Two foreign families struggle to make ends meet
The following clips are from a TV news report about foreign residents living in a public housing complex in Misato, Saitama Prefecture. (I cannot recall the exact channel the report aired on, but I think it may have been TBS. ) English language summaries can be found beneath each clip.
The woman in the clip is Ms. Takamatsu, who came from the Philippines 16 years ago to work as a dancer/hostess in Japan. After facing sexual harassment (being forced to wear a bathing suit), she ran away from her dancing job and eventually married a Japanese man, whose last name she took. Takamatsu and her husband had two children, but he liked to fool around with other women, and one day he left and never came back.
Takamatsu now lives in the Misato housing complex with her children, and even though she has trouble making enough money to support them, she has no plans to return to the Philippines. Having lost a brother to gun violence in the Philippines, she wants her children to grow up in a safe environment.
She believes that if she works hard enough, she can support her four children and have an enjoyable life in Japan. After studying hard and passing a nursing exam, she now works as a nurse helper at a local hospital. Both the patients and the hospital management are open and welcoming towards Takamatsu and the other three Filipino nurses working there. The hospital only pays about 130,000 yen a month, but combined with child support payments from her former husband, it is enough for them to scrape by. It will be a difficult future for them, especially for her two non-Japanese-speaking older children from a previous marriage in the Philippines, but Takamatsu and her family are determined to work hard for a better future.
The second part focuses on a Pakistani man named Mohammed who is facing terrible difficulties and does not share Ms. Takamatsu’s positive outlook.
Mohammed came to Japan in 1988 during the height of the bubble economy, a time when companies were eager to hire workers regardless of qualifications or language ability. He found work in a lumber yard and founded a car exporting businesses, but when the bubble burst, his company failed and he could not find work. He had become able to speak Japanese and even had some qualifications, but companies and employment agencies turned him away because he was a foreigner.
He eventually found a decent job at a factory, working there for 8 years and earning enough money to live comfortably. However, the company that operated the factory was hit hard by the new financial crisis and was forced to shut down the factory. This report was filmed on his last day of work before the factory closure. Many of the people working at the factory were foreigners, and quite a few of them have not found new jobs. One of Mohammed’s coworkers tells the reporter in clear Japanese that employment agencies have turned him away because he is a foreigner.
With no job and a family to support, Mohammed’s savings will soon be gone. He wishes that the government would do more than just tell those who are struggling to “work hard,” because he has been working hard his whole life and needs help now.
The last couple minutes of the news report focus on the Misato public housing complex. Guarantors are not necessary and rent can be as low as 41,500 yen for a 2DK apartment in the complex, so it is a very attractive place to live for some foreigners. The total number of foreign residents has more than doubled in the last 15 years, and there are now more than 1,000 foreigners living in the Misato complex. It has its own international community group to help foreign residents move in and adjust to live there, and there are also free Japanese language lessons run by volunteer teachers. The area has plenty of schools, hospitals, and shops around, so it is very convenient.
The report ends with reactions from Japanese residents of the Misato housing complex. One woman admits she was a bit frightened at first, but she has now gotten used to having so many foreigners around. Another woman happily describes how she can respond to questions from foreigners by saying “I don’t understand English.” There are sometimes cultural misunderstandings, as one man describes the time some foreign residents that didn’t realize that it is common for deliverymen to return and pick up dishes food was delivered in. A shopkeeper says that both foreign and Japanese customers occasionally have bad manners, but she doesn’t discriminate when explaining problems to them. The last word is given to a man who thinks it is a good thing for foreign residents and Japanese to have more contact with each other.
