Education and the New Second Generation of Immigrants in Japan: The Case of Japanese Brazilian Migrants
Organizer: Hirohisa Takenoshita, Shizuoka University
Chair: Hirohisa Takenoshita, Shizuoka University
Transition into the secondary education among children of immigrant: The case of Japanese Brazilian migrants
The Ethnic Schools in Immigrant Communities: The Case of Brazilian Schools in Japan
Discussing Ethnic Identity Formation among the Second Generation of Brazilian Migrants in Japan
Discussant: Yoshikazu Shiobara, Keio University
Education and the New Second Generation of Immigrants in Japan: The Case of Japanese Brazilian Migrants
Organizer: Hirohisa Takenoshita, Shizuoka University
Chair: Hirohisa Takenoshita, Shizuoka University
Globalization
has led to the considerable increase in the level of transnational
migration over the past two decades. Although, in the initial stage of
migration, immigrants migrated into the host country alone, some of
them often invited other family members there when they made their
economic life relatively secure. The family reunification of immigrants
has resulted in the increase of children of immigrants in the host
country, while others had children born in the receiving nation. In
Japan, there has been much concern about education of children of
Japanese Brazilian migrants. For instance, some scholars highlighted
the fact that there were 30% of children of Brazilian migrants who did
not receive any compulsory education in Japan. This panel aims to argue
the background and current situations for educational opportunity among
children of Brazilian migrants. The first presenter, Hirohisa
Takenoshita, estimates the inequality of educational opportunity which
lies between children of Brazilian migrants and those of native-born
Japanese population, by using the survey data for Brazilian and
Japanese population. The second presenter, Eunice A. Ishikawa, argues
the significance of ethnic schools for immigrant children in the case
of Japanese Brazilian migrants in Japan while she compares it with
ethnic schools in Brazil. The third presenter, Roberto Pires Jr.
addresses the question of whether identity formation of children of
Brazilian migrants would depend to a considerable extent on the type of
school and ethnic community. As a whole, we account for not only the
institutional background of educational attainment among children of
immigrant but the consequences of education on identity formation.
1) Hirohisa Takenoshita, Shizuoka University
Transition into the secondary education among children of immigrant: The case of Japanese Brazilian migrants
Inequality of
educational opportunity for children of Japanese Brazilian migrants in
Japan has received considerable attention among scholars of
immigration. However, previous studies lack the statistical estimation
of educational disparity between immigrant and native-born children,
whereas they have relied on anthropological investigation into a wide
variety of topic, such as the effect of language fluency on academic
achievement, the relationship between education and children’s identity
formation, and social exclusion out of public school for immigrant
children. This paper focuses its specific attention upon transition
into the secondary education among children of Brazilian migrants,
mainly because some highlighted extremely lower rates of children of
immigrant who succeeded to enroll into the secondary educational
institution than native-born Japanese children, most of whom do not
fail to do so. We use the representative data which comes from the
survey for Brazilian migrants in Shizuoka Prefecture. In order to
compare the likelihood of enrollment into the secondary education
between immigrant and native-born Japanese children, we employ the data
which is from social stratification and mobility survey in Japan. We
would make clear ethnic disparity in the rate of enrollment into
secondary education and whether the extent to which family background
affects educational attainment depends on the ethnicity.
The Ethnic Schools in Immigrant Communities: The Case of Brazilian Schools in Japan
This paper
will focus on the value and significance of ethnic schools in immigrant
communities, analyzing their educational and cultural significance to
the immigrant children. The present case will examine Brazilian Schools
in Japan. In 2007, the Brazilian population in Japan exceeded 316,000.
Sixteen percent of them were under 14 years old, thus they attended
schools in Japan. Most of those children attend Japanese public
schools, where they are immersed into Japanese language and customs.
However, several children attend Brazilian schools, which follow the
Brazilian educational curriculum. The purpose of these Brazilian
schools is primarily to educate the children for their return to Brazil
after living in Japan. In many cases Brazilian children have suffered
through problems of adaptation or discrimination in the Japanese public
schools, and therefore opted to attend Brazilian schools. By the end of
2007, the Brazilian Government recognized 70 Brazilian schools in
Japan. At this point the paper will compare ethnic schools in Brazil,
such as German, Spanish, Swiss and Japanese, describing their
historical background and their current system, and the significance of
these schools to the immigrant communities in Brazil. This comparison
will be used to analyze the importance of these Brazilian Schools in
Japan, specifically, in the Brazilian children’s education and their
identity. It will also address the need of these schools, in the near
future, to adapt to the children’s needs in Japan, since most of the
Brazilian families living in Japan do not return to Brazil as they had
planned to do when they came to Japan.
3) Roberto De Oliveira Pires Jr., Shizuoka University
Discussing Ethnic Identity Formation among the Second Generation of Brazilian Migrants in Japan
Currently we
are assisting to the rise of the second generation of Brazilian
migrants in Japan. Brazilian population in this country arose to almost
330,000 individuals in a period of less than 20 years. Due to many
factors, most of those migrants are Japanese descendants. Moved by the
"dekassegui" spirit of their ancestors, they crossed the ocean and came
to Japan with the idea of staying for a short period of time. They
dreamt with returning to Brazil with enough money to rebuilt their
lives. However, as it happened with their ancestors in the past, they
postponed their definitive return to their home country and now began
establishing themselves in Japan. Once a positive minority in Brazil,
they face an opposite feeling in the land they were taught to consider
as their parents and grandparents' homeland. Distinctively considered
Japanese in Brazil and Brazilians in Japan, they live in the Land of
the Rising Sun by creating and re-creating a strong and
deterritorialized Brazilian ethnic counter-identity. In this
presentation I seek to discuss how all those experiences of migration
and racial constructions are connected to the identity formation of the
now flourishing new generation of Brazilians with Japanese ancestry in
Japan.
Discussant: Yoshikazu Shiobara, Keio University