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199 In 2007, roughly 2.15 million foreigners —or about 1.7 percent of the country’s total population, coming from 190 different countries—lived in Japan. Not surprisingly, over nearly four decades, marriages per annum between Japanese and foreign nationals have steadily increased from around 5,500 in 1970 to more than 40,000 in 2007. In 2007, such bicultural marriages accounted for 5.6 percent of all marriages in Japan. In addition, over a long period, there was still another significant shift. Up until 1975, in the majority of such marriages, Japanese women were marrying foreign men. Beginning in 1975, however, the pattern changed: in 80 percent of these couples, numbering about 32,000, Japanese men married foreign women. A large proportion of these women came from other Asian countries, the largest number Chinese, roughly 12,000, or about 38 percent, followed by 9,200 Filipina women, or 29 percent (Kokuritsu josei kyoiku kaikan 2009, 24; 25, table 2-10). Filipina women began coming to Japan in the mid-1980s seeking work. Some came on special six-month visas to work as “entertainers,” mostly in bars and so-called “snacks,” while the majority entered the country on short-term tourist visas, and stayed on, working illegally. Still others have come to Japan as brides through marriages brokered by marriage agencies. Some of the women who initially came to Japan to work temporarily have subsequently married Japanese men, and settled down in Japan. In total, about 130,000 Filipina women married Japanese men between 1992 and 2008 (Koseirodosho for various years). A significant problem associated with these marriages begins with the foreign wives’ dependence on their husbands, since they have to sign off on their wives’ annual visas, without which they cannot legally remain in Japan. Automatically, therefore, foreign wives become extraordinarily dependent on their husbands. Furthermore, should a wife decide to divorce, she would find it very difficult to retain her legal residence in Japan unless she were raising children fathered by a Japanese man.2 Finally, should a wife lack Leny P. Tolentino and Nanako Inaba the story of Kalakasan and migrant filipinas1 14 200 proficiency in Japanese, her opportunity for employment would be limited . While there are no statistics concerning the number of foreign women who fall victim to domestic violence in Japan, a survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare reveals a growing increase in the number of non-Japanese women victimized by domestic violence receiving temporary protection at Women’s Consultation Centers (Fujin sodanjo): in 2007 that figure was 407 or nine percent of the total number (4,549) of these women (Koseirodosho 2008, 42-43). What follows is an account of the process through which a group of Filipina women, suffering discrimination, abuse, and violence at the hands of their Japanese male partners, reclaimed their strength and self-respect, reconstructed their lives, achieved personal empowerment, and, moreover, recognized the need for collective action to overcome discrimination. The account focuses in particular on their participation in the Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) conducted by the Kalakasan Migrant Women Empowerment Center, a nonprofit organization located near Tokyo. Through this experience, they gained an opportunity to share their stories and to study, analyze, and reflect on their lives. They managed to achieve an understanding of the forces that had directly caused or indirectly contributed to their victimization and oppression, as well as to summon strength within themselves to feel empowered, and to appreciate the resources which had supported them through this process. the Kalakasan migrant women empowerment Center When the Yokohama Catholic Diocese Solidarity Center for Migrants (SOL)3 was closed in March 2002, its staff, together with abused, migrant Filipina women, who were then volunteers in SOL, continued to feel the need to help migrant women and their children gain a dignified, humane, secure, and vibrant life in Japan. Migrant Filipina women faced harsh realities in Japan. Cultural differences, insufficient fluency in Japanese, unfamiliarity with customs and governance, social and economic pressures, and gender bias—all contributed to the marginal and impoverished lives of migrant women and their children. In most cases, being Filipinas meant that they would face discrimination. The need seemed great, and there were resources, especially among the staff that had worked at SOL. Therefore, on December 7, 2002, the Kalakasan Migrant Women Empowerment Center was launched, with many programs aimed to help Filipina women, including crisis intervention, follow-up care, education and training, home visits, and programs especially for...

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