Saturday, October 11, 2008 13 Japinos to leave for Japan
SOME 13 young individuals of Japanese descent and 14 mothers of Japanese-Filipino (Japino) children will leave for Japan on Monday to study or work and, hopefully, have “better lives.”
Shin-Nikkeijin Network (SNN) Association Inc., a nongovernment organization giving assistance to Japinos or “new” (shin) “children born after World War II” (nikkeijin) in the Philippines, is sending them off after the Japan Embassy in Manila, for the first time, approved and issued long-term visas for the children and the mothers.
“It is our national duty as Japanese (citizens) to help these children attain a good future. We really want to give them a good chance for a good education,” said SNN chairman Akira Oka.
He said there are about 830 registered mothers and Japino children with the SNN—480 in Cebu and 350 in Manila.
They had undergone language and skill training that would allow the children to easily adapt to the Japanese school system and for mothers to easily get jobs in Japan.
Some of the mothers could work as caregivers or as domestic helpers.
They could also work in the food industry or in the Bento-making industry, said Oka.
Asked what he expects to get from them, Oka answered, “just a smile from them, and that’s enough for me.”
Concerned with the welfare and future of Japino children, Oka launched SNN in 2006 to help Japinos find their fathers in Japan to get financial and educational support or to find themselves or their mothers jobs in Japan.
There are about 101,098 Japino children registered in Japan as of 2005, said Oka.
However, the Japanese government cannot indicate how many Japino children are living in the Philippines or in Japan.
While there were 101,098 registered Japino children in Japan, still a large number of these children remain unregistered, both in Japan and in the Philippines.
“But I estimate that there might be even about 100,000 Japinos in the Philippines that remain to be unregistered,” said Oka.
Most of these Japinos have lived without their Japanese fathers for most of their lives.
“Most of the children cannot find their fathers or do not even know their fathers. Although, about 50 percent of the children do know the fathers but would rather not meet with them because they hold their mothers of more importance,” said Oka.
The fathers of the Japino children most often leave their children and wives or partners when they could no longer support them in the Philippines.
“While the cases might differ from time to time, in most cases, the reason is that fathers have reached a poor financial situation and can no longer support the children or the mother. He then leaves for Japan, never to be heard of again,” he said.
With the new batch of children and their mothers leaving on Monday, Oka said they still wish to help more Japinos.
But he had warned them of having high expectations, saying that it is a common misconception that with Japan being a “rich country,” people there would generally be “well-off.”
“While income is high, the cost of living is also very high,” he said. (EPB)
