Shift in demographic challenges night schools

KOBE--With a newfound joy of learning, Shigeru Kawakami always arrives at least 30 minutes early for his 5 p.m. class at a junior high school in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.

His notebook is filled with Japanese words, such as "radio," "lucky" and "wrap," carefully written in the katakana alphabet.

At 71, Kawakami is studying Japanese in his first formal educational experience in Japan at the Kinjo night school of the city-run Seiryo Junior High School.

Having grown up in China as a war-displaced Japanese who became an "orphan" in the chaotic period after World War II, Kawakami resettled in Japan after being reunited with his relatives in 1986.

He finds it fun to learn new things at the school. He has teachers who will listen to him and friends to talk to in Chinese.

"It was not until after I turned 70 that I began to feel happy every day," he says.

At his junior high night school, 35 of the 55 students are foreign nationals. Of the 20 Japanese, six were "war orphans" left behind in China like him.

The Kinjo school's student body is not unusual.

According to Zenkoku Yakan Chugakko Kenkyukai (Zenyachu, a group studying issues at junior high night schools), two in three students at the nation's 35 schools that offer night courses have come to Japan in recent years.

The group found that of the 2,718 students as of September, only 500 were Japanese (war-displaced people from China excluded), while 383 were long-time Korean residents.

The largest group, 714, were war-displaced Japanese from China and their relatives. A total of 590 more came from China, including Taiwan, to work here or get married.

Including those in Japan with refugee status or as immigrants, 1,835 came from abroad, accounting for 67.5 percent of all night school students.

The rate is about 30 points higher than in 1996, when the oldest data is available.

Junior high night schools were originally created for people who failed to finish compulsory education--six years in elementary school and three years in junior high school. The first night school opened in Kobe in 1949.

The schools initially accepted Japanese and Korean residents who failed to go to school during the war.

But around the 1980s, they began to have more newcomers to Japan, including people who came here to work, returnees from China and their relatives.

Teachers at the schools say more Chinese are arriving to work or get married in Japan in recent years. They also say many new students desperately want to improve their Japanese after losing jobs due to the economic downturn.

At the Kinjo school, too, most foreign students and former war orphans require special Japanese-language lessons. It allots about half of 20 classes a week to Japanese lessons, divided into six levels.

Japanese students and advanced learners read literature, but beginners start with reading and writing katakana and hiragana alphabets.

But the school has no teachers specializing in Japanese-language education. Teachers say much more has to be done to help those new to Japan who have difficulty with the language.

Having lived in Japan for about 20 years, Kawakami still had difficulty speaking Japanese, not just reading and writing.

He was orphaned at age 6. Then, because his foster father in China died, he had to quit elementary school after only two years and go to work.

After being settled in Japan, Kawakami worked at a factory in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. He had no chance to talk to his co-workers.

Even when he went to see a dentist, he could not explain his symptoms. He gave up on receiving treatment.

When he was 56, the Great Hanshin Earthquake hit Kobe and the surrounding areas. His company dormitory collapsed. He lost his job.

Because of his limited language ability, he could not find a new job; he lived on public welfare assistance.

Then in 2004, he joined a group lawsuit calling for state compensation for former war orphans left behind in China. It was from a group member that he learned about a junior high night school.

After the suit was settled, Kawakami enrolled in the Kinjo night school in April 2008. As he studied to read and write, he found new interest in billboards and ads around the town.

"I study while walking on the street and riding the train," he said in Japanese.

But he is fortunate to have been accepted at school.

More people want to attend classes at Kinjo, but there are no seats available. In November, a Chinese man who had just lost his job joined a lesson on a provisional basis.

He said he couldn't find a job because of his language problem, but the school had to ask him to wait until next spring to be officially admitted.

"Not just junior high night schools but also the state and local governments must jointly figure out how to deal with the education of those who do not have a good command of Japanese," said Naoki Hirayama, Kinjo's vice principal.

Other schools face similar problems.

At their 55th national study meeting in Kobe on Dec. 4 to 5, Zenyachu members called for expanding the capacity of junior high night schools to accommodate an estimated more than 1 million people who have not completed compulsory education.

At the same time, they plan to call on the central government and other groups to deal with the increasing number of newcomers who have only a poor command of Japanese.

The study meeting also heard a report from Shinichi Asano, a professor of sociology at Kobe University, whose survey underlined the language problems faced by students.

His survey of 18 junior high night schools in Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Hyogo prefectures found that about 60 percent of the 747 respondents could hardly read or write the language or faced difficulties in daily life.

The proportion was nearly 90 percent for those from China, including war-displaced Japanese and their relatives. Many said they enjoyed learning and grew more confident.

Regardless of nationality, many respondents said they hoped that more people could become aware of the existence of schools like theirs.

"Many of the (night-school) students who come from abroad are having financial difficulty or are isolated in Japanese society," Asano said.

"For them, night schools are not just where they study Japanese, but a place they rely on in many other ways."(IHT/Asahi: December 26,2009)