Figure 1.--Most foreign students in Japan attend international schools taught in English or other foreign languages. These Canadian children attend a regular Japanese school.

There are a substantial numbers of foreign families in Japan. These families are associated with the diplomatic corps, foreign compaies, academics, missonaries, and others. Most of the children go to special schools or foreigners which are taught in English or other foreign languages. Both because of the language and different educational program, few foreigners attend Japanese schools. I'm not sure here if there are some nationalities that are more prone to enroll their children into Japanese schools. Some parents are interested in the cultural experience that attending Japanese schools afford the children. In particular it is a wonderful way of learning the Japaese language. This of course is a very valuable skill. Japanese is a diffivcylt language foe Westerners to learn. A knowlegev of Japanese can be a very valuable skill in a wide range oif careers. Going to school as a child affords the opportunity to learn the language and the cultural mores in a way that is virtually impoodsible through purely academic studies. The great majority of foreign parents opt for the security of one of the internatiinal schools. There are also mixed couples where foreigners have marroed Japanese. Here we have little information. Generally speaking therec are relatibely few such marriages as the Japanese are extremelly racially concious and many look down on marrying people of other races.

Created: March 3, 2000
Last updated: May 8, 2004