Since April, 35-year-old Rika Osada of Malaysia has been studying nightly side by side with four Japanese much older than her at Shinsei Junior High School in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.
The junior high school offers authorized Japanese-language classes under a Tokyo Metropolitan Government program for students with linguistic difficulties so they can complete their compulsory education. It is among five public junior high schools in Tokyo where such classes are available and 35 nationwide that provide night classes to adults from all walks of life who for whatever reason dropped out of school when they were younger.
"Even though my classes are often very hard, I've felt encouraged to stay with them, because my fellow students are also willing to study, despite their age, including one who is in her 80s," said Osada, who came to Japan after marrying a Japanese man five years ago.