Studying In Japan

GINOWAN, Okinawa Prefecture--When Mario Anton called on his joint class of fifth- and sixth-graders to draw images of violence, it didn't take long for the 12 children to comply.

After 20 minutes of toiling with crayons and markers to create images of peace, the children quickly drew over the pictures they had just done: A gun was placed in the hands of a person standing atop a mountain, and a stream running through an otherwise peaceful field was painted blood red.

"You were quick at drawing violence," said Anton, a 27-year-old teacher at the Amerasian School in Okinawa, which provides an alternative form of education in a bilingual setting for children born between U.S. citizens and Asians, before adding, "I wonder why."

With its unique curriculum, the school has seen its enrollment jump from 13 to more than 70 in just over a decade.

Reflecting the rising number of children born to either a non-Japanese mother or father, and growing interest in education that caters to the needs of such children, many inquiries come from outside Okinawa.

The class Anton was teaching aims to encourage children to think and express their views on all manner of matters. Anton said he wanted the children to think about conflicts and poverty that plague so much of the world, using their unique multicultural perspectives.

"I want children to realize that they have a choice to live as a global citizen, not bound by any particular country," Anton explained.

Anton considers himself to be a "global citizen." Born in Shizuoka Prefecture to American parents, Anton graduated from a junior high school in Japan before going to the United States to study at high school and university there.

"People in Japan try to prove that I'm not Japanese. They say, 'You can't eat this sashimi, can you?' or 'You can't read this kanji.' And if it's not the case, they aren't satisfied," Anton said.

"If you think of people as global citizens, then nobody gets left out."

Many children in his class have had similar experiences.

One junior high school student said she was kicked by classmates who complained she was too tall, or appeared slovenly, when attending a Japanese elementary school. Then she said she would be teased by American kids who taunted her for pronouncing slang words with an Asian accent.

Another junior high school student complained that his Western appearance made him uncomfortable, as others would always ask him to speak in English.

According to estimates, in Okinawa, host to about 75 percent of all U.S. bases in Japan, about 250 Amerasian children are born every year.

The school's principal, Midori Thayer, founded the school with four others in 1998, employing an American teacher and operating in a rented room.

Today, the school, which uses facilities provided by the city, has 14 teachers tending to children from preschoolers to third-year junior high students.

About 80 percent of classes in elementary school are taught in English, while for junior high school, half of the classes are in English and the rest are in Japanese.

"The children are considered American in Japanese society and Japanese in American society. They only gain respect as individuals once they have mastered the languages and cultures of the two countries," Thayer, 49, explains. She said she hoped to have teachers from the United States and Japan provide perspective from two cultures.

The school receives about 20 inquiries each year, but Thayer says enrollment has reached capacity.

As it is considered a privately run home school, students who completed studies were initially not recognized in the Japanese education system as having graduated from junior high school.

However, after much lobbying by the children's guardians, the Ginowan education board in 1999 took advantage of an education ministry guideline to recognize children studying at the school.

The guideline stated that truant children who study at privately run facilities can be recognized as having attended regular elementary and junior high schools. Today, children register themselves at elementary and junior high schools and report their academic progress to those schools.

"There was a debate as to whether the children could be considered truant," recalls Masahiro Isa, 63, who served as a school education section chief at the board at the time.

"But we decided to broaden the interpretation."

Of 18 students who graduated from the Amerasian School, 14 have gone on to enter prefectural high schools. Thayer's oldest son, Ken, now 23, graduated in the 2000 school year. Last year, Ken graduated from Okinawa International University in Ginowan.

"Our belief was that in five or 10 years, the school would become a common thing," Isa said.

However, that is not the case. With more than 2 million foreign nationals living in Japan, there are an estimated 200 foreign schools, but most are considered private home schools or fall under the "miscellaneous" category.

While the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology encourages graduates from those schools to take junior high school-level aptitude tests, many critics say the test simply adds to the burden of high school entrance exams.

Others point out that the ministry grants children who complete nine years of school education abroad eligibility to enter Japanese high school.

"The government has a responsibility to assure that education is provided, but that only applies to Japanese nationals," said Hiroshi Tanaka, a professor of economics at Ryukoku University in Kyoto and an expert on foreigners' issues in Japan.

"The government must make sure that all children can receive a diverse education," he said.

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