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Language and culture challenges for international families

Arriving in Japan solo is challenging enough, but many international people are raising families here. And some statistics indicate that foreign families are staying for longer intervals.

Here's a roundup of news items about the growing foreign population, the accessibility of family and parenting services for foreigners, and some observations from a multicultural perspective - Growing Need for Language and Cultural Support for Families. Are you raising children here? What are the biggest challenges for you?

7 comments

7 Comments

mikekato

Jun 16, 2023

My kids are now 18 and 22 years old. We put them through Japanese schools, so their English is certainly not native level. There were times when I tried to use English around them, but our home language has always been Japanese. Without being able to put them through expensive international schools, their English has suffered. That is a bit of a regret.

Tone&Edo

Jun 16, 2023

Replying to

That's rough, and while my heritage languages are different, I can kind of identify as a second generation kid raised in Canada. Are your children interested in learning English? I found that I didn't get really keen on learning my families' heritage languages until I was in my 30s. The magic of the Internet helped me revive one of them.

urara

Jun 13, 2023

This is an interesting question. I always think that Japan somehow makes it accessible for non-Japanese speaking ppl having displays and documents in English and other languages at the City hall for example. Well I’m not saying it’s perfect but I always wonder how it is in France (my home country): they probably only have French available. As for parenting services I couldn’t tell since I’ve no children / no foreigner friend around has children. I’m sure the language is an issue for some families.

As for raising kids in Japan.. it is a personal view but education costs a lot and society is very competitive: not the best environment imho

Amanda

Jun 13, 2023

This is something I think about, I don’t have children yet, but is Japan better than America to raise children?

Tone&Edo

Jun 13, 2023

Replying to

Asahi reported in 2021 that Japanese young people don't think so - https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14371544 It looks like it depends on the distribution of child rearing duties in the household and income.

urara

Jun 20, 2023

Replying to

I think as a woman it seems very important to settle things before having children. I mean the "expected" behavior when a woman has children here is her to quit her job and take care of the education of the children (+ managing the household) at least until the kids can go to the kindergarten. I think there's a lot of communication needed ahead with the partner if you're not considering this. I'd say if career is an important thing to you, maybe try to seek advice from ppl who went through the "pursuing a career as a woman while having kids in Japan" because I feel it's a real issue.

Tone&Edo

Jun 20, 2023

Replying to

A community I've communicated with occasionally is FEW - Foreign Executive Women in Japan. The community provides a forum for English-speaking women working in Japan. They're a source of strength for many working women supporting families in Japan.