Sharing our experiences is …
I wanted to learn about the experiences of people living as part Japanese society
Origins of the project
Through my involvement with foreign people engaged in learning Japanese, I have witnessed how they have different experiences to those who were born and raised in Japan. I also noticed that although I was born and raised in Japan, I also had a slightly different experience due to the fact my parents were deaf. Therefore, I started sharing these experiences with the desire to let as many people as possible know about the experiences of foreigners, the families of deaf people and others living in Japan.
The participants
The people whose experiences are shared here include international students, businessmen, technical trainees, international marriage migrants, researchers and other people who have migrated to Japan from overseas, deaf people who communicate using sign language without relying on voice, and their families: children of deaf adults (CODA) and people with deaf siblings.
The shared experiences
I interviewed the participants, then, using the participants’ own words, condensed their experiences into the episodes presented here. You’ll also find some texts that other participants have written by themselves and contributed.
For those people who live in Japanese society
Some of the experiences might be similar to your own—and some will be quite different—but through reading and learning about the diverse lives that make up Japanese society, I hope that readers, including people who have come to Japan from overseas, people living alongside foreign residents, and people who support Japanese language learning, can use that knowledge to support their activities.
