Guiding Preschoolers Through Language Barriers

Overview

This time, we head to Kikugawa in Shizuoka Prefecture where many non-Japanese workers live. For the children of foreign parents, difficulty with the Japanese language is a barrier to entry into elementary school. Luckily for them, Ochi Kiyoshi, a Brazilian of Japanese descent, runs a daycare center where children learn Japanese. We look at his work and how the pandemic impacted him and the kids under his care. We also meet Johan Erik Nilsson Bjork from Sweden, a professional "rakugo" storyteller in Tokyo.