One city is taking up the daunting challenge of enabling children of foreign workers to achieve a high level of scholastic ability in the Japanese language.
"Children from abroad are the same as Japanese transfer students," said a municipal education official in Ota, Gunma Prefecture. "It is the responsibility of public education to foster educated workers."
The project was initiated by Mayor Masayoshi Shimizu, 63. A number of automobile and other factories are located in the city, about 80 km north of Tokyo, and about 9,000 foreign nationals live there.