人2024.03.18

Activities by COLORS, a group of young people of foreign heritage

The Hamamatsu Creative City Promotion Council titles creative initiatives enacted by citizens “Creative Core Projects” and began promoting them to the public in 2021. We hope that by sharing information about the city’s creative initiatives, more people will gain new ideas and hints for their own activities.

This year, we would like to share with you the five most noteworthy projects, which are known as “Monitoring Projects”.

Activities by COLORS, a group of young people of foreign heritage /COLORS & Hamamatsu Foundation for International Communication and Exchange (HICE)

What kind of projects are you involved in?

We provide guidance regarding career paths and employment opportunities to young people in Japan with foreign heritage, and promote awareness of these people and their activities within Japanese society. All members of COLORS are young people of foreign heritage who have received education, entered university or found jobs here in Japan. Leveraging their own experiences, they actively promote a wide range of tailored support services in cooperation with HICE, such as consultations, writing, and lectures.

We heard from those at the heart of the project.

SUZUKI Erika

What are your roles?

As a project coordinator at HICE, I am involved in the planning and hosting of lectures and events around the city regarding international exchange and understanding, as well as coordinating visits for those from outside of Hamamatsu and cultivating a multicultural community through culture & art.

What led you to get involved in this initiative?

I started this project after becoming involved with young people of foreign heritage who had received learning support at Japanese school and went on to study at university. They want to raise awareness about their presence in society and support help students with similar backgrounds in junior high and high schools as the navigate their way in life.

What is the special point of this initiative?

This is a program tailored for and organized by young people with foreign roots. It is unique as it places a focus on volunteers sharing their experiences with the participants; they speak to students of foreign heritage in junior & senior high school about their life stories, how they learned Japanese, and their experiences in entering university and job hunting. They have also given lectures to people working to support such students across Japan. To facilitate these activities, HICE acts as secretariat, assisting in the coordinating of lectures and written materials, planning, and public relations.

What do you want our readers to know about this initiative?

Foreigners are not just people in need of support. I would like Japanese people to think of them as individuals with their own unique personalities and abilities, not just lumping them together into one group as foreigners.

Why do you want your readers to know this?

While the members of COLORS received learning support at Japanese school, they have gone on to university or found jobs and are now contributing to the community in many ways. I sincerely hope that Japanese won’t look at foreigners as simply just people in need of language support, but rather focus on their individual abilities and experiences such as language skills, adaptability to different environments, intercultural understanding, and their creativity.

Tips to our readers who want to start something new

When taking on a new initiative, it is important to maintain a broad mindset and to keep up to date with activities in different fields as things that seem unrelated at first may provide valuable hints in solving the problems you may face along the way. Taking even small steps into action often attracts likeminded individuals who are willing to get involved. The pursuit of solutions to challenges faced may even lead to the exploration of new initiatives you may not have envisioned initially. As a starting point, I think it’s important to keep your ear to the ground to collect as much information as possible.

Message to our readers

HICE supports individuals interested in fostering a multicultural society, without questioning their affiliation, position, methods, or whether or not they have foreign roots. Please feel free to get in touch with us if this is something that speaks to you.

From here, we will introduce each initiative in more detail.

Social contribution activities by young people with foreign roots

Job hunting support video production

We produced an informative video on job hunting in Japan, sharing our experiences and offering advice for young people with foreign roots. In the video a university student interviews young working people, all members of COLORS. They shot and edited the video themselves and posted it on YouTube.

Video 1

Three speakers introduce themselves, challenges they faced in school, and their reasons for going to college

Video 2

Their current jobs, how they got that job, rewards and difficulties of the job

Video 3.

Benefits of being a full-time worker, self-analysis and how to find your strengths, changing jobs, message to younger students

Video 4

Confusing rules & manners at Japanese companies, experience being interviewed, how to write a resume, interview advice

Online seminars

We held an online seminar where young people with foreign roots speak out on their experiences regarding what kind of support they believe young students with foreign roots need besides those that are academic. They and the moderator shared their experience and opinions on the subject with their Japanese supporters and school teachers.

First, participants introduced their background and discussed: (1) feelings about their roots and turning points in their life, (2) how they have been received by the people around them, and (3) necessary support (people, things and actions). Finally, we summed up five necessary form of support for such students.

teachers but also elementary & junior high school teachers, teaching staff at university, special needs education school staff, administrations, students from junior high school and university, international students. The seminar is available on YouTube so please take a look if you are interested.

Members’ thoughts

While volunteering during my university years, I often encountered a prevailing belief among foreign national parents. Many felt that higher education for their children was unattainable and their job options were limited. There was an obvious lack of available information on higher education and career development.

In contrast, I have witnessed numerous individuals with foreign roots actively engaging in various fields and realizing their dreams in Japan.

Personally, I was able to pursue my academic interests and I now work in a field that genuinely excites me.

Through COLORS, I want to share my journey with a wider audience and contribute to the inclusion of foreign background individuals within our community.

While I was born in Brazil, I have lived in Japan for over 15 years, facing many questions such as whether I’m Brazilian or Japanese or if I need to study Portuguese harder because I live in Japan. However, COLORS welcomed me as I was, saying, “any roots are fine!”. You don’t have to choose if you are Brazilian or Japanese. You have the freedom to choose what language you wish to speak and which culture which to embrace gradually. And this has changed my perception of things.

Travelling back and forth from Brazil and Japan, I often found myself questioning my identity, where I belong, and what I should do in the future. In particular, I was concerned about my career path for a long time. Since there was little information accessible for foreigners at that time, it was a struggle to obtain information on Japanese higher education, especially information on the system was like. Despite this, I still managed to graduate from a Japanese university and find a job that I wanted. As a foreigner here, you will face more challenges than a native Japanese person. However, I want to share the message that you should not be discouraged by this. Once you set a goal and keep working hard towards it, you may be surprised by how you can get there in the end!