The clock is ticking for an undocumented Filipino couple in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, who must decide by Monday whether to leave the country with or without their 13-year-old Japan-born daughter.
If the pair stay, they face detention. If they leave, the girl must fend for herself.
"We will tell the Immigration Bureau on March 9 that we want to stay in Japan together (with our daughter)," said Arlan Cruz Calderon, the girl's 36-year-old father.