As international marriages rose in Japan in recent years, the number of bicultural families increased, and many children of such families are being raised to speak the languages of both parents. American Mary Nobuoka, director of the Bilingualism Special Interest Group (B-SIG) and parent of a bicultural son, devotes much of her time and energy to helping other families in their journey of language and discovery.

An associate professor at Mejiro University, Nobuoka became the director of B-SIG in 2011. The group began in 1991 as an offshoot of the Japan Association of Language Teaching, since many JALT members are foreign nationals who have settled in Japan. A common interest in raising children to speak both Japanese and another language drew people together, and the group also fosters research in areas of bilingualism and multiculturalism.

Nobuoka notes that while interest in bilingualism for children is rising in Japan, it is still a struggle for parents. "A lot of people assume that it is just a natural process to learn two languages in a bilingual home. And in some countries it is, since the community supports that. But Japan is still such a monolingual society that parents really have to make an effort." B-SIG, she says, aims to help make things a little easier.