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Japanese Returnee Children Part2

My eldest daughter, Satomi, succeeded in passing the entrance examination for high school. Though this high school accepted “returnees”, in fact, they were treated as outsider students. In Satomi’s case, however, she was lucky to have friends who had also recently returned from abroad. Unfortunately, this was not the case with our middle daughter, Chiharu. She had the worst and most bitter experience when she returned to Japan. She was fifteen years old, a third grader in a public middle school in our school district. Since this school had never accepted “returnees”, for first two or three weeks, everybody was interested in her, but soon she was ostracized and eventually bullied. Chiharu, who had always been an extrovert, now became an introvert. Very soon, she was diagnosed with anorexia. She could not eat because of the stress at school. Finally, she simply refused to go to school. She did not go for four months. My husband and I went to the local education superintendent to complain, but he would not accept our position because we were the only family to bring this matter up. This was disturbing because we had doctors and psychiatrists support for our case, but the superintendent was adamant in his final decision. This is a situation many children experience when they return to Japan. One returnee noted, “I was treated like a creature from outer space (“Complicated”). From the same article, “ Another middle-high school student said, ‘Everyone looked at me a little differently, I did not like it and tried to hide the fact that I had been there to a foreign country as much as I could…. For instance, I tried to pronounce English words like Japanese when I read an English textbook.’”(“Complicated”). Luckily, my youngest son, Tai, was safely settled in a great elementary schools. I worried about Tai the most after we 4 went back to Japan because his writing in Japanese was poor and he was behind his peers. I thought he would be a target for bullying because he spoke English fluently but he was not so strong in Japanese. However, he was lucky because this elementary school had a curriculum for Japanese returnee children. Thus, I think he learned and absorbed Japanese customs, culture and language successfully.

Later in 2003, one and a half years later, my husband was about to yet be transferred to another country: the USA. Before we came to Seattle, my family discussed the idea of transferring to the U.S. This time, Satomi decided not to transfer here because she wanted to stay and study in Japan. Chiharu decided to quit the high school and move to Seattle. She expected something better in the U.S than the negativity she had experienced in Japan. When we were deciding to go to the U.S., we were helped by the advice of Chiharu’s high school teacher, Ms. Makiko Okada. She returned from the U.S. in the early 1960’s when “people like her were so unusual that she was turned away by public schools.‘It was very traumatic‘ she said”(“ Japan”). She advised us to go to the U.S. because it would be a good opportunity to go abroad again for Chiharu. It would broaden her vision. However, if this were to be the first time, she would not recommend it. She really recommended Chiharu to go to the U. S. because it would be the second time for her. This time she would truly benefit. Chiharu had both a good and a bitter experience in Japan. However, she has the ability to change and make the best of a bad situation. She is working very hard to be a psychologist and support Japanese returnee or minorities. I learned from my children that they have various abilities and their strong sense of positivism.

As I have watched my children and other “returnees children” grow in diversity, I believe that “Japanese returnee children” ultimately benefit from assimilating into different cultures. For example, they learn and speak the language of the foreign country, make foreign friends, and enjoy visiting real historical places that are not in the book. On the other hand, they have to work harder in both a foreign language and in Japanese. They have to keep up their first language in Japanese when they go back to Japan. Depending on their age, they work harder without sleeping at night. I respect them because they desperately challenge themselves in everything new and never give up. Finally, they can overcome adversity and be a success abroad and at home.

“Japanese returnee children” make a great effort to get accustomed to a new environment in a foreign country. Some children can easily adapt to new surroundings, but some can’t accept it. I believe that parents should support and help them. One of the benefits of living in a foreign country is that family unity becomes stronger. Conversely, some children live abroad for a long time and can’t adapt to Japan after they return to Japan. As a result, they return to the foreign country. In Japan, only the benefits are acknowledged for returnee children. However, the disadvantages are hidden from the public. I have heard successful stories in the media, such as one of my husband’s friends studied in the U.S. then went to Tokyo University and returned to study his Masters at MIT. Now he is an engineer at Boeing.

We have to distinguish the right way for each child because each child is not the same and each one has a different personality. Making sure children are happy and secure 6 is ultimately the responsibility of parents because the companies do not offer enough support. My son, Tai, often says, “Which country do I best fit in?” Children are a mirror of their parents and their culture. I do not know which culture is better for my children; this is finally their choice. As my children had an education in England, the U.S., and Japan, they have experienced three different cultures. I do not know how the diversity has changed my children so far. Although my children have benefits and disadvantages of living abroad, they had a good opportunity to experience both. They seem to be different from other Japanese children who were born and raised in Japan. Children need to fit in, and choosing cultures initially stops them from feeling the security of identifying with one culture. However, when they learn to adapt, their lives and minds are more open to the world outside and everything it has to offer.

日本語Part1へ