Interviews

Voice from Philippine man Mr. R

2013年4月11日 木曜日

Today, let’s hear about the story of Mr. R., who lives in Japan since 1993.

As a child, Mr. R. dreamt of coming and living in Japan, but it’s only at 30, after working in a shipyard in Bahrain, that he had the opportunity to come to Japan for the first time. At that time, Mr. R. asked for a visa to go to Australia and Japan as well. Response from the Japanese Embassy came first, and he decided to head for Japan. Considering the story of Mr. R. so far, his life in Japan, and the way he warmly speaks about it (in a very good japanese), it sure was for the best.

Mr. R. stayed in Okinawa a few weeks, but soon decided to go to Yokohama, on the advice of two cousins of his who lived there. He lives there since, where he was a house painter until recent events. Unfortunately, having overstayed his visa, he was caught by the Immigration Services and went to detention center, where he was locked down for 10 months. He is now on temporary release, and, being not allowed to work, finds himself in an uneasy situation. He’s happily volunteering here and then, and he is always here to give a helpful hand at APFS. He is waiting the decision from the Court, which could be one year from now.

Whatever it may be, Mr. R. is determined to marry his fiancée, from the Philippines as well, who he’s in a relationship with for 10 years. Even though Mr. R. doesn’t forget his natal Philippines and Olongapo province, he’s not planning on coming back to the Philippines, for his life is in Japan.

Voice from Philipine Woman Miss. M

2010年7月22日 木曜日

            Way back 1990’s when the first time I come here in Japan to work , this is the first time I left my mother land (PHILIPPINES) It’s hard to me to leave my family suffered from the poverty happened in the Philippines. So I decided to go here in Japan to work to help my parents needs for there everyday living.

              Let me introduce my self first before telling my short story living here in Japan. I’m M, but my friends call me Mary, about my age hmmm………secret!!!! I married to Mr. G for almost 18 years.

             We bless two siblings, they both born here in Japan. Our eldest name is Alice. She’s now second year Junior High School, and the youngest one is named Calvin. He is grade 5 student in elementary school.

             Japan is very busy country that is the first impression I felt here: full of lights, higher building, clean road, clean garbage, so many sight seeing place, nice river, nice water falls and hot spring, long tunnel inside the mountain connecting to another place. and long bridge connecting to another Island. How amazing country!!

             However, living here in Japan is not easy, if you want to stay long or more years here you need to adopt their culture. Whether you like it or not we need to follow their rule. Eating Japanese food like “sashimi with wasabi”, and most of all you need to learn Japanese language to communicate Japanese people.

            I have so many good and bad experience while living here in Japan, but those experience learn to me how to be come a good person or a good mother to my children. Experience is the best teacher in this world. So don’t stop believing in your self, they can do… you can do it.
More power to all readers and advance Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you.

Voice from Filipino woman Ms.B

2010年2月27日 土曜日

I am a Filipino, I came here to Japan twenty years ago, to study and work. At first, I don’t know the language and can’t read Japanese. It is difficult for a foreigner to stay in a country you don’t even understand the language. The Japanese also don’t want to communicate with foreigner or I should say they don’t like foreigners. But now a days they are changing little by little.

1993, I met my husband, a Filipino and we got married. We are blessed with a son who is now 13 years old and he is studying at a public junior high school. Raising a child here in Japan is very difficult because everything is expensive. You have to work hard for the sake of your family to survive.

As a parent we want our children to have a good future. We see to it that, he can finish college or university and have a good work in the future. Now my son is doing good in his studies and we tried our best to give him all what he needs.

I like Japan and I also like children. I volunteered in a local church, we are teaching the children bi-lingual (Japanese and English). This children’s parents are a Filipino who married to some Japanese. We teach them the Christian and good values of our country. I want to touch my fellow Filipino and other foreigners who are living here in Japan, that we should teach our children good values of our country and also the good values of Japan. I know that some of us have difficuly in speaking Japanese, but we should not stop learning. As we are here living in Japan we must love our second country.
Thank you to the APFS that they are helping foreign community to live normally. I just hope that the Japanese government will take more action concerning the foreign residents, living in Japan. I consider APFS as my family and I still believe that the FAMILY is the FOUNDATION of SOCIETY.

Voice from Bangladeshi man Mr.A

2009年12月27日 日曜日

I am a Bangladeshi. I have been living in Tokyo for three years.

It had been very difficult to make conversations when I first came here. People seemed unwilling to communicate in English with foreigners. Commuting by trains had been troublesome for me, but as Japanese peoples are very helpful for others, they tried to help as much as they could. With the support of my coworkers and customers at the restaurant in which I work, I slowly have learnt the language.

It’s a very hard job for foreigners to rent a house in Japan; especially in Tokyo. I myself have experienced the tiresome search for a place. Most house owners doesn’t like to have a foreigner as their tenants, and the initial fees for renting a house is very high for us. But anyway, with the kind help of my friends, I have managed a house some 3.5 km away from my workplace. The government could have a larger role in solving this problem by raising awareness among the citizens.

APFS has helped out many foreigners like me. Without the support of this organization, many people could have been deported to their respective homelands.

Japan is a nice country to live. Rich in natural beauty, cultural heritage, this country attracts people from every part of the world. We, foreigners want to live with the Japanese people in peace and harmony. As Japanese society is continuously aging, a bigger need for foreign helping hands would be felt soon in this country.

I would like to thank everyone of the APFS to give me the chance to express my feelings.