Despite closer PHL-Japan ties, integration woes still hound Japinoys

Despite closer ties between the Philippines and Japan, Japanese-Filipino children are still finding it hard to find their identity owing to Japan's strong national identity that discourages Japanese fathers from acknowledging their children from a foreigner.
Take Ken Ishikawa for example. Interviewed through Facebook, Ishikawa lamented how he continues to struggle to "make sense of myself as a person" in the face of Japanese societal taboos involving mixed-race children.
"My greatest struggle so far is being able to make sense of myself as a person and to integrate the elements of my Filipino and Japanese heritage together," he said. "I would have a healthier sense of it if I had a connection with my relatives there (Japan)."
Ishikawa said Japanese-Filipino kids, or Japinoys, like him find it difficult to create a cultural identity as their Japanese relatives—their tangible connection to Japan—refuse all attempts at communication.
Ishigawa is an active member of Batis-YOGHI (Youth Organization Gives Hope and Inspiration), an organization of children of Filipino women migrant workers in or from Japan. He made the statement during the historic state visit of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko to the Philippines aimed at strengthening the relationship between the two countries.
Ishigawa explained that gaining recognition in Japan is still seen as a "family matter" by the Japanese government in spite of efforts in the past to support children of mixed race, including Filipinos.
Societal and financial sanctions also discourage fathers from acknowledging their children, he said.
"There's very real stigma against men who stray there. For one, the company they work for can slash their salaries and second, their children will have trouble finding good marriages," Ishikawa explained.
Second-generation Japinoys, according to separate reports by Japan Times and The Asahi Shimbun, seek recognition to complete their identity or to allow their children to work abroad. Those who work in Japan risk alienation, lower pay, and maltreatment.
Language and cultural barrier also play a role why Japinoys find it hard to assimilate in Japanese society.
The administrator of Malago.net, a forum for the Filipino-Japanese community in Japan, said Filipinos have a hard time integrating due to difficulties in basic communication. Lack of skills also makes them prone to abuses.
"Karamihan na naapi here is 'yung mga pumapasok na mga trainee na Pinoy under trainee visa at mga Pinay na meron anak na Japanese na nakapunta dito sa tulong ng mga underground community," the administrator, who refused to be identified, said.
He said for Filipinos, Japinoys included, knowing how to speak the language is key to making it in the Land of the Rising Sun.
"In finding work, medyo may kahirapan po yong mga can't read and write Japanese language po," he said.
The Japanese government has taken steps to address discrimination though legislation. In 2015, the National Diet—Japan's bicameral legislature—started deliberations on a bill banning racial discrimination.
Submitted in May, the bill seeks to outlaw "unjustifiable discrimination based on race" and would require the "central and local governments to form basic anti-discrimination policies and programs," according to a Japan Times report.
However, the bill does not have punitive measures against those committing racist acts. It also faces strong opposition from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which believes the bill may infringe freedom of speech. —KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more