Minority or Majority
近江兄弟社高等学校

児玉 デ カストロ ベアトリズ 鮎美

３年I’ve heard people say that Japanese laws should be decided by Japanesepeople, since it is their country. I agree with that, but if you look more
carefully, a simple yet complicated question should come into your mind. “Whatwould I think?” I’m Brazilian, but I’ve lived more than half of my life inJapan. I was born here, and I speak Japanese fluently, but unlike many of myfriends, I’m not given the right to vote. Am I different? Is it my looks, or myattitude, or my manners? Should I sit in the corner and watch as important
decisions about the country are being made without me?

developed countries such as the USA, UK, Switzerland and even Japan.
Recently, we often hear about immigrants who come from developing or wartorn countries seeking better lives. Statistics show that their numbers areincreasing. At the same time the birthrate in Japan is decreasing, and there isa shortage of workers. Given this situation, it seems natural that Japan would
be willing to accept more immigrants with open arms, but the government hasyet to take steps towards positive immigration policies.
Anothertopic

thatwecannot

leaveunspokenwhentalking

about

minorities is gender and sexuality. The first experience I ever had was when I
went to live in Brazil for two years. There, I met people who belonged to theLGBT community. We engaged in a conversation that made me realize howlittle I knew about my own sexuality, and how important this topic is. I
started to research more about it, and came to know that statistically, a transperson is killed in Brazil every 48 hours because of pure hate against theLGBT community.
When I was in Brazil, I met the sweetest boy you could ever imagine. He
had tons of scars all over his arms, and without fully understanding thesituation I insensitively asked him about it. That same day, I came to knowthat this boy was gay; a fact that he hated so much that there was a time55

高校生―Ｄ部門

Immigrants are treated as minorities in most countries, especially inthat he used to harm himself to try to make it better. He had no way ofunderstanding what he was going through. He was taught that he was
supposed to like girls, which was a mentality taught by society that was reallyhurting him. But that’s the thing, Brazil is a very open country when it comesto diversity. Compared to Japan it is much easier for a homosexual to comeout there. So imagine, if it was so hard for that boy to come out in a country
like Brazil where there’s a chance for him to be accepted, how much harder is
it for someone to come out in a country like Japan where we hardly discuss
the topic?
In 2015, the first same-sex partnership was recognized in Japan. People
called it “a first step”, but it has been almost three years since it happened,
and the second, third, and fourth steps have yet to come. The rights given to
the couple in Shibuya, such as being allowed to visit their loved one at a
高校生―Ｄ部門

hospital, applies only inside Shibuya. Yet elsewhere in the country, manysame-sex couples still have no rights and cannot get married legally. Without
their own rights, how are such a large number of people going to feel safeand protected?
There are high hopes for Japan with the 2020 Olympics, but we should
keep in mind the importance of recognizing and protecting rights for every
Japanese citizen before accepting the mass of foreigners that are coming toenjoy the games. Our world is made from diversity, whether it is people likeme, who don’t have the right to vote in one’s home country, or people fromthe LGBTQ community who are still in a constant struggle to gain their rights
as citizens and human beings.

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