyushu to study pedagogy next April. She came to Kitakyushu in 2006 because her husband,
who has been in Japan for 11 years, entered the doctoral course of the Graduate School of Kyushu
Institute of Technology.
She majored in pedagogy at her university in Indonesia. She is studying Japanese and pedagogy
while raising a fifth grader and a second grader of elementary school. Her goal is to make anenvironmental education curriculum for elementary school students by taking advantage of her
studies in Kitakyushu.
She takes a leadership role in the group of Indonesians working or studying in the city by helping

them with translation and giving advice. Also, she tries to introduce more about Indonesia to the local
citizens through showcasing its folk instruments and food.
1995: Participated in a short-term study program in Australia
1996: Studied at a Japanese language school in Shizuoka
1998: Returned to Indonesia and taught Japanese at a high school in Cilegon
2006: Came to Kitakyushu with her children to live with her husband who entered the Graduate
School of Kyushu Institute of Technology
2008: Attended the Japanese language class of the University of Kitakyushu as an auditor
2010: Passed the entrance exam of the Graduate School of the University of Kitakyushu◆Ms. Arlene Higashi (Philippines) ～Assimilated into the community◇Ms. Arlene Higashi came to Japan from Manila in the Philippines in March 2003 and married aJapanese man in April 2005. She is now a housewife, raising a four-year-old and a fifth grader ofelementary school.
Since she finds some difficulty in understanding Japanese, she is attending Seishun Gakko(School of “Youth”) in Anoo, Yahatanishi Ward, every Thursday as well as evening junior high schoolon week days, except Thursday, to learn Japanese reading and writing with the local elderly.
She also deepens exchanges with local people as a female fire volunteer in Nakama City. Throughvarious experiences of Japanese culture and customs, she realizes the importance of the communitybond.
2003: Came to Japan
2004: Joined the Nakama City Female Fire Volunteer Corps
2005: Got married, started attending Seishun Gakkko (School of “Youth”) in Anoo
2006: Gave birth to her second daughter
2008: Started attending the evening junior high school in Anoo

◆Ms. Tomoko Doi(Japan) ～ A leader deeply rooted in the region◇Ms. Doi has long been involved in the community through her many duties, which include thedirector of the KFAW, president of the Council of Women’s Groups of Kitakyushu, an independent
committee member of Kikugaoka Nursery School, an auditor of the Kokuraminami Ward Council ofSocial Welfare, chair of her neighborhood association, and a local welfare commissioner.
She used to work as a social education instructor and the director of a citizen center while raisingchildren and nursing her mother. Considering her knowledge and experience, she will help form abridge between the resident foreign women and the community from a multidimensional approach.
The Council of Women’s Groups of Kitakyushu that Ms. Doi is serving as the chair of consists ofabout 120 women's groups (about 50,000 people) in the city including the Women’s Education
Research Association, the Mother’s Group, and the Nursery Teacher Association. It also promotes
gender equality through enlightenment activities.
As the rate of participation of foreign citizens in the women's groups in Kitakyushu is still low,resident foreign women are warmly welcomed to join a group as the first step to engage in thecommunity.

◆Dr. Hwa Sung Cho (Korea)
Chungcheongnam-do Women’s Policy Development Institute (CWPDI)RESEARCH INTERESTS
Ethnic politics: overseas Koreans and immigration
Labor Migration and its policy in Korea
Multiculturalism in Korea
PUBLICATION“The North Korean Supreme Leaders’ Operational Code and its Causal Effect on Negotiation
Strategy,” Journal of the Korean Political Science Association, No. 44-1 (2010).
“Ethnic Policies in the U.S. and Germany,” Ethnic Studies, No. 6 (March, 2001).
“Oversea’ Koreans and Ethnic Policies in China and Soviet Union,” East Asia Study, No. 1 (August2000).
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Researcher, The Institute for Democracy and Policies, April 2006 – April 2009.
Visiting Researcher, Global Affairs Institute, Syracuse University, 2002- July 2003.
Lecturer, Department of Ethics, Kang won University, Korea, 1999-2001.
Researcher, Institute for Peace Studies, Korean University, 1999-2001.
Administration Assistant, Graduate School of Political Science, Korea University, 1997.
＊Chungcheongnam-do Women’s Policy Development Institute (CWPDI)＊

＊Profile of Chungcheongnam-do, Korea＊◆Dr. Keiko T. Tamura
Professor at the University of Kitakyushu
RESEARCH INTERESTSInternational Relations
Southeast Asian Studies
PUBLICATION
National-Building in Singapore: Nationalism, Ethnicity, Gender, 2000
62 Chapters to Know Singapore, 2009, editor
NGO and Gender in Southeast Asia, 2004, co-editor
Border Crossing in Asia, 2009, co-editor
RESEARCH PAPER“The Mainstreaming of Gender and Democratization in Southeast Asia : The Role of NGO,”Alexander Duleba & Tadashi Hayashi eds., Regional Integration in the East and West: Challengesand Responses, Slavic Research Center & Hokkaido University, 2005