Oizumi is a town in Japan which has become famous for leading a new initiative in the country to make their society multi-cultural.
What does multi-cultural mean? How do you think the town is trying to welcome people who were born in other countries? What could they do to make sure people feel welcome? Think about any barriers a person might face if they speak a different language, for example.
Signs at the railway station are written in 6 different languages, the council employs teams of interpreters and there is a multicultural centre where people can ask for help about anything from paying bills to health care.
Why does the town do this?
The high street has shops selling food and drink from Brazil, Peru, Colombia, India and Nepal. There are halal butchers and South East Asian karaoke bars.
How do you think such a diverse high street impacts on the town?
42,000 people live in Oizumi and 8,000 are foreign nationals, form 49 different countries. The town proudly promotes itself as "International town" Yumi Kuroki lives in Oizumi and says, "It's a friendly community and I think Japanese people here are used to having foreign neighbours. I used to live in a bigger town and people would ignore me when I greeted them. It's not like that here."
Why choose the name "International Town"?
What is the impact when someone ignores a greeting? How can greeting someone impact on their day?
The Japanese government are encouraging more diversity, recognising that industries such as manufacturing, restaurants, fisheries, construction and agriculture cannot survive without immigration.
What is immigration?
Why do the government say immigration is needed in Japan?
Why don't they give the jobs to Japanese people instead?
The birth rate is falling in Japan. The population is currently 125 million but in 2065 it is expected to be 88 million.
What is the answer to that problem? (there is no correct answer, encourage the children to explore different solutions)
When the immigration first started, not everyone was in favour. Some older residents of Oizumi argued there were too many foreigners.
Why would they say that?
How would you respond?
Masami Fukuda, who works in the town hall, says, "In the past, a lot of people hadn't even met a foreigner, but now their grandchildren go to school with children from all over the world."
How can the grandchildren help to change ideas held by older people?
The photo shows Kumar Yamanda who came to Oizumi from Nepal and now owns a supermarket. Yamanda is fluent in Japanese, Nepali and Hindi. He stands with his employee Talwinder Singh. Kumar says opposite is shop is a Turkish restaurant, a Brazilian beauty salon and a Philippine bar; "It feels like a genuine foreign community."
Fukuda says everyone is welcome in Oizumi; "Our selling point is our diversity."
- "Our selling point is our diversity." what does that mean?
- why are some people worried about immigration?
- how does immigration benefit Oizumi?
- what do we say about diversity and difference at our school? (some schools are more diverse than others, but we can still encourage children to recognise and be proud of our own differences; ask children to think how they are different from the person sitting next to them; are we all exactly the same here?)
- what can we learn from Oizumi?
- why is this about No Outsiders?
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