Educator Noriko Hazeki says the challenges non-Japanese children face in the Japanese school system begin even before they enroll.
She says some parents have been told that it will “be hard for your child because their Japanese isn’t good,” and that, actually, “they don’t have to go to school, so why push them?”
“Compulsory education in Japan is really only compulsory if your citizenship is Japanese,” she explains. “Otherwise, it’s up to the parents whether they want to put their children in school or not, and some schools even discourage them from doing so.”