
Associate professor Nilta Dias from the Faculty of Foreign Studies undertakes research on the issue of education for the children of Brazilians in Japan. She talks about the language barrier faced by many of these children, and the issues in learning and furthering studies caused by the difference in language.
I come from Brazil, which has developed friendly relations with Japan over many years. Currently, approximately 200,000 Brazilians live in Japan. While less than when the population numbered 300,000, in terms of the size of foreign communities in Japan, the Brazilian community comes after the Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Filipino communities.
The theme of my research is education for the children of Brazilians in Japan. From 1990 to 2000, there was a sudden increase in immigrants from Brazil to Japan, and children who did not go to school but instead stayed home working and such became a major issue. While the number of children who do not attend school has dropped in recent years, there are still issues related to the school life and learning of Brazilian children.
Interpretation alone is not enough, and delay in learning makes pursuing a university education difficult

Language is the biggest struggle for Brazilian children attending local public schools. There are schools that provide interpretation as support for children of foreigners. Depending on the scope of lessons, though, it may not be enough to simply translate words. Instead, it is necessary to handle this issue with more thought, such as answering questions and changing the ways of explanation according to the children’s degree of understanding.
However, it is unreasonable to ask interpreters to play such a role, and it is also not easy to find teachers who are fluent in both Japanese and Portuguese. If children do not understand lessons and receive appropriate follow up, the delay in their learning will only grow bigger as they move up in grade.
In addition, as their Japanese improves with time, another issue is their communication with their parents, who can only speak Portuguese. They are unable to share the troubles faced during puberty and cannot discuss their future path in life. Furthering their studies at a university also becomes difficult if they can neither keep up with the studies in a Japanese school nor speak Portuguese properly.
Children with dreams overcome difficulties to keep learning
In my research, I interview Brazilian families and conduct studies regarding further education and future paths of Brazilian children. Among high school students, there are many who talk about going to university after they have saved money through working part-time jobs due to the difficult financial situations of their families.
From studies in recent years, it became clear that most children do not go on to university once they have started working. The reason is that, once they receive high wages such as from working overtime, they become satisfied with their current situation and their interest and desire for learning become diluted.
At the same time, we also found that children who want to study at a university or have an occupation they want to pursue in the future will continue to study, overcoming any difficulties to achieve their goals. Through my research, I came to understand the strength of children with dreams, and this finding also became a major motivation for me.
In the past, many Brazilians worked for a certain period of time in Japan before returning to Brazil. However, in recent years, there are more of them who settle down in Japan and play active roles in various areas as company employees, entrepreneurs, lawyers, and such.
The issues faced by Brazilians in Japan are both the problems of Brazilians, and at the problems of Japanese people who share this society as they live together. I will continue to work on my research going forward so as to create a society where the children of Brazilians in Japan can achieve their respective dreams, and also let more Japanese people learn about the lives of Brazilians in Japan and the various problems they face.
The book I recommend
“Nyukama to Kyoiku: Gakko Bunka to Esunishiti no Katto o Megutte”(Newcomers and Education: The Conflict Between School Culture and Ethnicity)
by Kokichi Shimizu and Mutsumi Shimizu, Akashi Shoten

This book introduces various cases and research results about the issue of education for foreign children living in Japan. Although the book is more than 20 years old, the essence of the issue has not changed even today. I remember reading this book while struggling with kanji characters when I was studying in Japan.
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Nilta Dias
- Associate Professor
Department of Luso-Brazilian Studies
Faculty of Foreign Studies
- Associate Professor
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Graduated from Instituto Cultural Newton Paiva Ferreira before majoring in Education at University Center of Belo Horizonte (Centro Universitário de Belo Horizonte). Completed the master’s program at the Graduate School of Education, University of Yamanashi under a Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship. Took on current position in 2010.
- Department of Luso-Brazilian Studies
Interviewed: October 2023